The lich-god The Whispered Lich has breached the barriers between worlds and seized control of The Spire City, the City of Doors — the nexus of all planes of existence. With reality itself bending to his will, only the bravest heroes can challenge a being who has already conquered death. This high-level campaign pits your party against one of D&D's most iconic villains in a multiplanar race against annihilation.
Story Arcs
The Lich-God Ascendant
Reports of The Whispered Lich's agents gathering artifacts of power across multiple planes. The party investigates and discovers the scope of his plan — to seize The Spire City itself and reshape all reality.
Siege of the City of Doors
The Whispered Lich breaches The Spire City's defenses. The party must navigate a city under siege, rally planar allies, and find the weapons capable of harming a god who has transcended mortality.
The Final Confrontation
Armed with artifacts and allies, the party storms The Whispered Lich's sanctum at the heart of The Spire City. The fate of the multiverse hangs on this battle against the Whispered One.
Session Outlines
These outlines are for planning reference only. Actual sessions are not created by the template.
Whispers Across the Planes
The party is contacted by a planar sage who has detected a disturbance in the fabric of reality. Portals are malfunctioning, and agents of The Whispered Lich have been spotted on multiple planes simultaneously. An attacked outpost yields clues: The Whispered Lich seeks three keys to breach The Spire City's protections.
The Hand and the Eye
The party tracks The Whispered Lich's agents to recover one of the keys before them. A dungeon crawl through a demiplane tomb filled with undead guardians and deadly traps. They learn that The Whispered Lich already possesses two keys and is preparing his assault.
The Fall of The Spire City's Wards
The Whispered Lich breaches The Spire City. The party arrives to find the City of Doors in chaos — portals opening and closing randomly, dabus fleeing, and The Whispered Lich's undead legions pouring through rifts. The The Silent Arbiter is conspicuously absent. The party must reach the Hall of Speakers to coordinate a defense.
Rallying the Factions
The Spire City's factions are in disarray. The party must convince rival groups to unite against The Whispered Lich. Each faction demands a price for their aid. Meanwhile, The Whispered Lich's forces tighten their grip, converting fallen defenders into undead soldiers.
The Armory of the Planes
A planar scholar reveals that weapons forged across multiple planes can wound The Whispered Lich. The party undertakes a rapid planar hop — Mount Celestia for celestial steel, Gehenna for hellfire quenching, the Feywild for heartwood binding — to forge weapons capable of harming the lich-god.
Betrayal in the Ranks
A trusted ally is revealed as a servant of The Whispered Lich, sabotaging the resistance from within. The party must root out the traitor, deal with the damage done, and shore up defenses before the final push. The Whispered Lich sends his death knight general to crush resistance once and for all.
Storming the Spire
The party leads the allied assault on The Whispered Lich's stronghold at the center of The Spire City. They fight through layers of undead, constructs, and reality-warped terrain. Each level of the spire presents a different planar hazard as The Whispered Lich bends reality around his sanctum.
Die The Whispered Lich Die
The final confrontation with The Whispered Lich in his throne room at the apex of the Spire. He has partially merged with The Spire City's reality engine and wields godlike power. The party must use their planar weapons, exploit his few weaknesses, and make sacrifices to sever his connection to The Spire City. Victory reshapes the multiverse.
NPCs
Vaelen the Betrayer the Betrayer
Vampire · The Whispered Lich's Former Lieutenant
Once The Whispered Lich's most trusted servant, Vaelen the Betrayer turned against his master millennia ago with the Sword of Vaelen the Betrayer. Now a powerful vampire, he seeks to destroy The Whispered Lich for personal vengeance — not altruism. An unreliable but potent ally who knows The Whispered Lich's weaknesses intimately.
Dungeon Manager Pentar
Limbo Monks · Planar Scholar
A limbo monks sage who has studied the connections between planes for centuries. She detected The Whispered Lich's plan early and has been working to stop it. Provides crucial knowledge about The Spire City's defenses and the nature of divine power. Calm and methodical even in crisis.
Factol Darius Thane
Human · Leader of the The Spire City Resistance
A grizzled veteran and former faction leader who rallies The Spire City's defenders. Pragmatic to a fault, he will work with anyone — even fiends — to save the city. His knowledge of The Spire City's streets and portals is unmatched among mortals.
Kaelen the Undying the Advisor
Undead · Demilich and Rival of The Whispered Lich
Another legendary lich who opposes The Whispered Lich not out of goodness but because The Whispered Lich's ascension threatens his own plans. Offers cryptic advice and powerful magic but always has his own agenda. May betray the party at a crucial moment.
Serena Brightforge
Aasimar · Celestial Weaponsmith
A master artificer from Mount Celestia who can forge weapons capable of harming divine beings. She has crafted god-slaying weapons before and knows the terrible cost. Requires rare materials from across the planes.
The Masked Traitor
Changeling · Double Agent for The Whispered Lich
Appears to be a helpful resistance member but secretly serves The Whispered Lich. Has been feeding information to the enemy and sabotaging key defenses. Their true identity is revealed in session 6. Has been replacing different NPCs at key moments.
General Maegara
Death Knight · Commander of The Whispered Lich's Armies
A death knight who serves as The Whispered Lich's military commander in The Spire City. Once a paladin who sought forbidden knowledge to save her dying world, she was corrupted and bound to The Whispered Lich's service. She leads the siege with tactical brilliance and overwhelming undead forces.
A Dabus
Dabus · Servant of the The Silent Arbiter
One of the The Silent Arbiter's mysterious servants, communicating only through visual rebuses that float in the air. It approaches the party with a cryptic message about the Lady's plan to deal with The Whispered Lich — if only the lich-god can be weakened enough. Provides a crucial clue about The Whispered Lich's vulnerability.
Locations
The Spire City, City of Doors
The impossible city at the center of the multiverse, built on the inside of an immense torus floating above the Spire. Every doorway is potentially a portal to another plane. Now under siege by The Whispered Lich's forces, with portals malfunctioning and entire districts falling under undead control.
The Whispered Lich's Spire
A massive tower of bone and shadow-sm that The Whispered Lich has raised at the center of The Spire City, piercing through to the reality engine beneath the city. Each level is infused with a different planar energy, creating hazards from fire to psychic assault. The throne room at the apex is where The Whispered Lich channels The Spire City's power.
The Portal Nexus
A critical junction where hundreds of portals converge. Normally stable and well-mapped, The Whispered Lich's interference has turned it into a chaotic maze where doorways open to random planes. The party must navigate it to reach their planar destinations for weapon forging.
Mount Celestia — Forge of Stars
Serena Brightforge's workshop on the slopes of Mount Celestia. Here, celestial steel is shaped by the light of divine stars. The forge can create weapons capable of harming even gods, but the process requires materials from opposing planes.
Cavitus — The Whispered Lich's Former Domain
The demiplane that served as The Whispered Lich's domain before his assault on The Spire City. Now largely abandoned, it holds clues to his weaknesses and the remnants of failed experiments. Trapped and guarded by creatures too dangerous to bring to The Spire City.
The Hive Ward
The Spire City's most impoverished district, now a desperate battleground. The residents fight a guerrilla war against The Whispered Lich's undead, using their knowledge of back alleys and hidden passages. A key source of intelligence and recruits for the resistance.
Quests
Forge the God-Slaying Weapons
Travel to Mount Celestia, Gehenna, and the Feywild to gather materials for weapons capable of harming The Whispered Lich. Each plane presents unique challenges and guardians who must be convinced or defeated.
Unite the Factions of The Spire City
Convince The Spire City's rival factions to set aside their differences and fight together against The Whispered Lich. Each faction has demands that must be met before they will commit their forces.
Root Out the Traitor
Someone in the resistance is feeding information to The Whispered Lich. Investigate suspicious activity, set traps, and identify the double agent before they can sabotage the final assault.
The Sword of Vaelen the Betrayer
Vaelen the Betrayer the Betrayer claims to know where his legendary sword — the one weapon The Whispered Lich truly fears — is hidden. But trusting a vampire with a vendetta is dangerous. Retrieve the sword without falling into Vaelen the Betrayer's trap.
Encounters
Tomb of the First Key
A demiplane tomb filled with ancient undead guardians protecting one of the keys to The Spire City. Traps trigger necrotic energy blasts and the walls shift to seal off escape routes.
Siege of the Market Ward
The Whispered Lich's undead forces assault a civilian district. The party must hold a barricade, protect fleeing civilians, and deal with a bone devil commanding the assault.
The Death Knight's Challenge
General Maegara confronts the party with her elite guard. She fights with terrifying skill and her hellfire orb can devastate an entire area.
Spire Ascent — The Shadowfell Level
One level of The Whispered Lich's Spire is infused with Shadowfell energy. Darkness is absolute, sounds are muffled, and shadow-sm creatures attack from every direction. Despair effects sap the will to continue.
The Whispered Lich, the Whispered One
The final battle against The Whispered Lich himself. He wields devastating spells, summons reinforcements, and manipulates reality around him. The party must use their planar weapons and exploit the vulnerabilities Vaelen the Betrayer revealed.
Factions
The The Spire City Resistance
Chaotic Good
A coalition of The Spire City's surviving defenders, former faction members, and planar travelers united against The Whispered Lich's occupation. Led by Factol Darius Thane, they wage a desperate guerrilla war from hidden safe houses.
The Whispered Lich's Legions
Neutral Evil
An army of undead, cultists, and corrupted beings serving the Whispered One. They control most of The Spire City and grow stronger as each fallen defender joins their ranks. Led by General Maegara the death knight.
The Remnants of the Factions
True Neutral
What remains of The Spire City's famous factions — the Harmonium, the Mercykillers, the Sensates, and others. Each has retreated to their strongholds and fights their own war. They must be united to have any chance against The Whispered Lich.
The Celestial Compact
Lawful Good
A group of celestial beings and their mortal allies who have come to The Spire City to oppose The Whispered Lich. They bring powerful magic and divine weapons but are few in number and bound by strict rules of engagement that limit their effectiveness.
Recommended Characters
Pre-built characters designed for this campaign setting. Create them separately from the character templates page.
Mordecai Ashveil
Human · Warlock · Level 5
A former thrall of The Whispered Lich who broke free of the lich-god's psychic domination through sheer willpower. Now Mordecai turns the eldritch knowledge branded into his mind against his former master, seeking to destroy The Whispered Lich before the Maimed God can reshape the multiverse.
Brunhilde Ironforge
Dwarf · Fighter · Level 5
A battle-hardened dwarven mercenary who has fought across the planes from Greyhaven to The Spire City. Brunhilde doesn't care about cosmic politics — she cares about getting paid and keeping her company alive — but The Whispered Lich's schemes threaten every plane she calls home.
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