There is a power upon me which withholds. And makes it my fatality to live, - If it be life to wear within myself this barrenness of Spirit, and to by My own Soul's sepulcher, for I have ceased To justify my deeds unto myself - The last infirmity of evil.

-George Gordon, Lord Byron, Manfred

The lich is potentially the most fearsome of undead monsters. Imagine a wizard with immense power and knowledge now gifted with a hardy undead body, well suited to the channeling of magical energies, and a potentially unlimited life span in which to hone and perfect his art. Add to that a mind driven enough to seek out the secrets of lichdom, intelligent enough to grasp them, and twisted enough to enact them, and it should be easy to understand why the lich is so feared. Van Richten's research revealed that there are even more reasons to fear the lich than are commonly known.

All liches in Ravenloft possess the following common powers;

• Lich Sight: In addition to the normal benefits of truesight, a lich can't be blinded or impaired by light, no matter how bright, even from a magical source. Likewise, no magical darkness will impact a lich's vision. In the eyes of a lich, it's as if neither darkness nor light exists.
• Undead Control: The lich may attempt to command any undead within a range of 1,000 ft. times the lich's Hit Dice. The lich must be able to perceive these undead, who can make a Charisma saving throw against the lich's spell save DC. Undead who make the save can be targeted again in subsequent rounds. The lich can direct controlled undead within range as a bonus action and can take any number of such actions in a round. Undead under the control of a lich have glowing pinpoint eyes, like the lich itself. The lich can also see through the eyes of any undead it controls and hear as if it were standing in the controlled undead's place. The lich can only exert its senses through one controlled undead at a time, however. If attacked, the lich will immediately know, and can switch between its own senses and those of a controlled undead as a bonus action. The lich loses control of undead that move beyond the range of this power, though it's rumored there are ways for a lich to circumvent even this limitation.

Liches in Ravenloft also develop salient powers as they age, which can vary wildly from monster to monster.