The beautiful singer bows to the adoring crowd before stepping behind the curtain. Away from the eyes of the crowd, the singer changes its half-mask, briefly revealing a ghastly, undead visage._ A virtuoso lich is an artist whose love of art sustains it beyond death. **Birthed by Art.** A virtuoso lich is created when an artist powerful in both its artistic and magical expression dies with art left undone. Such artists often die before completing or creating a masterpiece, and the torment of the art left undone couples with the artist’s powerful magical talents, turning the artist into a virtuoso lich. A virtuoso lich is bound to an object of art, such as a favorite musical instrument, painting, dance slippers, quill, or some other object of artistic expression that was significant to the lich in life. This piece of art is the lich’s phylactery. **Beautiful Mien.** A virtuoso lich maintains the beauty of its former life, appearing much as it did in life—save for one physical feature that betrays its undead nature. This undead feature can be a clawed, skeletal hand, which the lich hides in a glove; a stiff, zombie-like leg, which the lich disguises with robes and a cane; a face ravaged by undeath, which the lich covers in a beautiful mask; or any other appropriate feature. **Undead Nature.** The virtuoso lich doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep. ## A Virtuoso Lich’s Lair A virtuoso lich chooses a lair with an eye and ear for artistic potential, whether that lair is an ancient cavern with natural acoustics, a meadow with plentiful natural light, a hall of mirrors, or some other locale capable of enhancing some form of art, allowing the lich’s magic and artistic expression to swell, reaching every corner. ### Lair Actions On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the virtuoso lich takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the lich can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row: * The virtuoso lich channels artistic expression it can see or hear into a magical assault. The artistic expression must be of the type chosen with the Versatile Artist trait, but it otherwise can be any form of expression not originating from the lich, such as the song of nearby singers that echoes in the lair, the colorful paint decorating canvases, the twirling forms of dancers, or similar. The virtuoso lich chooses a creature it can see within 30 feet of the artistic expression. The target must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 18 (4d8) damage of the type chosen with the Versatile Artist trait on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. * The virtuoso lich enhances the natural artistry of its lair, distracting and hindering nearby creatures. The lich chooses a point it can see within 60 feet of it. Each creature within 5 feet of that point must make a DC 15 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, a creature has disadvantage on saving throws against the lich’s spells and its Corrupted Art action until initiative count 20 on the next round. * The virtuoso lich rolls a d4 and regains a spell slot of that level or lower. If it has no spent spell slots of that level or lower, nothing happens.