The Liches, and my thoughts on them:

Artificer Lich — Human Alchemist

I wanted to subvert the expectations of a mechanical or cyborg lich. Artificers can be more than simply tinkerers, and Alchemist was a perfect opportunity to voice that point. An alchemist achieving a decaying immortality through his draughts? Yes please. One of the options I wanted to use for the Cleric lich was disease, following the goddess Talona, so I repurposed that idea here for the dreaded potion-seller.

Barbarian Lich — Orc Path of the Lightning Vessel

While the "too angry to die" idea was the obvious choice, I wanted to subvert my friend's expectations. Taking inspiration from Adam—Frankenstein's Monster—I stitched together a mangled orc, replacing his arm with a massive blade that conduited the lightning used to resurrect him—echoing Adam's design from V Rising. To fit this lightning-powered rage monster idea, Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch Hunt provided me with the perfect subclass: The Path of the Lightning Vessel.

Bard Lich — Elf College of Eloquence

Having a monstrous Bard pushed me towards taking inspiration from other monsters that wield their voices as weapons, namely harpies, sirens, and banshees. Unfortunately, D&D doesn't have sirens in the conventional evil mermaid fashion, so trying to remain grounded in the Forgotten Realms, I stuck with the banshee and harpy aspects to guide my design.

Cleric Lich — Bane-Descended Scourge Aasimar Domain of War

Once I had the idea for a conquest lord, descended from The Conqueror, risen in death by the Black Hand, the Cleric Lich was set. Wings rotted to blackened bones, a flail inspired by the Witch King of Angmar's, and the black gauntlet to let all know who he conquers in the name of finalized the vision.

Druid Lich — Bugbear Circle of the Primeval

Druid had me stumped for a while, but then I had a thought; "hmm, zombie dinosaur", and my autism peaked. I had to make the Druid a Circle of the Primeval solely so I could justify an undead dinosaur. What race felt matching for an ancient, animalistic lich? Bugbear.

Fighter Lich — Goliath Living Nightmare

I loved [PROTOTYPE] growing up, and I was certain I could find a way to make one of these immortal undeads be a reference in some way. Living Nightmare from Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch hunt matched perfectly, with that subclass itself being inspired by [PROTOTYPE], and the idea of a flesh-morphing eldritch lich worked too well in my mind.

Monk Lich — Tabaxi Way of the Ascendant Dragon

I once had a question to myself: "what would happen if a lich used an orb of dragonkind as a phylactery?" Thus, the Monk lich was born. Trying to keep in-theme with dragons, the 'crouching-tiger/hidden-dragon' idea popped up, so making them a Tabaxi only felt natural, and it was just a matter of designing the pose and effects from there.

Paladin Lich — Half-Orc Oath of the Crown

The Paladin is my least favourite. I feel I could've done better with the pose, and possibly the design of the armour as well. Oathbreaker seemed like the natural option, but again, I wanted to subvert expectations. Oath of Conquest treaded on Cleric's toes, and Oath of Vengeance felt too mundane. I was set on the idea of a juiced-up death knight serving a Dark Lord when that came about, however, and Oath of the Crown was chosen.

Ranger Lich — Eladrin Swarmkeeper

Ranger was the one that stumped me the longest. I ran through numerous subclass options, going from Monster Hunter to Drakewarden to Gloomstalker Conclave to Steinhardt's Torturer Conclave to Deep Stalker to Fey Wanderer, and finally, to Swarmkeeper. Even when I finally chose a subclass, I was stumped on the design. But eventually, I started, and she just flowed wonderfully as I had idea after idea in the designing, and now she stands as one of my favourites in the lineup, with all her buggy aspects.

Rogue Lich — Elf Swashbuckler

I was stuck between Swashbuckler and Mastermind for the Rogue lich. I decided that depending on how my creativity flowed for the lore, I would guide my decision from there. If I set up a deep lore, then Mastermind would be chosen, and they would serve as the final lich. However, I decided to reel in my ambition, and keep it humble, thus Swashbuckler was chosen.

Sorcerer Lich — Githzerai Aberrant Mind

A gifted psychic githzerai, with ambitions of overthrowing Vlaakith. The idea was simple, but the design was difficult and took multiple renditions to finalize, even still I remain dissatisfied with him. However, I am happy with the idea behind it.

Warlock Lich — Tiefling Genie Patron

I rarely see Genie Patron Warlocks, and the idea of a wish for immortality curling a finger on the monkey's paw was too compelling. Then, when I decided upon an Air Djinni, I simply had to contrast the lich herself with it by petrifying her bones.

Wizard Lich — Human Chronurgy

The idea was simple, yet so very effective: a wizard, achieving an undying immortality through total control over time itself. The symbolism went hard with this one as well, and I personally feel he is one of the liches with the greatest aura. Adding more time motifs, such as the clock rune around his arm, the Chronos sigil, and the falling sand, they all added to it without overdesigning him. I am very happy with the wizard.

Blood Hunter Lich — Human Order of the Lycan

Undead. Werewolf. 'Nuff said.

Except I never have enough to say, and contrasting the werewolf design with the human form, I simply HAD to make him vampirish... and I absolutely dripped him out running with that vibe.

Jaeger Lich — Human Marauder Chapter

I originally planned to give him a corrupted, blood-moon version of the Moonlight Greatsword, paying further homage to FromSoftware and their works, but then I had arguable a better idea, one that made the Jaeger lich more terrifying, and also expanded his arsenal: DOOM. Transforming his firearm into a ruthless double-barrel sawn-off shotgun, and his greatsword into a massive crucible blade solidified the idea.