Acererak: The Demilich Who Tried to Birth a God

Acererak began as the half-fiend son of an Orcus-worshipping balor, became apprentice to Vecna, and spent thousands of years engineering his own apotheosis. His Tomb of Horrors has killed more adventurers than any other dungeon in D&D history. His Soulmonger nearly fed a stillborn god enough stolen souls to reshape the rules governing death across an entire world. This is the complete lore of Acererak — origins, mechanics, the Tomb of the Nine Gods, the city of Moil, and what Tomb of Annihilation gets right and wrong about who he actually is. Sources: Tomb of Horrors (1978), Return to the Tomb of Horrors (1998), Tomb of Annihilation (2017), Monster Manual 5e, Tales from the Yawning Portal (2017). Chapters below.