Necromancy [Evil]
Level: Clr 3, Death 3, Sor/Wiz 4
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Targets: One or more corpses touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
This spell turns the bones or bodies of dead creatures into undead skeletons or
zombies that follow your spoken commands. The undead can follow you, or they
can remain in an area and attack any creature (or just a specific kind of creature)
entering the place. They remain animated until they are destroyed. (A destroyed
skeleton or zombie can’t be animated again.)
Regardless of the type of undead you create with this spell, you can’t create more
HD of undead than twice your caster level with a single casting of animate dead. (The
desecrate spell doubles this limit.)
The undead you create remain under your control indefinitely. No matter how
many times you use this spell, however, you can control only 4 HD worth of
undead creatures per caster level. If you exceed this number, all the newly created
creatures fall under your control, and any excess undead from previous castings
become uncontrolled. (You choose which creatures are released.) If you are a cleric,
any undead you might command by virtue of your power to command or rebuke
undead do not count toward the limit.
Skeletons: A skeleton can be created only from a mostly intact corpse or skeleton.
The corpse must have bones, so creating a skeleton from a purple worm, for example,
is not possible. If a skeleton is made from a corpse, the flesh falls off the bones. The
statistics for a skeleton depend on its size; they do not depend on what abilities the
creature may have had while alive. The Monster Manual has game statistics for
skeletons.
Zombies: A zombie can be created only from a mostly intact corpse. The corpse
must be that of a creature with a true anatomy, so a dead gelatinous cube, for
example, cannot be animated as a zombie. The statistics for a zombie depend on its
size, not on what abilities the creature may have had while alive. The Monster Manual
has game statistics for zombies.
Material Component: You must place a black onyx gem worth at least 25 gp per
Hit Die of the undead into the mouth or eye socket of each corpse you intend to
animate. The magic of the spell turns these gems into worthless, burned-out shells.
