Animate Dead
3rd-level necromancy (ritual)
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (a drop of blood, a piece of flesh, and a pinch of bone dust)
Duration: Instantaneous
Classes: Cleric, Warlock, Wizard
This spell creates undead servants under your control. Choose any number of bone piles, body parts, or corpses within range. Your spell imbues the target with a foul mimicry of life, raising it as an undead creature of your choice. For details go to page 2.
Each undead servant must come from different targets. The target cannot originate from the plant, ooze, elemental, or construct creature types.
On each of your turns, you can use a bonus action to mentally command any creature you made with this spell if the creature is within 60 feet of you (if you control multiple creatures, you can command any or all of them at the same time, issuing the same command to each one). You decide what action the creature will take and where it will move during its next turn, or you can issue a general command, such as to guard a particular chamber or corridor. If you issue no commands, the creature only defends itself against hostile creatures. Once given an order, the creature continues to follow it until its task is complete.
The creature is under your control for 24 hours, after which it stops obeying any command you've given it. To maintain control of the creature for another 24 hours, you must cast this spell on the creature again before the current 24-hour period ends. This use of the spell reasserts your control over up to three creatures you have animated with this spell, rather than generating XP to animate a new one.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, you reassert control over one additional undead creature for each slot level above 3rd.
Create Undead
6th-level necromancy (ritual)
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (one clay pot filled with grave dirt, one clay pot filled with brackish water, and one 150 gp black onyx stone for each target)
Duration: Instantaneous
Classes: Cleric, Warlock, Wizard
This spell must be cast at night.
This spell creates undead servants under your control. Choose any number of bone piles, body parts, corpses, or souls within range. Your spell imbues the target with a foul mimicry of life, raising it as an undead creature of your choice. For details go to page 2.
Each undead servant must come from different targets. The target cannot originate from the plant, ooze, elemental, or construct creature types.
As a bonus action on each of your turns, you can mentally command any creature you animated with this spell if the creature is within 120 feet of you (if you control multiple creatures, you can command any or all of them at the same time, issuing the same command to each one). You decide what action the creature will take and where it will move during its next turn, or you can issue a general command, such as to guard a particular chamber or corridor. If you issue no commands, the creature only defends itself against hostile creatures. Once given an order, the creature continues to follow it until its task is complete.
The creature is under your control for 24 hours, after which it stops obeying any command you've given it. To maintain control of the creature for another 24 hours, you must cast this spell on the creature again before the current 24-hour period ends. This use of the spell reasserts your control over up to six creatures you have animated with this spell, rather than generating XP to animate a new one.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 7th level or higher, you reassert control over one additional undead creature for each slot level above 6th.
Experience Pools
The animate dead and create undead spells have been modified substantially.
Instead of strictly adhering to a number of maximum undead you can create by either spell, you may instead spend points from a pool of experience. Further below is a table showing how much experience (XP) individual casts of animate dead and create undead offer.
Animate Dead
| Spell Level | XP Pool | Daily Limit |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd | 100 | 300 |
| 4th | 200 | 600 |
| 5th | 300 | 900 |
| 6th | 600 | 1200 |
| 7th | 700 | 1400 |
| 8th | 1800 | 1800 |
| 9th | 2500 | 2500 |
Create Undead
| Spell Level | XP Pool | Daily Limit |
|---|---|---|
| 6th | 1000 | 2000 |
| 7th | 1250 | 2500 |
| 8th | 3000 | 3000 |
| 9th | 5000 | 5000 |
After the spells have been cast and the undead servants have been created the leftover points in the XP pool disappear.
The XP Pool section implies a single cast of either spell at the associated spell level.
The Daily Limit section implies using all of your daily spell slots to cast the associated spells. Under normal circumstances this is the maximum amount of XP available to a single necromancer per spell level.
These lists do not include regaining spell slots.
Targets for Summoning Undead
Creating undead with either spell requires specific targets, and each individual servant requires its own target.
Bone Pile — Your summon requires bone piles equal to the number of tiles they occupy on a grid. Typically a single human male skeleton is enough for one pile, though the specifics are up to the DM.
Body Part — Examples include a single hand for a crawling claw, or a brain with 16 Intelligence for the brain in a jar.
Corpse — Your summon requires a corpse of correct size, or many corpses equal to the number of tiles it occupies on a grid. Corpses do not need to be intact, though the specifics are up to the DM.
Soul — A sapient creature's soul releases from their body at the instance of death. Most souls of deceased creatures leave the material plane. Creatures that only have the elemental, ooze, plant, and undead creature types are typically not considered to have viable souls for this purpose.
Summoning Rituals
You may ritual cast both animate dead and create undead, combining various spell levels into a single ritual. Both spells can also be cast in the same ritual. Casting either spell in this way combines all instances into the same XP pool.
When performing a summoning ritual, spell slots are still used when casting animate dead or create undead, and both the cost and casting time of the ritual additively increases with each combined spell slot. Each individual spell slot requires 10 minutes to cast.
As an example, ritual casting animate dead at 5th-level three times with create undead at 9th-level requires 40 minutes to cast. At the end of the cast time the ritual consumes the four spell slots and provides 5,900 XP for creating undead servants.
Ritual Experience
Animate Dead
Using all 3rd, 4th, and 5th level spell slots on animate dead.
Total Experience: 1,800
Using all available spell slots at 20th-level.
Total Experience: 8,700
Create Undead
Using all 6th level and higher spell slots on create undead.
Total Experience: 12,500
Using all available spell slots at 20th-level.
Total Experience: 12,500
Animate Dead & Create Undead
Combining the XP pools of both spells at 20th-level.
Total Experience: 14,300
Additionally
The following considerations apply when creating your undead servants.
- Bone piles typically weigh 20 pounds.
- Any creatures created by the animate dead spell can also be created by the create undead spell.
- Any undead created with a ritual that includes create undead can be controlled from up to 120 feet away.
- Negotiate with your DM to allow more servants to be created than what is listed on page 3 and 4.
- It is recommended that you avoid creating undead with spellcasting features.
When considering legendary actions:
- Undead creatures created using the create undead spell retain their legendary actions, unless the DM rules otherwise.
- You may only have one instance of undead servants with legendary actions. If you create a second servant with legendary actions and the same proper name the spell immediately fails and the second servant disintegrates into its target materials.
Word of Warning — You can summon more than you can control, mortal.
TODO: Running Swarms of Undead Summons
Undead Servant Lists
A variety of undead monsters can be found detailed throughout the source books listed below.
| Source Book | Acronym |
|---|---|
| Monster Manual | MM |
| The Book of the Dead: An Undead Bestiary | BDUB |
| Ixor's Manual of Monstrous Findings | IMMF |
| Monsters of the Orient: Complete Bestiary | MOB |
| Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes | MTF |
| Volo's Guide to Monsters | VGM |
| Tales from the Yawning Portal | TYP |
| Tomb of Annihilation | ToA |
| Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus | BGDIA |
| Eberron: Rising from the Last War | ERLW |
Animate Dead Servants
| Undead (CR) | XP Cost | Target | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skeletal Creature (0) | 10 | Bone Pile | Varies |
| Zombie Creature (0) | 10 | Corpse | Varies |
| Crawling Claw | 10 | Hand | MM p44 |
| Exoskeleton Centipede | 25 | Bone Pile | BDUB p59 |
| Skeletal Creature (1/8) | 25 | Bone Pile | Varies |
| Zombie Creature (1/8) | 25 | Corpse | Varies |
| Skeletal Creature (1/4) | 50 | Bone Pile | Varies |
| Zombie Creature (1/4) | 50 | Corpse | Varies |
| Desiccator | 50 | Corpse | BDUB p43 |
| Skeleton | 50 | Bone Pile | MM p272 |
| Zombie | 50 | Corpse | MM p316 |
| Warhorse Skeleton | 100 | Bone Pile | MM p273 |
| Huecuva | 100 | Corpse | BDUB p84 |
| Dread Warrior | 200 | Corpse | TYP p233 |
| Festrog/Ghoul Hound | 200 | Corpse | BDUB p62 |
| Skeletal Brown Bear | 200 | Bone Pile | IMMF p52 |
| Skeleton Deadeye | 200 | Bone Pile | IMMF p54 |
| Skeletal Dire Wolf | 200 | Bone Pile | IMMF p53 |
| Bloodhulk | 450 | Corpse | BDUB p16 |
| Minotaur Skeleton | 450 | Bone Pile | MM p273 |
| Ogre Skeleton | 450 | Bone Pile | TYP p54 |
| Ogre Zombie | 450 | Corpse | MM p316 |
| Skeleton Defender | 450 | Bone Pile | IMMF p54 |
| Skeletal Elephant | 450 | Bone Pile | IMMF p53 |
Create Undead Servants
| Undead (CR) | XP Cost | Target | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Undying Soldier | 450 | Corpse | ERLW p311 |
| Slaymate | 25 | Corpse & Soul | BDUB p124 |
| Allip (1/2) | 100 | Soul | BDUB p2 |
| Brain in a Jar | 100 | 16 INT Brain | BDUB p25 |
| Necrosis Carnex | 100 | Body Part | BDUB p100 |
| Tomb Mote | 100 | Body Part | BDUB p132 |
| Drowned | 200 | Corpse | BDUB p47 |
| Ghoul | 200 | Corpse | MM p148 |
| Onikage | 200 | Corpse | MOB p92 |
| Sanguine Drinker | 200 | Corpse | BDUB p116 |
| Specter | 200 | Soul | MM p279 |
| Entomber | 450 | Corpse | BDUB p53 |
| Ephemeral Swarm | 450 | Soul | BDUB p55 |
| Grimweird | 450 | Bone Pile & Soul | BDUB p77 |
| Manananggal (2) | 450 | Corpse & Soul | BDUB p93 |
| Plague Blight | 450 | Corpse | BDUB p106 |
| Will-o'-Wisp | 450 | Soul | MM p301 |
| Chu-U | 700 | Soul | MOB p26 |
| Cinderspawn | 700 | Bone Pile | BDUB p29 |
| Deathweb | 700 | Bone Pile | BDUB p31 |
| Gravecrawler | 700 | Corpse | BDUB p73 |
| Mummified Ogre | 700 | Corpse | BDUB p96 |
| Mummy | 700 | Corpse | MM p228 |
| Onikage Alpha | 700 | Corpse | MOB p92 |
| Skeleton Scoundrel | 700 | Bone Pile | IMMF p56 |
| Voidwraith | 700 | Soul | BDUB p142 |
| Wight | 700 | Corpse & Soul | MM p300 |
| Blackwing | 1,100 | Bone Pile | BDUB p12 |
| Boneclaw (4) | 1,100 | Bone Pile | BDUB p21 |
| Dryad Spirit | 1,100 | Soul | BGDIA p108 |
| Dust Wight | 1,100 | Soul | BDUB p48 |
| Entombed | 1,100 | Corpse | BDUB p52 |
| Greater Shadow | 1,100 | Soul | BDUB p76 |
| Skeleton Marauder | 1,100 | Bone Pile | IMMF p56 |
| Spectral Rider | 1,100 | Bone Pile & Soul | BDUB p126 |
This table is continued on the next page
Create Undead Servants
| Undead (CR) | XP Cost | Target | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tatarimokke | 1,100 | Soul | MOB p118 |
| Allip (5) | 1,800 | Soul | MTF p116 |
| Beholder Zombie | 1,800 | Corpse | MM p316 |
| Cold Rider | 1,800 | Bone Pile | BDUB p30 |
| Deathbringer | 1,800 | Corpse | BDUB p36 |
| Greater Zombie | 1,800 | Corpse | TYP p237 |
| Hyekuhei | 1,800 | Corpse | MOB p39 |
| Mohrg | 1,800 | Corpse | BDUB p94 |
| Skeleton Flailer | 1,800 | Bone Pile | IMMF p55 |
| Skirr | 1,800 | Corpse | BDUB p120 |
| Spawn of Kyuss | 1,800 | Corpse | VGM p192 |
| Undead Displacer Beast | 1,800 | Corpse & Soul | BDUB p136 |
| Wraith | 1,800 | Soul | MM p302 |
| Bodak | 2,300 | Corpse | VGM p127 |
| Centaur Mummy | 2,300 | Bone Pile | TYP p231 |
| Crypt Chanter | 2,300 | Bone Pile & Soul | BDUB p35 |
| Deathshrieker | 2,300 | Bone Pile & Soul | BDUB p40 |
| Fossile Megaraptor | 2,300 | Bone Pile | BDUB p114 |
| Hulking Corpse | 2,300 | Corpse | BDUB p85 |
| Skeletal Adult Dragon | 2,300 | Bone Pile & Soul | IMMF p52 |
| Giant Skeleton | 2,900 | Bone Pile | TYP p236 |
| Skeleton Commander | 2,900 | Bone Pile | IMMF p54 |
| Boneyard | 3,900 | Bone Pile | BDUB p24 |
| Effigy | 3,900 | Soul | BDUB p51 |
| Slaughter Wight | 3,900 | Corpse & Soul | BDUB p123 |
| Tyrannosaurus Zombie | 3,900 | Corpse | ToA p241 |
| Plague Spewer | 5,000 | Corpse | BDUB p107 |
| Undead Tree | 5,000 | Bone Pile & Soul | BGDIA p23 |
| Cuchan | 5,900 | Corpse & Soul | IMMF p50 |
| Famine Spirit | 5,900 | Corpse & Soul | BDUB p61 |
| Pennaggolan | 5,900 | Head & Guts | MOB p132 |
| Skeleton General | 7,200 | Bone Pile | IMMF p55 |
| Boneclaw (12) | 8,400 | Corpse | MTF p121 |
| Charnel Hound | 8,400 | Corpse | BDUB p28 |
| Dream Vestige | 8,400 | Soul | BDUB p46 |
| Ecorche | 8,400 | Corpse | BDUB p50 |
| Atropal | 10,000 | Corpse | ToA p214 |
| Bhuta | 10,000 | Soul | BDUB p9 |
This table is continued on the right
Create Undead Servants
| Undead (CR) | XP Cost | Target | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dread Wraith | 10,000 | Corpse & Soul | BDUB p45 |
| Manananggal (13) | 10,000 | Corpse & Soul | MOB p131 |
Protip — Struggling with obtaining fresh souls? Try including quick and easy sacrifice into your summoning rituals! It's all the rage with evil lords!