This spell creates the lowest of the undead monsters, skeletons or zombies, usually from the bones or bodies of dead humans, demihumans, or humanoids. The spell causes these remains to become animated and obey the simple verbal commands of the caster, regardless of how they communicated in life. The skeletons or zombies can follow the caster, remain in an area and attack any creature (or just a specific type of creature) entering the place, etc. The undead remain animated until they are destroyed in combat or are turned; the magic cannot be dispelled.
The priest can animate one human-sized skeleton or one zombie per rank. The the bodies being animated are other than human size, use the following conversion: 1 human sized body = 4 tiny, 2 small, 1 medium, 1/2 large, 1/4 giant. All of the bodies must be within range and with a 10 foot cube.
The spell requires a drop of blood, a piece of flesh of the type of creature being animated, and a pinch of bone powder or a bone shard to complete the spell. Casting this spell is not a good act, and only evil priests use it frequently.
Animate Dead can also be used to reanimate undead. Regardless of what type of undead this is cast on, the newly reanimated undead will either be skeletons or zombies. For example, if this spell is cast on destroyed zombies and ghouls, all of the reanimated undead will be zombies. Additionally, the reanimated undead will have 75% of normal hit points. |