So as many people have some reservations about Necromancy and particularly the rasing of undead is it worth changing/revising the level 3 spell Animate Dead as follows:
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Casting Time, Duration, Components etc stay they same just description changes to:
This spell creates an undead servant. Choose a pile of bones or a corpse of a Medium or Smaller creature with either the beast, giant, humanoid or monstrosity type within range. Your spell imbues the target with a mimicry of life, raising it as an undead creature. The target becomes a skeleton if you chose bones or a zombie if you chose a corpse. Amend the targets stats as follows:
1) Creatures raised as Skeletons have the following modifications: +2 Dex, -4 Int, -4 Cha, Vulnerable to bludgeoning damage; immune to poison damage and exhaustion; can't be poisoned; Darkvision 60ft.; can't speak but understands the languages it knew in life.
2) Creatures raised as Zombies have the following modifications: +1 Str, +2 Con, -6 Int, -4 Wis, -4 Cha, Undead Fortitude (as per Zombie in the Monster Manual); immune to poison damage; can't be poisoned; Darkvision 60ft.; can't speak but understands the languages it knew in life.
3) Creatures raised by this spell lose any spell casting abilities they may have had and gain Undead as a creature type (in addition to any others they may have had).
4) You can only raise creatures with a CR lower than 1.
On each of your turns, you can use a bonus action you mentally command any creature you made with this spell if the creature is within 60ft of you (if you control multi pie 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. lf 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 four creatures you have animated with this spell, rather than animating a new one.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th leveI or higher, you animate or reassert control over two additional undead creatures for each slot level above 3rd. The CR of creatures you can affect with this spell also increases by 1 for each spell level above 3rd. Each of the creatures must come from a different corpse or pile of bones. If you use a spell slot of 5th level or higher you can instead affect a creature upto large size and if you use a spell slot of 7th level or higher you can instead afect upto two large creatures or a single huge creature.
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Would this make it more palatable to folks because you could then use it to create undead steeds, animate the foul beastie that just attacked you to act as a guard whilst you have a long rest etc without getting into the morality of raising something to undeath by having the option of targeting beasts and monstrousities.
EDIT: added giant tot he list of affected creatures and amend the higher casting to include the ability to affect large or huge creatures because who wouldn't want an zombie giant following them around at high levels?
To keep it in line with its existing power level, I'd just say "you may animate non-standard undead. For each undead you would normally be able to create or control, you are instead allowed 50 xp worth of undead".
I do like the idea of expanding it to raising more than just humanoids. Maybe any beast you raise becomes a warhorse skeleton though the damage might be a little much. And another specific monster for raising monstrosities, etc.
I also like the idea of it being a first level spell that affects only one corpse and as you upcast it you can raise 1 more pile of bones OR alternatively by upcasting it you can make a singular entity more powerful. Though at first level, casting it multiple times to control multiple zombies or skeletons would be too OP. But seeing as this is basically the signature spell of a necromancer imo it’d be cool if it was buffed a teensy bit.
I was having a think it earlier and the standard spell is limited to medium or small humanoids and skeletal warhorses are large but I cannot think of any reason I wouldn't allow a "steed" of some description to be raised as a zombie or skeelton version if the need arose, as long as it was a beast type.
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So as many people have some reservations about Necromancy and particularly the rasing of undead is it worth changing/revising the level 3 spell Animate Dead as follows:
****
Casting Time, Duration, Components etc stay they same just description changes to:
This spell creates an undead servant. Choose a pile of bones or a corpse of a Medium or Smaller creature with either the beast, giant, humanoid or monstrosity type within range. Your spell imbues the target with a mimicry of life, raising it as an undead creature. The target becomes a skeleton if you chose bones or a zombie if you chose a corpse. Amend the targets stats as follows:
1) Creatures raised as Skeletons have the following modifications: +2 Dex, -4 Int, -4 Cha, Vulnerable to bludgeoning damage; immune to poison damage and exhaustion; can't be poisoned; Darkvision 60ft.; can't speak but understands the languages it knew in life.
2) Creatures raised as Zombies have the following modifications: +1 Str, +2 Con, -6 Int, -4 Wis, -4 Cha, Undead Fortitude (as per Zombie in the Monster Manual); immune to poison damage; can't be poisoned; Darkvision 60ft.; can't speak but understands the languages it knew in life.
3) Creatures raised by this spell lose any spell casting abilities they may have had and gain Undead as a creature type (in addition to any others they may have had).
4) You can only raise creatures with a CR lower than 1.
On each of your turns, you can use a bonus action you mentally command any creature you made with this spell if the creature is within 60ft of you (if you control multi pie 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. lf 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 four creatures you have animated with this spell, rather than animating a new one.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th leveI or higher, you animate or reassert control over two additional undead creatures for each slot level above 3rd. The CR of creatures you can affect with this spell also increases by 1 for each spell level above 3rd. Each of the creatures must come from a different corpse or pile of bones. If you use a spell slot of 5th level or higher you can instead affect a creature upto large size and if you use a spell slot of 7th level or higher you can instead afect upto two large creatures or a single huge creature.
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Would this make it more palatable to folks because you could then use it to create undead steeds, animate the foul beastie that just attacked you to act as a guard whilst you have a long rest etc without getting into the morality of raising something to undeath by having the option of targeting beasts and monstrousities.
EDIT: added giant tot he list of affected creatures and amend the higher casting to include the ability to affect large or huge creatures because who wouldn't want an zombie giant following them around at high levels?
To keep it in line with its existing power level, I'd just say "you may animate non-standard undead. For each undead you would normally be able to create or control, you are instead allowed 50 xp worth of undead".
I do like the idea of expanding it to raising more than just humanoids. Maybe any beast you raise becomes a warhorse skeleton though the damage might be a little much. And another specific monster for raising monstrosities, etc.
I also like the idea of it being a first level spell that affects only one corpse and as you upcast it you can raise 1 more pile of bones OR alternatively by upcasting it you can make a singular entity more powerful. Though at first level, casting it multiple times to control multiple zombies or skeletons would be too OP. But seeing as this is basically the signature spell of a necromancer imo it’d be cool if it was buffed a teensy bit.
I was having a think it earlier and the standard spell is limited to medium or small humanoids and skeletal warhorses are large but I cannot think of any reason I wouldn't allow a "steed" of some description to be raised as a zombie or skeelton version if the need arose, as long as it was a beast type.