Spell Spotlight: Animate Dead

Tags Spell Spotlights author-mike-bernier

Spell Spotlight is a series where we do a deep dive on some of Dungeons & Dragons’ most interesting, useful, and complex spells. Today, we’re looking at a spell that many spellcasters consider controversial at best and appalling at worst: animate dead. It is not uncommon for magical factions to outright ban the use of necromancy, and for good reason. Those who dabble in the dark arts often do not have good intentions, such as those wizards who have given in to their lust for power and immortality by becoming a lich.

That being said, if you want to command an army of the undead to vanquish your foes, or maybe you just need a friend who’s a really good listener, you’ll find what you’re looking for in animate dead.

What does animate dead do?

zombies emerging from a pool of water

Animate dead is a 3rd-level necromancy spell that does exactly what the name implies. Casting this spell on a nearby pile of bones or corpse creates an undead servant for you to command. If targeting a pile of bones, a skeleton is created, and a zombie is created if targeting a corpse. If your undead servant is within 60 feet of you, you can issue a command to it on each of your turns using a bonus action, such as guarding an area or attacking an enemy. This spell starts to shine at higher levels as you can begin reanimating or reasserting control over multiple creatures with a single casting, at a rate of two additional creatures for each spell slot above 3rd level.

Notably, the creatures you reanimate only remain under your control for 24 hours. So, be sure to recast animate dead before time runs out, or your undead friends will turn their sights on you! Also, remember that the target has to be a Small or Medium humanoid, so, unfortunately you won’t be flying any undead ancient gold dragons into battle with this spell.

Your undead friends may be dispensable, so you might be tempted to replace them, but that requires having access to dead bodies and being surrounded by people who don’t mind you taking them. Sometimes it’s just easier to keep the ones you already have around, especially because Jeremy Crawford has stated that undead minions can spend Hit Dice. (Though your Dungeon Master may rule differently.)

The material components, a drop of blood, a piece of flesh, and a pinch of bone dust, shouldn’t be too hard to come by. Since you are likely already surrounded by death and decay if you are thinking about casting this spell, just swipe a bit of each while you choose your favorite body to bring back to life.

Using this spell as a DM

Given the negative connotation surrounding the use of necromancy spells, having an antagonist cast animate dead in front of the player characters is a great way to let them know what kind of person they are. Even if the resurrected skeletons or zombies are used for manual labor instead of combat, this practice immediately creates a moral quandary surrounding the NPC. While most may believe that it is respectful to the dead to let them rest in peace, others may be simply finding ways to make them useful in death.

If instead, you want that NPC to immediately appear evil, the resurrected bodies could be innocent people slaughtered by the antagonist or fallen comrades of one or more of the characters, giving them a reason to truly despise this foe.

Animate dead can also be used as a way to drop hints about your “big bad” lurking somewhere in the world. Consider a scenario where your players have recently arrived at a destroyed village that was attacked by the antagonist of your story. In their wake, the evil NPC cast animate dead on several of the murdered townsfolk, instructing them to lie in wait in strategic positions to ambush unsuspecting investigators of the wreckage. An observant character (perhaps with a Wisdom (Insight) check) might deduce that the zombies were clearly ordered to do so by whoever attacked the village, as a zombie without instruction is a mindless killing machine.

Who can cast animate dead?

A skeleton wearing armor and and shield

The only two classes that have animate dead on their spell list are clerics and wizards. Clerics should be careful when choosing to incorporate necromancy into their character, as many domains oppose such practices. Most notably, Grave domain clerics vow to destroy all undead they come across. Perhaps the most likely candidate for animate dead would be Death domain clerics, who manipulate energies surrounding death and unlock the spell at 5th level.

Wizards, on the other hand, have a much easier time and are one of the best candidates to learn animate dead. Choosing the School of Necromancy improves the effectiveness of the spell by buffing hit points and damage, as well as allowing you to cast the spell on additional targets.

Circle of Spores druids and Oathbreaker paladins also unlock animate dead as they level up, and the spell fits nicely into their respective lore. Circle of Spores druids intentionally surround themselves with death and decay, believing undeath to be as natural as the cycle of life and death. Oathbreakers are the antithesis of what it means to be a paladin, pursuing only self-interest and power, and therefore would have no problem leaving undead in their wake.

Why we love this spell

A zombie wearing tattered clothing

The most obvious use for animate dead is in combat. One of the best ways to improve your chances for success in any battle is to increase your action economy — that is, how many opportunities you have per turn to take an action. With animate dead, you have a good use for your bonus action as a way to deal damage. Remember that you can still issue a command, such as “kill everything that attacks us”, and your undead servants will follow the command until the task is complete. This means that you can free up your bonus action for other uses if you don’t wish to issue commands every turn.

You also won’t have to worry about spells like dispel magic ruining your undead party. It won’t have any effect on the creatures you create.

Even outside of combat, animate dead has plenty of uses. Zombies and skeletons don’t require food, air, drink, or sleep, putting them up to tasks that mere mortals may not be up for. Your undead servants make excellent guards as they can stay up all night while you get your much-needed long rest. You won’t need to worry about feeding them on the road, and you can even stick them in your bag of holding if you need to hide them. If you have any manual labor that needs doing around your house, they can work without rest or breaks. Just don’t forget to recast animate dead or you might wake up to a nasty surprise in the middle of the night.

If you don’t feel particularly attached to your undead friends, have one hold a keg of gunpowder and run toward your enemies, exploding it when it gets close. Or, send them out ahead of you in a dungeon to trigger the traps for you. If the traps involve poison, they are immune anyway. If they don’t, well … you can always find another corpse to reanimate. 

FAQ: Animate dead

Does animate dead use concentration?

Animate dead does not use concentration and cannot be dispelled. You are free to do whatever you wish on your turn, including casting other spells that use concentration.

What happens when animate dead wears off?

After 24 hours, your zombies and skeletons will no longer listen to you! Be sure to recast the spell before time runs out or leave the undead behind if you no longer wish to have them nearby.

Can creatures created using animate dead use weapons and armor?

Yes. According to the basic rules, skeletons “can fight with weapons and wear armor” and “a zombie armed with a weapon uses it”. As far as which weapons and armor they can wear, this should be up to your DM’s discretion.

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Mike Bernier (@arcane_eye) is the founder of Arcane Eye, a site focused on providing useful tips and tricks to all those involved in the world of D&D. Outside of writing for Arcane Eye, Mike spends most of his time playing games, hiking with his girlfriend, and tending the veritable jungle of houseplants that have invaded his house.

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