You grant the semblance of life to a corpse of your choice within range, allowing it to answer questions you pose. The corpse must have a mouth, and this spell fails if the deceased creature was Undead when it died. The spell also fails if the corpse was the target of this spell within the past 10 days. Until the spell ends, you can ask the corpse up to five questions. The corpse knows only what…
Level 3 Necromancy (Bard, Cleric, Wizard) Casting Time: Action Range: 10 feet Components: V, S, M (burning incense) Duration: 10 minutes You grant the semblance of life to a corpse of your choice within range, allowing it to answer questions you pose. The corpse must have a mouth, and this spell fails if the deceased creature was Undead when it died. The spell also fails if the corpse was the…
The entry room is fairly plain. The fireplace offers no warmth, only a pile of ashes. A table and two chairs sit in the center of the room. One chair lies on its back, and in front of it on the floor is dust in the vague shape of a humanoid. There is a door in the wall opposite the one you came in through. There are no windows, and two lanterns on the walls cast unreliable, flickering light.…
At a glance, the people of Aerenal are simply better at everything than their counterparts in Khorvaire, due to their exceptional work ethic and long lifespan. An Aereni artisan can spend multiple human lifespans perfecting their craft. Even while trancing, an elf may be contemplating their work. However, Aerenal lags behind Khorvaire in industry and innovation. The Aereni aren’t trying to find…
Level 5 Bastion Facility CoupleOfKooks Divination tools, such as spirit boards and tarokka decks, are common features of seance parlors Prerequisite: None Space: Cramped Hirelings: 1 Order: Research The veil between the world of the living and the dead grows thin in a Séance Parlor. Research: Fortune Telling. When you issue the Research order to this facility, you commission its hireling to read…
Manifest zones tied to Dolurrh rarely possess all of the plane’s properties; travelers generally aren’t entrapped by Ennui simply by passing through one. But these zones are still close to the Realm of the Dead and exceptionally haunted, though not blighted, as Mabaran zones typically are. Shadows move in disturbing ways, and travelers may hear whispers they can’t quite make out. The restless…
You can cast Speak with Dead once without a spell slot, requiring no spell components and using Dexterity as the spellcasting modifier. You regain the ability to cast it this way when you finish a Short or Long Rest. When you cast the spell, you can target one of your soul trinkets from Tokens of the Departed instead of a corpse, allowing the spirit of the creature associated with the trinket to…
A humanoid skeleton clad in rags is nailed to the eastern wall here, its bones hanging off pitons. A wide-brimmed hat with an enormous green feather rests on the skeleton’s head. Scratched into the rock nearby are the following words in Common: “Here lies a weakling unfit to rule.” This skeleton is all that remains of Captain Edgard Brandle. When Sablewing took command of the Corsairs, the…
Prerequisite: Level 7+ Warlock You can cast Speak with Dead without expending a spell slot.
Ghast gravecallers wield fell magic and converse with corpses. They might pose as liches or vampires. Ghasts Ghasts are reeking, undying corpses closely related to ghouls. They hunger for the vices they enjoyed in life as much as they do for rotting flesh.
Ghast gravecallers wield fell magic and converse with corpses. They might pose as liches or vampires.
| Warlock Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3 | Bane, Blindness/Deafness, Phantasmal Force, Ray of Sickness |
| 5 | Speak with Dead, Summon Undead … |
For simplicity's sake, Magewrights cast spells from the existing spell lists. But magewright spells are unique in a few ways. First of all, magewrights cast all their spells as Rituals—even spells that don't normally have the Ritual tag. The drawback is that they can only be cast as Rituals with an extended casting time. All magewright spells have a minimum casting time of 10 minutes, and the DM…
Wondrous Item, uncommon When you cast the Animate Dead spell, you can consume this magic item. When you do, the Skeletons and Zombies created through the spell can speak and understand any languages you know.
Embrace Death and Wield Ghostly Power Some Rogues traverse the veil between life and death, shepherding opponents to the grave and slipping through the world as undetectable as a spirit. In these pursuits, a Rogue might discover a mystical connection to death itself. Such an individual becomes immersed in negative energy, infusing their strikes with deathly energy and stealing knowledge from…
| Sorcerer Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3 | Bane, Bless, Heroism, Protection from Evil and Good |
| 5 | Augury, Healing Spirit … |
Weapon (greatclub), legendary (requires attunement) This shovel features a steel blade and collar at the end of a makeshift walking stick, appearing old and well-used. It was once the shovel of Yorgrim of the Shadestone Clan, who could commune with the spirits of the dead. It occasionally emits a faint whispering sound when handled. You gain a bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls with this…
Commune with the Dead Unlike other Sorcerers, the circumstances of your birth were mundane and you have no arcane inheritance passed down from strange ancestors. Instead, you gained your sorcerous powers after you survived an experience that left you near death. Since that experience, you’ve had a preternatural sense for danger and a ghostly companion that either can’t, or won’t, leave you alone.…
You imbue plants in an immobile 30-foot Emanation with limited sentience and animation, giving them the ability to communicate with you and follow your simple commands. You can question plants about events in the spell’s area within the past day, gaining information about creatures that have passed, weather, and other circumstances. You can also turn Difficult Terrain caused by plant growth (such…
For the duration, you can comprehend and verbally communicate with Beasts, and you can use any of the Influence action’s skill options with them. Most Beasts have little to say about topics that don’t pertain to survival or companionship, but at minimum, a Beast can give you information about nearby locations and monsters, including whatever it has perceived within the past day. Spell Tags:…
Skeletons are reanimated Humanoid bones bearing the equipment they had in life. They have rudimentary faculties and greater agility than zombies and similar shambling corpses. While they aren’t capable of creating plans of their own, they avoid obvious barriers and self-destructive situations. Skeletons Skeletons rise at the summons of necromancers and foul spirits. Whether they’re the remains of…
When the characters arrive at the Dead Man’s Hand, read or paraphrase the following: The ghastly riverboat is moored at the center of the bayou with its gangplank lowered onto a small muddy island beside it. Eerily vibrant and colorful light pours from the ship’s upper decks, and jaunty music drifts across the water as if the party inside never stops. Two hulking undead bellhops laze about at…
| Magic Item Table E 1d100 | Magic Item |
|---|---|
| 01–10 | Boots of Dendallen |
| 11–20 | Flesh of Dendallen … |
Zombies animated from the corpses of beholders retain some use of those monsters’ magical eyestalks. These hovering corpses rely on their magic to destroy impediments and paralyze foes, allowing them to savage foes with their rotting maws. Magic-using beholders typically raise these abominations from the corpses of defeated rivals. Zombies Zombies are unthinking, reanimated corpses, often…
To understand the Greyhawk of today (the year 576 in the Common Year), it is helpful to picture the Flanaess about 200 years ago. At that time, the Great Kingdom of Aerdy stretched from the Vast Swamp to the Rakers, and from the Solnor Ocean to the Yatil and Lortmil Mountains. Between the Lortmil Mountains and the Crystalmists was the Kingdom of Keoland, mimicking the Great Kingdom in its…
Some wicked mortals have bound their souls to Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul and gained a portion of malevolent divine power from each. A scion of the Dead Three might have seized this power in a sinister ritual or had it thrust on them by an evil Artifact or a god’s malevolent will. In any case, they possess cruelty, bloodlust, and necromantic power in equal measure and serve the Dead Three with their…
Resting on the apothecary’s desk, amidst vials, surgical implements, and scattered anatomical notes tomes is a skull, ordinary at first glance. It lies motionless—but then it begins to stir, hovering an inch above the wooden surface. Its eye sockets, dark and hollow, seem to fix on you, its bony grin frozen in a sinister smirk. The skull begins to speak, its voice a chilling murmur. “You’re not…
Wondrous Item, rare This smooth and weighty stone has a dusk-colored gem embedded in its center. When pressed to the chest of a creature who has been dead for less than one minute, the stone captures a fragment of the dead creature's soul for later use. The Soulbond Stone has 3 charges. While holding the stone, you can expend 1 charge to cast Speak With Dead with the stone, as if the trapped…
This spell is part of the Player’s Handbook. You can unlock it by purchasing the book in our marketplace.
