Animate Skull

The saying “Dead men tell no tales.” isn’t always true.

You imbue a skull with necromantic magic, granting it an eerie semblance of life. When you cast this spell, you can speak a phrase of 10 words or fewer. Whenever a creature touches the skull or enters a space within 5 feet of it, the skull speaks the phrase. You can also choose to infuse the skull with malicious energy. When you do, once per turn when a creature other than you touches the skull, it will snap at them with its teeth. The creature must make a Dexterity saving throw. If they fail, they take 1d4 piercing damage. An animated skull has 6 AC and 1 hit point.

This spell’s piercing damage increases by 1d4 when you reach 5th level (2d4), 11th level (3d4), and 17th level (4d4)