Target an intact corpse or skeleton of any Aberration, Beast, Dragon, Fey, Giant, Humanoid, or Monstrosity with CR equal to or less than 1/2 of your level (rounded down) plus your spellcasting modifier. This spell reanimates their corpse, imbuing them with a sinister intelligence which is a warped reflection of any intelligence they had in life. The creature uses the stat block of their living variant, but its creature type becomes undead, they become immune to disease, suffocation, and poison. They also gain condition immunities to Paralyzed, Poisoned, Frightened, and Charmed, and their alignment becomes Chaotic Evil, unless there is specific and exceptional reason it would not. If the creature had any spellcasting or shapechanging abilities, these abilities are lost, and the creature remains in whatever form its corpse was in at the point of reanimation. The creature then makes an intelligence save against your Spell Save DC. On a success, the creature breaks free of its necromantic binds, and goes on a rampage. On a failure, it falls under your thrall for 24 hours, obeying your commands. In combat, the creature follows your initiative. You may spend an action to command the creature. The creature will attempt to follow those commands to the best of its ability. It will continue that task until it is completed, or you give it a new command. When the creature doesn't have any commands while under your control, it will remain stationary and take the dodge action. Every 24 hours, you must cast this spell on the creature again to reassert control, and the creature may save again. If you do not, the creature will break free and go on a rampage. If the reanimated creature dies, it turns to dust and cannot be further reanimated without the use of the wish spell.
You may also cast this on a rampaging creature that was reanimated with this spell to assume control over it. The creature must make an Intelligence Save against your Spell Save DC. If it fails, it falls under your control. If it succeeds, then it continues its rampage, unaffected. This cannot be used to steal control over a creature from another character.
* - (A skull inlaid with gold and gems worth at least 1000 GP (not consumed).)
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Posted Feb 27, 2022My goal with this spell is to provide a powerful, but mostly balanced spell which allows a necromancer to raise non-humanoid undead. I wanted the spell to be useful, even given access to true polymorph (which can effectively give you control over any CR 9 monster). I tried to stick with the classic D&D theme of "Undead are evil"; however, the elastic clause in the middle is intended to give DMs a flexible area where the creature raised does not NEED to be evil (although why a LG creature would go on a rampage upon gaining its freedom is beyond me). It is up to the DM what an "intact" corpse or skeleton is. This was left intentionally vague to allow the DM to regulate how powerful they want this spell to be. It is also balanced by what kinds of corpses the players can find/create, including what creatures leave a corpse. Removing spell casting was something I debated heavily, but decided was necessary for balance. Ultimately what this spell produces is a strong "beat stick" creature which retains any mystical and nonmystical abilities, not including spellcasting. Dragons keep their breath weapons and fear abilities. Beholders keep their eye rays. RAW, innate spells are lost, but writing is intended to be vague enough to allow a DM to allow innate spells as they wish. An easy alternative for this spell if you are running a non-typical undead world (i.e. where undead are not inherently evil) is to remove the rampage factor and the alignment change, and instead cause them to remain under your control for 24 hours, after which their behavior towards you is based on how you treated them while they were under your control, as well as their normal alignment.