Conjure Shadowfel Champion

You call upon the powers of the Shadowfel to manifest an undead servant of great power. Choose an undead creature you've seen before with challenge rating less than or equal to your level minus your PB, causing it to manifest in a surge of darkness in an area within range. The summoned undead is an average example of the specimen. If the summoned undead has the Rejuvenation trait or some other trait that allows it to return to life, it will reform within 10 ft. of you 1d4 days after its destroyed, regaining all its hit points and becoming active again, unless the time it takes for it to reform is shorter than 1 day, in which it operates as normal. Otherwise, it disappears when it drops to 0 hit points or when the spell ends.

The undead is completely loyal to you and creatures you designate for the duration. Roll initiative for the undead, which has its own turns. It obeys any verbal and telepathic commands that you issue to it (no action required by you). If you don't issue any commands to the undead, it defends itself from hostile creatures but otherwise takes no actions. Additionally, you can make any spell you cast that targets only yourself that is originally 7th level or lower also target the summoned undead (EX: Blur, Eyebite, armor of Agathys, etc.).

If you maintain concentration for the whole duration, you can expend a number of hit dice equal to the challenge rating of the summoned undead (1 hit die for challenge rating 1/2 or lower). If you do, the undead is fully manifested and doesn't disappear when the spell ends. If the number of hit dice you expend would leave you at 0 hit points and/or kill you, you can expend spell slot levels equal to the difference + 1, leaving you with 1 hit dice. The spent hit dice are restored after 1d4 long rests. Additionally, if you manage to manifest the undead, it now deals extra necrotic or cold damage (your choice) on all of its damage rolls equal to your spellcasting modifier. You can also heal the summoned undead by using a bonus action to spend a spell slot and restore hit points to the undead equal to a number of d6's times the spell slot level. If you control multiple undead creatures summoned by this spell, the number of hit points regained is divided evenly between all of them (rounded up).

While the summoned undead is alive and within 30 ft. of you, it reduces all damage you receive by an amount equal to a number of d4's times half of the summoned undead's challenge rating (rounded down, ex: CR 12/2 = 6d4 reduced damage). If it reduces an incoming damage to 0 through this effect, you and the undead gains temporary hit points equal to that damage.

If your concentration is broken, the undead doesn't disappear. Instead, you lose control of the undead, it becomes hostile toward you and your companions, and it might attack. An uncontrolled undead can't be dismissed by you, retains its benefits as if you still controlled it, and disappears 1 hour after you summoned it.

The GM has the undead's statistics. Sample undead creatures can be found below.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 8th level or higher, you can instead summon an undead with a challenge rating less than equal to your level minus half your PB. It gains a bonus to its AC equal to your spellcasting modifier, regains hit points equal to your spell attack modifier at the start of each of its turns (this compounds with any trait that regains hit points), and gains immunity to one of the following damage types (your choice), unless it is already vulnerable to the that damage type: fire, cold, lightning, acid, thunder, or psychic. Additionally, when you spend a spell slot to heal the undead, it is raised from d6's to d8's, and its distance requirement to reduce incoming damage increases from 30 ft. to 60 ft.

When you cast this spell at 9th level, you can also expend an additional spell slot when you cast this spell, allowing you to summon an undead creature with a challenge rating less than or equal to your level minus half your PB plus half of the level of the expended spell slot (rounded down, EX: LVL 20 - (PB 6/2 = 3) = CR 17 + (4th level spell slot/2 = 2) = CR 19 undead). The summoned undead gains a bonus to attack and damage rolls equal to your spellcasting modifier, any save DC's it imposes with its abilities (NOT including its own spellcasting) become equal to your spell save DC (if they are lower than your spell save DC), and it gains resistance to nonmagical Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage. Additionally, when you spend a spell slot to heal the undead, it is raised from d8's to d10's, and the damage reduced by the undead is increased from d4's to d6's.

Sample Undead