Animate Skull

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).

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