Animate Dead (Singular)

While dedicated necromancers typically flock to classes which study the full applications of magic, other classes lack the commitment to raise and control multiple undead at once. However, some necromancers from outside the usual mystic pathways still find ways to create undead servants without needing to cast animate dead. Much like more savory spellcasters who prefer to make use of find familiar or unseen servant, the convenience of having another creature at your beck and call is a tempting prospect for these hybrid necromancers.

This spell creates a single undead servant. Choose a pile of bones or a corpse of a Medium or Small humanoid that you can see within range. Your spell imbues the target with a foul mimicry of life, raising it as an undead creature. The target becomes a skeleton if you chose bones or a zombie if you chose a corpse (the GM has the creature's game statistics).

On each of your turns, you can use a bonus action to mentally command any creature you made with this spell if the creature is within 60 feet of you (if you control multiple creatures, you can command any or all of them at the same time, issuing the same command to each one). You decide what action the creature will take and where it will move during its next turn, or you can issue a general command, such as to guard a particular chamber or corridor. If you issue no commands, the creature only defends itself against hostile creatures. Once given an order, the creature continues to follow it until its task is complete.

The creature is under your control for 24 hours, after which it stops obeying any command you've given it. To maintain control of the creature for another 24 hours, you must cast this spell on the creature again before the current 24-hour period ends. This use of the spell reasserts your control over a single creature you have animated with this spell, rather than animating a new one.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, you reassert control over one additional undead creature for each slot level above 1st. Each of the creatures must come from a different corpse or pile of bones.