Animate Bones

This spell creates an undead servant. Choose a pile of bones of a Large or smaller creature within range with a challenge rating of 1/2 or lower. You cannot choose the bones of a humanoid. Your spell imbues the target with a foul mimicry of life, raising it as an undead creature. The target becomes a warhorse skeleton if you chose horse bones. Otherwise, the creature's statistics are the same as they were in life with the following changes:

1. The creature is undead, and any traits that assume a living physiology (such as amphibious) are removed. It does not require food, drink, sleep, or air.

2. The creature is immune to the exhaustion and poisoned conditions, as well as poison damage. It is vulnerable to bludgeoning damage if its largest bone is smaller than 5 ft. on a side.

3. It has darkvision out to a distance of 60 ft. and knows all languages it knew in life, but can't speak. Its ability scores are no higher than 15 CON, 6 INT, 8 WIS, 5 CHA. Its hit points are calculated using its new Constitution modifier.

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 90 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 up to three creatures of challenge rating 1/2 or lower that 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 5th level or higher, you animate or reassert control over two additional skeletal creatures for each slot level above 4th. Each of the creatures must come from a different pile of bones. When you cast this spell at 6th level, you can animate (1) or reassert control over (3) the skeleton(s) of a creature of challenge 2 or lower, including a minotaur skeleton. Casting at 8th level, you can animate (1) or reassert control over (2) the skeleton(s) of a a creature of challenge 6 or lower.

Casting at 9th level, you can animate or reassert control over the skeleton of any one (1) creature of a challenge rating equal to your level or lower. Successfully asserting control over the creature animated at 9th level in the first place (immediately after animating it) requires it to fail on a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC, which repeats each time you cast this spell on that creature. The skeleton has advantage on the saving throw.