Create Undead
6th-Level Necromancy
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: 10 feet
Components: VSM($) (one clay pot filled with grave dirt, one clay pot filled with brackish water, and one 150 gp black onyx stone for each corpse)
Duration: Instantaneous
You can cast this spell only at night. Choose up to three corpses within range. Each corpse becomes an undead creature under your control. The most common creature raised with this spell is a ghoul, but any undead creature of CR 1 or less can qualify based on the remains of the creature. (The DM has game statistics for these creatures.)
You may choose to animate a greater minion with this spell. To do so, simply "spend" the lesser minions that would be summoned to instead create a greater minion.
The number of equivalent minions is listed on the table below. To assert control over a greater minion, one must reassert control over it as if you were reasserting control over a number of minions equal to the cost of animating the greater minion.
| Greater Minion CR | Animate Dead CR 1/4th Minions | Create Undead CR 1 Minions |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 | 1 | — |
| 1/2 | 2 | — |
| 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 2 | 6 | 2 |
| 3 | 8 | 3 |
| 4 | 10 | 4 |
| 5 | 12 | 5 |
| 6 | 14 | 6 |
| 7 | 16 | 7 |
| 8 | 18 | 8 |
| 9 | 20 | 9 |
As a bonus action on each of your turns, you can mentally command any creature you animated with this spell if the creature is within 120 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 have given it. To maintain control of the creature for another 24 hours, you must cast this spell on the creature before the current 24-hour period ends. This use of the spell reasserts your control over up to three creatures of CR 1 or less, or one creature of CR 2 or less, you have animated with this spell, rather than animating new ones.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a 7th-level spell slot, you animate or reassert control over one additional undead creature of CR 1 or less for each slot level above 6th. Each of the creatures must come from a different set of remains.
Source: PHB 229, SRD
Changelog
- Altered upcasting option and potential to animate greater undead minions for added flexibility.
