D&D 5E For the Convenience of Necromancers

[Khelon Testudo]

I've created a couple of spells for necromancers. The first is to make it convenient to create skeletons from battlefield casualties; the other is to fulfil a scene that any necromancer worth their salt should be capable of.

Excarnate Corpse

1st level necromancy

Casting Time: 1 minute (ritual)

Range: 30 feet

Components: V, S, small bone

Duration: Instant

You target the corpse of a humanoid or beast, medium-sized or smaller, that has a skeleton. The spell summons a magical swarm of dermestid beetles that miraculously scour away any flesh and organic material, leaving an inanimate skeleton.

At Higher Levels: For each level the spell slot used is above 1st level, the caster can excarnate an additional 2 creatures#.


Arise from the Grave

5th level necromancy

Casting Time: 10 minutes (ritual)

Range: 30 feet radius, 10 foot deep

Components: V, S, skull of a goat

Duration: Instant

You stand in an area that you think the dead are buried, and call on them to dig themselves out of their graves. Up to five medium sized or smaller humanoid skeletons will dig through to the surface and be under your control as per Animate Dead. If the corpses were buried less than 2 months ago, they will arise as zombies instead.

At Higher Levels: For each level the spell slot used is above 5th level, the caster can excarnate an additional 2 creatures#.

#edited based on comments in thread.

 

[aco175]

I like the first one, nice that it is a ritual. The second one feels more like a 3rd level spell. 5 skeletons does not feel like that much when you can cast 5th level spells. I can see a BBEG casting it, if it was not a ritual, to fight 3rd level PCs.

 

[Bill Zebub]

I would leave the fluff about the beetles off the first one. Just say the flesh falls away, and players can add whatever color they want.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I would leave the fluff about the beetles off the first one. Just say the flesh falls away, and players can add whatever color they want.

I like the beetles. A lot of people won't bother describing it at all if an example isn't provided. Players already know they can describe the effect as they wish.

 

[Hawk Diesel]

I really love the first spell!!

Arise from the Grave

5th level necromancy

Casting Time: 10 minutes (ritual)

Range: 30 feet radius, 10 foot deep

Components: V, S, skull of a goat

Duration: Instant

You stand in an area that you think the dead are buried, and call on them to dig themselves out of their graves. Up to five medium sized or smaller humanoid skeletons will dig through to the surface and be under your control as per Animate Dead. If the corpses were buried less than 2 months ago, they will arise as zombies instead.

At Higher Levels: For each level the caster is above 5th level, they can exhume an additional creature.

So I like what you're doing here. I think this spell is great for NPC and enemy necromancers. But for a PC, this is potentially too powerful. Since it's a ritual, there's essentially no limit to how often it can be cast, allowing for a PC to create dozens of minions with no investment aside from the time it takes to cast the ritual. Aside from that, the only thing I can see that sets this apart from upcasting Animate Dead to 5th level is not requiring the caster to be able to see the corpse.

I do have a few recommendations for this spell. The first is to remove the ritual tag. Rituals are balanced to be spells that are more about exploration or quality of life improvements. Detection spells, tiny hut, unseen servant, etc. I would say a hard limit for a ritual spell is anything that could increase a PC's effectiveness in combat. So if this spell created a bunch of zombie minions with 1 hp and unable to attack or help in combat, it might make more sense.

If you want this spell to be more combat oriented, you could make it a one action spell, but limit the number of animated corpses to one or two, require concentration, and limit the duration of the spell to 1 minute.

Another area that might be worth exploring is allowing this version to animate tiny, large, or huge zombies/skeletons.

 

[cbwjm]

Nice spells, the only real issue I have with these spells, is that it doesn't follow 5e's method of casting at higher levels via using higher level spell slots.

 

[Bill Zebub]

I like the beetles. A lot of people won't bother describing it at all if an example isn't provided. Players already know they can describe the effect as they wish.

I like the beetles, too. But it’s not really 5e style to include that kind of fluff in spell descriptions.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I like the beetles, too. But it’s not really 5e style to include that kind of fluff in spell descriptions.

Not my concern.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Not my concern.

Oh, right. You don't like 5e anyway. I forgot.

 

[Hawk Diesel]

I like the beetles, too. But it’s not really 5e style to include that kind of fluff in spell descriptions.

If the OP was intending to publish these spells, you may have a point. But if this is just for them and their own game, the more important aspects for critique migt be how the spell functions and could I pact the game, rather than little details that don't impact the actual mechanics.

 

[Bill Zebub]

If the OP was intending to publish these spells, you may have a point. But if this is just for them and their own game, the more important aspects for critique migt be how the spell functions and could I pact the game, rather than little details that don't impact the actual mechanics.

Sure.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Oh, right. You don't like 5e anyway. I forgot.

I dont like WotC 5e. The rule set is pretty sound.

 

[cbwjm]

Just having another look at arise from the grave, it might be worth adding in the text from animate dead regarding how you control them.

 

[Ancalagon]

If you upcast animate dead to level 5, you would get 5 skeletons too no? So... is the difference that the corpse dig themselves up?

 

[Seramus]

If you upcast animate dead to level 5, you would get 5 skeletons too no? So... is the difference that the corpse dig themselves up?

Seems the big difference is not needing line of sight. You can ritual cast it and potentially get corpses even if you can't see them, and don't know they are there.

Like 10 minutes of fishing.

 

[Khelon Testudo]

Thanks for the feedback! I've updated the "at higher levels" text to reflect your comments!

 

[Faolyn]

Um. I hate to say it, but arise from the dead is almost exactly like danse macabre from Xanathar's, except that with your version, you don't need to target visible corpses. Was this intentional?

 

[Lanefan]

So I like what you're doing here. I think this spell is great for NPC and enemy necromancers. But for a PC, this is potentially too powerful. Since it's a ritual, there's essentially no limit to how often it can be cast, allowing for a PC to create dozens of minions with no investment aside from the time it takes to cast the ritual.

To get around this, a simple limit that the spell cannot be successfully cast again while any skeletons from any previous casting remain animated solves the problem. Or, if that's too harsh, a limit that says that your maximum number of skeletons (i.e. the number you'd get if you cast this once using your highest level slot) is the most you can have going at any one time no matter how many times you cast the spell.

I do have a few recommendations for this spell. The first is to remove the ritual tag. Rituals are balanced to be spells that are more about exploration or quality of life improvements. Detection spells, tiny hut, unseen servant, etc. I would say a hard limit for a ritual spell is anything that could increase a PC's effectiveness in combat. So if this spell created a bunch of zombie minions with 1 hp and unable to attack or help in combat, it might make more sense.

I don't mind the ritual idea. If it bugs you, then sure - remove the ritual tag. But still keep the casting time at ten minutes - this isn't something you cast once combat begins, it's something you cast ahead of time. Or, see below regarding digging time.

Another area that might be worth exploring is allowing this version to animate tiny, large, or huge zombies/skeletons.

From experience in other editions, let's just say that can open up some cans of worms best left closed.

I agree with @cbwjm in that there very much needs to be some mention of what you can do with these skeletons once animated, and how, and for how long. You might also want to add a mention of how long it will take the newly-formed undead to get to the surface; and if it takes them ten minutes or more to dig themselves out then the spell's casting time can be reduced to just a round (though a ten minute casting time makes the spell more vulnerable to interruption, which I like).

Conclusion: the write-up for a spell like this can't be just a few lines. Wall of text might better describe it, if done right.

 

[Khelon Testudo]

Um. I hate to say it, but arise from the dead is almost exactly like danse macabre from Xanathar's, except that with your version, you don't need to target visible corpses. Was this intentional?

I'll have to check that out!

 

[Charlaquin]

Um. I hate to say it, but arise from the dead is almost exactly like danse macabre from Xanathar's, except that with your version, you don't need to target visible corpses. Was this intentional?

There’s also the fact that rise from the grave takes 10 minutes and presumably animates the corpses for as long as animate dead would, whereas danse macabre takes 1 action and animates them for concentration up to 1 hour. That’s a pretty significant difference.