Doesn't that feel artificial? I'm not sure what element of the game world you're trying to simulate.
How so? That's how I naturally see it.
For example, in Warhammer Fantasy, most undead are
not intelligent.
For Vampire Counts/Coast, only vampires have real minds. Vampires have to employ lower ranking vampires and human necromancers to
1) create more undead
2) corral undead into going somewhere
3) press undead into doing something complex
But the Tomb Kings, they are intelligent nobility and near mindless commoners. The common Nekraharan is mostly brain wiped. A skeleton only knows how to do what it did in life. You ask a farmer to shoot a bow and if they weren't an militia or military archer in life, you are getting nothing. And even if they are, their skill is atrophied.
And that's how many media do it.
The Warcraft Scourge? Most of the undead were mindless idiots who needed necromancers to manage them. Diablo's different undead come from different spells and the more intelligent and stronger ones created fewer undead.
Dresden Necromancers used apprentices to manage their lesser undead so the head necromancer could do other things. And who knows the trouble in controlling a Red or Black court. And White Court are essentially not really undead.
Common undead are
morons.
Uncommon intelligent undead require
constant maintenance
Rare powerful undead are unusual
autonomous, barely commanded, and expensive to control.
Want a lot of zombies? You create a bunch of mindless idiots.
Want warrior zombies? You need a special spell to give them the ability to use weapons?
Want advisor zombies? You need a special spell to return a zombies memory and let it speak.
Want worker zombie? You need a spell to give the zombies tool use.
Want intelligent zombies? Well first you need a spell to animate the zombie with intelligence. Then you need a spell to gain control of it. Then you gotta do it again tomorrow and every day after.
Want a vampire instead of a zombie? Well well well. First you gotta be strong enough to animate a vampire with just spells. Then you need to dominate it. Then you need to perform a ritual to control it long term. And you might need a spell to restrain it in case it makes the save.