D&D: Five Necromancy Spells That Prove Dying’s No Easy Living
Necromancy spells allow a magic user mastery over life, death, and a surprising amount of the Poisoned and Frightened conditions.
Necromancers are a long and storied archetype throughout D&D. Fantasy stories in general, really. Necromancers have the power to create undead servants from the corpses of the once-living. And other spooky, shadowy things besides. Necromancy spells can be a source of considerable power as a result.
But there’s more to Necromancy than just creating undead (though that is a big part of it). These five Necromancy spells should give you an idea of just what the most hardcore goth of spell schools is capable of. And they’d be a boon to anyone who can cast them.
Wither and Bloom
Let’s start with one of my favorites. Wither & Bloom is a spell out of Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos. It takes its name from its literal school of magic, Witherbloom. They’re the nature wizards. They love life, death, poison, flowers. You get the idea. And Wither & Bloom, is a fantastic example of what a good Necromancy spell can do.
It both heals and harms. You cast the spell, and each creature of your choice in a 10 foot radius sphere saves or takes 2d6 damage. And then on top of that, one creature of your choice in the area can spend one of their hit dice, and roll it, regaining that many hit points plus your ability modifier. It’s easy. It’s efficient, and has quite literally saved whole adventuring careers.
Speak With Dead
If you’ve played Baldur’s Gate 3 or watched the D&D movie, Honor Among Thieves, then you know why Speak with Dead is one of the all time greatest Necromancy spells. It does exactly what it says on the tin: you get to talk to the dead.
You ask a corpse of your choice questions. An animating spirit of magical energy allows it to give you answers that it would know. This can be a great way to learn secret information. Plus it’s a great opportunity for the DM to be creepy and/or play some kind of weird little corpse guy. It is literally a win win situation.
Danse Macabre
Danse Macabre is a spell out of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything that embodies what a good Necromancy spell should be able to do. You should be able to wave your hand and conjure minions and this spell does exactly that. No muss, no fuss, no long ritual.
You simply extend a hand and animate up to five corpses with a flash of shadowy, lancing tendrils. They then become either skeletons or zombies as appropriate, immediately springing up, ready to be commanded with a Bonus Action to attack your enemies or whatever else.
Magic Jar
Magic Jar is proof that even Necromancy spells can enable shenanigans for the right kind of caster. This spell lets you take over someone’s body. Sure, first you have to put your soul in a magic gem. But once it’s there, with the right ally to bring it to your enemies, you can attempt to possess a creature’s body from within the gem.
And if they fail their save, you take over their body, and their soul is trapped within your magic jar. Meaning you can take over and issue all sorts of decrees/throw wrenches into carefully planned scenarios. It’s a risky spell, but that’s what D&D is all about.
Create Undead
Then there’s Create Undead. This is the spell that will give you an army of minions. Powerful minions at that. You know it’s going to be good when a spell starts out by giving you command of up to three ghouls for 24 hours. But, it gets better.
Not only do you get to control them all with a single action, but at higher levels you get to add even more powerful undead to the list of things you can create. So you might command ghouls, ghasts, wights, or even mummies. All completely under your command for 24 hours. After that, it’s until you decide not to cast the spell again.
Happy adventuring!
