Animate dead Animate dead was a necromancy spell that allowed the caster to raise one or more mostly intact skeletons or corpses as undead skeleton s or zombie s under his or her control . Effects . This spell was a staple of the necromantic arts and saw many incarnations as magic evolved over time . The earliest version of this spell treated zombies and skeletons equally and a caster could animate one of either kind of undead per experience level , but only from human remains . The state of the remains determined if a skeleton ( almost no flesh ) or a zombie ( most flesh intact ) was created . Undead created by this version of the spell could be destroyed by " dispel magic " as well as being turned by a cleric or destroyed by physical damage , magical damage , fire , etc . A caster could stand in the middle of a graveyard and animate corpses within a 30 ft ( 9 . 1 m ) radius . The second version of " animate dead " expanded the types of remains that could be used and treated a skeleton as slightly less than a zombie . The size of the creatures in life determined ( by a relatively complex formula ) how many undead could be created . For example , a 12th - level caster could animate 24 halfling skeletons , or 12 halfling zombies , or 12 human skeletons , or 6 human zombies , or 6 gnoll skeletons , or 4 gnoll zombies , or 1 fire giant skeleton or zombie . These undead thralls had none of the special characteristics that they had in life — a fire giant zombie was not immune to fire for example . However , they could not be destroyed by " dispel magic " . The third incarnation of this spell increased the number of undead that could be created by a single casting , but limited how many such creatures could be controlled by the caster . ( Any undead being commanded or rebuked by those with such power did not count toward the limit . The limit only applied to undead animated by this spell . ) For example , a 12th - level caster could animate 24 human - sized skeletons with one " animate dead " spell , and control 48 of them . But if that same caster tried to create 50 such skeletons , then two from the first batch ( chosen by the caster ) would be released from servitude . If this spell was cast in a " desecrate d " area it doubled the number of undead that could be created at one time . Note that this version of the spell required the caster to touch each corpse at the time of casting and there was a significant material component cost ( see below ) . To be animated by the later versions of this spell , a corpse had to have bones ( which ruled out creatures like purple worm s ) arranged in some form of anatomy ( which ruled out gelatinous cube s , for example ) and be mostly intact . Zombies required most of the flesh to be attached to the bones as well . If the caster chose to create a skeleton from a fleshy corpse , the flesh fell off the skeleton as it rose . Zombies and skeletons created by this spell obeyed simple spoken commands such as " follow " , " guard this area " , or " kill all elves that enter this room " . The undead were permanently animated and would follow orders until they were destroyed . Destruction of a skeleton or zombie rendered it unfit to be animated again . The fifth version of this spell needed its components and the chosen bones or corpses of medium to small creatures . The undead obeyed the mental commands of its creator if they were nearby , but only for 24 hours and then this spell had to be renewed before the time was up or else they became aimless . The creatures could preform simple tasks like guarding . If left with no orders the creatures would only defend themselves . When cast at a higher skill level , the caster gained more undead servants if there were sufficient bones or corpses . Components . All versions of " animate dead " required verbal and somatic components , but the material components varied . The earliest version required a bit of human flesh , a drop of blood , and a bone shard or a pinch of powdered bone . The second version changed it to a bit of flesh of the type of creature being animated . The third incarnation did away with the flesh , blood , and bone and instead required a black onyx gem worth at least 25 gp be placed in the mouth or eye socket of each corpse . Casting this version of " animate dead " consumed most of the gem , leaving a worthless , charred , empty shell behind . The fifth version brought back the drop of blood , the piece of flesh , and the pinch of bone dust as material components .