Disguise undead Disguise undead was an arcane spell that crossed multiple schools of magic including alteration , illusion , and necromancy . It altered the appearance of one or more undead creatures so they could pass for live , healthy creatures . A less effective but easier to learn illusion - only spell by the same name was later developed . Effects . The number of undead creatures that could be affected by the earlier versions of this spell was equal to the level of the spellcaster . Each target grew flesh , organs , hair , and skin to resemble what they looked like when alive and healthy , although if deformed in life then the disguise included those deformities . The flesh looked and felt as expected for the type of creature , although it did not bleed , sweat , or smell . No abilities were granted to a target . If it could not speak while undead , then this spell did not grant the ability of speech , " etc . " Abilities that relied on smell or appearance , such as the nausea - inducing odor of a ghast or a fear - inducing visage , were negated by this spell . The spell took a full ten minutes to cast and lasted ten minutes per level of the caster . Also , all targets had to be within 10 yd ( 9 . 1 m ) per level of the caster . The oldest version of " disguise undead " was very powerful , combining alteration , illusion , and necromancy in a way that prevented " detect undead " ( but also attempts to detect life ) and " turning " for the duration of the spell . Even trying to divine the alignment of a disguised undead returned nothing or complete neutral ity . The only drawback was many additional material components . When wizards began to specialize in one particular school of magic , this spell ironically became difficult to impossible for necromancer s and illusionist s to learn because they were in a school diametrically opposed to the other specialty required to cast this spell . The result was that the later version of " disguise undead " did not prevent " detect undead " or alignment detection , and cleric s and paladin s could attempt to " turn " disguised undead once they realized the nature of what they were facing . As researchers continued to make this spell simpler , a completely illusionary version was developed that was very similar to " disguise self " except it worked on one undead creature with a body to carry the illusion . The creature could be made to look like anything as long as the basic form of its body was unchanged ( " i . e . " , humanoid s had to remain humanoid , quadrupeds had to remain four - legged , " etc . " ) and the height remained within 1 ft ( 30 cm ) of the original height . Fat or slim , ugly or beautiful , subtle or gross , the illusion could be anything the caster could imagine within the limitations of the spell . The smell , sound , and tactile feel of the body were not altered by this spell , giving a viewer an opportunity to disbelieve the illusion when one of the other senses detected something that the eyes did not corroborate . Note that disguised weapons still delivered the usual damage regardless of what they looked like . This spell was very quick to cast compared to its earlier versions , and yet still lasted ten minutes per level of the caster . Components . All versions of this spell required verbal and somatic components . Material components for the earliest version were a drop of the caster ' s blood , a pinch of dust , a smudge of ashes , a bit of flesh , a sliver of bone , a human hair , and the cocoon of an insect . The newer version required only the insect cocoon . The illusion - based version specifically required the cocoon of a death ' s head moth and the caster had to touch the undead creature being glamored . History . This spell was published in " Volo ' s Guide to All Things Magical " and became generally known to the magical community .