Animate Dead Animals (Necromantic) **Level:** 1 **Components:** V,S,M **Range:** 10 yards **Casting Time :** 2 rounds **Duration:** Perm. **Saving Throw:** None **Area of Effect:** Special This spell creates undead skeletons and zombies from the bones and bodies of dead animals, specifically vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals). The animated remains obey simple verbal commands given by the caster, regardless of the language employed. Only naturally occurring animals of no higher than semi-intelligence can be animated with this particular spell (lizards, cats, frogs, weasels, tigers, and so on), including minimals and nonmagical, giant-sized animals. These undead animals remain animated until they are destroyed in combat or turned; the animating magic cannot be dispelled. The number of undead that a wizard can animate depends on the animal's original Hit Dice, the caster’s level, and the type of undead being created. The caster can create the number of animal skeletons or zombies shown on the table. The minimum caster level limits the Hit Dice of animals that can be animated. For example, a Ist-level necromancer cannot animate a dead war dog (2+2 Hit Dice). | Caster Level | Animal HD | Number of Skeletons | | ------------ | ------------- | ------------------- | | 1 | 1/4HD or Less | 4/Level | | 1 | 1/2HD to 1HD | 2/level | | 2 | 1+to 3+3 HD | 1/level | | 2 | 3+3 to 6+3 HD | 1/2/level | | 3 | Over 6+3 HD | 1/4/Level | | Caster Level | Animal HD | Number of Zombies | | ------------ | ------------- | ----------------- | | 1 | 1/4HD or Less | 2/level | | 1 | 1/2HD to 1HD | 1/level | | 2 | 1+to 3+3 HD | 1/2/level | | 3 | 3+3 to 6+3 HD | 1/4 /level | | 4 | Over 6+3 HD | 1/4 /level | Animated skeletons of animals that had 4 to 1 HD conform to the statistics of animal skeletons (see “[[Skeleton]]” in the MonsTrous MANUAL Tome). Skeletons of animals that had less than 4 HD when living conform to those same statistics, with the following changes: AC 9, HD 1%, hp 1, #AT 1, Dmg 1. Skeletons of animals of over 1 HD conform to the regular animal statistics, with the following changes: Armor Class is worsened by 2 (AC 10 maximum), damage per attack is reduced by 2 (cach hit inflicts a minimum of | point of damage), and movement is reduced by half (skeletal bats and birds can fly). Animal zombies conform to the statistics for the particular animal that has been animated, with the following changes: the animal’s number of Hit Dice is increased by one, AC is worsened by 3 (AC 8 maximum), and movement is reduced by half. Skeletal and zombie animals gain the standard undead immunities (resistance to cold-based, sleep, charm, and hold spells), but lose any normal defenses that the living animal might have had. They also lose any special attacks (rear claw rake, swallowing whole, and so on) and cannot inject poison or emit fluids, such as musk or saliva. A swallowing special attack does no further damage to the creature swallowed, except to trap it within the undead animal's rib cage. Priests gain a +1 bonus when turning these undead. This spell is often a necromancer’s first experience animating corpses. For this to work, the animal bodies or skeletons must be intact. The material components are a blood drop and bone chip from the same species as the target remains (only animals belonging to the same species can be animated per spell). Notes: Restricted to necromancers; uncommon.