New Spell: Awaken the Dead
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We’re finally back after having been away for several weeks (after almost two years of nonstop effort, it was time for a short break!), and we’ve got a flavorful new 9th-level spell to share! The staple necromancy spell animate dead can only keep up to sixteen undead creatures animated, even when cast at using a mighty 9th-level spell slot. But what about those classic “big magic” necromancies that can cause an entire graveyard to rise in one dark and cursed night? Awaken the dead, a new 9th-level spell from The Impermissicon, the upcoming compendium of dark and forbidden magic, is here to fill that need for your necromancer villains and high-level PCs alike by animating up to a hundred undead at once!
Unlike most necromancies that create undead, awaken the dead doesn’t grant you control over the skeletons and zombies that you animate. This spell acts almost like a natural disaster: the caster creates the undead and simply lets them loose upon the surrounding area. The undead won’t attack the necromancer or their allies, but anyone else that happens to be alive nearby — villagers, enemy soldiers, etc. — must deal with the undead menace or face a grisly death. Some will be able to flee and hide for the spell’s 8-hour duration, but many — just as in most “zombie apocalypse” scenarios — will be unable to defend themselves from the onslaught of undead, especially if the spellcaster benefits from a class feature that boosts the power of the undead they create, such as those from the School of Necromancy for wizards (from The Player’s Handbook), the Bone Cobbler for artificers, and the upcoming Oath of Decay for paladins (also to be featured in The Impermissicon).
Of course, since the caster of awaken the dead doesn’t automatically control the undead that they create, it presents an opportunity for other necromancers (PC or NPC) and necromantic-monsters to use their special abilities to take control of the undead. And since awaken the dead is a concentration spell, the spellcaster must be careful to avoid dangerous situations. Just one strong blow could interrupt their concentration, suddenly ending their attempt at a deadly zombie outbreak as all the undead fall inanimate at once. Thanks to these dynamics, the spell is a fun and interesting story element for your powerful villains to use, helping to fulfill one of the design goals of D&D Unleashed. Like similar narrative spells such as imprisonment and magic jar, awaken the dead will most commonly be used by NPCs, allowing DMs to build verisimilitude in their world by showing that even the great and powerful villains of their campaign use the same rules as their players!
