This spell turns the bones or bodies of dead creatures into
undead skeletons or zombies that follow the character's spoken
commands. The skeletons or zombies can follow the character, or
can remain in an area and attack any creature (or just a specific
type of creature) entering the place. The undead remain animated
until they are destroyed. (A destroyed skeleton or zombie can't
be animated again.)
Regardless of the type of undead, the character can't create
more HD of undead than the character has caster levels with a
single casting of animate dead.
The undead the character creates remain under the character's
control indefinitely. No matter how many times the character uses
this spell, however, the character can control only 2 HD worth of
undead creatures per caster level. If the character exceeds this
number, all the newly created creatures fall under the
character's control, and any excess undead from previous castings
become uncontrolled (the character chooses which creatures are
released). If the character is a cleric, any undead the character
might command by virtue of the character's power to command or
rebuke undead do not count toward the limit.
Skeletons: A skeleton can be created only from a mostly intact
corpse or skeleton. The corpse must have bones (so purple worm
skeletons are not allowed). If a skeleton is made from a corpse,
the flesh falls off the bones. The statistics for a skeleton
depend on its size; they do not depend on what abilities the
creature may have had while alive.
Zombies: A zombie can be created only from a mostly intact
corpse. The creature must have a true anatomy (so gelatinous cube
zombies are not allowed). The statistics for a zombie depend on
its size, not on what abilities the creature may have had while
alive.
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