Create Undead
4th level Necromancy
Classes: Sorcerer, Wizard
Domains: Death
Components: V, S, M (a soul gem filled with appropriate type of soul)
Casting Time: 1 hr
Range: 30 ft
Target: One corpse
Duration: Instantaneous
Spell Resistance: No
Description: You can use this spell to create intelligent undead. Create Undead doesn't grant you power to control intelligent creatures, so other means must be found to deal with them. Undead that create spawn (such as wights) cannot do so immediately upon their creation. This ability takes time to develop, sometimes as long as a year (per the GMs discretion).
The soul from your soul gem is used to breathe false life into a corpse, creating an undead creature. The type of captured soul determines the type of undead raised, though few of the memories and personality of the soul's former life are transferred to its new existence. Some souls, tortured by what they did in life, may carry over some of their desires into undeath, though these usually manifest in the form of unconscious compulsions. Undead also do not inherit any abilities, skills, or stats from their former lives (except for juju zombies), nor can they learn them after their creation. When this spell is cast, the soul gem itself is not destroyed, but the soul inside is completely consumed. Any reasonably intact humanoid body can be used for this process.
The type of undead you can raise depends on the type of soul you have available, detailed below.
- Ghoul (CR 1):
Ghouls continue to hunger for corpses after death. They can be created from the corpse of humanoids who have engaged in cannibalism in life (either unwittingly or intentionally), though any humanoid corpse will do if you have a soul (even an animal) who has tasted humanoid flesh.
- Huecuva (CR 2):
The soul of a fallen cleric may be raised into a huecuva, an intelligent undead who disguises itself as a normal person by day that turns into a wretched, animated corpse at night.
- Juju Zombie (CR 2):
The soul of a talented humanoid, such as a rogue or bard (level 1 or 2), can be raised into an undead minion capable of using the skill it acquired in life. JuJu zombies retain their class abilities from life, though other abilities (like ancestral or cultural ones) are lost.
- Ghast (CR 2):
Rotting and diseased corpses that are infused with a twisted intelligence from the soul gem used can become ghasts. The soul used in raising a ghast must have had an intelligence of 16.
- Wight (CR 3):
Wights are strong and sinister, twisted remnants of their former selves. They can be created either from the souls of humanoids with extremely malevolent personalities or from a particularly evil soul.
- Mummy (CR 5):
Mummies can be raised from corpses that have undergone a lengthy and gruesome embalming process, designed specifically to prepare the undead for this fate. This process usually requires 100 gp worth of incense, embalming fluid, expensive herbs, and other materials. Mummies are often used to guard holy sites, and so the or soul used should also belong to one affiliated with such a locale.
