17 Best Necromancy Spells In Dungeons & Dragons 5e

Abi-Dalzim’s Horrid Wilting

Princes of the Apocalypse gave D&D 5e a new story about four prophets who want to bring the powers and threats of the elemental plane to the material plane. It also gave a lot of new spells, like Abi-Dalzim’s Horrid Writing, to choose from.

This spell does a lot of damage to all living things in a 30-foot cube centered on a point chosen by the person casting it. Every creature that isn’t a construct or undead must pass a Constitution saving throw or take 12d8 points of necrotic damage, or half of the roll total if they pass. Not only does it do a lot of damage, but it also kills any plants in the area right away.

Wither and Bloom

Wither and Bloom is one of the few spells in the Curriculum of Chaos that can both hurt and heal. This makes it not only a unique necromancy spell, but also one of the best. Players can also learn this skill in Strixhaven if they pay attention in their necromancy classes.

The spellcaster picks a spot within 60 feet where a 10-foot-diameter sphere will fill with necrotic energy. Creatures of the caster’s choice will take 2d6 necrotic damage, or half the roll if they succeed on a Constitution saving throw. In addition to doing that damage, a creature of the caster’s choice can spend one of its unused Hit Dice to heal itself for the amount rolled.

Negative Energy Flood

Negative Energy Flood is another spell from the school of necromancy. It was one of the spells that the leader of the beholder group, Xanathar, collected. This spell is more like a necromancy spell because it makes undead servants for the person who casts it.

When a Warlock or Wizard casts this spell, it deals 5d12 points of necrotic energy to a creature they can see within range. If the creature makes its Constitution saving throw, the damage is cut in half. If this damage kills the target, they don’t stay dead. Instead, they come back to life as a zombie and chase after the closest target. Players should be careful not to use this spell on undead enemies, since it will give them brief hit points.

Create Undead

If a player wants a spell that is more in line with traditional necromancy, they need look no further than Create Undead. This spell lets them bring back up to three corpses of medium or small size, turning them into loyal thralls who do what they say. At higher levels, they can bring back more corpses with different traits.

Using the stat block from the Monster Manual, the dead turn into ghouls. As an extra action, the spellcaster can tell their zombies what to do as long as they are within 120 feet. If you don’t tell the thing what to do, it will defend itself against enemies.

Soul Cage

Soul Cage is a very special spell that lets players grab the soul of a recently dead being and put it in a jar instead of where it was supposed to go after death. Once they have the soul, they can use it in different ways until the cage is broken or the 8 hours are up.

Spirit Shroud

Spirit Shroud is a third-level necromancy spell that was first seen in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Players can call on the souls of the dead, which float around them and can protect them without being seen or hurt.

Also, any attack that player makes (including cantrips and spell attacks) that hits a monster within 10 feet of the player does an extra 1d8 damage. Players can also choose whether the damage they do is cold, radiant, or necrotic. Spirit Shroud is a strong spell because players can choose a type of hurt that will help them in any situation.

Summon Undead

Summon Undead is a necromancy spell of the third level that you can find in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Players can call up an undead spirit that they can use as a friend. This spirit can be Ghostly, Putrid, or Skeletal. Depending on the form, the spirit will have different traits and skills.

The spirit uses the Undead Spirit stat block and will listen to the player for up to an hour if they tell it what to do.

Toll the Dead

Toll the Dead is one of the best cantrips for causing damage in Dungeons & Dragons. It makes spooky bells ring in the air around an enemy. If the subject fails their wisdom saving throw, 1d8 necrotic damage is done to them.If any of the target’s hit points are gone, it takes 1d12 necrotic damage instead.

As a cantrip, Toll the Dead is also great because it gets better as the player’s level goes up. When cast at higher spell spots, it can do up to 4d12 points of damage at level 17.

Spare the Dying

Spare the Dying is a cantrip that can be used in any way. Casters can calm creatures that they can touch, which could keep them from dying. This is a set of skills that players can usually only use if they have a healer’s kit or can pass a medicine check.

Spare the Dying doesn’t need a skill check, and it can be used in any way, unlike a healer’s kit. The spell only needs verbal and physical parts, so it can be done without focus or physical parts.

Inflict Wounds

In Dungeons & Dragons, Inflict Wounds is one of the best first-level skills that do damage. This power can be used as a melee attack roll, which means it has the chance to hit a target very hard.

The target takes 3d10 necrotic damage when hit, but this spell can be cast at higher-level spell slots to increase that amount. Inflict Wounds doesn’t need any materials, so melee spellcasters can use their free hand to make more attacks or bring a shield.

Revivify

When players can use this magic, the whole game changes. Other spells can only heal a thing or keep it from dying, but Revivify can bring it back to life. This can only be used within one minute after the target has died.

Revivify is needed because there are several monsters in Snow Rider 3D that can kill an explorer with just one hit. Also, it can be used on a single monster as many times as you want. Players who have access to this power can use it in a lot of different ways.

Bestow Curse

Bestow Curse, which is a third-level spell, is one of the few spells in Dungeons & Dragons. That can remove the effects of necromancy. Bestow Curse lets you put curses on a target in a huge number of different ways. If the subject fails a saving throw, the curse will last as long as it was meant to.

Unlike other upcast spells, the length of this Bestow Curse gets longer as you level up. At the fifth level, you no longer have to concentrate. At level 9, this magic stays in place until it is taken away.

Danse Macabre

A necromancer has a lot of great choices, like being able to bring the dead back to life and making undead allies. The person who casts the fifth-level spell “Danse Macabre” can make up to five strong undead with just one spell. At higher levels, this spell can bring even more dead people back to life.

These can be any kind of dead body as long as it is small or medium sized. The dead bodies are then brought back to life as skeletons or zombies, depending on what the person wants. Then, when they roll for attacks and damage, they can use the spellcaster’s spellcasting factor. As a plus, the player in charge of them can give them orders, which they can follow for up to an hour if they focus.

Eyebite

The person who casts Eyebite can choose between three affects that can make any enemy feel afraid. There are three different ways to do this. If the person who casts the spell decides to put the target to sleep, the target will fall asleep. The caster can also choose to give the target Panicked, which makes the target feel scared. The monster has to take a dash action on each of its turns to move away from the player. Lastly, the player can make a target sick, which makes them roll at a disadvantage when they fight or check their skills.

Each player gets one action per turn, which they can use to target another character. But that creature can’t be attacked again if it succeeds on a saving throw.

Finger of Death

This power is one of the best in Dungeons & Dragons, but it is often forgotten.Finger of Death has a range of sixty feet and doesn’t need any solid parts. With this range, a spellcaster can avoid close-quarters fighting and still do a lot of damage.

If the victim fails their Constitution save, the spell does 7d8 + 30 necrotic damage. If they pass, the damage is cut in half. As if that wasn’t enough, if the caster uses this spell to kill a humanoid creature, that creature turns into a zombie that the caster controls for good. This can turn a lot of people into zombies. A special note in the rules says that a spellcaster could use True Polymorph on the zombie, and whatever it turned into would still be totally under the spellcaster’s control.

Clone

Clone is a great spell for easing the pain of losing a favorite character or NPC. After the spell is cast, the original person’s spirit becomes the clone when they die and their spirit is separated from their body.

Instead of making a new character, a party member can now take control of the clone. The clone looks the same, has the same mentality, memories, and skills as the original. The clone doesn’t get any of the character’s gear, but if the character’s body hasn’t been destroyed, the clone can just go and steal from it.

True Resurrection

Even though this spell costs 25,000 gold to make, its power to heal is well worth it. This spell can bring back to life not only humanoids, but also any creature that died in the last two hundred years. Only if the critter died of old age is this not true.

True Resurrection is so strong that a new body will be made even if the creature’s body no longer exists. If the body does exist, all scars are healed, poisons are neutralized, and curses are removed. True revival is different from other revival spells in that it has no downsides. This also means that players shouldn’t count on clever DMs to kill off important people in their backstories.