"Though Piotyr left his life's work unfinished, perhaps he can complete it in death."
Garbed in black robes, the priest at the head of the funeral finishes his eulogy. He places his hands, palms down, over the casket, and wisps of black smoke eke from his palms. Piotyr's body sits upright and turns to face the procession. The crowd bursts into commotion, but drowning out all other noise is the high pitch of a mother's scream.
In the tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons, necromancy magic works with the forces of life and death. It is by far the most taboo of the schools of magic. Many consider all who peddle in necromancy to be villains of the worst sort. Practitioners are seen as people who disturb the natural cycle through worship to dark gods or other demonic entities. But there is more to necromancy than sickness, undeath, and evil. Here are the best necromancy spells of 3rd Level or lower. Higher-level spells have been excluded due to their obvious strength.
Updated by Ericka Blye on August 27th, 2020: In a lot of D&D games, only the darkest of spellcasters dare to dabble in Necromancy. A school of magic that allows one to manipulate the line between life and death, some see the danger in that power while others see potential. Depending on the individual, necromancy can be used to save lives and take lives. There are a lot of great Necromancy spells of all spell levels, some often overlooked for others, and others too good to pass up on.
15 False Life
False Life is a 1st level spell that allows you to use your action to gain 1D4 + 4 temporary hit points for one hour. While that doesn't seem like much, it's a pretty good spell to help keep your spellcaster alive during their first few levels.
Sometimes, the difference in staying up to fight for another turn or rolling a death save comes down to a few points of damage. And if this spell is cast using a 2nd level spell slot or higher, you gain an additional 5 temporary hit points with each higher level.
14 Gentle Repose
The battle's over and one of the worst-case scenarios has happened, one of your friends was slain and the party doesn't have any diamonds for Revivify or other spells to bring them back to life. The 2nd level spell Gentle Repose can be used to give your buddy a chance at being revived.
The target of the spell is protected from decay, can't become undead, and is effectively frozen in time for 10 days. This spell allows you to work past the time limits of resurrection spells like Raise Dead. And, it can be cast on the same target multiple times.
13 Toll the Dead
Toll the Dead is a cantrip from Xanathar's that has the capability of out damaging every other cantrip in the game. As an action, you cause one target within 60 feet to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, it takes 1D8 necrotic damage. However, if the creature is missing any amount of hit points, it instead takes 1D12 necrotic.
No other cantrip gives players access to the D12, which makes Toll the Dead an appealing option for players. Furthermore, the wisdom saving throw that accompanies the spell is much more reliable than, for example, the dexterity saving throw on Sacred Flame. That being said, necrotic damage is a commonly resisted damage type so be careful about who you're targeting.
12 Ray of Enfeeblement
This 2nd level concentration spell inflicts a nasty debuff that cuts the effectiveness of many monsters in half. As an action, you fire a beam of energy towards a target making a ranged spell attack. On a hit, the target deals only half damage with weapon attacks that use Strength until the spell ends.
At the end of each of the target's turns, it can make a Constitution saving throw ending the effect on a success. What makes ray of enfeeblement so powerful is that it doesn't initially require a save. If you land the attack, the target deals half damage for at least one turn. If they fail a single saving throw, you have essentially taken away a full attack action as two of their attacks were reduced to half damage.
11 Speak With Dead
Speak With Dead is a 3rd level spell that's great to use for gathering information, even if the informant is dead. When you cast this spell it gives a corpse a "semblance of life and intelligence," allowing you to ask it up to five questions. It only knows things that it knew in life, and it doesn't have to answer truthfully if it recognizes you as an enemy.
What information you can gather from the target will vary, as answers are short and cryptic but it's a spell that can be useful for learning about upcoming dangers, finding prized items, and more.
10 Animate Dead
This is the de facto necromancy spell. When you think about necromancy magic, this spell's effects are exactly what come to mind. Its a 3rd level spell with a casting time of 1 minute. You target a pile of bones or a corpse of medium or small size within 10-feet of you. The target rises as a skeleton if you chose bones or a zombie if you chose a corpse. The undead thrall is under your command and you direct it as a bonus action on your turn.
Though the spell only animates one creature at a time, there is no limit to the number of undead you can control with it. However, after a period of 24 hours, the animated corpses will stop obeying you. That is, unless, you cast this spell on the creature again before the 24 hour period is up. When cast in this manner, the spell can reassert control over up to 4 creatures you have animated. Maintaining control over the undead is a tricky business.
9 Bestow Curse
If you though Ray of Enfeeblement delivered a nasty debuff, check out bestow curse. As an action, this 3rd level concentration spell requires one target you touch to make a Wisdom saving throw.
On a failure, they are cursed for one minute with your choice of one of the following effects: the target has disadvantage on ability checks and saving throws made with one ability score, the target takes an extra 1D8 necrotic damage from your attacks and spells, the target has disadvantage on attack rolls against you or the target must make a Wisdom saving throw at the beginning of its turn. On a failure, it wastes its action that turn doing nothing. You can also get creative with this spell by coming up with your own effect at the dm's discretion.
8 Blindness/Deafness
Want more debuffs? Here you go! Maybe there isn't much more to necromancy spells that sickness, undeath, and evil after all. Those are probably the reasons you're here reading this article anyway. Blindness/Deafness is a 2nd Level concentration spell that, as an action, targets one creature within 30-feet. The target must make a Constitution saving throw.
On a failure, it is blinded or deafened for the duration. The choice is yours. At the end of the target's proceeding turns, it can make this constitution save again. On a success, the effect ends. Blindness is a powerful condition to inflict as it incurs disadvantage on the target's attacks and advantage on attacks against it.
7 Cause Fear
Cause Fear is another spell out of Xanathar's. It's a 1st level concentration spell that, as an action, requires a target within 60 feet to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the target is frightened. However, it can repeat the saving throw at the end of its following turns, ending the effect on a success. Lastly, constructs and undead are immune to this effect.
The frightened condition incurs disadvantage on ability checks and attack rolls, as well as prevents the target from moving closer to the source of its fear. The best thing about Cause Fear is that casting it at a higher level allows you to target an additional creature per level.
6 Inflict Wounds
This 1st Level spell deals a surprising amount of damage at the cost of exposing yourself to melee range. As an action, inflict wounds makes a melee spell attack against one creature you can touch. On a hit, the target takes 3D10 necrotic damage. It's a simple spell that's great for finishing off opponents.
However, as with Toll the Dead, the necrotic damage type can sometimes come back to bite you. Avoid using this spell on the undead, and don't be surprised if a creature you wouldn't have expected to resist necrotic does so.
5 Blight
Blight is a 4th level that requires a constitution save and deals 8D8 necrotic damage on a failed save or half that on a successful one. Spells that do damage regardless of saves are pretty handy to have and Blight has an added bonus when dealing with plant-based opponents.
Magical plants and plant creatures who are hit with a Blight spell make their Con saves at disadvantage and take maximum damage. It destroys any nonmagical plant as well, and the damage scales by 1d8 for every spell slot above 5th level it's cast with.
4 Life Transference
We've talked about necromancy spells that deal damage and inhibit the enemy, but what about spells that help our allies? Believe it or not, the necromancy school has a couple of great options for doing just that. Life transference is a 3rd Level spell found in Xanathar's that, as an action, deals 4D8 necrotic damage to you. Ouch.
But that's not all! A creature within 30-feet then regains a number of hit points equal to twice the necrotic damage you take. And you thought necromancers only cared about themselves, didn't you? Due to the wording, resistances and immunities to necrotic sadly do not work alongside this spell.
3 Spare The Dying
While Spare the Dying doesn't provide the same life-giving properties as Life Transference, it can keep your friends alive long enough to give you time to heal them. This cantrip can be used by clerics and artificers, and it allows you to touch a creature that has 0 hit points and stabilize them, immediately.
It does cost an action to cast it, but as a cantrip it doesn't require a spell slot or need to be prepared beforehand, making it a great spell to have to help with damage control.
2 Revivify
Necromancers play with the forces of life and death, but, to be honest, it's a lot more death than life. Revivify is another of the few necromancy spells that do speak to an interest in the living, and it's an especially clutch option to pack away at that.
It's a 3rd Level spell that, as an action, returns to life with 1 hit point one creature you touch that has died within the last minute. Talk about saving the day! Even so, Revivify does not restore severed limbs. So hopefully, your friend's death wasn't too brutal!
1 Vampiric Touch
As a caster, there's nothing worse than when an enemy gets all up in your grill. You've got low AC, low hit points, and generally shoddy melee attack options. That's where Vampiric Touch comes in handy. As an action, this 3rd Level concentration spell makes a melee spell attack against a creature you can touch.
On a hit, the target takes 3D6 necrotic and you regain hit points equal to half the necrotic damage dealt. As long as you maintain concentration, you can make the attack again on each of your turns as an action. Surprise! You were a necromancer vampire all along!