Animate Skeleton

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Animate Skeleton

Animate Skeleton is a level 1 Necromancy spell that animates a single non-animate, non-demonic skeleton to serve you as a mindless undead slave. The caster should have a skeleton or skeleton-bearing corpse nearby in order for the spell to work. If there are multiple corpses nearby when you cast the spell, the closest of them will be chosen.

HD of skeletons depends on the spellpower: minion_hd = mons_hd * (100 + pow) / 300. This means that at the max spellpower skeletons will have 1/2 of their original HD.

Necromancers begin with this spell in their libraries. Kikubaaqudgha will also always gift this spell at 3* of piety.

Strategy

As a means of reanimating corpses, Animate Skeleton is cheaper than but inferior to Animate Dead, since the latter can produce stronger zombies and attempts to animate everything in sight. Necromancers, especially worshipers of Kikubaaqudgha that can receive corpses reliably, may benefit from its synergy with Simulacrum by creating multiple simulacra of large monsters from the chunks.

As a level-1 spell however, Animate Skeleton is a cheap strategic addition to any character not forbidden from Necromancy. With high spellpower, it produces long-lasting minions, some of them weapon-carrying. This could be especially relevant for characters who are not otherwise benefiting from minions (who can block LOS against ranged attackers, enable distraction stabs, aid in escape, and generally take some attention off the player).

Some physical attack flavours are retained: skeletons of constricting monsters can constrict, hydra skeletons bite multiple times and elephant skeletons trample, however damage brands will not be retained.

Control-F 'corpse' will find all possible targets for this spell that currently exist, both corpses and skeletalized remains.

See Also

• Derived undead
• Skeleton (monster)

History

• Prior to 0.26, the lifespan of skeletons didn't depend on spellpower and was longer. Also, the player had to stand on a corpse to use this spell.
• Prior to 0.16, it could be combined with Sublimation of Blood to rapidly turn fallen foes into MP mid-fight.
• Prior to 0.12, this spell was quite useful for characters wielding cursed blunt weapons, blunt weapons of vampiricism, or blunt weapons of distortion.
• Prior to 0.8, the spell took longer than the 1 turn it now takes to butcher and animate the skeleton.