Every Necromancy Spell in D&D 5e Worth Casting, Ranked

Here's something most D&D players don't realize: the most-cast Necromancy spell in the game is Spare the Dying. A Cleric cantrip that stabilizes dying allies. Second place? Revivify. The spell that brings dead party members back to life.

Necromancy isn't the "evil school." It's the school of life and death - and every party relies on it, whether they acknowledge it or not.

That said, yes, you can also raise an army of skeletons. That part's fun too.

10. Toll the Dead

Cantrip | Cleric, Warlock, Wizard

Wisdom save, 1d8 necrotic damage (1d12 if the target is already injured). No attack roll means it works through cover situations that would give disadvantage on a ranged attack. The d12 damage against wounded targets makes it the highest-damage cantrip available to Clerics after the first hit lands.

The Wisdom save is a double-edged sword. Wisdom is the second-most common strong save among monsters, which means your hit rate against beasts and celestials drops. But against low-Wisdom targets like undead, constructs, and many humanoids, it's brutal.

A cantrip that rewards you for focusing fire. That's good design.

9. Inflict Wounds

1st Level | Cleric

3d10 necrotic damage on a melee spell attack. That's an average of 16.5 damage, which is the highest single-target damage of any 1st-level spell. Period. The catch: melee range. You need to be close enough to touch the target, and Clerics aren't always comfortable there.

It upcasts at 1d10 per slot level, staying relevant into mid-tier. A 5th-level Inflict Wounds deals 7d10 (average 38.5) on a hit, which competes with dedicated damage spells well above its weight class. And it's on the Cleric list, which means your healer just became a credible threat.

8. Bestow Curse

3rd Level | Bard, Cleric, Wizard

Bestow Curse is versatile in a way most Necromancy spells aren't. Four default options: disadvantage on checks/saves with one ability score, disadvantage on attacks against you, wasting their turn on a failed Wisdom save, or taking extra necrotic damage on every hit. Plus your GM can create custom curses.

But the real trick: cast it at 5th level and it lasts 8 hours without concentration. At 7th level, 24 hours. At 9th level, it lasts until dispelled. A permanent curse with no concentration is a death sentence for any recurring villain you can touch.

AI Game Masters handle the custom curse option well. Tell the AI what kind of curse you want to inflict, and it'll work with you on something thematically appropriate and mechanically fair.

7. Vampiric Touch

3rd Level | Warlock, Wizard

3d6 necrotic damage on a melee spell attack, and you heal for half the damage dealt. Concentration, up to 1 minute, repeatable attack each turn. The sustained damage-plus-healing loop makes this the premier solo survivability spell for Warlocks and Wizards who get stuck in melee.

The math isn't flashy. Average 10.5 damage and 5 HP healed per turn. But it's a consistent resource-positive combat option that keeps you alive while dealing damage, requiring no spell slots after the initial cast. Necromancy Wizards get Grim Harvest on top of this, healing even more.

It's not the spell you brag about. It's the spell that keeps you standing.

6. Raise Dead

5th Level | Bard, Cleric, Paladin

The "get out of death" spell. 500gp diamond consumed, target dead for no more than 10 days, and they come back with 1 HP and serious penalties (−4 to all d20 rolls for several long rests). It's not clean or cheap, but it's the difference between "your character is dead, roll a new one" and "your character lives, scarred but continuing."

Every adventuring party should have access to Raise Dead or its alternatives. The dramatic tension of character death in D&D only works when resurrection is possible but costly. Too easy and death means nothing. Too hard and players get frustrated.

In AI campaigns, StoryRoll handles resurrection narratively. The dead character's return isn't just a stat block reset - the AI describes the experience of dying and coming back, which creates memorable character moments.

5. Blight

4th Level | Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

8d8 necrotic damage on a Constitution save, half on a success. The raw numbers are solid for a single-target spell, but Blight has a hidden mode: it deals maximum damage to plant creatures and magical plants. An 8th-level Druid wildshaping into a treant is suddenly very nervous.

More practically, Blight withers mundane plants in a 30-foot cube. This is niche, but when you're fighting through an enchanted forest, a druid grove, or against shambling mounds and blights (the creature type, ironically), it's devastating.

Constitution saves are the hardest to force failures on. That keeps Blight from the top of this list. But when it hits, 8d8 is nothing to dismiss.

4. Circle of Death

6th Level | Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

8d6 necrotic damage in a 60-foot-radius sphere centered on a point within 150 feet. That area is enormous - three times the radius of Fireball. Constitution save, half damage on success.

Circle of Death is the Necromancy answer to Fireball, scaled up. It won't outdamage a 6th-level Fireball (which would deal 11d6), but its area is so much larger that it catches entire encounters that Fireball would only nick the edge of. Outdoor battles, large caverns, armies - this is where Circle of Death earns its slot.

Necrotic damage has fewer immunities than fire, too. Undead are often immune or resistant, but most other creature types take full damage.

3. Revivify

3rd Level | Cleric, Paladin, Ranger (via Druidic Warrior), Artificer

Touch a creature that died within the last minute. They return with 1 HP. Costs a 300gp diamond. No penalties, no long recovery. Just... back.

Revivify is the most important Necromancy spell in the game because it's the one your party needs when everything goes wrong. The Fighter goes down and fails three death saves. The Rogue takes a critical hit from the trap. The BBEG drops your tank before you can heal.

One minute window. 300gp. That's it. The time pressure creates incredible drama, and the cost keeps it from trivializing death entirely.

There's a reason experienced players always ask "does anyone have Revivify?" during session zero.

2. Animate Dead

3rd Level | Cleric, Wizard

The signature Necromancy spell. Touch a pile of bones or a corpse, and it becomes a skeleton or zombie under your control for 24 hours. Recast the spell to reassert control before the 24 hours expire. Each casting above 3rd level adds two more undead.

A Wizard who prepares Animate Dead and nothing else can build a serious fighting force. At level 5 with two 3rd-level slots, you maintain two undead. At level 9 with appropriate slots, you might have six or eight. They attack on your command, follow orders, and serve as meat shields, scouts, and pack mules.

The problems are real: undead are fragile, they're slow, and some GMs (human and AI) will throw encounters that specifically challenge a necromancer's minion army. NPCs in most settings react poorly to someone walking around with skeletons. And tracking multiple minions' turns slows combat.

AI Game Masters handle the bookkeeping smoothly. StoryRoll tracks each undead's HP, position, and orders. You say "skeletons, fire arrows at the ogre" and the AI resolves the attacks without you rolling for each one individually. That removes the biggest mechanical pain point of playing a necromancer.

1. Spare the Dying

Cantrip | Cleric, Artificer

A cantrip at #1 in a ranking of Necromancy spells. Hear me out.

Spare the Dying stabilizes a creature at 0 HP. No check, no roll, just works. Touch range, one action. You use it when an ally drops, when an NPC bleeds out, when the person you need to interrogate is dying.

It's the most-cast Necromancy spell in D&D. It doesn't deal damage, doesn't create undead, doesn't do anything dramatic. It just keeps people alive. And that's the real thesis of Necromancy as a school: it's the magic of life and death, not just death.

Grave Clerics get to cast it at 30-foot range as a bonus action. That's arguably the strongest cantrip upgrade any subclass grants, because it means your healer can stabilize a downed ally from across the room without losing their action.

I know, I know. Putting a cantrip above Animate Dead is a deliberate provocation. But this list isn't just about power - it's about impact. Spare the Dying has saved more characters than every other spell on this list combined.

The Dark Horse: Finger of Death

7th Level | Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

7d8+30 necrotic damage (average 61.5) on a Constitution save, half on success. Solid but not spectacular for a 7th-level slot. The reason Finger of Death exists on this list: if the target is a humanoid and it dies, it permanently rises as a zombie under your control. No concentration, no daily reassertion. Permanently.

This turns every humanoid enemy you kill with Finger of Death into a permanent minion. Over the course of an adventure, that's an army. The zombie stat block isn't impressive individually, but twenty permanent zombies is twenty bodies between you and danger.

How StoryRoll Handles Necromancy

Necromancy is where AI Game Masters either shine or struggle, and it comes down to one thing: how they handle the narrative implications of raising the dead.

StoryRoll tracks Necromancy mechanically and narratively. Your undead minions aren't abstract stat blocks - the AI describes them. The skeleton archer with a cracked skull and rusted armor. The zombie that was a guard three days ago, still wearing the town crest. NPCs react to your undead: fear, disgust, fascination, or pragmatic acceptance depending on the setting and their personality.

The AI also handles the social consequences. Walk into a temple of Pelor with three zombies and you'll get a very different reception than if you'd left them outside. This isn't a punishment for playing a Necromancer - it's world-building. Settings where Necromancy is accepted create different stories than settings where it's taboo, and the AI adapts.

For combat, the AI resolves your minions efficiently. Group attacks, formation positioning, and simple orders ("guard the door," "focus fire on the spellcaster") are handled without you micromanaging each zombie's turn. This is where AI GMing genuinely outperforms tabletop play, because no human GM wants to resolve eight skeleton attacks individually every round.

Raise your first undead on StoryRoll and find out what kind of Necromancer you are.

Try These Free Tools

Run your Necromancy spells smoothly with these resources:

• Spell List Filter — Filter by Necromancy school to see every death-themed spell available to your class.
• Spell Slot Tracker — Track Animate Dead reassertions, healing spells, and your daily slot budget.
• Dice Roller — Roll necrotic damage, undead attacks, and Grim Harvest healing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you play a good-aligned Necromancer in D&D 5e?

There's no rule preventing it. Necromancy spells don't require an evil alignment. A good-aligned Necromancer who raises undead to protect the innocent, or one who focuses on the healing/resurrection side of the school, is completely viable. Your GM may add setting-specific restrictions, but RAW (rules as written) supports it.

How many undead can you control with Animate Dead?

One per casting at 3rd level, plus two additional for each slot level above 3rd. To maintain control, you must recast Animate Dead on them before 24 hours expire. At higher levels, a Wizard dedicating multiple slots to reassertion can maintain 10+ undead simultaneously.

Is Necromancy Wizard the best Necromancer build?

It's the most thematic. Undead Thralls (level 6) makes your Animate Dead skeletons and zombies tougher, and Grim Harvest heals you when you kill with Necromancy spells. But Oathbreaker Paladin's Aura of Hate and Death Cleric's Reaper ability are arguably stronger for different Necromancer fantasies.

What creatures are immune to Necrotic damage?

Most undead resist or are immune to necrotic damage. Some constructs are immune. Otherwise, necrotic damage is less commonly resisted than fire, cold, or lightning. This makes Necromancy damage spells reliable against most of the Monster Manual.

Does Animate Dead work on any corpse?

It works on a pile of bones or a corpse of a Medium or Small humanoid. You can't animate dragon bones, giant corpses, or non-humanoid remains with the base spell. Create Undead (6th level) expands your options to include ghouls, ghasts, wights, and mummies.