This spell enables the caster to animate one humanoid skeleton or corpse for every four experience levels of the caster. Such creatures are the animated remains of bipedal monsters of more than 3 Hit Dice and with endoskeletons similar to those of humans except in size, which must be 7 feet or greater in height. Typical subjects are ettins, ogres, trolls, giants, carnivorous apes, and the like.
The dweomer empowers the caster to give any number of direct commands or instructions that will be obeyed, up to 12 words long, much like the animate dead spell.
A skeletal form has Hit Dice equal to the basic monster Hit Dice. A zombie form has one additional Hit Die. Animated monsters receive their normal physical attacks, but have no special attributes other than those possessed by skeletons or zombies.
A monster zombie is turned as an undead with the base creature's Hit Dice, while a skeletal monster is turned as the next weaker type of undead. For example, a zombie ogre would be turned as a shadow, while a skeletal ogre would be turned as a ghoul.
The material components for the spell are the cleric's holy/unholy symbol and a small specimen from the type of creature that is to be animated.
Notes: Uncommon for evil priests.