This specialized version of the animate dead spell produces one skeleton for each level of the caster. The animated skeletons obey the simple verbal commands of the caster, and remain animated until destroyed in combat or turned by a less can be animated by means of this spell. The experience levels of the slain are ignored; the newly animated skeletons are treated as normal skeletons (see the Monstrous Manual Tome).
The material component for this spell is a drop of blood and a pinch of bone powder or a shard of bone, plus a special salve, which costs at least 10 gp per dose to produce. The wizard must rub the bones to be affected with the salve. One dose can animate a single skeleton, and requires one round to apply. The wizard can wait up to 24 hours before finishing the animating spell with a single word. The nearest treated skeletons within both the range and the caster's level limit will animate.
Notes: Restricted to necromancers; common. (Updated from Dragon Magazine.)