Danse Macabre
2014 Rules
- Level & School
- 5th-level necromancy
- Casting Time
- Action
- Range
- 60 feet
- Components
- V, S
- Duration
- Concentration, 1 hour
- Classes
- Warlock, Wizard
- Source
- Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Threads of dark power leap from your fingers to pierce up to five Small or Medium corpses you can see within range. Each corpse immediately stands up and becomes undead. You decide whether it is a zombie or a skeleton (the statistics for zombies and skeletons are in the Monster Manual), and it gains a bonus to its attack and damage rolls equal to your spellcasting ability modifier.
You can use a bonus action to mentally command the creatures you make with this spell, issuing the same command to all of them. To receive the command, a creature must be within 60 feet of you. You decide what action the creatures will take and where they will move during their next turn, or you can issue a general command, such as to guard a chamber or passageway against your foes. If you issue no commands, the creatures do nothing except defend themselves against hostile creatures. Once given an order, the creatures continue to follow it until their task is complete.
The creatures are under your control until the spell ends, after which they become inanimate once more.
Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 6th level or higher, you animate up to two additional corpses for each slot level above 5th.
Danse Macabre 5.5e 2024 vs. 5e 2014 edition differences
Danse Macabre is currently only available in the 2014 edition.
Danse Macabre popularity
How popular is Danse Macabre? It is one of the rarest spells in the game, and is chosen less than other options when available. This spell is for the most unconventional spellcasters only.
- Bottom 50% picked level 5 Warlock spell
- Bottom 25% picked level 5 Wizard spell
- Bottom 25% of all level 5 spells
- Bottom 10% of all 5e spells
Read about how this popularity data is calculated.
Spells similar to Danse Macabre
Finger of Death 7th-level necromancy
This is another necromancy spell tied to creating undead from slain foes, with a similarly ominous battlefield impact.
Players prefer Finger of Death over Danse Macabre
Animate Objects 5th-level transmutation
It has the same feel of turning multiple ordinary things into a pack of temporary combatants you direct in battle.
Players prefer Animate Objects over Danse Macabre
Animate Dead 3rd-level necromancy
It also raises undead allies and lets you keep issuing orders to them after the casting.
Players prefer Animate Dead over Danse Macabre
Create Undead 6th-level necromancy
Both spells turn corpses into undead servants, and this one sits at a very close power level.
Players prefer Create Undead over Danse Macabre
Summon Undead 3rd-level necromancy
Like Danse Macabre, it gives you a controllable undead minion that fights on your behalf for a while.
Players prefer Summon Undead over Danse Macabre