Animate Dead- can you give verbal orders?

[Glarnog]

Party locked in a 10x20 room with a bbeg. Bbeg casts anti magic. I assume the bonus action to mentally command animated undead is suspended by the amf. Then can the cleric who was in control of the skeletons give his skeletons verbal orders? And if so would it be a free action?

[Naanomi]

I usually assume the bonus action commands are verbal or gestural, and wouldn’t block them for AMF (though that would end the ongoing magic effect animating then anyways?)... I wouldn’t give the *bonus* of free action commands for what is intended to be a setback though

[Lord8Ball]

You can use this to allow your allies to control portions of your undead minions to allow for more versatile use.

[Flashy]

Given that the description of Antimagic Field includes the following...


Creatures and Objects: A creature or object summoned or created by magic temporarily winks out of existence in the Sphere.

I feel like you’ve got bigger problems with your animated undead than how to issue commands to them in this scenario.

[mormon_soldier]

Given that the description of Antimagic Field includes the following...



I feel like you’ve got bigger problems with your animated undead than how to issue commands to them in this scenario.

The good news is that it doesn't end the spell, just suppresses it and counts down the duration clock. The animated dead would disappear for the duration though.

[Glarnog]

I disagree about an AMF causing the undead to wink out. They are not summons.

[mormon_soldier]

It either causes them to disappear or disrupts your control of them as if the time limit expired. I think after reading the descriptions of both again, I'm inclined to agree that it would be the latter.

[Asmotherion]

The good news is that it doesn't end the spell, just suppresses it and counts down the duration clock. The animated dead would disappear for the duration though.

They would not necesserally.

If the spell that animates them has an instantaneus duration (animate dead) it merelly "imbues the target with a foul mimickry of life". Then, the spell's other purpose (that is dispelled) is the fact that it controls that undead. The animation is not directly magical, like a monks Ki and a Dragon's Breath, even if it was originally produced by a spell, but the control is dispeled.The undead would act based on their true alignment. This does not necessarily mean they would turn against their caster though, in case they feel a sence of loyalty towards their creator (who might have impressed them with his dedication to necromancy), but they might not be so friendly towards the rest of the party when not controlled.

Danse Macabre on the other hand is directly responsible for the animation of the undead, and thus, in an antimagic field, they would fall down as dead bodies/piles of bones. If the duration did not expire, concentration did not end from the caster, and both the source of the spell (in that case the caster), and the bodies/piles of bones were out of it's range in the right moment, they would animate once more.

Uncorporeal Undead are a very strange case. I would say they are banished from existance until they are out of the field, since they have no actual body and their very existance is unstable. Don't take my word for it though.

PS: On the original purpose of the post; You can always try to give verbal orders, but your undead are not compelled to follow them my any magical means. They even might or might not turn against you, depending on how they view you. A Charisma (persuation/deception/intimidation depending on what you try to do, and how you try to convince them) check would be appropriate here to determine what happens, and if you are ultimatelly able to control your Undead with non-magical means.

[Lombra]

The spell's duration is instantaneous, so nothing happens. You don't lose your HP that you previously earned from a cure wounds spell.