this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2025
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By default, a skeleton has a short sword or a shortbow in every edition I know about.
Does Animate Dead give them a sword and bow? And arrows?
that's one of those mechanics that's there for brevity but kind of makes no sense within the physics of the world. this necromancy spell happens to come with a conjuration effect. also the skeleton just can't pick up the weapons it was using in life because reasons
Can I sell the swords and shortbows? And their endless supply of arrows? Or maybe I have the skeletons shoot at me, but they hit a slime block on a piston that bounces the arrows up and down and keeps them from despawning and then I can launch all of them at an invader at once.
Mechanically, the monster: skeleton has those two attacks. How works in the lore is... Vague.
I prefer to think the god of death supplies every corpse with those weapons.
in DnD settings there isn't exactly lore about how they get weapons. in previous editions the assumption was they use what they had in life, what is lying nearby, or whatever the necromancer who raised them hands them.
many of the design choices in 5e are to streamline new players into the gameplay without minutiae like "how many shortswords should I keep on hand to pass out to the skeletons I summon" or "can they wield exotic weapons they held in life". but, yes a solid DM can draw on knowledge of the game to tamper with stuff like this without breaking the game. like having a death god who grants shortswords to boney boys or allowing a player to arm them with other things