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I want some clarifications on just what the limits of this spell are and I would like some direct input from the designers. I have seen people giving crazy rulings on what this spell can really do and what abilities you can actually give the copy. I have seen everything from making half hit dice terrasque to giving them item creation feats and I think it's crap. How would you even know what abilities a tarrasque would have at half it's hit dice, or it's size etc....
I really want the in's and out's of this spell presented.
faq for you
because i have not a idea
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I think they have provided enough clarification on the matter, do you not think so?
(I've highlighted the more informative links in bold, but they all clarify some aspect of the spell.)
Here are the search pages I used:
James Jacob's posts, page 1
James Jacob's posts, page 2
No other designers have offered anything meaningful on the matter (that I know of).
Seriously though, before coming onto the boards and demanding that the designers take the time away from their designing to answer your questions, do a simple search first. This took me all of five minutes to compile.
Bottom line, it's up to the GM, and the GM IS expected to keep things controllable and balanced.
I think they have provided enough clarification on the matter, do you not think so?
(I've highlighted the more informative links in bold, but they all clarify some aspect of the spell.)
Here are the search pages I used:
James Jacob's posts, page 1
James Jacob's posts, page 2No other designers have offered anything meaningful on the matter (that I know of).
Seriously though, before coming onto the boards and demanding that the designers take the time...
Some of us don't have your awesome search-fu, RD. And I couldn't have written your post in five minutes, let alone done the search. Hats off to you, sir.
I want cookies!
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I think they have provided enough clarification on the matter, do you not think so?
(I've highlighted the more informative links in bold, but they all clarify some aspect of the spell.)
Here are the search pages I used:
James Jacob's posts, page 1
James Jacob's posts, page 2No other designers have offered anything meaningful on the matter (that I know of).
Seriously though, before coming onto the boards and demanding that the designers take the time...
Still doesn't answer everything, unless I skipped over it I couldn't find anything on determining what abilities a creature would have at half hit dice, dragons are easy to do but not all creatures are like that.
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Still doesn't answer everything, unless I skipped over it I couldn't find anything on determining what abilities a creature would have at half hit dice, dragons are easy to do but not all creatures are like that.
Asking the developers to cover absolutely everything is going to accomplish absolutely nothing, as that's not a possible task for ANYONE, much less a reasonable task for the designers.
And what's more, saying "sims retain all the original creature's abilities by default, except for what the loss of HD/levels would take away, and except for what the GM feels would be inappropriate" IS a perfectly valid AND COMPLETE answer to your question, one that appears many times in the threads linked above.
A compilation of simulacrum clarifications for those too lazy to click the links above (in no particular order):
- The GM determines what abilities a sim does or does no retain. In general, abilities inappropriate for its reduced level should not be retained (though they are retained by default prior to GM arbitration).
- Sims keep the original's alignment. A paladin sim, for example, would be Lawful Good, and would quickly lose its paladin powers if ordered by its master to violate its code.
- A sim's creature type is the same as the original (they are not constructs).
- You MUST heal a sim's damage by repairing it in a lab with costly components (as per the spell description), they cannot be healed by any other means, not even through fast healing or regeneration possessed by the original (though they keep these abilities, they don't regain hp).
- The GM decides how the level halving process proceeds. A troll (6 HD) fighter 6, for example, could end up with 3 HD and 3 fighter levels, 6 HD and no fighter levels, or something altogether different. The developers recommend splitting it across the board, however, as in the former example. A troll (6 HD) fighter 5/rogue 4/wizard 3/cleric 1 would be a troll (3 HD) fighter 2/rogue 2/wizard 1 as a sim, for example.
- You DO have to subtract 1 ability score point from the sim's stats that it gained every 4 levels, provided it loses enough HD/levels to warrant it.
- The disguise DC for making a sim look like the original when the caster has never seen the original is arbitrated by the GM, though the developers recommend making the DC really high for powerful creatures.
- Unusual monster abilities not directly related by HD/levels (such as many racial EX, SP, and SU abilities) are to be arbitrated by the GM. Developers recommend halving spellcasting abilities. Though, by default, all such abilities ARE retained, it is appropriate for the GM to not give out inappropriate things like genie-sims that grant wishes (which is something that certain developers have stated as not allowing in their own games).
- Sims cannot be dispelled.
- Sims are not creatures, but are magical effects, specifically shadow-based illusions. Regardless, they ARE treated as creatures for the purposes of the game's mechanics (such as what spells they can and cannot be targeted by).
- A sim, despite being made of ice and snow, is not any more likely to melt during the summer or from a fireball's heat than any other creature of its type.
- Detect magic does not detect sims. They detect as creatures.
- True seeing DOES reveal a sim, showing it to be an animate stature made of ice and snow.
- Sims do not possess any immunities (such as to mind-affecting effects) unless the original creatures shared such an immunity.
- Sims have all the same limitations as the original; for example, a sim must breath, eat, and sleep to survive if the original needs to.
- The only creature a sim cannot mimic is an incorporeal creature (since the sim's body must be made out of material ice and snow). However, some developers do not allow sims of non-living creatures such as constructs and undead in their home games (since they have their own methods of creation).
- Sims get their magical powers from the same source as the original. A sim of a cleric gets it from faithful worship to a deity, a wizard from his sage-mind, a sorcerer from his bloodline, etc.
- Sims have their own personality (typically the same as the original, though this may diverge in time). This does not allow them to disobey their master, however.
- A sim without a master (such as one who died) continues to exist as a free-willed sim.
- The developers manually assign CRs to sims (essentially eye-balling it by comparing it to other creatures). Where appropriate, GMs should too. As a rule of thumb, a sim with class levels should have a CR similar to that of a normal NPC with the same number of class levels (a sim of a 10th-level wizard would have a CR of 4, just like a 5th-level wizard, for example). For creatures with HD, rather than class levels, you should start by comparing it to creatures with the same number of HD as the sim.
- The GM decides what kind of sim a PC can or cannot make. The spell does not give the player carte blanch to shop through the Bestiary. Some developers house rule that you must have a piece of the original creature (something previous versions of the spell required).
- The spell is not going to get a major re-write (such as its own creature template) any time soon.
- It is recommended that sims do not retain any kind of "create spawn" or similar ability, as that would allow them to become more powerful, something the spell specifically prohibits. (It's worth noting that this may also allow the GM to rule against a sim creating other sims, magic items, or anything else of permanency that would increase its strength.)
- A sim of an animal companion, eidolon, familiar, or similar bonded creature has half the abilities of the target creature, just as with any other simulacrum. It doesn't count as a familiar or an animal companion or an eidolon for the purposes of anything else.
- A sim retains the memories/intelligence of the original creature, which makes them great for interrogation. This also makes the spell great for things like asking questions of the long dead (using speak with dead and similar divination magic).
- A GM is expected to keep this spell from being abused, as he would be expected to keep ANY aspect of his game from being abused.
- A sim's age is the same as the age of the source when the sim is created, but it ages at the same rate as if it were alive. Its life expectancy is the same as the creature it duplicates. Simulacrum is NOT a way you can cheat death from old age.