These a few things I'd like to have clarified about these spells (please don't post about how broken they are as I've seen those threads).
1) Can you change the HD of the simulcrum your creating compared to the original. That is if your making a simulcrum of a 10th level character can you instead make it only 5th level to save on the cost or do you need to make it a full 10HD (or fail if your caster levels not high enough to do that).
2) The lesser version states that it has no magical abilities, what exactly are these? For example lets say the character is a 10th level arcanist Kitsune can the simulcrum . . .
a) Use the arcanist magic spells and exploits i.e. cast 1st level spells?
b) Use the Kitsune's shapeshifting into various forms which is supernatural?
c) Use the Kitsune MAGIC (bonus to enchantment and dancing lights 3/day) which is Extraordinary/Spelllike? Presumably the bonus is extraordinaryy and the dancing lights is spell like.
d) None of the above giving you a fox shaped humanoid with the hitpoints, saves and skills of a 10th level character but can't change shape, use their racial abilities or the core abilites of its class?
e) other.
Relevant text
This spell functions as simulacrum, except you can’t create a simulacrum of a creature whose HD or levels exceed your caster level, and it has no magical abilities.
1) Not by RAW, GM may allow it.
2d is correct. Spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities are all magical. Extraordinary abilities are not and so technically the lesser kitsune simulacrum would keep the bonus to enchantment... except that it can't use enchantment spells so the bonus is irrelevant.
EDIT: The simulacrum does keep a +2 racial bonus to acrobatics, bite attack, and low-light vision. Also note that the simulacrum is half the level of the original, so if you start with a 10HD target, you get a 5HD simulacrum, not a 10HD / 10th level one.
Weirdo wrote: 1) Not by RAW, GM may allow it.
2d is correct. Spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities are all magical. Extraordinary abilities are not and so technically the lesser kitsune simulacrum would keep the bonus to enchantment... except that it can't use enchantment spells so the bonus is irrelevant.
EDIT: The simulacrum does keep a +2 racial bonus to acrobatics, bite attack, and low-light vision. Also note that the simulacrum is half the level of the original, so if you start with a 10HD target, you get a 5HD simulacrum, not a 10HD / 10th level one.
Really? I'm away from home and couldn't access my books so I was going off the SRD where does it say the simulcrum is half the level of the original? Not complaining mind you because if that is the rulling it nicely fixes my problem with the arcanist I have in mind being 1 level to high to cast the spell while using mythic to ignore the material component cost. If they can only create a half hd copy then they are fine creating a simulcrum half their level within the price range of what they can ignore.
Hmmm weird oh well I'm mainly looking at this from the companionship angle and the wizard has spells to change sex/race of the simulcrum so I can work around the weirdness of a Kitsune with realistic shape that can't change shape. Now all I need is to find a spell to share their memories/experiences so when the simulcrum goes poof the arcanist gets its memories (or downloads them prior to said poof).
Hmmm if you lose the ability to use 3rd level spells can you use the martial abilities of an Eldritch Knight? And what about psychics with the new rules for those coming our.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
As far as I know psychic magic is still magic, and thus would be lost with lesser simulacrum.
With the standard simulacrum spell, the target creature's hit dice is indeed half that of the original (with appropriate saves, skill ranks, hit points, base attack bonus, feats, etc. for those lowered hit dice).
Note though, that unlike older editions of the game where you needed a pound of flesh of the creature to be duplicated, you no longer need any such component, or necessarily even knowledge of the creature.
You could make a half-powered dragon or giant just as easily as you could make a king.
And said king would arguably know all the secrets of the real king.
Understandably, many GMs put additional restrictions upon the spell.
As I said I just intend to use it for company and I want to get an idea of limits first.
I'm not sure psychic powers are magic.
By default yes, psionic using transparency, which means they interact the same way as magic, now if your DM want to make psionic different than magic, that's another story. But yeah in the psionic book from DSP they recommend to make it work the same as magic.
Liam Warner wrote: I'm away from home and couldn't access my books so I was going off the SRD where does it say the simulcrum is half the level of the original? SRD
PRD
Simulacrum wrote: Simulacrum creates an illusory duplicate of any creature. The duplicate creature is partially real and formed from ice or snow. It appears to be the same as the original, but it has only half of the real creature's levels or HD (and the appropriate hit points, feats, skill ranks, and special abilities for a creature of that level or HD). You can't create a simulacrum of a creature whose HD or levels exceed twice your caster level....
No one knows what this spell really does. In the end you have to depend on the dm's rulings.
There really isn't even any way to torture text to make a rules lawyer kind of argument, because what is half of a real creature's special abilities?
The biggest thing that makes this an issue is the dropping of having to have a piece of the original creature in Pathfinder, as opposed to 3.x and before. No idea why they made that change.
If you read the text, it's not even clear that you have to make a simulacrum of anything that has ever existed, you can make a simulacrum of something that could possibly exist.
And as Ravingdork implied, there are existentialist questions about this spell anyway. Just going by this spell, you can make a simulacrum of your BBEG and ask him all the questions you would ever want. Or make a simulacrum of someone long dead "So when you were designing this Ancient Azlanti temple, did you put in any secret passages we should know about?"
I don't think it could ever come up in PFS (spell level), but if it did, God help whoever had to make rulings on it, because he is pulling it out of his butt.
Thanks, missed that line in the greater one as I was focused on the leser.
My doubts on picnics arr due solely to wording and it saying magic rather than supernatural or the like, may be easier to just create a higher variant without that line.I suppose they may not want to tell you vital information like that.
With ignore components you just summon it with raw power and when it dies it goes fwoof without dissolving into snow.
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