Simulacrawok?

[armorwars1]

Greetings

In a current game I'm playing in, one of the other players created a Simulacrum of a Jabberwock. The creature pretty much rules most combat situations we find ourselves in. Is the spell simulacrum really that powerful? I read the spell in question and its pretty vague as to what the abilities of the creature actually are. All it states is the Hit Dice are half. Does it really have all of its natural abilities? Is this spell being used correctly?

[Claxon]

Simulacrum can do some very powerful things.

You GM shouldn't have allowed this to happen in the first place.

[Shiroi]

I know at minimum you'll calculate BAB, saves, hit points, save DCs, cmd and cmb all as if he was half level rounded down.

I'd also look at recalculating DR, SR, resistances, damage on all of the attacks including Eye Beam, and possibly dropping some abilities if any are still insane because the little smiter was definitely not born at this level of power and a spell that costs less than 10% of your wbl should not be insanely overpowered (excepting that such a spell is in many ways a risk because you might not get that gold back if it dies).

After all this recalculation, consider looking heavily at comparing your newly statted halferwok against a standard CR 12 creature, preferably a CR12 dragon, and also against a CR 12 NPC with 10-11 class levels depending on your NPCs WBL. This will help compare what he -could- have created with the spell. If you're not sure which would be stronger at a glance, you're in the ballpark of being fair.

EDIT:

While I'm at it...

Social ramifications, the king will probably need a servant to wipe down his chair before sending his strongest champions to behead this thing if he brings it near populated areas.

NPCs are not player characters, this is a chaotic evil magical beast with an intelligence just above the average salesman and well below the average wizard. It's going to have a slanted world view that will give it a variable interpretation of most commands. It's much more responsible to have the DM play the part of the jabberwok, using the tactics it would reasonably use instead of the exact thing the wizard needs at that second. The player can give instructions and exert control, but the spell specifies it isn't telepathic and isn't an extension of his will. It might have interesting interpretations of the phrase 'protect me from all harm' when someone tries to haggle him into a bad deal the financial harm might convince the fun toy to get a little eye-beamish.

As a final note, don't be afraid to renegotiate as things progress. Make it clear you're homebrewing a solution and may need to adjust the stat block up and down a bit over the next few sessions until you're all satisfied.

[Dave Justus]

Simulacrum is probably near the top of broken spells in the game, especially if the DM doesn't remove special abilities of monsters (the 'appropriate' special abilities for a 13 HD Jabberwock is certainly a gray area.)

At the minimum though, make sure the DCs are adjusted down to reflect the loss of HD.

That said, it is still going to be very powerful and if the wizard can't get it done with 1 simulacrum, he can always make a few more, so this issue isn't going to go away with a 'rules' answer. You need to express your concern with your group and explain that while you are glad that the wizard is able to be cool, it is making the game not fun for you and see if you can't as a group figure out a way so everyone can have a good time.

[Ultrace]

Dave Justus wrote:

That said, it is still going to be very powerful and if the wizard can't get it done with 1 simulacrum, he can always make a few more, so this issue isn't going to go away with a 'rules' answer. You need to express your concern with your group and explain that while you are glad that the wizard is able to be cool, it is making the game not fun for you and see if you can't as a group figure out a way so everyone can have a good time.

Slightly tangential, but I'm thinking of a worst case scenario where the party had to kill the wizard (perhaps in his sleep) -- what happens to the simulacrum? The spell indicates that it is at all times under the control of the spellcaster. Following the death of the spellcaster, does it become a free-willed entity, lose all sense of self-direction like a Nomu, or just go up in smoke?

[Meirril]

Traditionally they would melt, but the more practical answer is they wold follow their last set of instructions indefinitely. Simulacrum don't really have a will of their own.

[VRMH]

Meirril wrote:

Traditionally they would melt, but the more practical answer is they wold follow their last set of instructions indefinitely. Simulacrum don't really have a will of their own.

Interesting. Where'd you get this information? As I recall a Simulacrum thinks and acts exactly as its original, unless explicitly ordered otherwise by its creator.

[merpius]

YEah I would not think it'd require a Sense Motive check to determine it was a fake if it is purely an automaton.