Regarding Simulacrums

[Jergmo]

If you don't give Simulacrums orders, can they act on their own? Do they have their own personalities, or are they merely your puppets?

In the Icewind Dale games, the Drow wizard Malavon created a Simulacrum, whom everyone thought was him in the first game. It went insane and acted on its own. So is that a unique circumstances, or could you allow a Simulacrum autonomy?

[Diarmuid]

In theory, something along the lines of "Act as if you were me" would work...but in that scenario as a DM I would probably have it plot your demise as I know if I were you and another thing was walking around thinking it was me, I would want to get rid of it.

Specific verbal commands have to be exercised, so a painfully long diatribe of legalspeak could probably get a decent amount of autonomy.