Simulacrum

[smetzger]

So... how do you calculate the power of the creature created?
It is supposed to be ... "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 one-half of the real creature’s levels or Hit Dice (and the appropriate hit points, feats, skill ranks, and special abilities for a creature of that level or HD)"

So say it was a Death Giant? How do you calculate the 50% thing? Hit points and HD are easy, but what about all the special abilities?

And then what effect does this have on game play "Simulacrum creates an illusory duplicate of any creature."
Does that mean that if someone realizes it is a simulacrum that the creatures attacks are now no longer effective ('cause it is an illusion)?

[Segev]

Recalculate any HD-derived statistics based on the halved HD. Cut any level-dependent abilities to the appropriate halved level, if appropriate.

All special abilities remain, but have any save DCs, to hit rolls, etc. modified by the reduction in HD and associated stats.

[Eldariel]

The biggest beneficiary are spell-likes, which are HD-independent and thus you get full power SLAs. Supernatural Abilities lose DC but they're still really strong since you can get various abilities at very low expeditures. In general, Simulacrums are casters first and foremost and should be used as such; they're fragile and rather expensive so keep them back as support casters. If you're a one man army, your frontline should rather be composed of bought things, disposable Undead, Summons and perhaps some Bound/Dominated minions/Constructs, and then your Simulacrums, Planar Bound caster things, Charmed things and other less disposable minions should mostly be support casters.

[Echch]

Personally, I'd also argue that if the caster level for a spell-like ability drops below the caster level necessary to cast said spell normally (example: A Wish SLA that normally has CL 20 cannot be used anymore, since CL 10 isn't enough to cast Wish normally), but that is probably just a houserule.

[Eldariel]

Personally, I'd also argue that if the caster level for a spell-like ability drops below the caster level necessary to cast said spell normally (example: A Wish SLA that normally has CL 20 cannot be used anymore, since CL 10 isn't enough to cast Wish normally), but that is probably just a houserule.

Yeah, it's explicitly not the case: Spell-Like Abilities (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm) state "For creatures with spell-like abilities, a designated caster level defines how difficult it is to dispel their spell-like effects and to define any level-dependent variables (such as range and duration) the abilities might have. The creature’s caster level never affects which spell-like abilities the creature has; sometimes the given caster level is lower than the level a spellcasting character would need to cast the spell of the same name."

Spell-like CL on many creatures (all that list a CL, most prominently various Outsiders) is independent of their HD as well (though in some cases those two coincide to be the case and in the ones where no CL is listed, the CL is indeed dependent), which means Simulacrum (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/simulacrum.htm) does not reduce it. Though of course, halving the caster level is a reasonable houserule anyways. If you change both things, it does limit the useful Simulacrums a tad though; you should mostly focus on spells that aren't caster level dependent.

[KillianHawkeye]

And then what effect does this have on game play "Simulacrum creates an illusory duplicate of any creature."
Does that mean that if someone realizes it is a simulacrum that the creatures attacks are now no longer effective ('cause it is an illusion)?

Simulacrum is an Illusion (Shadow) spell. The fact that Shadows are only partially real is the very reason the simulacrum has only half the Hit Dice of the copied creature. It is not at all weakened by uncovering its true nature. There are no Will saves to disbelieve.

[Echch]

If you change both things, it does limit the useful Simulacrums a tad though; you should mostly focus on spells that aren't caster level dependent.

Well, true, but honestly it just seemed like the best idea in the face of free wishes^^^
Efreeti are already bad enough...

[sleepyphoenixx]

Well, true, but honestly it just seemed like the best idea in the face of free wishes^^^
Efreeti are already bad enough...

The best way to do that is to tell your players straight out "no free wishes". Don't fiddle around with a hundred houserules for every little thing or you'll always spend half your sessions arguing about the newest bans instead of playing, which is fun for no one.
They'll just try to weasel around your restrictions too, trying to find a loophole you didn't think of, and then you'll be arguing again. Don't go down that path.

That's part of being a DM. RAW is all well and good, but in the end you want to have fun playing. Buying into a halfway consistent world instead of trying to find loopholes in the rules is part of that.
And if your players don't know better than to break the game (and there's almost always at least one) you'll have to learn to say no.

Similar rulings include "your spell component pouch does not include pieces of gods/demon lords/whatever ****ty abomination with 20 templates you've come up with now", "no, drowning won't heal you", "no infinite pp/spells" and "no, you can't be a Beholder Mage/Illithid Savant".

[Segev]

If you want broken uses, one of my favorite creatures to make a simulacrum of is a Formian Queen (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/formian.htm#queen). Her racial ability to cast as a 17th-level sorceress is technically not tied to her HD. (That said, a house rule cutting that in half is not inappropriate. But, by the RAW, it works.)

Have her stick around by polymorphing herself into something that can move and cast spells. I like wyrmling brass dragons.

[sleepyphoenixx]

If you want broken uses, one of my favorite creatures to make a simulacrum of is a Formian Queen (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/formian.htm#queen). Her racial ability to cast as a 17th-level sorceress is technically not tied to her HD. (That said, a house rule cutting that in half is not inappropriate. But, by the RAW, it works.)

Have her stick around by polymorphing herself into something that can move and cast spells. I like wyrmling brass dragons.

Technically that works with everything that has racial casting (that's not explicitly tied to HD). Monsters with innate spellcasting (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=pkhqtu2eu29uscmm7olvlmgej1&topic=1582) are all decent targets.
Far more interesting is the 50 mile telepathy. Use Psychic Reformation to give her Mindsight.:smallbiggrin:

[Segev]

Technically that works with everything that has racial casting (that's not explicitly tied to HD). Monsters with innate spellcasting (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=pkhqtu2eu29uscmm7olvlmgej1&topic=1582) are all decent targets.
Far more interesting is the 50 mile telepathy. Use Psychic Reformation to give her Mindsight.:smallbiggrin:

Oh, sure. I should have mentioned the telepathy, as it was what made that choice for me the one time I was "shopping" for a simulacrum target. And yes, it works with anything with racial casting divorced from HD.

[Venger]

Oh, sure. I should have mentioned the telepathy, as it was what made that choice for me the one time I was "shopping" for a simulacrum target. And yes, it works with anything with racial casting divorced from HD.

now all you need to do is figure out some way to be treated as a formorian for the purposes of effects and enjoy that sweet flanking immunity