Questions about Simulacrum?

[RossN]

Hey all, I'm designing a setting in which a secret society is being led by the Simulacrums of deceased mages. I have a few questions about how people feel the spell should operate.


Can Simulacrun actually outlive their creators?
To what extent would such a Simulacrum have personality and will? Are they essentially full people, albeit maybe driven by what they see as the wishes of their creators? Mindless 'robots' who have to obey the absolute letter of their last order regardless of circumstances (ie. if a Simulacrum is told 'wait here until I get back' and then observes its creator being killed will it just stand around gathering dust)? Something in between?
Do they age?
If the resources are available can they repair themselves?

[Meichrob7]

Q:Can Simulacrum actually outlive their creators?
A:The simulacrum doesn't mention anything about needing its creator to be alive so probably. What I'd be more confident in saying is that it doesn't need the thing it's a copy of to be alive, so even if creator death = simulacrum death, you could have a group of mages in your society sustaining the copies by making simulacrums of the simulacrum whenever the original caster is about to die. Like if Mage A made a simulacrum of gandalf, and he trained an apprentice, Mage B, when Mage A is getting old or sick Mage B can cast simulacrum on Mage A's simulacrum gandalf. Again I don't think this is needed because the Simulacrum spell never ties its duration to the caster's life, but it'd add an interesting layer of complexity to the situation so it might be fun to implement anyways.

Q:To what extent would such a Simulacrum have personality and will? Are they essentially full people, albeit maybe driven by what they see as the wishes of their creators? Mindless 'robots' who have to obey the absolute letter of their last order regardless of circumstances (ie. if a Simulacrum is told 'wait here until I get back' and then observes its creator being killed will it just stand around gathering dust)? Something in between?
A:So thats a tricky one that should really just be whatever makes the game most interesting to you. The spell says they're friendly to you which implies at least the ability to feel emotions, they are supposedly near perfect copies of the thing they're cloned from so unless you clone a robot I dont think they'd act like that. However they are unable to learn and are to a degree magically bound to follow the will of their creator. If you've read the harry potter series the ghosts are described as being reflections of how they were at death. I think thats probably close to what the spell is describing, a near perfect simulation of the target that is unable to learn and is bound to the caster's will.

Q:Do they age?
A: I'd say no because they can't grow (learn or become more powerful) and we know they dont have natural regneration like living creatures which is kind of essential to aging. They also dont have any sort of time limit on the spell itself so I'd argue that they're locked at the age the target was when the spell was cast.

Q:If the resources are available can they repair themselves?
A: Again this question is really very much whatever makes your story more interesting, but I think because RAW it says 'You' can repair the simulacrum that it might need to be the person who cast the spell. Or you could read it as if the target is able to cast simulacrum themselves, they'd be able to repair themselves as a simulacrum. Personally if it was me I'd say that anyone proficient in Alchemist's supplies could repair the Simulacrum (including another simulacrum) and that if the simulacrum had expertise in alchemist's supplies, it could repair itself.

I'm personally running a lv 1-30 campaign using a source book for level 20-30 from the dm's guild and one of the ways I'm planning on introducing the characters to the level 20+t NPCs is by having them run into a simulacrum of a cocky level 20 wizard who's original body was killed by a level 25 sorcerer. Gonna have the guy only use cantrips and a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level spell via Spell mastery/Signature spell. I doubt they'll figure it out but they're pretty crafty so maybe theyll notice he isnt using any spell slots.

So for me its as if hes the same person just very restricted, and will need to send the party out for alchemical supplies to heal himself.

[Aprender]

It's your (you and your players') world, so it's your rules. I say do whatever is best for the plot that promotes the most fun for you and your players. Be aware some players really dislike anything that differs from (how they view) RAW. You may want to talk to everybody in a session zero to hash out these interesting new ground rules.

[JackPhoenix]

Q:Can Simulacrum actually outlive their creators?
A:The simulacrum doesn't mention anything about needing its creator to be alive so probably. What I'd be more confident in saying is that it doesn't need the thing it's a copy of to be alive, so even if creator death = simulacrum death, you could have a group of mages in your society sustaining the copies by making simulacrums of the simulacrum whenever the original caster is about to die. Like if Mage A made a simulacrum of gandalf, and he trained an apprentice, Mage B, when Mage A is getting old or sick Mage B can cast simulacrum on Mage A's simulacrum gandalf. Again I don't think this is needed because the Simulacrum spell never ties its duration to the caster's life, but it'd add an interesting layer of complexity to the situation so it might be fun to implement anyways.

You can't make Simulacrum of a Simulacrum. The spell duplicates beasts or humanoids, not constructs.