Honestly it was just a MacGuffin to get my character into Undermountain. He'd been searching for records of it and had traced it back to there. "Said to possess incredible magical properties, legends suggest that it could unlock the secrets of Gnomish engineering and potentially alter the course of history" was what I gave him in my backstory.
Since then, I've discovered that Halaster has been using it as a paperweight. I guess the DM took the Starstone idea and ran with it, because the Construct in our group found a different one that was basically like the AllSpark (or whatever from Transformers) for his people.
All of our campaigns happen in a shared universe, so it's cool to think that something I threw into my backstory might carry over to other stories. My Bard, the lone survivor from Curse of Strahd, is chilling in Phandalin. My Aarakocra Druid, who went to Icewind Dale (Rime of the Frostmaiden) to find a way to get his broken wings fixed is back in Chult ready to lead a war to destroy all Earth Elementals.
Who knows if any of that will ever get revisited, but it's cool to know they're there and that my Rogue, if he survives, will be the head of a Secret Society/Faction.
At level 10? I took Find Greater Steed on my Bard. Counterspell is always strong. Aura of Vitality/Revivify if you don't have a Cleric.
It kinda depends on the rest of your party...is there something important the group as it's currently composed can't do?
Every so often bards can purloin a spell off someone else's list using Magical Secrets and make it their own forever. So, how do we make best use of that?
At level 10? I took Find Greater Steed on my Bard. Counterspell is always strong. Aura of Vitality/Revivify if you don't have a Cleric.
It kinda depends on the rest of your party...is there something important the group as it's currently composed can't do?
Every so often bards can purloin a spell off someone else's list using Magical Secrets and make it their own forever. So, how do we make best use of that?
I'm not experienced enough to know if we're missing something. I'm the defacto healer which means we use s lot of potions. Although we do have a really good pally who does some healing too.
I looked at counter spell last night and that looked good. Does that work on breath weapons and other abilities?
Bigsbys hand looked pretty cool too. But I think it's a concentration spell.
I'm not experienced enough to know if we're missing something. I'm the defacto healer which means we use s lot of potions. Although we do have a really good pally who does some healing too.
I looked at counter spell last night and that looked good. Does that work on breath weapons and other abilities?
Bigsbys hand looked pretty cool too. But I think it's a concentration spell.
What else do you have in your group besides a Paladin?
Counterspell will interrupt a creature in the process of casting a spell. It won't work on abilities, only spells. Also, it only automatically counters spells of 3rd level or lower (unless you cast it with a higher spell slot). If an enemy casts a 4th level spell, you'll have to roll a D20 + your CHA modifier and roll a 14+ to counter it.
If y'all are using a lot of healing potions, Aura of Vitality might be good:
"Healing energy radiates from you in an aura with a 30-foot radius. Until the spell ends, the aura moves with you, centered on you. You can use a bonus action to cause one creature in the aura (including you) to regain 2d6 hit points."
I wouldn't use this during combat very often, but after combat if you don't have time for a Short Rest, this is great. Basically every 6 seconds for 1 minute, you can heal someone for 2d6 hit points, effectively giving you 20d6 of healing for a level 3 spell slot. It is concentration, but if you use it between battles, that doesn't matter much.
Fireball is an option if your group is missing AOE options, but if you're going against dragons, they might have Fire Resistance/Immunity.
I've never used Bigby's Hand or been in a campaign where anyone used it. As a 5th level spell, I feel like there are usually other things I want to use that spell slot for, but if it's speaking to you, maybe there's a reason. I'll never begrudge someone for taking something they think is fun and fits their character over a min/max option.
What else do you have in your group besides a Paladin?
Counterspell will interrupt a creature in the process of casting a spell. It won't work on abilities, only spells. Also, it only automatically counters spells of 3rd level or lower (unless you cast it with a higher spell slot). If an enemy casts a 4th level spell, you'll have to roll a D20 + your CHA modifier and roll a 14+ to counter it.
If y'all are using a lot of healing potions, Aura of Vitality might be good:
"Healing energy radiates from you in an aura with a 30-foot radius. Until the spell ends, the aura moves with you, centered on you. You can use a bonus action to cause one creature in the aura (including you) to regain 2d6 hit points."
I wouldn't use this during combat very often, but after combat if you don't have time for a Short Rest, this is great. Basically every 6 seconds for 1 minute, you can heal someone for 2d6 hit points, effectively giving you 20d6 of healing for a level 3 spell slot. It is concentration, but if you use it between battles, that doesn't matter much.
Fireball is an option if your group is missing AOE options, but if you're going against dragons, they might have Fire Resistance/Immunity.
I've never used Bigby's Hand or been in a campaign where anyone used it. As a 5th level spell, I feel like there are usually other things I want to use that spell slot for, but if it's speaking to you, maybe there's a reason. I'll never begrudge someone for taking something they think is fun and fits their character over a min/max option.
I’d second the counterspell recommendation. Cultists imply you’ll be facing some spells, and nothing pisses off a DM more than their NPC being counterspelled.
Also, while it is an admittedly situational spell it uses your reaction which you probably otherwise aren’t using all that often (unless you took shield with your sorcerer levels, which would certainly also be a good thing to do).
Stop metagaming and just read the spells and play your character. Table top shouldn't be min maxing/power gaming.
Fireball, haste, all kinds of good spells out there. I haven't played a campaign in a while, and don't remember the levels you get stuff, but the campaign should be fun, and if the DM is worth his salt, it shouldn't matter that much, just enjoy the ride.
Stop metagaming and just read the spells and play your character. Table top shouldn't be min maxing/power gaming.
Fireball, haste, all kinds of good spells out there. I haven't played a campaign in a while, and don't remember the levels you get stuff, but the campaign should be fun, and if the DM is worth his salt, it shouldn't matter that much, just enjoy the ride.
The problem is I didn't have time to read all the spells. When I asked the question we were scheduled to do a marathon session to end the tyranny of tiamat the next day. The DM texted us the night before, 'OH btw be ready to level up twice'. It took me 4 hours to level up my previous level and that was pretty quick. It would have taken forever to look at every spell list.
2 rogues (swashbuckler and arcane trickster)
wizard
All of us are newbs other than the pally. I wound up taking his advice because he's played pretty much all classes. I took forcecage and simulacrum. Both wound up being useless. We had an opportunity for me to cast simulracrum, but because we were rushing it in the real world I didn't think to actually say I was casting it. It didn't occur to me until we were well into the fight.
I’d second the counterspell recommendation. Cultists imply you’ll be facing some spells, and nothing pisses off a DM more than their NPC being counterspelled.
Also, while it is an admittedly situational spell it uses your reaction which you probably otherwise aren’t using all that often (unless you took shield with your sorcerer levels, which would certainly also be a good thing to do).
I have a ring of spell storing so I had a level 5 counterspell loaded into it instead. The wizard took counterspell and I figured that would be enough. It actually led to a funny exchange. He cast fireball on 5 wizards. One of them counterspelled (which he had to roll for because he had upcast the fireball). He counterspelled the counterspell. Another one counterspelled his counterspell. I counterspelled the second one's counterspell. A third one counterspelled my counterspell (which he also had to roll for because my counterspell was level 5). DM was smiling. He was like, I got 2 more, what else ya got? The pally pointed out that anyone counterspelling has to drop concentration, so at least those 3 dropped the concentration on a thing they were doing. I have no idea where that rule came from, I don't see it. But the pally, the wizard, and the DM all seemed familiar with it.
I do also have absorb elements and shield as well as silvery barbs to use my reactions on. I like reaction spells. Makes me feel like I have more turns.
Anyway, thanks for the responses, it's over now. Read the spoiler if you wanna hear how the tiamat fight went.
I won't spoil it all, but we got to the well of dragons with a plan to save the prisoners before they could be sacrificed. But we got there too late for that. Instead there were a bunch of mages doing the ritual. We tried to interrupt it but it wasn't a spell per se, so we started killing them as fast as we could. They were spaced very far apart, about 120ft. We discovered some mages on top of the spire closer together and were able to kill them by shoving them off the catwalk. These were the mages our wizard tried to fireball. We were one kill away from stopping the ritual. But we didn't, so tiamat came
My intention with force cage was to trap tiamat. Unfortunately max size for the cage is 20 ft cube, and tiamat is a huge creature, which means 20ft+ sized cube. It would have worked on most dragons ....
Anyway, I also found out the hard way that spells under level 6 don't affect her, and while I have 3 spells slots of 6 or higher, I don't have any damage spells that high. A few rounds later I realized I could upcast a lower level spell, but I never got around to that because I was doing a lot of support stuff. One time I used performance of creation to make a large boulder and drop it on her head from 300 feet up. And that's when I found out the hard way that she's immune to non magical physical damage.
I wound up striking the killing blow with one of my new spells, animate objects. 10 tiny pebbles. They get a +8 tohit and do 1d4+4 damage. 3 of them managed to hit and one was a crit (it literally took a 19+ on the dice to hit her)
I had a flying dragon dick (dancing item from animating performance) on the ground racing for her cloaca when the pally managed to knock her out of the air. I argued that the dick was already locked on target and should have slipped right in when she fell, but the DM wouldn't buy it. My dick got crushed instead.
The problem is I didn't have time to read all the spells. When I asked the question we were scheduled to do a marathon session to end the tyranny of tiamat the next day. The DM texted us the night before, 'OH btw be ready to level up twice'. It took me 4 hours to level up my previous level and that was pretty quick. It would have taken forever to look at every spell list.
2 rogues (swashbuckler and arcane trickster)
wizard
All of us are newbs other than the pally. I wound up taking his advice because he's played pretty much all classes. I took forcecage and simulacrum. Both wound up being useless. We had an opportunity for me to cast simulracrum, but because we were rushing it in the real world I didn't think to actually say I was casting it. It didn't occur to me until we were well into the fight.
I have a ring of spell storing so I had a level 5 counterspell loaded into it instead. The wizard took counterspell and I figured that would be enough. It actually led to a funny exchange. He cast fireball on 5 wizards. One of them counterspelled (which he had to roll for because he had upcast the fireball). He counterspelled the counterspell. Another one counterspelled his counterspell. I counterspelled the second one's counterspell. A third one counterspelled my counterspell (which he also had to roll for because my counterspell was level 5). DM was smiling. He was like, I got 2 more, what else ya got? The pally pointed out that anyone counterspelling has to drop concentration, so at least those 3 dropped the concentration on a thing they were doing. I have no idea where that rule came from, I don't see it. But the pally, the wizard, and the DM all seemed familiar with it.
I do also have absorb elements and shield as well as silvery barbs to use my reactions on. I like reaction spells. Makes me feel like I have more turns.
Anyway, thanks for the responses, it's over now. Read the spoiler if you wanna hear how the tiamat fight went.
I won't spoil it all, but we got to the well of dragons with a plan to save the prisoners before they could be sacrificed. But we got there too late for that. Instead there were a bunch of mages doing the ritual. We tried to interrupt it but it wasn't a spell per se, so we started killing them as fast as we could. They were spaced very far apart, about 120ft. We discovered some mages on top of the spire closer together and were able to kill them by shoving them off the catwalk. These were the mages our wizard tried to fireball. We were one kill away from stopping the ritual. But we didn't, so tiamat came
My intention with force cage was to trap tiamat. Unfortunately max size for the cage is 20 ft cube, and tiamat is a huge creature, which means 20ft+ sized cube. It would have worked on most dragons ....
Anyway, I also found out the hard way that spells under level 6 don't affect her, and while I have 3 spells slots of 6 or higher, I don't have any damage spells that high. A few rounds later I realized I could upcast a lower level spell, but I never got around to that because I was doing a lot of support stuff. One time I used performance of creation to make a large boulder and drop it on her head from 300 feet up. And that's when I found out the hard way that she's immune to non magical physical damage.
I wound up striking the killing blow with one of my new spells, animate objects. 10 tiny pebbles. They get a +8 tohit and do 1d4+4 damage. 3 of them managed to hit and one was a crit (it literally took a 19+ on the dice to hit her)
I had a flying dragon dick (dancing item from animating performance) on the ground racing for her cloaca when the pally managed to knock her out of the air. I argued that the dick was already locked on target and should have slipped right in when she fell, but the DM wouldn't buy it. My dick got crushed instead.
I guess my question would be when did you start playing dungeons and dragons? I mean if you were playing it since you were a kid you probably at least know the gist of how or what all of the spells and classes do and how they interact despite kind of changing between different editions.
I haven't played a campaign in a while and I don't remember what might be the best options or alternatives but we're all getting old and sitting down to a table top evening shouldn't be a min-maxing thing, just go in and have fun. Point being is you can just get pretty creative with stuff as long as your DM isn't a dipshit.
I know in the last campaign I was playing a few years ago, I think I was a level 13 paladin or something, we started I think at level 9 or 10, and some pirate fleet was sailing into a Port City we were working with, but I had the greater Mount spell, and could summon a Pegasus. So I and our cleric flew out at night above the fleet and he casted some sort of Goofy manipulate water spell, basically sinking all the boats.
We were supposed to have some sort of big invasion battle but because of just some out of the box thinking and just having fun and goofing around, it was a nice evening.
Don't overthink anything, just have fun and be creative, that's the whole point of playing these things. It's far too easy to get into the video game mindset of min maxing, and you shouldn't do that when you're rolling dice with your buddies.
I guess my question would be when did you start playing dungeons and dragons? I mean if you were playing it since you were a kid you probably at least know the gist of how or what all of the spells and classes do and how they interact despite kind of changing between different editions.
it's been a few years technically because we meet so sporadically, but this is the first and only campaign I've done. Other than this, there have been a handful of one shot adventures. Most of them at tier 1 or 2. I did one oneshot at level 20. So I simply don't know what other spells are out there. That's what I was trying to get across. For the level 20 game, I went with bard because it's the character I know best, but I don't even remember what spells i selected for magical secrets. I sucked that game. Didn't have any idea what most of my shit did because dndbeyond wouldn't even let me select a creation bard.
it's been a few years technically because we meet so sporadically, but this is the first and only campaign I've done. Other than this, there have been a handful of one shot adventures. Most of them at tier 1 or 2. I did one oneshot at level 20. So I simply don't know what other spells are out there. That's what I was trying to get across. For the level 20 game, I went with bard because it's the character I know best, but I don't even remember what spells i selected for magical secrets. I sucked that game. Didn't have any idea what most of my shit did because dndbeyond wouldn't even let me select a creation bard.
It's like somebody else suggested you could always just grab fireball or something like haste, which I don't remember when those spells are available for other classes and don't necessarily remember the mechanics behind that specific Bard ability. Just grab something that sounds like it'll be useful and fun. Grabbit Allworth
was probably the dude but should be chiming in, but I come from a standpoint of all of our campaigns over the years since I was in high school are pretty easy going.
the point being is it's just a game that you're spending your free time with the play with your friends and it should always be fun. If it's not it defeats the purpose. You don't have to be the most powerful character but you could be the most memorable character. Pick something completely off the wall, and it's up to use a role player to figure out how to use it, make it a damn challenge. That's the beauty of tabletop gaming. When you have those moments where somebody rolls the dice and does something just completely insane, you'll remember it with your friends.
It's over, so what's done is done, but...Bards don't get a 7th level spell slot until 18. (Edit: I looked this up wrong...Bards get a 7th at 13, so it's possible depending on your Bard level.) You said you took 4 levels of Sorcerer. Simulacrum is a 7th level spell, so it's not really a possibility. (Edit: It is possible if you were level 17 or 18 to end the campaign.) The Paladin seems like he's using the fact that he's more experienced to assert things as truth that aren't correct. Another example being the counterspell...counterspell does not cause you to lose concentration. Only getting hit and failing a constitution check or casting another concentration spell (which counterspell is not) would do that.
Not going to read the spoilers because we haven't run that campaign yet, but I hope you had fun.
Edit: I was about to join a meeting and didn't fact-check myself before posting before. I edited in the corrections instead of rewriting/deleting the post. I'm curious what your class levels were, because that changes if the Paladin was just wrong or if he suggested you take two 7th level spells when you only have 1 spell slot or what. It's nothing I'd confront him on, but might be good to know for the future.
It's over, so what's done is done, but...Bards don't get a 7th level spell slot until 18. (Edit: I looked this up wrong...Bards get a 7th at 13, so it's possible depending on your Bard level.) You said you took 4 levels of Sorcerer. Simulacrum is a 7th level spell, so it's not really a possibility. (Edit: It is possible if you were level 17 or 18 to end the campaign.) The Paladin seems like he's using the fact that he's more experienced to assert things as truth that aren't correct. Another example being the counterspell...counterspell does not cause you to lose concentration. Only getting hit and failing a constitution check or casting another concentration spell (which counterspell is not) would do that.
Not going to read the spoilers because we haven't run that campaign yet, but I hope you had fun.
Edit: I was about to join a meeting and didn't fact-check myself before posting before. I edited in the corrections instead of rewriting/deleting the post. I'm curious what your class levels were, because that changes if the Paladin was just wrong or if he suggested you take two 7th level spells when you only have 1 spell slot or what. It's nothing I'd confront him on, but might be good to know for the future.
I did a 4 level dip in sorcerer. We ended at level 15 total, so I was 11 bard, 4 sorc. I had a 6th, 7th, and 8th level spell slot according to DNDbeyond. You might be forgetting how spell slots work when multiclassing. Basically if both classes are full casters, the spell slots are based on playsr level not the class level. Kinda like proficiency bonus. Spells known is based on class levels.
I think I got secrets at bard 10 technically, but because of our rl time constraints we got 2 levels before I had a chance to actually choose magical secrets spells. Hell I never even had a chance to choose my final bard spell.
As for the spell levels, he gave me a list of suggestions. They weren't all 7th level. Those are just the 2 that looked the most interesting to me.
I'm familiar with nearly every spell in the game so tell me a rough idea of what you'd like your character to be able to do and I can point you towards some options. Also, are you guys using the 2014 or 2024 rules? It matters because many spells were buffed/nerfed. Even if what you'd like your character to do isn't on the official spell list, I have thousands of additional spells in 3rd-party products and if one of them fits the bill, you can lobby your DM to allow it.
And it doesn't have to be the highest level you can cast. That will severely limit how often you can use it and there are plenty of great lower-level spells that you could use multiple times instead of just once a day.
I'm surprised you found both Force Cage and Simulacrum to be useless. They're both incredibly powerful spells and Simulacrum is responsible for some of the most broken shit in the game. Though, to be fair, you need multiple high-level spells slots to really maximize it. Regardless, many DMs don't allow the spell, period. Fortunately, it got nerfed in 5.5e and it's a bit more manageable.
I did a 4 level dip in sorcerer. We ended at level 15 total, so I was 11 bard, 4 sorc. I had a 6th, 7th, and 8th level spell slot according to DNDbeyond. You might be forgetting how spell slots work when multiclassing. Basically if both classes are full casters, the spell slots are based on playsr level not the class level. Kinda like proficiency bonus. Spells known is based on class levels.
I think I got secrets at bard 10 technically, but because of our rl time constraints we got 2 levels before I had a chance to actually choose magical secrets spells. Hell I never even had a chance to choose my final bard spell.
As for the spell levels, he gave me a list of suggestions. They weren't all 7th level. Those are just the 2 that looked the most interesting to me.
You're right...it's been awhile since I've done any multi-classing. I also forgot that Bard was considered a full-caster. My bad.
My current party has a scroll of Simulacrum that we've been holding onto for 4-5 levels now. I've been trying to convince the group we should use it on my Rogue when the time comes. I've been keeping my old magical items just so I can get him equipped and use him at range so he takes as little damage as possible. This campaign will go to level 20 and we're currently 15. It's just a question of when do we use it...every level from here on out I get a nice little power jump. If we use it now, the simulacrum will be 15 the rest of the campaign, but we get more time to play with it. If we wait until the final battle, it's a nice bonus for that fight, but not much time to roleplay with both versions....more likely he is still standing at the end of the campaign, though.
I'm familiar with nearly every spell in the game so tell me a rough idea of what you'd like your character to be able to do and I can point you towards some options. Also, are you guys using the 2014 or 2024 rules? It matters because many spells were buffed/nerfed. Even if what you'd like your character to do isn't on the official spell list, I have thousands of additional spells in 3rd-party products and if one of them fits the bill, you can lobby your DM to allow it.
And it doesn't have to be the highest level you can cast. That will severely limit how often you can use it and there are plenty of great lower-level spells that you could use multiple times instead of just once a day.
I'm surprised you found both Force Cage and Simulacrum to be useless. They're both incredibly powerful spells and Simulacrum is responsible for some of the most broken shit in the game. Though, to be fair, you need multiple high-level spells slots to really maximize it. Regardless, many DMs don't allow the spell, period. Fortunately, it got nerfed in 5.5e and it's a bit more manageable.
We're done now. I wish I could have texted you saturday night lol. But, I am probably going to get that character sorted out in case he's needed for a higher level one-off. Or we might do an adventure or two to tie up loose ends. Read the spoiler and you'll see why force cage didn't work. Lets just say because tiamat, what's why. We're using the 2014 rules.
is 5.5E the 2024 rules? I'm going to have to check out the differences in simulacrum. The only reason simulacrum was useless was the 12 hour cast time and I didn't think to take time to cast it when we leveled. As I said, in real time, that was a 15 minute smoke break where I was trying to update my character and select spells. Like halfway into the final fight I thought about it but figured that was too late to retcon my simulacrum having been sitting in the corner sucking his thumb the whole time. I didn't even ask the DM.
My favorite move so far has been using performance of creation to make a huge rock, then dropping it onto dragons. I can animate it with animating performance, move it into position, then end the animating spell. I wanted to use force cage to stop things from escaping (we had a couple of dragons try to run throughout the campaign). I also really like slow but it never worked. That's the kinda stuff I like to be able to do.
You're right...it's been awhile since I've done any multi-classing. I also forgot that Bard was considered a full-caster. My bad.
My current party has a scroll of Simulacrum that we've been holding onto for 4-5 levels now. I've been trying to convince the group we should use it on my Rogue when the time comes. I've been keeping my old magical items just so I can get him equipped and use him at range so he takes as little damage as possible. This campaign will go to level 20 and we're currently 15. It's just a question of when do we use it...every level from here on out I get a nice little power jump. If we use it now, the simulacrum will be 15 the rest of the campaign, but we get more time to play with it. If we wait until the final battle, it's a nice bonus for that fight, but not much time to roleplay with both versions....more likely he is still standing at the end of the campaign, though.
Hey, I've said this before but it bears repeating. When I started this character, I chose bard because I wanted to be utility and didn't want to have to fuck with figuring out spell casting. I was only exposed to the MMO version of bards where they are generally scouts. I was probably level 8 before it dawned on me that I'm supposed to be waggling my finger instead of doing the stabby stabby. I bet I used vicious mockery less than a half dozen times all told. Around the time I figured out I should be doing that instead of stabbing, I decided to multiclass into sorcerer the next level and had better options.
Your scroll is a tough call because you only get one and with half HPS and being expensive to heal, I'm guessing he won't last through many tough fights anyway. At least as a rogue spell slots won't be a problem. With mine being a spell I know, the simulacrum would be expendable and I could recast him anytime we had some downtime. When it dies and melts back to snow, does it drop it's equipment or does the equipment get destroyed? The spell description doesn't specifically say.
Your scroll is a tough call because you only get one and with half HPS and being expensive to heal, I'm guessing he won't last through many tough fights anyway. At least as a rogue spell slots won't be a problem. With mine being a spell I know, the simulacrum would be expendable and I could recast him anytime we had some downtime. When it dies and melts back to snow, does it drop it's equipment or does the equipment get destroyed? The spell description doesn't specifically say.
Good question...I'd rule that those things don't become "part" of the simulacrum just because he's holding them. At the very least, I'm sure my DM would rule that magical items persist just based on his previous rulings. As far as surviving, that's one of the reasons I think we should use it on my Rogue instead of anyone else...I'm very mobile and good at avoiding damage. He should be far enough away from the group to not get caught in many AOE's, but Evasion will keep him from taking much/anything on the DEX-based saves and Uncanny Dodge helps if anyone actually targets him with with an attack. He'd very much be using guerrilla warfare tactics, hiding behind pillars and walls, but yeah...the cost of healing him isn't going to be cheap which is another reason to hold off until a later level to use it.
I'm having trouble finding both descriptions for simulacrum, but according to AI the difference between 5e and 2024 rules is that in 5e the simulacrum could take rests and heal during them, and it could cast simulacrum too (assuming the being you copied could cast the spell).
Apparently in 2024, it cannot cast the spell, cannot heal except through expensive means, and cannot take rests. But it does get a copy of your equipment. If the AI was right, that's not a bad nerf because the equipment would be huge. But I don't believe the AI. If it's correct, then the old version was a full blown character able to heal, regain spell slots, and increase in power.
5e (2014):
You shape an illusory duplicate of one beast or humanoid that is within range for the entire casting time of the spell. The duplicate is a creature, partially real and formed from ice or snow, and it can take actions and otherwise be affected as a normal creature. It appears to be the same as the original, but it has half the creature's hit point maximum and is formed without any equipment. Otherwise, the illusion uses all the statistics of the creature it duplicates.
The simulacrum is friendly to you and creatures you designate. It obeys your spoken commands, moving and acting in accordance with your wishes and acting on your turn in combat. The simulacrum lacks the ability to learn or become more powerful, so it never increases its level or other abilities, nor can it regain expended spell slots.
If the simulacrum is damaged, you can repair it in an alchemical laboratory, using rare herbs and minerals worth 100 gp per hit point it regains. The simulacrum lasts until it drops to 0 hit points, at which point it reverts to snow and melts instantly.
If you cast this spell again, any currently active duplicates you created with this spell are instantly destroyed.
5.5e (2024):
You create a simulacrum of one Beast or Humanoid that is within 10 feet of you for the entire casting of the spell. You finish the casting by touching both the creature and a pile of ice or snow that is the same size as that creature, and the pile turns into the simulacrum, which is a creature. It uses the game statistics of the original creature at the time of casting, except it is a Construct, its Hit Point maximum is half as much, and it can’t cast this spell.
The simulacrum is Friendly to you and creatures you designate. It obeys your commands and acts on your turn in combat. The simulacrum can’t gain levels, and it can’t take Short or Long Rests.
If the simulacrum takes damage, the only way to restore its Hit Points is to repair it as you take a Long Rest, during which you expend components worth 100 GP per Hit Point restored. The simulacrum must stay within 5 feet of you for the repair.
The simulacrum lasts until it drops to 0 Hit Points, at which point it reverts to snow and melts away. If you cast this spell again, any simulacrum you created with this spell is instantly destroyed.
So, 5.5e doesn't explicitly state "without any equipment", which leaves it unfortunately open to interpretation. It specifically says it can't take Short or Long rests, which wasn't said in 5e, but most DMs I know ruled it that way because of the line stating how to regain hit points and the fact it can't regain spell slots.
The only real difference mechanically seems to be that it can be repaired during a Long Rest instead of in an Alchemical Laboratory, which would help me since we're in UnderMountain and might not have access to a Lab.
They changed a lot of words to say the same thing, basically. I wonder if it works like textbooks for college where you have to change a certain percentage of the text to be considered a new edition.
