Can I get an Unseen Servant or a Simulacrum to copy my spell book while I go do something else? I dont think there's a reason not to? But...also that sounds kinda silly. Unseen servant for sure no I wouldn't think. But a Simulacrum? maybe? I told him I would get back to him.
I'd say this depends on how your DM would rule, but from my point of view as a DM I don't see why not. Unseen Servant may not be the most effective option due strictly to it's duration and range, but other spells like Mighty Fortress and Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion come with unseen servants that don't have *quite* the same limitations.
On the other point of view, the reason copying spell books takes so long is because wizards use their own sort of arcane language for their own spell books. Its also why it takes time to decipher another wizards book. I don't know if an unseen servant would have the intelligence to pull this off.
Bear in mind, I'm operating off the assumption that the unseen servant is strictly copying things exactly as they are in the existing spellbook. If however the servant were told to make alterations that aren't in the existing spellbook, I'd probably rule they didn't have that capacity.
Reviewing the PHB description of the Spellbook's transcription process for background:
Copying that spell into your spellbook involves reproducing the basic form of the spell, then deciphering the unique system of notation used by the wizard who wrote it. You must practice the spell until you understand the sounds or gestures required, then transcribe it into your spellbook using your own notation
So in adding a spell to their Spellbooks the first, there's an act of decoding the original writer's spell writing hand and a sort of act of translating into the claiming wizards spell writing hand. Glassmancer's right in ruling against unseen servants on those grounds. Moreover the RAW for Unseen servants clearly state manual labor not acts of penmanship to take inventory for a run to the grocer or settle the household's account, so magical transcription is right out.
Simulacrum is more of a wobbler, but I'm leaning to rule against that one too,. Simulacra can't regain spent spell slots, meaning they can't study magic, and whatever magic they possess in their minds is simply a reflection of the spell caster at the time of casting. For me, that's fair grounds saying the simulacra due to it's illusory construct nature just doesn't have a firm grasp of the weave or the real functions of magic to do this sort of work. Like I said, it's a wobbler, and I could understand a DM reading the circumstance more generously.
In Forgotten Realms, characters can pay to have Spellbooks copied at Candlekeep. It's unclear how that works beyond pricing and time. Presumably we're talking about copies of Spellbooks in Candlekeep's collections, but I guess if a Wizard was able to get that copy, they'd still have to perform the writing of the book into their own hand (which begs a big question why the service is there in the first place outside of the collectors market).
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
If your wizard just wants to make a copy of their spell book, not add a new spell, I would allow this using Simulacrum. The spell states "Otherwise, the illusion uses all the statistics of the creature it duplicates, except that it is a construct." If your wizard targets themselves, the simulacrum has their same statistics and current spell slots. So with the same intelligence and the ability to cast the same level spells of the PC I don't see why it couldn't make a copy of the spell book. That being said I don't think it could add new spells to the PC's spell book, since the PC still needs to 'learn' the spell in the first place.
If you are thinking from a story perspective, the monks who copied books in medieval times had to be able to read what they copied, and even then there still were mistakes in the copy at times.
So while I don't think it should be impossible, there is currently no support for it in the books.
If your wizard just wants to make a copy of their spell book, not add a new spell, I would allow this using Simulacrum. The spell states "Otherwise, the illusion uses all the statistics of the creature it duplicates, except that it is a construct." If your wizard targets themselves, the simulacrum has their same statistics and current spell slots. So with the same intelligence and the ability to cast the same level spells of the PC I don't see why it couldn't make a copy of the spell book. That being said I don't think it could add new spells to the PC's spell book, since the PC still needs to 'learn' the spell in the first place.
In addition in fluff A SImulacrum is an exact copy of you at that point in time, so they know everything you know. Including your secret languages and cipers and ways of writing and thinking. Specific clarity on the spell has confirmed that it cannot improve itself any way but is that player at a certain point in time. So I would agree the Simulacrum can copy the wizards book with no issues it probably knows the book inside and out anyway (Much as the Wizard does). However as you say it couldn't add new spells.
I'd like to see the results of an Unseen Servant copying the shapes drawn in the wizard's spellbook.
You could, as an exercise, try copying a large amount of japanese/chinese glyph writing and see if a native reader is able to read your copy.
This is a key point, we imagine copying english as lines, curves and dots but, miss a cross on a T and it becomes an I, complete a C a bit too much it becomes an o and this is a fairly easy alphabet. try and copy Chinese or Japanese calligraphy and suddenly a line in slightly the wrong place, or in a different direction and the word changes tone, meaning or becomes intelligible. I imagine a wizard book is more like japanese rather then latin based language. All it takes is a wrong line or symbol and that fireball fizzles, or worse just explodes at source.
If I were DM in this situation, I'd look at what the intent behind the copying is. Is it just to have a backup of the spellbook in case something happens to it? Then I would probably rule in favor of letting a simulacrum do it. They can cast spells. They just don't regain the expended slots. If they're trying to avoid the time and money spent on learning a new spell and putting it into a spellbook? No, they have to do that themselves.
I'd give the player a page from an advanced calculus textbook (with diagrams!) written in Arabic and ask them to copy it with no mistakes, then point out that an unseen servant is much less smart than the average gamer. :-)
I just now realized that the OP is the DM in this situation (head, meet desk) so I'll amend my statement to add that really, there is no clearly defined answer on the subject, so anything you rule is valid.
I will say, just as a thing to consider, is that a printer has absolutely zero intelligence, but can copy absolutely anything you want it to so long as it has a reference to draw from. In the examples you asked about, I'd say first establish their capabilities. Does an unseen servant have the capability to reproduce writing like a printer, or is it like trying to ask a dishwasher to reproduce the Mona Lisa?
If I were DM in this situation, I'd look at what the intent behind the copying is. Is it just to have a backup of the spellbook in case something happens to it? Then I would probably rule in favor of letting a simulacrum do it. They can cast spells. They just don't regain the expended slots. If they're trying to avoid the time and money spent on learning a new spell and putting it into a spellbook? No, they have to do that themselves.
I'm said Wizard. This is exactly my intention, simply to have a backup of "MY" Spellbook in case something happens to my current one. I would expect it still have to take the appropriate time and gold needed to do so, but only with the benefit of having a minion do the actual literal copying for me.
For added narrative I imagine I'd be in the same room with them while they did so. Either reading, eating, or tending to other Wizard hobbies.
If I were DM in this situation, I'd look at what the intent behind the copying is. Is it just to have a backup of the spellbook in case something happens to it? Then I would probably rule in favor of letting a simulacrum do it. They can cast spells. They just don't regain the expended slots. If they're trying to avoid the time and money spent on learning a new spell and putting it into a spellbook? No, they have to do that themselves.
I'm said Wizard. This is exactly my intention, simply to have a backup of "MY" Spellbook in case something happens to my current one. I would expect it still have to take the appropriate time and gold needed to do so, but only with the benefit of having a minion do the actual literal copying for me.
For added narrative I imagine I'd be in the same room with them while they did so. Either reading, eating, or tending to other Wizard hobbies.
I would totally rule that okay as a DM since the simulacrum has your same capabilities at the time it was created. It's up to your DM obviously but if you were in my party I might even be tempted to give an inspiration point or something to reward clever thinking.
If I were DM in this situation, I'd look at what the intent behind the copying is. Is it just to have a backup of the spellbook in case something happens to it? Then I would probably rule in favor of letting a simulacrum do it. They can cast spells. They just don't regain the expended slots. If they're trying to avoid the time and money spent on learning a new spell and putting it into a spellbook? No, they have to do that themselves.
I'm said Wizard. This is exactly my intention, simply to have a backup of "MY" Spellbook in case something happens to my current one. I would expect it still have to take the appropriate time and gold needed to do so, but only with the benefit of having a minion do the actual literal copying for me.
For added narrative I imagine I'd be in the same room with them while they did so. Either reading, eating, or tending to other Wizard hobbies.
I would totally rule that okay as a DM since the simulacrum has your same capabilities at the time it was created. It's up to your DM obviously but if you were in my party I might even be tempted to give an inspiration point or something to reward clever thinking.
I dunno, I think I may have some fun with the illusoriness of illusion based magic and reflection and that a simulacra isn't you so much as a magical construct reflection of you. Basically "the weave sees what you're doing there" and maybe have unforeseen consequences. Like your simulacrum actually learns magic as a result, but as a sorcerer (wild magic exploiting this loophole) and with the endowment develops autonomy from you and now you have not an evil but a "cross purpose twin." I wouldn't do this the break you, but use it as a plot hook for the campaign going forward.
But again simulacra is a wobbler, invisible servants just don't have the capacity in RAW.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
If I were DM in this situation, I'd look at what the intent behind the copying is. Is it just to have a backup of the spellbook in case something happens to it? Then I would probably rule in favor of letting a simulacrum do it. They can cast spells. They just don't regain the expended slots. If they're trying to avoid the time and money spent on learning a new spell and putting it into a spellbook? No, they have to do that themselves.
This. If they just want to have fun using their spells (and they chimed in to indicate this was the case), I'd be lenient here. I don't see a reason to say no unless they're trying to exploit something.
Also for the sake of argument, we have machines that copy complicated text just fine without understanding it. No reason magic couldn't work the same way. If you have fine precision, you don't need understanding to make a copy. But I do agree that the "simple tasks that a human servant could do" of Unseen Servant would not include that level of precision.
If I were DM in this situation, I'd look at what the intent behind the copying is. Is it just to have a backup of the spellbook in case something happens to it? Then I would probably rule in favor of letting a simulacrum do it. They can cast spells. They just don't regain the expended slots. If they're trying to avoid the time and money spent on learning a new spell and putting it into a spellbook? No, they have to do that themselves.
This. If they just want to have fun using their spells (and they chimed in to indicate this was the case), I'd be lenient here. I don't see a reason to say no unless they're trying to exploit something.
Also for the sake of argument, we have machines that copy complicated text just fine without understanding it. No reason magic couldn't work the same way. If you have fine precision, you don't need understanding to make a copy. But I do agree that the "simple tasks that a human servant could do" of Unseen Servant would not include that level of precision.
I wouldn't say "no reason." Magic may well be "art" as well as "science" and the page may not be useful to the caster unless the spell caster themself applies the art of magical inscription and formulae illumination to the page. I mean the existence of the Order of Scribes and subclass features therein imply there's a level of connection between a Wizard and their spellbook which may be disrupted if a copy of the wizard is used to create a copy of the book. Sometimes efficiency is corner cutting and adulteration ... although I do like the idea of an upstart within the Order of Scribes named Xerox, who specialized in spells and magic items expressly for the purpose of speeding up the proliferation of magical texts. Maybe with a purple oddly sweet smelling ichor, adherents to Xerox's cult can cast "mimeograph" on any magical writing and produce a fair working copy.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I would say "Sure, give it a try". Then when the caster, or whomever they sell the book to, tries to cast a spell from it, well, bad things happen, because there was a minute error in the copying process.
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Basically the question was:
Can I get an Unseen Servant or a Simulacrum to copy my spell book while I go do something else? I dont think there's a reason not to? But...also that sounds kinda silly. Unseen servant for sure no I wouldn't think. But a Simulacrum? maybe? I told him I would get back to him.
Am I just being ridiculous?
I'd say this depends on how your DM would rule, but from my point of view as a DM I don't see why not. Unseen Servant may not be the most effective option due strictly to it's duration and range, but other spells like Mighty Fortress and Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion come with unseen servants that don't have *quite* the same limitations.
On the other point of view, the reason copying spell books takes so long is because wizards use their own sort of arcane language for their own spell books. Its also why it takes time to decipher another wizards book. I don't know if an unseen servant would have the intelligence to pull this off.
Perfect battle music for the boss fight >>> Here
Bear in mind, I'm operating off the assumption that the unseen servant is strictly copying things exactly as they are in the existing spellbook. If however the servant were told to make alterations that aren't in the existing spellbook, I'd probably rule they didn't have that capacity.
Reviewing the PHB description of the Spellbook's transcription process for background:
So in adding a spell to their Spellbooks the first, there's an act of decoding the original writer's spell writing hand and a sort of act of translating into the claiming wizards spell writing hand. Glassmancer's right in ruling against unseen servants on those grounds. Moreover the RAW for Unseen servants clearly state manual labor not acts of penmanship to take inventory for a run to the grocer or settle the household's account, so magical transcription is right out.
Simulacrum is more of a wobbler, but I'm leaning to rule against that one too,. Simulacra can't regain spent spell slots, meaning they can't study magic, and whatever magic they possess in their minds is simply a reflection of the spell caster at the time of casting. For me, that's fair grounds saying the simulacra due to it's illusory construct nature just doesn't have a firm grasp of the weave or the real functions of magic to do this sort of work. Like I said, it's a wobbler, and I could understand a DM reading the circumstance more generously.
In Forgotten Realms, characters can pay to have Spellbooks copied at Candlekeep. It's unclear how that works beyond pricing and time. Presumably we're talking about copies of Spellbooks in Candlekeep's collections, but I guess if a Wizard was able to get that copy, they'd still have to perform the writing of the book into their own hand (which begs a big question why the service is there in the first place outside of the collectors market).
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
If your wizard just wants to make a copy of their spell book, not add a new spell, I would allow this using Simulacrum. The spell states "Otherwise, the illusion uses all the statistics of the creature it duplicates, except that it is a construct." If your wizard targets themselves, the simulacrum has their same statistics and current spell slots. So with the same intelligence and the ability to cast the same level spells of the PC I don't see why it couldn't make a copy of the spell book. That being said I don't think it could add new spells to the PC's spell book, since the PC still needs to 'learn' the spell in the first place.
I'd like to see the results of an Unseen Servant copying the shapes drawn in the wizard's spellbook.
You could, as an exercise, try copying a large amount of japanese/chinese glyph writing and see if a native reader is able to read your copy.
There are rules for replacing or copying your own spellbook (sidebox in chapter 3 for Wizard, below Learning Spells of 1st Level and Higher).
If you are thinking from a story perspective, the monks who copied books in medieval times had to be able to read what they copied, and even then there still were mistakes in the copy at times.
So while I don't think it should be impossible, there is currently no support for it in the books.
More Interesting Lock Picking Rules
In addition in fluff A SImulacrum is an exact copy of you at that point in time, so they know everything you know. Including your secret languages and cipers and ways of writing and thinking. Specific clarity on the spell has confirmed that it cannot improve itself any way but is that player at a certain point in time. So I would agree the Simulacrum can copy the wizards book with no issues it probably knows the book inside and out anyway (Much as the Wizard does). However as you say it couldn't add new spells.
This is a key point, we imagine copying english as lines, curves and dots but, miss a cross on a T and it becomes an I, complete a C a bit too much it becomes an o and this is a fairly easy alphabet. try and copy Chinese or Japanese calligraphy and suddenly a line in slightly the wrong place, or in a different direction and the word changes tone, meaning or becomes intelligible. I imagine a wizard book is more like japanese rather then latin based language. All it takes is a wrong line or symbol and that fireball fizzles, or worse just explodes at source.
If I were DM in this situation, I'd look at what the intent behind the copying is. Is it just to have a backup of the spellbook in case something happens to it? Then I would probably rule in favor of letting a simulacrum do it. They can cast spells. They just don't regain the expended slots. If they're trying to avoid the time and money spent on learning a new spell and putting it into a spellbook? No, they have to do that themselves.
My Homebrew Backgrounds | Feats | Magic Items | Monsters | Races | Subclasses
I'd give the player a page from an advanced calculus textbook (with diagrams!) written in Arabic and ask them to copy it with no mistakes, then point out that an unseen servant is much less smart than the average gamer. :-)
Sanscrit calculus describing Quantum theory, written in a cypher that is only clearly legible to the writer, illustrated.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I just now realized that the OP is the DM in this situation (head, meet desk) so I'll amend my statement to add that really, there is no clearly defined answer on the subject, so anything you rule is valid.
I will say, just as a thing to consider, is that a printer has absolutely zero intelligence, but can copy absolutely anything you want it to so long as it has a reference to draw from. In the examples you asked about, I'd say first establish their capabilities. Does an unseen servant have the capability to reproduce writing like a printer, or is it like trying to ask a dishwasher to reproduce the Mona Lisa?
I'm said Wizard. This is exactly my intention, simply to have a backup of "MY" Spellbook in case something happens to my current one. I would expect it still have to take the appropriate time and gold needed to do so, but only with the benefit of having a minion do the actual literal copying for me.
For added narrative I imagine I'd be in the same room with them while they did so. Either reading, eating, or tending to other Wizard hobbies.
I would totally rule that okay as a DM since the simulacrum has your same capabilities at the time it was created. It's up to your DM obviously but if you were in my party I might even be tempted to give an inspiration point or something to reward clever thinking.
My Homebrew Backgrounds | Feats | Magic Items | Monsters | Races | Subclasses
I dunno, I think I may have some fun with the illusoriness of illusion based magic and reflection and that a simulacra isn't you so much as a magical construct reflection of you. Basically "the weave sees what you're doing there" and maybe have unforeseen consequences. Like your simulacrum actually learns magic as a result, but as a sorcerer (wild magic exploiting this loophole) and with the endowment develops autonomy from you and now you have not an evil but a "cross purpose twin." I wouldn't do this the break you, but use it as a plot hook for the campaign going forward.
But again simulacra is a wobbler, invisible servants just don't have the capacity in RAW.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
This. If they just want to have fun using their spells (and they chimed in to indicate this was the case), I'd be lenient here. I don't see a reason to say no unless they're trying to exploit something.
Also for the sake of argument, we have machines that copy complicated text just fine without understanding it. No reason magic couldn't work the same way. If you have fine precision, you don't need understanding to make a copy. But I do agree that the "simple tasks that a human servant could do" of Unseen Servant would not include that level of precision.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
I wouldn't say "no reason." Magic may well be "art" as well as "science" and the page may not be useful to the caster unless the spell caster themself applies the art of magical inscription and formulae illumination to the page. I mean the existence of the Order of Scribes and subclass features therein imply there's a level of connection between a Wizard and their spellbook which may be disrupted if a copy of the wizard is used to create a copy of the book. Sometimes efficiency is corner cutting and adulteration ... although I do like the idea of an upstart within the Order of Scribes named Xerox, who specialized in spells and magic items expressly for the purpose of speeding up the proliferation of magical texts. Maybe with a purple oddly sweet smelling ichor, adherents to Xerox's cult can cast "mimeograph" on any magical writing and produce a fair working copy.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I would say "Sure, give it a try". Then when the caster, or whomever they sell the book to, tries to cast a spell from it, well, bad things happen, because there was a minute error in the copying process.