Our DM just gave us a Scroll of Simulacrum (I really think he likes giving us dangerous toys just to see what crazy things we will do with them) and I wasn't familiar with the spell so I read the description and now I have some questions.
I saw a lot of the discussion there was about ways to create infinite Simulacrums, which is not really my interest given we only have one scroll and 7th level spells are still a long way off. The description of the spell seems focused on the idea of the Wizard casting it copying themselves but the description doesn't actually say it has to be, you can copy anyone you can touch for 12 hours. Given that, I'm more interested in using this for infiltration, it seems like you could kidnap a member of a group you were trying to infiltrate, use this to create a copy of that person and then send the copy back to gather information or prepare the way for an attack.
To that end, does the person you're copying need to be alive? If the person is dead but you have their body, could you create a copy from that? (a living copy, obviously)
Does the copy know what the original knows? The description says it has the same spell slots as the original does when the spell is cast so clearly it knows some things but does it have access to all the original's memories?
The spell description specifies that the copy can't gain experience and learn new things or regain expended spell slots but what about abilities from other classes that would normally recharge. If you create a Simulacrum of a Sorcerer does it still regain Sorcery points? If you copy a Monk can the copy regain Ki? What about other "once per short rest/long rest" type abilities? Once used, are those gone forever or can they come back?
Since it is an illusion, would touching the Simulacrum give it away? Would it feel like touching an ice sculpture instead of whatever it should? Would someone with Truesight see a Simulacrum for what it truly is?
Since the duration is listed as "until dispelled", does that mean you could destroy a Simulacrum with Dispel Magic if you knew what it was (and made the check)?
If cast by a School of Illusion Wizard, could that Wizard use their Malleable Illusions ability to change the appearance of the Simulacrum with an action to copy someone other than the original target? If so, would they then have the abilities of their new form?
No to be unhelpful, but the vast majority of these questions fall under the category of "Ask your DM." Since the answers are generally not specified in RAW, its going to be up to them to make a ruling on how those work. I could say how I might rule if I were DM, but that won't be relevant to your table.
Simulacrum only works on creatures, not objects. A corpse is an object.
Because the stat block is copied, the simulacrum retains things like proficiencies, including language proficiencies. Beyond that, there's no rule granting it the target's memories, so it has no memories - it "just knows" the languages it knows, without remembering learning them, for example. The extent to which it remembers facts are determined by its retained proficiencies in the various lore skills.
Because the stat block is copied, it can do anything the original can do unless explicitly stopped, so most short and long rest abilities come back as normal. A notable exception is that a Warlock simulacrum can't regain short rest spell slots - in fact, no mechanic can let it regain spell slots, not even magic items which say they restore spell slots. A simulacrum does regain X/long rest spells that aren't powered by slots, as well as both sorcery points and ki.
It's not an illusion. It's created by a spell from the school of illusion, but it's a physically real creature just like the original, physically - a physical inspection reveals nothing (it emits body heat, sweats, etc). Because the duration is until dispelled, not instantaneous, Detect Magic will work on it, like it does on summons. Truesight is a special case; because it works on a creature that is transformed by magic, and the simulacrum is a creature that is transformed by magic (from ice); I imagine Truesight should reveal that it's really ice. Another DM might disagree with me.
Yes, Dispel Magic works on the simulacrum.
Malleable Illusion uses the spell's normal parameters, and your example is outside of the spell's normal parameters (a casting of the spell on a creature always produces the same appearance, no tailoring possible). So your proposal will not work.
It's pretty much entirely the purview of your DM whether the Simulacrum copies any memories or even personality of the original... the spell only states that it retains the same statistics. A DM could just as easily rule that the spell forms an identical copy in every way save for the differences laid out in the spell, or they may have the Simulacrum act as a blank slate with no personality beyond what the alignment of the original might influence on a creature with no explicit will of its own (since, I'm assuming, that alignment is included in a creature's statistics).
Simulacrum only works on creatures, not objects. A corpse is an object.
Because the stat block is copied, the simulacrum retains things like proficiencies, including language proficiencies. Beyond that, there's no rule granting it the target's memories, so it has no memories - it "just knows" the languages it knows, without remembering learning them, for example. The extent to which it remembers facts are determined by its retained proficiencies in the various lore skills.
Because the stat block is copied, it can do anything the original can do unless explicitly stopped, so most short and long rest abilities come back as normal. A notable exception is that a Warlock simulacrum can't regain short rest spell slots - in fact, no mechanic can let it regain spell slots, not even magic items which say they restore spell slots. A simulacrum does regain X/long rest spells that aren't powered by slots, as well as both sorcery points and ki.
It's not an illusion. It's created by a spell from the school of illusion, but it's a physically real creature just like the original, physically - a physical inspection reveals nothing (it emits body heat, sweats, etc). Because the duration is until dispelled, not instantaneous, Detect Magic will work on it, like it does on summons. Truesight is a special case; because it works on a creature that is transformed by magic, and the simulacrum is a creature that is transformed by magic (from ice); I imagine Truesight should reveal that it's really ice. Another DM might disagree with me.
Yes, Dispel Magic works on the simulacrum.
Malleable Illusion uses the spell's normal parameters, and your example is outside of the spell's normal parameters (a casting of the spell on a creature always produces the same appearance, no tailoring possible). So your proposal will not work.
1. That makes sense and is sort of what I figured. Just prior to getting this scroll we killed an enemy who would have been ideal in that role so I was hoping maybe that might still work. I suppose I could ask the DM but given the circumstances of that fight (we turned what was supposed to be a formidable foe into a pinata) I don't think he would be inclined to let us.
2. I can see how that would largely be up to the DM. On one hand, if you created a copy of yourself it would be weird if it knew nothing about you, your companions, etc but on the other hand copying someone with full knowledge could be extremely dangerous and game breaking if the players can get ahold of the right person (such as the pinata mentioned above).
3. This is interesting because it means a Simulacrum of a Sorcerer could still be a functioning magic user, they would just be running on only Sorcery points. A Simulacrum of a Monk might be a strong option since it retains most of its personal effectiveness (although it would be even more squishy than usual) and doesn't require much equipment to do its thing.
4. I don't know if I agree with this one, the spell says "You shape an illusory duplicate...the duplicate is a creature, partially real and formed from ice or snow" It certainly sounds like it is, at least in part, an illusion. I took "partially real" to mean "partially real and partially an illusion" in this context. I agree that Truesight would see through it regardless but I wonder if this is something like Disguise Self that could be broken my physical interaction.
5. That's what I figured too
6. I really wasn't sure how this interaction would work, that ability makes sense for some of the standard Illusion spells but I'm less clear on how it interacts with some of the stranger high level ones.
You should consider Druids and Artificers as targets for Simulacrum:
Druid Wildshape acts as a decent buffer for the "Half Max HP" and "Damage" restrictions, while the Artificer's Infusions are semi-permanent and will even persist for a few days after it dies.
Re: (4) Partially Real
Unless a spell/creature description states something, assume a simple "common english" interpretation. The spell states that it is otherwise identical to its base creature, except for the listed exceptions (Construct, half max hp, can't grow or regenerate spell slots). Ergo, it is an "illusion" in the same sense that a perfect android is an illusion of a human. Outwardly indistinguishable unless you know what to look for. For example, spells that target a "humanoid" would fail.
True Seeing should not reveal it to be a Simulacrum, because it is an illusion like a card trick, not like a phantom image. It is exactly what it appears to be, the "illusion" is merely in the context of expectations.
Alternately, one could say that the illusion is that it "has a soul". True Sight doesn't reveal transcendental truths.
Edit: The wording is "...or a creature that is transformed by magic." I would distinguish this from a creature "created by" magic, such as some undead, or constructs like Homunculi.
I was about to rebuff point (3) about a Simulacrum of a Sorcerer being able to convert sorcery points into spell slots - thinking that it couldn't. But on closer study - it absolutely can do that. Simulacrum says they cannot "regain expended spell slots" - but Sorcery Points don't regain any spell slots - they create entirely new ones. That's really interesting. I mean - it's expensive and they can't make any slots higher than 5 - but it's something.
You should consider Druids and Artificers as targets for Simulacrum:
Druid Wildshape acts as a decent buffer for the "Half Max HP" and "Damage" restrictions, while the Artificer's Infusions are semi-permanent and will even persist for a few days after it dies.
Re: (4) Partially Real
Unless a spell/creature description states something, assume a simple "common english" interpretation. The spell states that it is otherwise identical to its base creature, except for the listed exceptions (Construct, half max hp, can't grow or regenerate spell slots). Ergo, it is an "illusion" in the same sense that a perfect android is an illusion of a human. Outwardly indistinguishable unless you know what to look for. For example, spells that target a "humanoid" would fail.
True Seeing should not reveal it to be a Simulacrum, because it is an illusion like a card trick, not like a phantom image. It is exactly what it appears to be, the "illusion" is merely in the context of expectations.
Alternately, one could say that the illusion is that it "has a soul". True Sight doesn't reveal transcendental truths.
Edit: The wording is "...or a creature that is transformed by magic." I would distinguish this from a creature "created by" magic, such as some undead, or constructs like Homunculi.
That is a very good point about Druids and Artificers, I hadn't considered either of those (partially because we haven't encountered either class in our current game to the best of my knowledge) but both would be really good choices to copy. As you say, a Druid (especially a Moon Druid) will get uses of Wild Shape back and can still be a very effective combatant even without their spells (Wild Companion can even let you use Wild Shape to cast Find Familiar without using spell slots). If you copy a high level Artificer you wouldn't have any of their equipment to start but you could use your infusions to make a whole bunch of new stuff (although you would have to wait for a long rest) and several of their pieces of special equipment can just be created on the spot.
I definitely agree with you on the "plain English" interpretation but I think we disagree on what that interpretation is. The fact that the spell description starts with "You shape an illusionary duplicate..." seems to me to be a pretty clear indication that this is an illusion. Describing an android as an "illusion" of a human would be a figurative description but this is a game with pretty specific terms. Almost every spell in that falls into the Illusion school of magic uses the word "illusion" in the description to describe what it does, including this one. I find it hard to argue that this is the one exception, even if it is also partially real which seems to be unique among Illusion spells.
You do point out something interesting about Truesight that I hadn't noticed though, I thought it was just 'you can see the true form of creatures and objects' but that isn't what does. The "perceive the original form of a shapechanger or a creature that is transformed by magic" clause wouldn't apply here because this isn't a creature transformed, it is inanimate ice and snow transformed so, by my reading, that would not apply in this case. I agree it wouldn't detect other creatures created by magic as you describe. I do think the ability to detect visual illusions would still apply however.
I was about to rebuff point (3) about a Simulacrum of a Sorcerer being able to convert sorcery points into spell slots - thinking that it couldn't. But on closer study - it absolutely can do that. Simulacrum says they cannot "regain expended spell slots" - but Sorcery Points don't regain any spell slots - they create entirely new ones. That's really interesting. I mean - it's expensive and they can't make any slots higher than 5 - but it's something.
Although it's not clearly specified, I think it would be fair to rule that if the simulacrum of a sorcerer does not regain spell slots, it would also not regain sorcery points, they basically have the same recovery mechanism as spell slots...
Fair - but then - where do you draw the line? Would spell-like abilities come back on a rest - like an Arcane Archer's Arcane Shots - or spells per rest like Magic Initiate? I think it would start to get a bit too muddy if you go much further.
Fair - but then - where do you draw the line? Would spell-like abilities come back on a rest - like an Arcane Archer's Arcane Shots - or spells per rest like Magic Initiate? I think it would start to get a bit too muddy if you go much further.
Fair - but then - where do you draw the line? Would spell-like abilities come back on a rest - like an Arcane Archer's Arcane Shots - or spells per rest like Magic Initiate? I think it would start to get a bit too muddy if you go much further.
That is a pretty big difference, that is one of the things I was wondering about when I posted this, if there were official answers for any of these. So it appears RAI that no expended abilities of any kind should recharge but RAW it is just spell slots that don't recharge. Of course a DM can decide to use either (or neither) of these options but usually we go with RAW unless that is is going to cause a big problem in game or runs so contrary to logic that we just can't overlook it. I don't know what our DM will do but its good to know what the intention and interpretation is.
The easiest way to capture a "No ability Recharge" description would have been to say "The Simulacrum does not need to sleep, and can not benefit from Short or Long Rests". That would effectively render 99% of features as one-time use. Since it doesn't heal naturally anyway, losing access to hit dice is also irrelevant.
I just came across this interesting tidbit that is relevant to our earlier discussion about what a Simulacrum knows about the creature its copied from. In Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage there is an opportunity for the characters to meet a Simulacrum of Halaster (the titular Mad Mage). I'll leave the circumstances vague so as not to spoil anyone who is running the adventure or who may do so in the future but in the description it says "The simulacrum knows everything that Halaster knows". This certainly could be a special case but there is at least one example in game that suggests that a Simulacrum does have the original's memories as well.
Given that Class abilities are "learned", rather than inherent, like Racial abilities, it would seem that retaining memories would have to be true by default.
The particular case of encountering a simulacrum in the wild poses a separate issue. Once the Simulacrum is made, it and it's originator are distinct beings whose experience of life will differ. It's important for W:DotMM to specify that the Simulacrum has comprehensive knowledge, because otherwise, it might only retain relevant knowledge up to the point of its creation.
I just came across this interesting tidbit that is relevant to our earlier discussion about what a Simulacrum knows about the creature its copied from. In Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage there is an opportunity for the characters to meet a Simulacrum of Halaster (the titular Mad Mage). I'll leave the circumstances vague so as not to spoil anyone who is running the adventure or who may do so in the future but in the description it says "The simulacrum knows everything that Halaster knows". This certainly could be a special case but there is at least one example in game that suggests that a Simulacrum does have the original's memories as well.
There are other ways to do this too, like magical npc powers (which are rampant in 5E), or the Modify Memory spell. It's challenging to draw valid inferences about PC abilities from an NPC stat block or description.
I agree and I still think it is a decision best left up to the DM but I find it suggestive at least as to how that element of the spell is intended to work. Are there other Simulacrums in other published modules? If so, do any of them make any reference to having or not having the memories of their caster?
It seems like that could be an interesting character idea: a Wizard that discovered that they are actually the last Simulacrum at the end of a long chain of Simulacrums created by a powerful wizard and have somehow lost their memories and gained the ability to learn new things. In the meantime, their progenitors enemies are hunting them (perhaps have already killed off the other copies) for an object or knowledge that they think the Simulacrum has.
cast a simulacrum cast haste or bless on itself? I understand the rules say that it cannot become stronger but it also seems silly that it couldnt benefit from its own spell. Also by the same notion would slow and bane be permanent effects?
cast a simulacrum cast haste or bless on itself? I understand the rules say that it cannot become stronger but it also seems silly that it couldnt benefit from its own spell. Also by the same notion would slow and bane be permanent effects?
Yes, a simulacrum can cast haste or bless on itself. I'm not sure what you mean about slow and bane, as said spells are not permanent but each only last for one minute.
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gotcha, as for the slow and bane yes im aware but as the spell states that the simulacrum cant get stronger. im imagining that a simulacrum wouldnt be able to shake what debuffed it effectively regaining the strength he had, but that could be seen as the simulacrum simply getting stronger
They don't "grow stronger" in the sense that their stats do not naturally increase, they do not learn new spells, and they do not level up. All other effects can still apply to them.
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Our DM just gave us a Scroll of Simulacrum (I really think he likes giving us dangerous toys just to see what crazy things we will do with them) and I wasn't familiar with the spell so I read the description and now I have some questions.
I saw a lot of the discussion there was about ways to create infinite Simulacrums, which is not really my interest given we only have one scroll and 7th level spells are still a long way off. The description of the spell seems focused on the idea of the Wizard casting it copying themselves but the description doesn't actually say it has to be, you can copy anyone you can touch for 12 hours. Given that, I'm more interested in using this for infiltration, it seems like you could kidnap a member of a group you were trying to infiltrate, use this to create a copy of that person and then send the copy back to gather information or prepare the way for an attack.
To that end, does the person you're copying need to be alive? If the person is dead but you have their body, could you create a copy from that? (a living copy, obviously)
Does the copy know what the original knows? The description says it has the same spell slots as the original does when the spell is cast so clearly it knows some things but does it have access to all the original's memories?
The spell description specifies that the copy can't gain experience and learn new things or regain expended spell slots but what about abilities from other classes that would normally recharge. If you create a Simulacrum of a Sorcerer does it still regain Sorcery points? If you copy a Monk can the copy regain Ki? What about other "once per short rest/long rest" type abilities? Once used, are those gone forever or can they come back?
Since it is an illusion, would touching the Simulacrum give it away? Would it feel like touching an ice sculpture instead of whatever it should? Would someone with Truesight see a Simulacrum for what it truly is?
Since the duration is listed as "until dispelled", does that mean you could destroy a Simulacrum with Dispel Magic if you knew what it was (and made the check)?
If cast by a School of Illusion Wizard, could that Wizard use their Malleable Illusions ability to change the appearance of the Simulacrum with an action to copy someone other than the original target? If so, would they then have the abilities of their new form?
No to be unhelpful, but the vast majority of these questions fall under the category of "Ask your DM." Since the answers are generally not specified in RAW, its going to be up to them to make a ruling on how those work. I could say how I might rule if I were DM, but that won't be relevant to your table.
I think Quindraco pretty well covered it.
It's pretty much entirely the purview of your DM whether the Simulacrum copies any memories or even personality of the original... the spell only states that it retains the same statistics. A DM could just as easily rule that the spell forms an identical copy in every way save for the differences laid out in the spell, or they may have the Simulacrum act as a blank slate with no personality beyond what the alignment of the original might influence on a creature with no explicit will of its own (since, I'm assuming, that alignment is included in a creature's statistics).
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1. That makes sense and is sort of what I figured. Just prior to getting this scroll we killed an enemy who would have been ideal in that role so I was hoping maybe that might still work. I suppose I could ask the DM but given the circumstances of that fight (we turned what was supposed to be a formidable foe into a pinata) I don't think he would be inclined to let us.
2. I can see how that would largely be up to the DM. On one hand, if you created a copy of yourself it would be weird if it knew nothing about you, your companions, etc but on the other hand copying someone with full knowledge could be extremely dangerous and game breaking if the players can get ahold of the right person (such as the pinata mentioned above).
3. This is interesting because it means a Simulacrum of a Sorcerer could still be a functioning magic user, they would just be running on only Sorcery points. A Simulacrum of a Monk might be a strong option since it retains most of its personal effectiveness (although it would be even more squishy than usual) and doesn't require much equipment to do its thing.
4. I don't know if I agree with this one, the spell says "You shape an illusory duplicate...the duplicate is a creature, partially real and formed from ice or snow" It certainly sounds like it is, at least in part, an illusion. I took "partially real" to mean "partially real and partially an illusion" in this context. I agree that Truesight would see through it regardless but I wonder if this is something like Disguise Self that could be broken my physical interaction.
5. That's what I figured too
6. I really wasn't sure how this interaction would work, that ability makes sense for some of the standard Illusion spells but I'm less clear on how it interacts with some of the stranger high level ones.
You should consider Druids and Artificers as targets for Simulacrum:
Druid Wildshape acts as a decent buffer for the "Half Max HP" and "Damage" restrictions, while the Artificer's Infusions are semi-permanent and will even persist for a few days after it dies.
Re: (4) Partially Real
Unless a spell/creature description states something, assume a simple "common english" interpretation. The spell states that it is otherwise identical to its base creature, except for the listed exceptions (Construct, half max hp, can't grow or regenerate spell slots). Ergo, it is an "illusion" in the same sense that a perfect android is an illusion of a human. Outwardly indistinguishable unless you know what to look for. For example, spells that target a "humanoid" would fail.
True Seeing should not reveal it to be a Simulacrum, because it is an illusion like a card trick, not like a phantom image. It is exactly what it appears to be, the "illusion" is merely in the context of expectations.
Alternately, one could say that the illusion is that it "has a soul". True Sight doesn't reveal transcendental truths.
Edit: The wording is "...or a creature that is transformed by magic." I would distinguish this from a creature "created by" magic, such as some undead, or constructs like Homunculi.
I was about to rebuff point (3) about a Simulacrum of a Sorcerer being able to convert sorcery points into spell slots - thinking that it couldn't. But on closer study - it absolutely can do that. Simulacrum says they cannot "regain expended spell slots" - but Sorcery Points don't regain any spell slots - they create entirely new ones. That's really interesting. I mean - it's expensive and they can't make any slots higher than 5 - but it's something.
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Highest 41: brocker2001 (#11,285).
Yahtzee of 2's: Emmber (#36,161).
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That is a very good point about Druids and Artificers, I hadn't considered either of those (partially because we haven't encountered either class in our current game to the best of my knowledge) but both would be really good choices to copy. As you say, a Druid (especially a Moon Druid) will get uses of Wild Shape back and can still be a very effective combatant even without their spells (Wild Companion can even let you use Wild Shape to cast Find Familiar without using spell slots). If you copy a high level Artificer you wouldn't have any of their equipment to start but you could use your infusions to make a whole bunch of new stuff (although you would have to wait for a long rest) and several of their pieces of special equipment can just be created on the spot.
I definitely agree with you on the "plain English" interpretation but I think we disagree on what that interpretation is. The fact that the spell description starts with "You shape an illusionary duplicate..." seems to me to be a pretty clear indication that this is an illusion. Describing an android as an "illusion" of a human would be a figurative description but this is a game with pretty specific terms. Almost every spell in that falls into the Illusion school of magic uses the word "illusion" in the description to describe what it does, including this one. I find it hard to argue that this is the one exception, even if it is also partially real which seems to be unique among Illusion spells.
You do point out something interesting about Truesight that I hadn't noticed though, I thought it was just 'you can see the true form of creatures and objects' but that isn't what does. The "perceive the original form of a shapechanger or a creature that is transformed by magic" clause wouldn't apply here because this isn't a creature transformed, it is inanimate ice and snow transformed so, by my reading, that would not apply in this case. I agree it wouldn't detect other creatures created by magic as you describe. I do think the ability to detect visual illusions would still apply however.
Fair - but then - where do you draw the line? Would spell-like abilities come back on a rest - like an Arcane Archer's Arcane Shots - or spells per rest like Magic Initiate? I think it would start to get a bit too muddy if you go much further.
Mega Yahtzee Thread:
Highest 41: brocker2001 (#11,285).
Yahtzee of 2's: Emmber (#36,161).
Lowest 9: JoeltheWalrus (#312), Emmber (#12,505) and Dertinus (#20,953).
If we're discussing house rules or how the spell "ought" to be behave, JC has previously said the intent was for it to not regain any expended abilities. That's a pretty big deviation from what actually ended up printed but I think it's more mechanically and narratively consistent than singling out HP and spell slots.
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That is a pretty big difference, that is one of the things I was wondering about when I posted this, if there were official answers for any of these. So it appears RAI that no expended abilities of any kind should recharge but RAW it is just spell slots that don't recharge. Of course a DM can decide to use either (or neither) of these options but usually we go with RAW unless that is is going to cause a big problem in game or runs so contrary to logic that we just can't overlook it. I don't know what our DM will do but its good to know what the intention and interpretation is.
The easiest way to capture a "No ability Recharge" description would have been to say "The Simulacrum does not need to sleep, and can not benefit from Short or Long Rests". That would effectively render 99% of features as one-time use. Since it doesn't heal naturally anyway, losing access to hit dice is also irrelevant.
I just came across this interesting tidbit that is relevant to our earlier discussion about what a Simulacrum knows about the creature its copied from. In Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage there is an opportunity for the characters to meet a Simulacrum of Halaster (the titular Mad Mage). I'll leave the circumstances vague so as not to spoil anyone who is running the adventure or who may do so in the future but in the description it says "The simulacrum knows everything that Halaster knows". This certainly could be a special case but there is at least one example in game that suggests that a Simulacrum does have the original's memories as well.
Given that Class abilities are "learned", rather than inherent, like Racial abilities, it would seem that retaining memories would have to be true by default.
The particular case of encountering a simulacrum in the wild poses a separate issue. Once the Simulacrum is made, it and it's originator are distinct beings whose experience of life will differ. It's important for W:DotMM to specify that the Simulacrum has comprehensive knowledge, because otherwise, it might only retain relevant knowledge up to the point of its creation.
There are other ways to do this too, like magical npc powers (which are rampant in 5E), or the Modify Memory spell. It's challenging to draw valid inferences about PC abilities from an NPC stat block or description.
I agree and I still think it is a decision best left up to the DM but I find it suggestive at least as to how that element of the spell is intended to work. Are there other Simulacrums in other published modules? If so, do any of them make any reference to having or not having the memories of their caster?
It seems like that could be an interesting character idea: a Wizard that discovered that they are actually the last Simulacrum at the end of a long chain of Simulacrums created by a powerful wizard and have somehow lost their memories and gained the ability to learn new things. In the meantime, their progenitors enemies are hunting them (perhaps have already killed off the other copies) for an object or knowledge that they think the Simulacrum has.
cast a simulacrum cast haste or bless on itself? I understand the rules say that it cannot become stronger but it also seems silly that it couldnt benefit from its own spell. Also by the same notion would slow and bane be permanent effects?
Yes, a simulacrum can cast haste or bless on itself. I'm not sure what you mean about slow and bane, as said spells are not permanent but each only last for one minute.
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gotcha, as for the slow and bane yes im aware but as the spell states that the simulacrum cant get stronger. im imagining that a simulacrum wouldnt be able to shake what debuffed it effectively regaining the strength he had, but that could be seen as the simulacrum simply getting stronger
They don't "grow stronger" in the sense that their stats do not naturally increase, they do not learn new spells, and they do not level up. All other effects can still apply to them.