Creating a Simulacrum in third edition

Going over the rules for third edition, there doesn't seem to be any concrete guidelines for creating Simulacra. The Players' Book includes some sample Simulacra, and I've found some fan-made lists (here and here), but the books never seemed to actually provide Simulacrum creation rules. Fortunately, I've been able to invent my own based on the Codex Ar-Kaïm, the GM Screen, and Nephilim: Initiation.

Mortals have three sets of nine Characteristics: Social Characteristics, Physical Characteristics, and Solar-Ka.

  • The Social Characteristics are Education (measured by the adjective Learnèd), Riches (by Wealthy) and Relationships (by Sociable).
  • The Physical Characteristics are measured by the adjectives Agile, Charming, Enduring, Intelligent and Strong.
  • Solar-Ka is measured by the adjective Initiated.

The five levels of Characteristics are measured by adverbs: Not (1), Low (2), Enough (3), "..." (4), and Very (5). Not indicates a disability of some kind, Low indicates that the character has never exerted themselves, Enough is the human average, and Very is the peak of human potential. (The sample Simulacra in the Players' Book are noted by the GM Screen as being on the high end.)

Assign levels as follows:

  • The average human being has 1 physical Characteristic at Low and the other 4 at Enough. Alternately, 2 at Low, 2 at Enough, and 1 at "..." assigned in order of importance based on the character's profession and hobbies.
  • Each Simulacrum has 4 Past Points assigned between Social Characteristics, at the following costs: −1 for Not (i.e. assigning a Characteristic the Not level gives the player +1 Past Point), 0 for Low, 1 for Enough, 2 for "...", and 3 for Very.
  • Solar-Ka starts at Not or Low Initiated at the GM's discretion. 

If the player would like more flexibility, then he has 8 Past Points to assign between all 9 Characteristics at the same costs given above: −1 for Not, 0 for Low, 1 for Enough, 2 for "...", and 3 for Very.

Skill levels are already noted by the rulebook: 5 Skills at Companion (Journeyman) and 5 at Apprentice, all others at Profane (Layman). The player may exchange 2 Apprentice levels for 1 Companion level, or 2 Companion levels for 1 Master level. If using abstracted Life Experiences instead of specific Skills, then ignore this.

And that's it! Hope you enjoyed!

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