Simulacrum Stalker (3.5e Monster)

Simulacrum Stalker
''This creature appears to be something like a malformed snowman lumbering about. Unlike the construction of a joyous child, this abomination has long curled up fingernails at the ends of its snowy arms and tufts of dirty hair sprouting out of the top of its head.''

When a simulacrum spell goes horribly wrong in the arcane arctic, these constructs are the result. They are extremely intelligent shapechangers that are nearly impossible to stop with magic. They are experts at disguising themselves as humanoids and they gain a twisted pleasure in maliciously hunting down and murdering everyone connected to their creator, whilst disguising themselves as their most recent victim.

When the initial simulacrum spell is botched up, the simulacrum stalker is made as a near duplicate of the creator. Besides its new purposes and intentions, it has a perfect copy of its creator's memories (unlike other creatures it may copy later on).

Despite their maligned nature, simulacrum stalkers follow a strict code. They make it their sole purpose to murder anyone who is friends or family of their creator. They will not kill any other creature. They understand the nature of their existence from the moment they are created and they believe, in their own twisted way, that any person capable of creating an abomination like a simulacrum stalker should be purged from existence.

When a simulacrum stalker has completed its tasks, it will destroy itself. Some scholars believe that simulacrum stalkers are the result of magic itself gaining sentience and wrathfully enacting its revenge for being manipulated.

Combat
Simulacrum stalkers prefer to take combat on their own terms. If they are fighting a single opponent, they will often use their Assume Persona ability on the opponent and they use the opponent's weaknesses against them.

Against a group of enemies, it will often try to evade conflict by either using Assume Persona or Swap Positions with an enemy in the group. It usually boils down to a state of confusion where the group doesn't know "who is the real Jimmy". It will use this state of confusion to formulate an escape plan.

An interesting consequence of the capabilities of a simulacrum stalker is that its strength scales with that of its enemies. This means that it can be a threat to any creature no matter how powerful it may be.