D&D 5E Scribes Wizard Feature Questions - Manifest Mind

[BlivetWidget]

I'm waffling on some interpretations regarding the Order of Scribes wizard subclass in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, and would really appreciate some second opinions. Most of the features seem pretty straightforward in their application, but as usual I think there are some edge case spells with more than one reasonable interpretation. So let's take the following lines from the level 6 feature "Manifest Mind":

You can conjure forth the mind of your Awakened Spellbook. As a bonus action while the book is on your person, you can cause the mind to manifest as a Tiny spectral object, hovering in an unoccupied space of your choice within 60 feet of you. The spectral mind is intangible and doesn't occupy its space, and it sheds dim light in a 10-foot radius. It looks like a ghostly tome, a cascade of text, or a scholar from the past (your choice).

Whenever you cast a wizard spell on your turn, you can cast it as if you were in the spectral mind's space, instead of your own, using its senses. You can do so a number of times per day equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

• Touch spells: to me it seems reasonably clear that touch spells should work normally as cast through the manifest mind. I've seen some arguments against it floating around (pun not intended), but "you can cast it as if you were in the spectral mind's space" seems pretty clear to me. Also there are incorporeal creatures that can touch things, no problem.
• Light spell: to me it seems reasonably clear that since the manifest mind is an object, it is a valid target for a spell like Light, if you want it to be a brighter floating lantern.
• Misty Step: it took a couple of re-reads, but to me it seems reasonably clear that Misty Step should work as cast through the manifest mind regardless of distance, allowing 330 ft of teleportation. Again, "you can cast it as if you were in the spectral mind's space" is the key there with the spell's wording, ""you teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space that you can see." So, if it acts like you're 300 ft away in the manifest mind's space, voila.
• Mage Hand / Unseen Servant: here it's not so clear to me at all. Let's stick with Mage Hand for purposes of simplicity, though both spells have similar language to "The hand vanishes if it is ever more than 30 feet away from you." Obviously everything works as expected within the normal range restrictions (say, through a keyhole, then send it behind a bookshelf). But what if the manifest mind is 100 ft away? You can obviously conjure the Mage Hand through the manifest mind, but does it vanish before you can spend an action to have it do anything? Is this Mage Hand tethered to your physical location, or is it tethered to the manifest mind's location since you cast it as if you were in that space?

Also a bonus: for Simulacrum, it seems to me that your duplicate, who has no equipment of its own, does not have its own Awakened Spellbook, and I'm not sure it's possible for it to get one given the simulacrum's limitations. You could perhaps lend it yours (it's trivial for this class to replace the spellbook), at which point it can take advantage of your class features, but not otherwise? Again, this one isn't so clear to me.

Anyway, thoughts welcome, and thanks for your time!

 

[aco175]

It seems a bit familiar-ish in what it can do and how to cast spells. I do not understand the misty step part. If you can conjure it 60ft from you and then teleport 30ft, isn't that only 90ft? I would warn about overstepping and trying to break things since it is only a class feature. On the other hand it is only useable 3-5 times/day so it could be a bit more in some games.

 

[BlivetWidget]

Manifest mind is conjured within 60 ft, but it can move around up to 300 ft away from you. Sorry if I caused any confusion, I was trying not to copy out the entire rules wholesale XD. The salient points are the same though, the exact range isn't important, just that the manifest mind can be further than the usual distance for Misty Step, Mage Hand, etc. If you don't have TCE and want the full description here it is:

Manifest Mind
6th-level Order of Scribes feature

You can conjure forth the mind of your Awakened Spellbook. As a bonus action while the book is on your person, you can cause the mind to manifest as a Tiny spectral object, hovering in an unoccupied space of your choice within 60 feet of you. The spectral mind is intangible and doesn't occupy its space, and it sheds dim light in a 10-foot radius. It looks like a ghostly tome, a cascade of text, or a scholar from the past (your choice).

While manifested, the spectral mind can hear and see, and it has darkvision with a range of 60 feet. The mind can telepathically share with you what it sees and hears (no action required).

Whenever you cast a wizard spell on your turn, you can cast it as if you were in the spectral mind's space, instead of your own, using its senses. You can do so a number of times per day equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

As a bonus action, you can cause the spectral mind to hover up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space that you or it can see. It can pass through creatures but not objects.

The spectral mind stops manifesting if it is ever more than 300 feet away from you, if someone casts dispel magic on it, if the Awakened Spellbook is destroyed, if you die, or if you dismiss the spectral mind as a bonus action.

Once you conjure the mind, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest, unless you expend a spell slot of any level to conjure it again.

Using Misty Step in this way doesn't seem any more powerful than the other ways that manifest mind can obviously be used. After all, there's no question that the manifest mind could float 300 ft up the trail into the enemy encampment, summon a demon or whatever into their midst, and you can just watch it go ham from a safe distance. I'm not so much trying to dig into the power level of the feature as trying to figure out how these few oddball spells are supposed to interact with it mechanically.

Edit: added full feature description for those without TCE.