D&D 5E Polymorph is a bad de-buff spell

Shiroiken · Feb 21, 2019

I've used it to turn a PC into a frog in combat. One cast the spell, a second picked it up and put it in an opaque jar, while the third put it with a bunch of similar jars (and cast a spell). The PCs couldn't figure out which jar had the PC during the fight, so they were down one for the fight.

Giant Shark is the easiest option, however. It can survive for several minutes before suffocating, as well as having a huge number of HP. So long as the caster doesn't actually get close enough to allow it to attack (it has speed 0), the PC is effectively eliminated from the combat. I considered Giant Octopus at first, but it does have speed 10 and a reasonable attack.

MechaTarrasque · Feb 21, 2019

iserith said:
The character retains his or her alignment and personality and, since mental ability scores have no meaningful effect on what the player chooses to do unless the player decides they do, the player ultimately decides what the toad will do which could reasonably include impaling itself on the nearest ally's sword so as to end the spell.

If the battle takes place on land, I agree with the idea proposed upthread - a shark. Or really any creature that has a substantial amount of hit points and 0 feet speed on land. A giant sea horse would be really very funny but a killer whale has a lot of hit points to chew through. Plus think of all the "Free Willy" jokes!

Unless the fighter routinely stabs himself in the middle of a fight, has been polymorphed before, or seen someone else escape polymorphing this way, I think any reasonable DM would require an arcana check when that course of action is suggested. With a toad's int., I think that is a tough check to make.

Satyrn · Feb 21, 2019

iserith said:
The character retains his or her alignment and personality and, since mental ability scores have no meaningful effect on what the player chooses to do unless the player decides they do, the player ultimately decides what the toad will do which could reasonably include impaling itself on the nearest ally's sword so as to end the spell.

If the battle takes place on land, I agree with the idea proposed upthread - a shark. Or really any creature that has a substantial amount of hit points and 0 feet speed on land. A giant sea horse would be really very funny but a killer whale has a lot of hit points to chew through. Plus think of all the "Free Willy" jokes!

A whale is a much better choice than a shark since they can still breathe.

And I can effectively foreshadow the polymorph by littering the area with pots of petunias.

Staffan · Feb 21, 2019

Satyrn said:
And I can effectively foreshadow the polymorph by littering the area with pots of petunias.

Oh no, not again.

Scott Thorne · Feb 21, 2019

In Curse of Strahd, I had a hag transform a PC into a toad then dump a BOX FULL OF TOADS around where the PC was so the party could not tell which toad was their toad.

The character was a known dancer and the clever player started dancing (with a Performance(DEX) check) to help identify herself -- and it worked!

If it happens again, I would have the hag pick-up and throw the transformed PC into a box full of toads which a minion runs away with.

Satyrn · Feb 21, 2019

Scott Thorne said:
In Curse of Strahd, I had a hag transform a PC into a toad then dump a BOX FULL OF TOADS around where the PC was so the party could not tell which toad was their toad.

The character was a known dancer and the clever player started dancing (with a Performance(DEX) check) to help identify herself -- and it worked!

That's an awesome story.

And it's a good example of why I'd encourage the OP to heed [MENTION=97077]iserith[/MENTION]'s earlier advice: "The character retains his or her alignment and personality and . . . the player ultimately decides what the toad will do."

Let the player play his character, or you won't get awesome stories about dancing frogs.

iserith · Feb 21, 2019

MechaTarrasque said:
Unless the fighter routinely stabs himself in the middle of a fight, has been polymorphed before, or seen someone else escape polymorphing this way, I think any reasonable DM would require an arcana check when that course of action is suggested. With a toad's int., I think that is a tough check to make.

I guess I'm an unreasonable DM then. While the spell does say that the creature is limited in its actions due to its new form, this appears to chiefly refer to physical actions like speaking, casting spells, or doing useful things with its hands. There's nothing in the spell that to my knowledge suggests the player is not in control of his or her own character even when that character is temporarily in the form of an Int-1 toad. And, physically, there's nothing stopping a toad from jumping onto the business end of an ally's blade and, if the DM wants for some reason to complain about it, the player can just say - no doubt after a sigh so big that it can be heard clear across the world - that the toad's got an Int-1 and made a bad decision.

MechaTarrasque · Feb 21, 2019

iserith said:
I guess I'm an unreasonable DM then. While the spell does say that the creature is limited in its actions due to its new form, this appears to chiefly refer to physical actions like speaking, casting spells, or doing useful things with its hands. There's nothing in the spell that to my knowledge suggests the player is not in control of his or her own character even when that character is temporarily in the form of an Int-1 toad. And, physically, there's nothing stopping a toad from jumping onto the business end of an ally's blade and, if the DM wants for some reason to complain about it, the player can just say - no doubt after a sigh so big that it can be heard clear across the world - that the toad's got an Int-1 and made a bad decision.

I'm going to call you on this. Show me anything that suggests a random fighter somehow knows that he can suicide his way out of a polymorph spell. Is it in the spell text? Nope. Is it in the fighter write up in the PHB? Nope. Combat description in the PHB? Nope. Go ahead, find something. I dare you. I would say is that crickets I heard, but I think the toad is eating them.

Retreater · Feb 21, 2019

The party's wizard, bard, and druid all have access to polymorph and should know how it works. So no challenge there.

Satyrn · Feb 21, 2019

MechaTarrasque said:
Unless the fighter routinely stabs himself in the middle of a fight, has been polymorphed before, or seen someone else escape polymorphing this way, I think any reasonable DM would require an arcana check when that course of action is suggested. With a toad's int., I think that is a tough check to make.

I would not require such a check.

I am a reasonable DM.