Help me stop the abuse of Polymorph Other

[Tom McCafferty]

Hi there

Unlike a similar post I want to stop the abuse of polymorph other.

My party plan to take on a red dragon by using the polymorph other spell a volunteer who they will turn into a gold dragon.

Under 2nd edition the polymorph was more reasonable as you did not gain the attacks or armour of the creature you turned into, plus there was the risk of losing your mind and becoming a dragon.

Polymorph other is over the top for a 4th level spell. Basically make 1st level volunteer into 13th level in an instant.

Tom

 

[Darklone]

I see no chance to stop the abuse without houserules.

 

[Tom McCafferty]

Well I guess what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

Looks like my world will end up full of polymorphed dragons who were once humans laying waste to all who get in their way.

 

[Wippit Guud]

Come on... this is a red dragon here, if he hasn't set up to defeat cheesy polymorph spells, he deserves to die

 

[Ovinomancer]

A good dispel magic should solve the Red's problem. And provide a warm, tasty treat.

 

[Tom McCafferty]

For a dispell magic to work it has to know that the dragon is not the real McCoy.

Just how does it work this out without abusing my position as the GM using out of game knowledge?

 

[Wippit Guud]

Well, if I designing a dragon's lair (and I have), the first thing I would set up a really big anti-magic shell, and sit in it. Cause the first round of combat, everything is going to be spells, and they'll all just fade off. Alternately, have a triggered 'disjunction' at the entrance to the lair, and every spell is killed. This of course assumes they're dumb enough to not just teleport in.

And, if they're walking in, make the entrance too large for a dragon to fit through, it uses polymorph self to get in... so the gold dragon would be stuck outside.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Hi there

Unlike a similar post I want to stop the abuse of polymorph other.

My party plan to take on a red dragon by using the polymorph other spell a volunteer who they will turn into a gold dragon.

Using PHB 3.0 rules

The new form can range in size from Diminutive to one size larger than the subject's normal form.

So the biggest he can become is a Juvenile (Large) dragon, with a Str of 29 and AC 25.

The new form can be disorienting. Any time the polymorphed creature is in a stressful or demanding situation (such as combat), the creature must succeed at a Will save (DC 19) or suffer a -2 penalty on all attack rolls, saves, skill checks, and ability checks until the situation passes.

The first level volunteer will have a BAB of +1, with a potential of +9 from Str, but most likely suffering -2 on attacks, saves etc due to disorientation. A bite at +8 for 2d6+9 is considerably less fearsome than a bite at +25 for 2d6+9 (which you'd expect from a standard Juvenile Gold Dragon)

The subject retains its Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores, level and class, hit points (despite any change in its Constitution score), alignment, base attack bonus, and base saves.

This is the real killer. The 1st level volunteer will have, say, 10hps (assuming a fighter). Talk about a glass jaw!


You don't say what level the party is and what age the red dragon is. You also don't say whether the party have actually met a gold dragon to know what one is like for the purposes of changing into it! But with the above (3.0) limitations I don't think you'd have anything to worry about. The biggest effect is that the polymorphed person draws initial attacks from the red dragon and its first hit is likely to kill the volunteer anyway!

Cheers

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

As noted above, just make sure you read the spell description and enforce it properly. I'm not convinced that the Red Dragon wouldn't have seen this before anyway, as it's a reasonable tactic to try.

 

[Gilwen]

Let them poly into it, it's their downfall.

From the 3.0 SRD:
"The subject does not gain the spell-like abilities of its new form. The subject does not gain the supernatural abilities or the extraordinary abilities of the new creature." Also the subject loses their supernatural abilities if they had any.

From the 3.5 SRD:
"It also gains all extraordinary special attacks possessed by the form but does not gain the extraordinary special qualities possessed by the new form or any supernatural or spell-like abilities."

So he can polymorph into a dragon but wouldn't get any of the cool things that a dragon is known for and this is in addition to crappy hitpoints and the such.

I had a player that was a half-dragon and he wanted to turn himself into a dragon permanently. I let him do it and he was really really mad when he found out that not only did he not get the abilities of a dragon but lost his supernatural abilities...even though it was all there in the spells description!

Please let us know how badly they are slaughtered if they are relying on this as their only tatic.

Bryan