D&D 3E/3.5 [3.5] Alter Self

[Lord Pendragon]

From the 3.5 SRD:

Alter Self
Transmutation
Level: Brd 2, Sor/Wiz 2
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 10 min./level (D)
You assume the form of a creature of the same type as your normal form. The new form must be within one size category of your normal size. The maximum HD of an assumed form is equal to your caster level, to a maximum of 5 HD at 5th level. You can change into a member of your own kind or even into yourself.
You retain your own ability scores. Your class and level, hit points, alignment, base attack bonus, and base save bonuses all remain the same. You retain all supernatural and spell-like special attacks and qualities of your normal form, except for those requiring a body part that the new form does not have (such as a mouth for a breath weapon or eyes for a gaze attack).
You keep all extraordinary special attacks and qualities derived from class levels, but you lose any from your normal form that are not derived from class levels.
If the new form is capable of speech, you can communicate normally. You retain any spellcasting ability you had in your original form, but the new form must be able to speak intelligibly (that is, speak a language) to use verbal components and must have limbs capable of fine manipulation to use somatic or material components.
You acquire the physical qualities of the new form while retaining your own mind. Physical qualities include natural size, mundane movement capabilities (such as burrowing, climbing, walking, swimming, and flight with wings, to a maximum speed of 120 feet for flying or 60 feet for nonflying movement), natural armor bonus, natural weapons (such as claws, bite, and so on), racial skill bonuses, racial bonus feats, and any gross physical qualities (presence or absence of wings, number of extremities, and so forth). A body with extra limbs does not allow you to make more attacks (or more advantageous two-weapon attacks) than normal.
You do not gain any extraordinary special attacks or special qualities not noted above under physical qualities, such as darkvision, low-light vision, blindsense, blindsight, fast healing, regeneration, scent, and so forth.
You do not gain any supernatural special attacks, special qualities, or spell-like abilities of the new form. Your creature type and subtype (if any) remain the same regardless of your new form. You cannot take the form of any creature with a template, even if that template doesn’t change the creature type or subtype.
You can freely designate the new form’s minor physical qualities (such as hair color, hair texture, and skin color) within the normal ranges for a creature of that kind. The new form’s significant physical qualities (such as height, weight, and gender) are also under your control, but they must fall within the norms for the new form’s kind. You are effectively disguised as an average member of the new form’s race. If you use this spell to create a disguise, you get a +10 bonus on your Disguise check.
When the change occurs, your equipment, if any, either remains worn or held by the new form (if it is capable of wearing or holding the item), or melds into the new form and becomes nonfunctional. When you revert to your true form, any objects previously melded into the new form reappear in the same location on your body they previously occupied and are once again functional. Any new items you wore in the assumed form and can’t wear in your normal form fall off and land at your feet; any that you could wear in either form or carry in a body part common to both forms at the time of reversion are still held in the same way. Any part of the body or piece of equipment that is separated from the whole reverts to its true form.

Now, by "you assume the form of a creature of the same type" does that mean one must actually select something out of the Monster Manual? Or does can you still select "humanoid with wings" or "humanoid with gills"?

If the former, are there humanoids of 5HD or less in the Monster Manual that make this spell useful?

 

[Jhyrryl]

If you want gills, Locathah and Merfolk are both aquatic humanoids. If you want wings - no; nothing in MM.

But the spell is significantly useful beyond those kinds of things, IMHO.

 

[Elvinis75]

That seems stupid that you can't get wings through the spell. I wonder if they are going to errata that.

 

[JoeBlank]

The spell may still but useful, but it no longer fits the purpose for which it has been used by most casters. From what I have seen in actual games, as well as on these boards and others, AS is most often used for flight. The uses I have seen, in order of frequency, are:

1. Flight (75%)
2. Disguise (15%)
3. Gills/swim (5%)
4. Others (5%)

Maybe in a more aquatic campaign the gills/swim function would move up some.

The changes to the spell do away with a lot of the confusion about it's functions, but good luck finding a humanoid with flight in the core rules.

My kind DM allowed a house rule that solved the problem, but it was very character specific for my sorcerer.

 

[Fenes 2]

Well, the 3E Alter Self is, imho, the most overpowered 2nd level spell in the whole book. It couild stand to lose a bit power.

 

[DreamChaser]

The spell may still but useful, but it no longer fits the purpose for which it has been used by most casters. From what I have seen in actual games, as well as on these boards and others, AS is most often used for flight. The uses I have seen, in order of frequency, are:

1. Flight (75%)
2. Disguise (15%)
3. Gills/swim (5%)
4. Others (5%)

Maybe in a more aquatic campaign the gills/swim function would move up some.

The changes to the spell do away with a lot of the confusion about it's functions, but good luck finding a humanoid with flight in the core rules.

My kind DM allowed a house rule that solved the problem, but it was very character specific for my sorcerer.

And here is the reason they changed it. Why would Alter Self be called Alter Self if what it really was was a 2nd level Fly spell? One of the primary things the PTB targeted were spells that were used with disproportionate frequency and with greater effect than other spells of the same level.

Since, within the rules, there is no minimum space for a winged creature to stay in the air, why is Fly a 3rd level spell when you could get it at 2nd level with Alter Self? And why would you ever take Levitate?

i-4-1 like the change. I haven't come across a spell change that I didn't like so far. I couple I wish had been changed but none that I thought should be changed back.

DC

edited for some sentence clarity

 

[Elvinis75]

And here is the reason they changed it. Why would Alter Self be called Alter Self if what it really was was a 2nd level Fly spell? One of the primary things the PTB targeted were spells that were used with disproportionate frequency and with greater effect than other spells of the same level.

Since, within the rules, there is no minimum space for a winged creature to stay in the air, why is Fly a 3rd level spell when you could get it at 2nd level with Alter Self? And why would you ever take Levitate?

i-4-1 like the change. I haven't come across a spell change that I didn't like so far. I couple I wish had been changed but none that I thought should be changed back.

DC

edited for some sentence clarity

Because the ability to fly via the alter self is nowhere near the same power as the fly spell. You are forgetting the whole "poor" flight maneuverability. Fly is what, good?

The ability to hover and turn on a dime while in the air is important. You can't do this with alter self

 

[Staffan]

If you're playing in FR or on the Savage Coast region of Mystara, you could always Alter yourself into an Avariel or Ee'ar (both being winged elves).

 

[Wippit Guud]

What's the +ECL for the winged template? Should be less than 4, right?

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Because the ability to fly via the alter self is nowhere near the same power as the fly spell. You are forgetting the whole "poor" flight maneuverability. Fly is what, good?

The ability to hover and turn on a dime while in the air is important. You can't do this with alter self

This has been my experience as well. My last long-term character was a wizzie, and had Alter Self memorized often, but rarely actually cast it. It was great because if you needed to breathe water for a short period, or if there was a particularly tall wall you needed to get over, it was your spell. But it had little in the way of combat effectiveness (poor maneuverability made the "wing form" worthless in combat, as were gills, or a tail, or anything else it could do.)

It was more like a low-powered, but possibly useful polymorph. If I had that character to play again, I'd have thrown the spell on scroll and forgot about it, and that's the 3.0 version.

Now, Alter Self is pretty useless. Its purpose is, what?, as a wizard's high-powered Disguise Kit?