Lord Pendragon said:
Hi gang,
I've got a question regarding
Polymorph, as described currently in the SRD. (I know the polymorph effect has been redone yet again, but since nobody in our group has whatever book redoes it, the 3.5 srd version is what we're using.)
My question is simple: If a fighter is polymorphed into a giant, does his armor and weapon increase in size with him, or does it meld into his new form?
And linked to that, if the answer is "it melds into his new form" would that effect be different if the fighter were under the effects of
Enlarge Person at the time the
Polymorph is cast?
In one of the "Rules of the Game" articles on wizards.com, they suggest that all equipment, including armor and weapons, should change size along with the target. That's not actually what the rules say, though.
The rules on
size and magic items indicate that changing size shouldn't be a problem for magic clothing or jewelry. Armor and weapons have no such resizing ability, though. In fact, Complete Adventurer includes the "sizing" weapon property, which lets you change the size of the weapon as a standard action. They say that "Spellcasters who frequently polymorph themselves appreciate weapons with the sizing special ability." That's a pretty clear indiciation from the rules that weapons *don't* change size when you polymorph. That also implies that polymorph, in general, doesn't resize your gear for you.
So when your fighter is polymorphed into a large giant, his armor would meld into the new form, and he'd be left holding a medium weapon (which he could still wield with a penalty, unless it was originally a light weapon).
The question with Enlarge Person is trickier, and it depends on whether you consider Polymorph a "magical effect that increases size". As far as I can tell, there's no real consensus on that one.
If Polymorph is not a magical effect that increases size, then the fighter will change from a large human into a huge giant. His armor would meld into the new form, and he'd be holding a large (but still too-small) weapon.
If Polymorph is a magical effect that increases size (and thus doesn't stack with Enlarge Person), then I think the armor would stay in place -- the new form is the same size as the old and thus able to wear the armor. What I don't know is what happens when Enlarge Person expires before Polymorph does. The armor returns to its normal size while the fighter is still a giant. Does the armor meld into the fighter's form at that point, or does it fall to the ground, or is the fighter's torso suddenly compacted in a rather gruesome fashion?
