Alter Self question

[RigaMortus]

I don't want to quote the entire Alter Self description, but I'll quote what I think the relevent parts are in relation to my question...

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.

Ok, so on to my questions...

1) I can alter myself into a creature of the same type that I am. So if I were a Gnome, could I Alter myself into ANY humanoid? Human, Orc, etc? Does monstrous humanoid count?

2) Can I Alter myself using a template?

a) If I wanted to fly, I'd have to Alter into a humanoid form that had wings. Could I just Alter myself into the Avariel template? Thus being an Avariel Gnome?

b) Assuming I can do the above(b), would that increase my HD at all? I don't think it would. It just adds to your ECL, not HD, right?

 

[James McMurray]

1) Yep, any humanoid form. Monstrous Humanoid is a different type than Humanoid, and thus not a viable shape to alter into.

2)

You cannot take the form of any creature with a template, even if that template doesn’t change the creature type or subtype.

2a) As far as I know there is no Avariel template, there are only Avariel elves.
2b) Alter self never changes hit dice or ECL, it only changes your body.

 

[RigaMortus]

IIRC, Avariel is a template from Savage Species. I didn't look at it too closely, but I think it's a template you can add to any race for a +3 (I think) Level Adjustment. And since you are limited to a creature of 5HD, and ECL doesn't effect HD, this would be a good use of the spell. But alas, you can't turn into a templated thingy mabob. Where did you get that quote btw? Was it burried in the Alter Self description? I must have missed it...

 

[James McMurray]

Its directly from the Alter Self listing in the SRD. 7th paragraph, last sentence.

 

[xeno_eleusis]

Here are some humanoids to choose from when using Alter self.
NA=Natural Armor, NS=Natural Size, S=Speed
RS=Racial Skill bonuses

		NA	NS	S	RS	
troglodyte	6	M	30	4H	
lizardfolk	5	M	30		claws (1d4)
bugbear		3	M	30	4MS	
kobold		1	S	30	2S	
gnoll		1	M	30		
hobgoblin		M	30	4MS	
elf			M	30	2LSS	
githyanki		M	30		
githzerai		M	30		
orc			M	30	
goblin			S	30	4MSR
halfling		S	20	2CJLMS
gnome			S	20	2L
dwarf			M	20	
locathah	3	M	10	8sw
merfolk			M	5	8sw

 

[Wippit Guud]

Now, imagine being a half-ogre with the spell.... storm giant goodness...

 

[RigaMortus]

Well that sucks. You used to be able to sprout wings and fly with the spell (al beit, poorly). But now you need to pick an actual creature of the same type. And since most characters with this spell will be humanoid, and no humanoids can fly or have wings (given the list xeno provided), that kind of sucks. Well, at least you can grow gills still with the merfolk...

Oh, and since you retain your same ability scores, a half-ogre turning into a Storm Giant isn't all that great either...

 

[xeno_eleusis]

If you can get "outsider" status then there are more possibilities. Polymorph is the spell for getting wings.

 

[Brown Jenkin]

If you can get "outsider" status then there are more possibilities. Polymorph is the spell for getting wings.

On a related note. If you have an Outsider character (Aasimar for instance) you can turn into other outsiders. Now the spell says you can only fly if the new form has wings. What happens with other outsiders that fly but don't have wings like the Lantern Archon? Are you then a glowing ball of light that can only roll around on the ground? This is a serious question for me.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

All I can say is, "Thank goodness!" We have not converted to 3.5 (finishing current adventures before we switch) but Alter Self really screwed up one encounter when I needed the bad guys to get away and our Druid suddenly sprouts wings and chases them with a second level spell. All the delaying traps set to allow the getaway were ground based. What should have been a 10 minutes setup part of the adventure turned into over an hour as I tried to facilitate the getaway without being obvious that the party had no chance at that point to catch them. Catching them = no adventure. Yes, it is railroading, but sometimes it is necessary.