Alter Self too powerful?

[The Souljourner]

I actually am a melee bard. I was going weapon and shield, though. My AC with the spell is 30, well beyond anyone else's in the party. With Inspire Courage, I would be doing 1d8+7 with attack bonus +13/+8, plus a bite at +9 (trogs get multiattack as a bonus feat), and if I wanted to not use the buckler, I could have a claw as well at +8 (-1 for having the buckler on that arm), both doing 1d4+3. Not too bad, huh?

Plus, if I have a spare round I can inspire greatness in myself for another +2 to hit.

-The Souljourner

 

[reapersaurus]

Use the right overpowered spells, and a Warrior can be a force in battle.

 

[FrankTrollman]

The big fun is using Alter Self to transform yourself back into yourself after using a more powerful transformation to turn into something big and nasty. Alter Self doesn't change your stats - so you can still have Titan Strength after using PAO or Shapechange. The things which Alter Self does and does not give you are totally arbitrary and in no way based on game balance or on schtick.

Did I mention that the 3.5 Transformation rules suck my butt? 3rd edition Alter Self had problems - anyone remember Druids grafting wings to Dire Bears? But at least it was cool - the new Alter Self is just a game mechanic, and a broken one at that.

-Frank

 

[Thanee]

Except that the smell is one of those "extraordinary special attacks" you don't gain.

I knew people would misunderstand that... not that smell... just the generally bad smell of them!

Bye
Thanee

 

[Dthamilaye]

Oh, and Jeph- if you switch to 3.5 and still want to do the demon look, then copy a Fey'ri. I believe they're still humanoids. The black skin and tattoos are those "minor physical qualities" you can freely designate as you wish.

Fey'Ri , as far as I know, is considered a native outsider. That means if you are Fey'Ri, feel free to use outsiders (including demons and such) as your Alter Self material...

(with the added benefit of free simple and martial weapon proficiencies that outsider type gives you)...

 

[DM2]

It is poweful, maybe even overly powerful, but I don't mind having a powerful defensive spell like that at 2nd level in my campaigns.

With trog and lizardman forms you can gain a couple of more armor class points than shield or mage armor provides, along with some fairly weak natural attacks.

The bard in my party uses trog form a lot. He's very defensible, but has fairly mediocre damage output, and really serves to buff the party (how nice for the human barbarian that regularly power attacks with two handed weapons for +20 damage or so.

DM2