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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Staffan" data-source="post: 9648129" data-attributes="member: 907">If you're looking for a more balanced approach to polymorph spells, you might want to check out what Pathfinder did. They turned it into a whole family of spells, each of which gives various stat buffs and special abilities. So for example, beast shape I is a 3rd level spell that can turn you into a Small or Medium animal, gives you either +2 Dex and +1 natural armor for Small or +2 Str and +2 natural armor for Medium, the creature's land speed and natural attacks (but using your stats and BAB), and whatever special abilities from this list that the animal has: climb 30 feet, fly 30 feet (average maneuverability), swim 30 feet, darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, and scent. There are other spells for other creature types, and at higher levels there are versions that let you turn into differently-sized creatures and expand the list of special abilities.Polymorph then becomes a 5th level spell that can function as beast shape II, elemental body I, or alter self in addition to being castable on a willing target (most polymorph spells are self-only). The druid's Wild Shape ability starts out as mimicking beast shape I, but as you gain levels you can use it as higher-level versions and eventually as elemental body and plant shape.On the plus side, this approach puts a cap on the power level of polymorph-type spells, and no longer has every added monster increase the spells' power levels. You also can't dump your physical stats as a druid anymore – 3.0 and 3.5 makes that an attractive choice because you'll be in bear shape anyway so who cares that your normal Strength is 8? On the minus side, they work via ability score modifiers which means there are a whole bunch of cascading changes, much like any other 3e stat buff.</blockquote>

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