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<blockquote data-quote="Brother MacLaren" data-source="post: 4059008" data-attributes="member: 15999">&quot;If the rules are written well.&quot;&nbsp; It's always been the case for polymorph rules that there are some areas of interpretation needed.Look at the BECMI spell &quot;Polymorph Self,&quot; where you get &quot;purely physical&quot; abilities.&nbsp; That asks for a DM judgment call.&nbsp; Look at the threads that 3E polymorph and wildshape spawned here.&nbsp; What items continue to function?&nbsp; What items can you wear in an alternate form?&nbsp; It's never been an easy issue to fix, and (aside from illusions) it's one of the areas most demanding of adjudication.&nbsp; I think it will be easiest to just restrict it to a few physical changes (attack, damage, AC, movement), give almost no special abilities, and rule that items continue functioning. Well, I would regard it as poor sportsmanship for a player to buy the MM explicitly for the purpose of meta-gaming and learning the monsters' abilities.&nbsp; I would likely stop gaming with such a player.&nbsp; Now, if I knew that they bought it for their own use in running a game, then to make the game better for them I would make an effort to mix up monster names, descriptions, and abilities.&nbsp; That way they could know that their DM knowledge wouldn't interfere with their ability to have fun discovering the world of my campaign.As to summoned monsters, I'd be happy to give the PCs the information as they come to be familiar with their creatures.&nbsp; Keep it about as mysterious as that magic sword; after a few battles, tell them &quot;It's a Sword +2,&quot; and tell the wizard &quot;The Umber Hulk you can summon has 8+8 HD, THAC0 10, AC 2, 44 HP, and a confusing gaze (save vs. Spells).&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Brother MacLaren, post: 4059008, member: 15999"] "If the rules are written well." It's always been the case for polymorph rules that there are some areas of interpretation needed. Look at the BECMI spell "Polymorph Self," where you get "purely physical" abilities. That asks for a DM judgment call. Look at the threads that 3E polymorph and wildshape spawned here. What items continue to function? What items can you wear in an alternate form? It's never been an easy issue to fix, and (aside from illusions) it's one of the areas most demanding of adjudication. I think it will be easiest to just restrict it to a few physical changes (attack, damage, AC, movement), give almost no special abilities, and rule that items continue functioning. Well, I would regard it as poor sportsmanship for a player to buy the MM explicitly for the purpose of meta-gaming and learning the monsters' abilities. I would likely stop gaming with such a player. Now, if I knew that they bought it for their own use in running a game, then to make the game better for them I would make an effort to mix up monster names, descriptions, and abilities. That way they could know that their DM knowledge wouldn't interfere with their ability to have fun discovering the world of my campaign. As to summoned monsters, I'd be happy to give the PCs the information as they come to be familiar with their creatures. Keep it about as mysterious as that magic sword; after a few battles, tell them "It's a Sword +2," and tell the wizard "The Umber Hulk you can summon has 8+8 HD, THAC0 10, AC 2, 44 HP, and a confusing gaze (save vs. Spells)." [/QUOTE]

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