Level 4 Arcane Healing spell? Plus More!

[RUMBLETiGER]

Is this as awesome as I'm thinking it is? I was looking around at Transmutation spells for my Party Buff War Weaver build when I came across this spell.

Trollshape.
​

Players Handbook II. Level 4 Transmutation spell, Duration is 1 round/level. Swift Action to cast. Turns you into a Troll, complete with supernatural abilities.

And so, as a Swift action, you receive:

-better than Greater Vigor (5 Fast Healing!)
-Regenerate (a level 7 spell!)
-Enlarge Person
-Bear's Endurance
-Bull's Strength
-Darkvision
-Scent

...and an ugly face.

A Wizard can access this spell at level 7. That's 35 hp cured per casting. And everything else. Duplicating Regenerate alone makes this incredible IMHO.

What do you guys think about this spell? Am I understanding it correctly? Do you also recieve the lower INT and CHA scores with the newer Polymorph subschool spells, or just the changes to physical stats?

 

[anest1s]

Is this as awesome as I'm thinking it is? I was looking around at Transmutation spells for my Party Buff War Weaver build when I came across this spell.

Trollshape.
​

Players Handbook II. Level 4 Transmutation spell, Duration is 1 round/level. Swift Action to cast. Turns you into a Troll, complete with supernatural abilities.

And so, as a Swift action, you receive:

-better than Greater Vigor (5 Fast Healing!)
-Regenerate (a level 7 spell!)
-Enlarge Person
-Bear's Endurance
-Bull's Strength
-Darkvision
-Scent

...and an ugly face.

A Wizard can access this spell at level 7. That's 35 hp cured per casting. And everything else. Duplicating Regenerate alone makes this incredible IMHO.

What do you guys think about this spell? Am I understanding it correctly? Do you also recieve the lower INT and CHA scores with the newer Polymorph subschool spells, or just the changes to physical stats?

I am pretty sure it means just the abilities, not the special qualities.

Other than that, I think you posted twice

 

[Empirate]

The problem is the way Regeneration works. It turns damage you receive into nonlethal damage (except fire and acid damage in this case), and it heals nonlethal damage really fast. Note that nonlethal damage is tracked separately from HP. Your actual HP can still change (such as when you take fire damage), but it won't change from a swordthrust, which only deals nonlethal damge to regenerating creatures.

So if you've already taken damage, then cast Trollshape, you'll regenerate damage you take after casting the spell, since that damage is converted to nonlethal damage, and nonlethal damage is healed quickly. But your actual HP total remains untouched (by this effect).

Also note that the polymorph subschool doesn't actually heal damage when you cast its spells. It grants temporary HP instead, which go away when the spell expires.


Example: 10th level Wizard with 55 HP takes a total of 50 damage, then casts Trollshape. His HP total is at 5 prior to casting the spell, but he receives 30 temporary HP from it, putting him at 35 HP. If he's attacked, he'll likely only take nonlethal damage, which is healed at a rate of 5 per round. Should the nonlethal damage he takes exceed his current HP (35), he falls unconscious. Should he be attacked with fire or acid and take up to 29 points of damage, his HP total would be reset at 5 when Trollshape's duration runs out. If he takes more than 29 fire or acid damage, his HP total would remain unchanged when Trollshape ends.

 

[Wyvernhand]

A better use of Trollshape was back in Living Greyhawk when Polymorph as banned. Trollshape was NOT banned because it had a very limited application. Trollshape is still a [Polymorph] spell, and thus is a legal spell to power the Minor Shapeshift feat which is fraking rediculous.

The best use of this spell, however, is to cast it on your familiar. Don't SHARE it with your familiar, because then he can't go more than 5' from you, but if you actually CAST it on him, he can go anywhere he wants and be a tough to kill badass troll. As a swift action. Instant wall of meat. Normally you don't want to endanger your otherwise fragile familiar with melee combat, but unless your foe is slinging fireballs or toting an acid burst sword, the odds of your familiar being KILLED, rather than just disabled are low. Not perfect, but dang useful 9/10 times.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Polymorph Subschool.

Can someone help me understand how the line,"the target of a polymorph spell takes on all the statistics and special abilities of an average member of the new form in place of its own..." in the case of the Troll here?

What would this spell do in the following situations:

1. -The Fighter gets his arm cut off. Wizard Casts Trollshape. Does the Fighter regrow and arm that remains when the spell wears off?

2. -The Fighter is down by 40 hitpoints. The Wizard casts Trollshape. The Fighter sits out the duration of the spell. Does he gain any Hitpoints back?

3. -The Wizard casts Trollshape on himself. His STR and CON go up to 23, does his INT go down to 6?

 

[Wyvernhand]

Regeneration (Ex)

Fire and acid deal normal damage to a troll. If a troll loses a limb or body part, the lost portion regrows in 3d6 minutes. The creature can reattach the severed member instantly by holding it to the stump.

The fighter would either have to have his severed limb available, or the Trollshape spell would have to last at LEAST 3 minutes, if not longer.


As far as healing goes...Regeneration doesn't work like that. When you have the Regeneration special quality, damage you take that ISN'T of the type that bypasses it (Fire + Acid for Trolls) is converted into non-lethal damage at the time it is inflicted. Then the Regeneration ability heals that non-lethal damage at an accelerated rate dictated by the ability. If damage is taken prior to gaining the Regeneration special quality, that damage would not be converted to non-lethal damage just because you suddenly became a Troll. Thus, there would be nothing for Regeneration to heal, since your non-lethal damage total is 0 until you start getting attacked some more.


Don't confuse Regeneration with Fast Healing. If Trollshape gave you Fast Healing 3 for rounds/level, for example, then the fighter who was Trollshaped would indeed have more HP at the end of the spell then at the beginning. Regeneration doesn't work that way, though.



Also, isn't Trollshape a personal spell? Unless you are a Spellguard of Silverymoon, you'll have a tough time casting it on other people.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Thanks for all the input. I was fuzzy on the details of how Regeneration works, I really appreciate the link.

And, i a noob mistake, I missed that Trollshape was Personal. Scraps my entire plan, even if everything else did work out.

As always, glad I talked to you all!