D&D 5E Polymorph....wut?

[Andor]

Also remember that D&D is a fantasy universe. The soul is very real, provably so. Spells like speak with dead, etc argue that the soul may be more the seat of memory than the brain is. It is certainly the seat of morality, and friendship. So while your brain may be that of a T-rex, your (characters) soul is unchanged. His memories, attitudes, loves and hates are unchanged.

Mind you the animal instincts will be all screwed up, so that hot cleric probably smells good in more of a lunch-y kind of way than before, but that's an RPing challenge, not a GM makes you eat your party challenge.

 

[Li Shenron]

This spell is one of the most iconic, both in terms of its historical fantasy usage, but also in its being a cornerstone of a D&D's wizard repertoire since the game's early days.

That said, I'm really not that familiar with it myself. At AL, I've most often seen it used to turn a friendly ally into a raging stompbeast (T-Rex, Giant Ape, etc), or to turn an enemy into a harmless plushie.

It makes sense for a 4th level spell to be powerful, so I have no basic argument with that. What I've been struggling with is this bit:



I don't understand:

i) why personality (and by extension alignment) are unaffected. Your mental faculties surely are directly to your personality

ii) what your personality has to do with your tactical awareness. Why is a T-Rex or a Giant Ape able to perform so well in a mass fight, i.e. coordinating with the party?
Should not creatures with animal-level INT simply just run away, or maybe just attack anything and everything in range?

These rules simply mean that the PC is still herself even in the new form.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[jgsugden]

There is an interesting trinity of 4th level spells that can be cast on allies as a buff/defense or enemies as a way to negate them for a bit while you focus on other enemies. They are Polymorph, Otiluke's Resilient Sphere and Banishment.

They all rely upon concentration to work.

If an ally is about to be hit and taken down by a highly damaging attack, Polymorph can give them a high HP form to absorb the attacks, Otiluke's can shield them from the attack, and Banishment can also shield them from the attack. Each requires one failed save to be effective, although Banishment is a charisma save, Otiluke's a dexterity save and Polymorph a wisdom save. All require concentration.

If you have a big enemy surrounded by his supporters you can use any of the three spells to take that opponent off the battle field while you eliminate the support.

I think all three fill similar roles for PCs with slight variation. Polymorph has that ally boosting benefit, Otiluke's gives you a safe place to act, while Banishment can be effectively save or die versus certain foes (and incapacitates the others while they are under the effect of the spell - something that can be nasty if you have a continuing source of damage on the enemy that they need to use an action to end).

If Polymorph doesn't sit right with you, consider these other spells. I bypassed polymorph in favor of banishment in a game where I thought we'd be seeing a good number of elementals, demons, devils and other extraplanar folks. I was worried I'd miss the polymorphing fun - but I find that the banishment is just as hilarious for me to use against enemies and even more interesting when I use it to save an ally.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

I have to remind my players that Polymorph is not Wild Shape. For one thing you become the beast and can't understand languages (check the language area for the animal and tell me if Common is there). However since you retain your 'personality' I rule that you have access to your skills if you have at least a rudimentary human intelligence (Int 5).

 

[The Crimson Binome]

I have to remind my players that Polymorph is not Wild Shape. For one thing you become the beast and can't understand languages (check the language area for the animal and tell me if Common is there). However since you retain your 'personality' I rule that you have access to your skills if you have at least a rudimentary human intelligence (Int 5).

You know that people can have an Intelligence score as low as 3, right? For that matter, you could be a halfling wizard with Intelligence 3, and you would still be able to cast Polymorph if you were a high enough level; you just wouldn't be able to prepare as many spells, and your spell save DCs would be lower.

 

[Saeviomagy]

I have to remind my players that Polymorph is not Wild Shape. For one thing you become the beast and can't understand languages (check the language area for the animal and tell me if Common is there). However since you retain your 'personality' I rule that you have access to your skills if you have at least a rudimentary human intelligence (Int 5).

Yeah, they should really cast comprehend languages first...

 

[Rational Drunk]

I have to remind my players that Polymorph is not Wild Shape. For one thing you become the beast and can't understand languages (check the language area for the animal and tell me if Common is there). However since you retain your 'personality' I rule that you have access to your skills if you have at least a rudimentary human intelligence (Int 5).

I find it odd that you make skill a part of personality, but not language. This suggests to me that you associate at least some aspect of personality with learned behaviour.

If your PC learned a language like Common, then as long he is not deaf he should be able to understand Common while transformed into a different creature. The reverse applies. If the PC transformed into a wolf or a pixie, the PC would not be able to understand wolves or pixies simply by transforming into them, even if "Wolf" or Sylvan were on their statblocks.

A pixie only has Sylvan on their statblock, but this does not bar them from learning a different language, such as Common. The language on a card is not a limitation, but a baseline for a creature/race's background. Your PC is not actually an animal, and does not share the generic animal's background. Henceforth your PC can understand languages (given a decent enough intelligence, say 3+) he learned, but not understand that the female lizard is hissing at him in a manner intended to be seductive.

Your languages are a part of your background, and your background does not change.

Any limitations in terms of intelligence would of course apply as usual, such as bad comprehension, or being unable to understand words entirely (in the case of intelligence 2, a skill as complex as language is lost to the PC). Perhaps the PC'd still be able to recall a few words though, I mean, my poodle can sit on command and high five when told to, even though English is not on its statblock.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

I think polymorph is meant to be used on your enemy not your buddy (for old schoolers it is really baleful polymorph). Shape change and animal shapes are the spells you use on your friends (if you want them to stay your friends), as seen by lines like "the target retains its alignment and Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma scores."

I think you mean "young sprats."

For old schoolers it is a limited variation on Polymorph Other, restricted to beasts. (But with no system shock roll, so that's good!)

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

You know that people can have an Intelligence score as low as 3, right? For that matter, you could be a halfling wizard with Intelligence 3, and you would still be able to cast Polymorph if you were a high enough level; you just wouldn't be able to prepare as many spells, and your spell save DCs would be lower.

In fact, you can even be an Orc wizard with an Int of 1! Your Int would actually go UP when you Polymorph into a T-Rex!

Yet somehow you need to turn back into a brain-dead Orc in order to prepare more spells.