Skipism in Polymorph article 2?

[PaulGreystoke]

I really wish Skip wouldn't contradict himself in an article. At one point he says that you gain the racial skill bonuses of the form you take and get to keep your own. But then in his example he says that the half-elf looses his racial skill bonuses but gains those of the lizard folk. Which way is right?

Well he contradicts himself twice on this issue. First he says that a character keeps his racial skill bonuses but then later claims that the example half-elf loses his racial skill bonuses. Second he claims that the example half-elf loses his racial skill bonuses, but doesn't remove them from the example stat block.

So two wrongs make a right & a character keeps his racial skill bonuses!

 

[Saeviomagy]

The biggies (to me, at least) are

1) The loss of a random part of the natural attack routine - I would have thought he should have 2 claws + 1 bite in lizardfolk form.

2) The addition of random special qualities to the 'things you get' section. Apparently blindsight doesn't depend on your physical form, but holding your breath for a long time does. So where's the line now? Not where the spell says it is for sure.

As for half-elf racial bonuses... earlier in the article, he says you should keep the ones you have, and gain the ones from the form you assume, unless the ones from the form you assume are obviously cultural.

So it's just the paragraph immediately preceding anlion's lizardman stats that's wrong.

 

[Hypersmurf]

As for half-elf racial bonuses... earlier in the article, he says you should keep the ones you have, and gain the ones from the form you assume, unless the ones from the form you assume are obviously cultural.

So it's just the paragraph immediately preceding anlion's lizardman stats that's wrong.

You'd think so, wouldn't you?

I emailed Skip and asked him about the discrepancy between the text (Anlion loses his racial skill bonuses) and the stat block (where the skill bonuses are retained).

Hyp: You've said the half-elf loses his racial skill bonuses...
Sage: Yeah, right before the erroneous stat block.
Hyp: ... but you've listed them under his Special Qualities in that form, and they're still included in his total skill bonuses. Is this an error?
Sage: They should be gone, gone, gone.

Okay... so I emailed him back and asked if that meant that the earlier comment under "Physical Qualities" was also in error.

Sage: I dunno. I'm still trying to figure out how that stat block and the text that went with it got in there, since I didn't write it. We'll post a correction soon.

So, apparently, there are three references to racial skill bonuses in the article. Physical Qualities (retained), the Anlion text (lost), and the stat block (retained).

Skip says the Anlion text is correct, and the stat block is erroneous...

... but the only one he actually wrote was the Physical Qualities section, which says the opposite!

I also asked about the "familiars are considered magical beasts for the purpose of any effect relating to type", and asked why this did not apply to Alter Self.

Sage: The article goes out of its way to explain that this is an exception.
Hyp: Yes, I can see that the article says it's an exception, but I can't find anything in the written rules to support it.
Sage: There isn't, that's why it's in the article. As rule, I go out of may way to flag the additional stuff, which I didn't here, and that's the only thing I feel remotely bad about.

-Hyp.

 

[0-hr]

Hyp: Yes, I can see that the article says it's an exception, but I can't find anything in the written rules to support it.
Sage: There isn't, that's why it's in the article.

-Hyp.

Ah good, so we have another source of official erratta! That's just what we needed to clear things up.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Ah good, so we have another source of official erratta!

Unless when he said "I normally flag those", he meant like he did in Sneak Attacks Part 4, where he labelled his bit about ignoring flanking "My totally unofficial house rule", or something like that.

So maybe he 'feels bad' about passing off a 'Familiars alter into animals' totally-unofficial-house-rule as official.

Well, maybe.

-Hyp.

 

[Prism]

The biggies (to me, at least) are

1) The loss of a random part of the natural attack routine - I would have thought he should have 2 claws + 1 bite in lizardfolk form.

I thought this a bit odd too. Does he lose the bite because this would count as an extra attack? If a form with just a bite was assumed I wonder would it also be lost. Lets hope that the stat block is in error here too, otherwise this ruling would probably continue into polymorph self and from there into wildshape

 

[Hypersmurf]

I thought this a bit odd too. Does he lose the bite because this would count as an extra attack? If a form with just a bite was assumed I wonder would it also be lost. Lets hope that the stat block is in error here too, otherwise this ruling would probably continue into polymorph self and from there into wildshape

Someone in the equivalent thread on the WotC boards had an email from Skip saying "Yes, the bite whould be in there", or something similar.

The 'whould' was specifically commented on, I recall

-Hyp.