D&D General Was the court Wizard right to Polymorph The heir from A Teenager into A Baby because she knew the villain would kill A Teenager but not A Baby?

[GMforPowergamers]

My question is was The Court Wizard right to use Polymorph Other to Polymorph The heir from A 14 year old Teenager into A 5 month old Baby

he saved her life... but who raised her?

 

[James Gasik]

Which is why you shouldn’t treat an RPG game like a novel (or vice-versa).

In a novel, maybe a particular action doesn’t break suspension of disbelief (though quite often, multiple excessively contrived scenarios will absolutely break suspension of disbelief).

However, imposing this on characters run by other people will definitely lead to pushback, particularly when they come up with a scenario you didn’t consider (such as dispelling the polymorph spell).

That's why you always need a deus ex machina. My personal favorite, "uh, well, he had an artifact."

 

[JMISBEST]

Falls under "Lesser of two evils" for me. Polymorphing someone into a dramatically less intelligent form is pretty dubious, but doing it to save them from being murdered could be sufficient reason to justify it. Of course, if the villain is willing to wait an hour, or (if the spell is permanent) arrange for the magic to be dispelled, then things go back to being spicy. But that's just plot, and somewhat hilarious if the wizard did it in the heat of the moment in a "You wouldn't hit someone with glasses?" kinda way.

I also imagine the Villain gently trying to reduce the baby to 0 HP in the least painful way possible, to break the Polymorph. That would be a very weird and interesting scene!

In any case, the overall idea is pretty mythical. There are many stories of being being transformed into animals and other such things to escape punishment or danger (just like there are many stories of being transformed into animals AS punishment.)

Not quite, The Wizard isn't hoping that the invader, who depending on the nature of the conflict could be the good guy, won't kill A 5 month old Baby, she knows that the invader won't kill A 5 month old Baby

She's hoping that by the time the baby is old enough that The Invader will even consider killing her, which could be as soon(?) as the day she turns 5, that she, likely with help from other loyalists, will have come up with a permanent way of keeping the heir to the throne alive

 

[James Gasik]

Here's a question. Did the girl agree to this? Is she a willing or unwilling participant in this plan?

 

[WayneLigon]

Aside from all the gamist shenanigans: Absolutely he was right to do this thing. The kingdom now has a legitimate heir that, in time, will be able to come back and reclaim the throne. In this sort of scenario, little else matters including the heirs wishes on the matter. That decision was taken out of her hands the instant she became the only heir*.

Gamist Shenanigans: Amusing that people seem to assume the court wizard somehow has access to and has learned every convenient spell he needs or would want.

*without knowing more about the GM's world setting, etc etc.

 

[James Gasik]

Well, I mean, I don't know how other people play Wizards, but I go out of my way to acquire even niche spells, because I assume that one day, the need will come up, and everyone in my playgroup is going to look to me and ask "you can do that, right?".

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Things would probably have worked out better if the wizard had polymorphed the heir into the traditional T-Rex instead of a baby.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

So quick thing. Polymorph does not change a person. The Baby is still the girl, and normally will change back into the girl once the spell ends (If this was a permanent polymorph then their is a good chance they would not even look like the same person if they simply aged cause you can’t really do same person but younger unless you knew them).

The big thing is why would this stop the villain. Even if he won’t kill a baby, his target is not a baby, being magically disguised as a baby does not change who she is, it’s just a fake baby.

The biggest thing is why would the Wizard use True Polymorph on the heir instead of on the attacker. Just turn them into a turtle.

 

[Rikka66]

The big thing is why would this stop the villain. Even if he won’t kill a baby, his target is not a baby, being magically disguised as a baby does not change who she is, it’s just a fake baby.

I think it's an acceptable trait for a villain. You might come up with a background detail about the villain well known among the court to reinforce it.

And I'm sure someone else has brought this up, but the question in regards to a campaign idea isn't if it's "right". That's not relevant unless the players decide to bring it up. The question is how players can interact with this detail. What opportunities does it create for them. And it's too odd of thing to just be a background detail for the kingdom. Not unless the heir has already grown up again and is ruling the kingdom.

 

[James Gasik]

"Ok, I'm confused, a 5 year old girl is your Queen?" "Oh no, she's actually 19, but we had to turn her into a baby when she was 14 to protect her from the Evil Overlord. He refuses to hurt children, you see."

"Ok...but she obviously survived, so why not change her back now that the threat is gone?"

"Would that we could! Unfortunately, it seems that Heidegger's Infantilization can't be undone with normal magic- we need some heroes to find a cure!"