D&D 5E Wildshape Good! Polymorph Bad!

[MarkB]

In Next, that problem would be solved by using monster level instead of hit dice.

Depending upon whether the developers choose to do that. They could have done the same thing with CR back in 3.5, but they always seemed to feel that CR was too 'meta' a statistic to be incorporated into a game mechanic.

And it's still only a partial fix - the tricky part is that a special ability that's perfectly balanced when a monster gets to use it once or twice before having a sword rammed through its guts may be overpowered for a PC who can access it on demand by casting a spell.

 

[Rune]

Since you mention it, I've been thinking I wouldn't mind seeing a limit on special-ability-uses tied in, as well. One per level of the spell should do nicely.

 

[zoroaster100]

"Free range" polymorph is just too multi-purposed, too vague, too broad, and too potentially unbalanced. At a 4th level spell slot, it potentially allows the caster to become better at melee than the fighter, better at stealth than the rogue, use troll regeneration to heal faster than a cleric, and use any special ability of any monster which basically means potentially any ability in the game. It is a powerful offense, transforming opponents into harmless critters, but on top of that can be an all-purpose buff. I think it needs to be broken down into different spells for each general purpose, each put at the correct spell level to be balanced with similar spells of that level.

 

[malcolm_n]

Based on some of the other things I've seen, I'm thinking they let polymorph work for any nonhumanoid (referred to as beasts) because alter self does humanoids instead. It doesn't step on toes and gives them two spells they can define equally with their own flavor.

imho, of course

 

[Ichneumon]

I'd like to see the opponent-transforming aspect moved into another spell, along the lines of the very cool "Slimy Transmutation" from the 4e Starter Set. Perhaps it could be called Baleful Transmutation. Another idea would be to have a ritual version of the spell that made the duration permanent.