Would you take a Polymorph for your Country?

[Irda Ranger]

I was getting to thinking about how you Tax Wizards and collect Magical Resources on a Kingdom level (but that's another thread) when I thought of What would a Kingdom do with magical taxes?

Wouldn't it make sense to use magic to do things that are otherwise impossible or prohibitively expensive? Wouldn't a really easy way to do this be to use Polymorph Other? Imagine ...


"Volunteers Wanted. By the Order of the King, a Defensive Fortification is being built on the Eastern Border to defend against Orcish Incursions. Volunteers will be Transformed, by a fully painless and reversible process, into whatever form is deemed necessary to complete this task. Pay-plus 1/2 for the length of the contract. Qualified Personnell please inquire within."

How much faster would it be to finish any major contruction project if half the workers were polymorphed into Stone Giants? Imagine what the military could do with this? Intelligent Hawks ('cause they're Poly'ed soldiers) acting as scouts, Gryphons, etc.

People would have the screened and watched of course. Wouldn't want to Poly a drunkard into a Fire Giant, and make sure that the ones who can fly have a reason to come back (all married with children and vested Financial Interests back home).

But what about the concept? Is this somthing that has been explored? Remember, spells/ day are a use 'em or lose 'em commodity. It doesn't cost a Wizard anything (other than his time) to cast it. It could be cheap if the Wizard is charging little for the service (for whatever reason).

Irda Ranger

 

[Limper]

What a very cool idea!


As to your question... Yes, I would.

 

[Privateer]

I just had an amusing idea...

Perhaps you have heard that, sometimes, dolphins have been known to save the lives of people? Perhaps, in D&D, they were originally humanoids Polymorphed into dolphins to scout for a ship, look at a prospective trade route, or whatever. However, they were then separated from their ship, or whatever, and could not communicate that they were humans due to their changed vocal cords. They created a society underneath the waves, but never forgot what they were before...

 

[Jeph]

What if the officials forgot to keep tabs on the poly'ed soldiers . . .

Adventure possabilities galore!

 

[cousin_avi]

Very Cool idea!!!!

I don't believe I would be able to convince my players to "roleplay" a swallow or a newt even with a +15 diplomacy and a potion of glibness

 

[DM with a vengence]

Holy Crap!!!

This is about the greatest advancement in the D&D military since the fireball spell.

Polymorphs are cheap enough and last long enough that you could turn your entire army into Giants or Eagles or whatever you like. A single polymorph costs 700 gp. Now what's more effective, a 1st level warriors with a +1 sword, or 2 1st level warriors poly'ed into Fire Giants.

This will be making an entry into my next D&D campaign.

 

[Fade]

They've still only got d8+0 hitpoints.

 

[DM with a vengence]

But they have reach!

Give them Power Attack, Cleave, and Greatswords, and they can take on 4 or 5 equivalent enemies with no problem. If you can cover them from ranged attacks with a windwall spell, they could smash an army of unpoly'ed troops.

But low HP is still a major problem.

 

[boothbey]

Size Limit

There a size limit on polymorph where you can only go up one size category? Might have to turn them into ogres instead of giants. Still, that is no small matter strengthwise. Would also make them a tad more intimidating on the battlefield.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

That's an extremely cool idea. Would you mind if I steal it for my campaign?