Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Return of the Flumph 12-13-06, 04:43 AM	I've been reading a lot of comments on these boards saying that polymorph, shapechange, and the like are overpowered, and I agree. A resourceful player will flip through the monster manuals and find all sorts of unbalancing cheese for any possible scenario. I've heard that WOTC made their own fix for this problem, but that it's very unpopular (whatever it is). Here's my idea. In order to transform yourself into another creature, you must first be intimately familiar with the nuances and biology of that form. Let's say Transmuter Bob wants to turn himself into a black dragon. In order to do this he will have to do the following: 1. Get ahold of a black dragon corpse. 2. Spend at least one full day dissecting and studying it. 3. Spend three skill points to memorize the intricacies of its physiology, so that he can duplicate them. If it will be awhile before he levels up, simply remember to deduct them when he does. This way, the character can't turn himself into anything whenever he feels like it; he will have a finite polymorph repertoire, each item of which costs three skill points. He also must have an opportunity to study each one. Perhaps it should be this way for druids and wild shape as well, but at less of a cost; druids are already limited by creature type, and so they shouldn't have to pay as much. Maybe one or two skill points. Please tell me your opinions about this.
Archtyrant Terevoth 12-13-06, 04:55 AM	From your fix it seems you don't really understand how or why polymorph is broken in the first place. The problem with polymorph as written isn't so much the versatility of "I can become a bird when I need to fly fast", so muhc as it is the combat devastation that certain forms can bring. You only really need one or two combat monster forms to dominate with the spell. Someone turning into an ostritch, a sparrow, an orc, an eagle, a wolf or a black bear with the same spell isn't remarkable. However turning into a hydra is what breaks the game, even if you can't become anything else.
punching bag 12-13-06, 08:52 AM	Using "science" to nerf magic doesn't really make sense to me. Why should the spellcaster have to perform mundane studies such as dissection in order to get a polymorph type spell to work? What's next? Are you going to make the wizard re-create all of the famous experiments in kinematics and dynamics before they can cast a spell with the [Force] descriptor? I can just see it now: Player: I want to cast "Magic Missile" DM: BROKEN! You have to spend 2 skill points, and then spend a day rolling a ball down an inclined plane, collecting data and deriving F=ma from first principles". Player: :weep:
calvinNhobbes 12-13-06, 12:17 PM	Alot of the problems with polymorph is not necessarily that you can pick certain "broken" forms, but that the rules and how monsters are presented make for a very confusing, inconsistent, and slow game mechanic. To really make polymorph work smoother you would need to redfine creature abilities more clearly than "special abilities and qualities".
Seeker95 12-13-06, 01:13 PM	A resourceful player will flip through the monster manualsThis statement is the most informative. So much of what is "wrong" with polymorph et al relies upon a DM *allowing* anything the *player* can think of to be performed by the *PC*. Your fix does not seem to indicate that you have actually had problems, but rather are anticipating some problems based on the comments of others. Consequently, the fix does not match what I have experienced in other people's games. I have never had a problem with polymorph in my game. As such, I do not really need a fix.