Beta Page 159
"Unless otherwise noted, polymorph spells cannot be
used to change into a specific individual."
I have a couple of questions about this.
1) Why was this such an issue that it had to be changed?
2) What polymorph spells do note that you can do this?
Beta Page 159
"Unless otherwise noted, polymorph spells cannot be
used to change into a specific individual."I have a couple of questions about this.
1) Why was this such an issue that it had to be changed?
2) What polymorph spells do note that you can do this?
Alter Self was the primary spell that my Bard used to impersonate specific individuals prior to obtaining the Veil spell. People that were intimately familiar with the person that my character was impersonating received a +10 bonus on their Spot check to see through his Disguise, but since Alter Self gave him a +10 bonus to his Disguise roll, he basically ended up making a regular roll to determine the effectiveness of his Disguise. That may not sound very potent, but you can wreak a lot of chaos and do a lot of damage before the rest of the party even shows up if you're impersonating the right person at the right time. Alter Form would also allow him to assume the form of any Large creature with less then 5 HD such as Ogres and Half-Giants.
In my opinion, the new version of Alter Self leaves a lot to be desired. Even if we set aside the fact that you can't instantly morph into a specific individual anymore, it would still be advantageous to transform into a generic member of another race before trying to disguise yourself as a specific individual. It would make a good base for the actual disguise work to follow. But with a 1 minute per level duration, you don't have much time for infiltration work (even with the Extend Spell metamagic feat). And if you're infiltrating an Orc, Goblin, or Dwarven enclave, having Darkvision is absolutely vital to getting about without stumbling around in the dark.
Needless to say, I believe that this spell should be buffed just a tiny bit.
Needless to say, I believe that this spell should be buffed just a tiny bit.Maybe, but I had a player who was always turning into this weird obscure crabman to take advantage of it's +8 natural armor, and that annoyed the heck out of me.
I always went with the Troglodyte for +6 natural armor. But I'm not asking for that in Pathfinder. I'd just like to be able to maintain the form of a Small or Medium creature with Darkvision for 10 minutes per level at this point.
I'd be willing to see Alter Self kicked up to a 3rd level spell if I also got the ability to morph into Large humanoids and/or humanoids with a Fly speed.
Perhaps they would be best served by offering a 2nd level spell with the 10 minute per level duration and a separate 3rd level spell that allows for flight and large size but only lasts for 1 minute per level?
One of our DMs in 3.5 game had the exact opposite interpretation. He felt that all polymorph forms were copies of individuals you had encountered. Thus, you couldn't turn into a dragon until you had actually seen a dragon. Then when you polymorphed into a dragon, you were a copy of the dragon you had seen.
It seems with Pathfinder taking away the ability to turn into exact individuals, that kind interpretation doesn't make sense. You should be abel to turn into creatures you have not actually encountered in game.