I’m not too sweet on the new Polymorph spells. I agree that it needs to be modified from the 3.5 version, but the PF version is to restrictive and could be made more customizable with only a slight adjustment.
I’ve been playing a druid so my opinion may be biased, but I feel that the stat bonus provided by the Beastshape spells should be allowed to be distributed among the physical stats (Str, Dex, Con) by the player upon casting.
For example, Beastshape 2 provides a +4 to Str -2 Dex for Large animal and a +4 to Dex -2 Str for tiny; on top of that is the adjustments for size anyway!
I’m concerned with this because its stiff structure as written means the PC being polymorphed will lose access to any feats or abilities that have a min stat requirement (i.e. Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack will be lost if you go medium or larger, and Power Attack, Cleave, Imp Bullrush etc. will be lost if you go less than medium). I feel if I can choose how to distribute the enhancement bonus I can lessen the chance of losing these feats and abilities.
Maybe I want to change into a large brown bear who is not as strong as your typical brown bear but more agile (i.e. -2 dex for large animal, +1 Str, +1 Con). If this seems broken at higher levels of the spell, just put a cap and say ‘at level 12 you can’t add more than +4 to any one stat’.