What's the ideal Alter Self form?

[Mok]

That is...

Small or Medium Humanoid which has as many of:

Darkvision
Low Light
Scent
Swim 30

[Fatespinner]

Mok wrote:

That is...

Small or Medium Humanoid which has as many of:

Darkvision
Low Light
Scent
Swim 30

I believe boggards have darkvision and swim speed.

[Aldin]

Depends on the situation.

Svirfneblin gives you Darkvision and Low Light
Bugbear gives you Darkvision and Scent
Werewolf gives you Low Light and Scent
Merfolk gives you Low Light and Swim

Double is as good as it gets AFAIK.

[Eric Hinkle]

Aldin wrote:

Werewolf gives you Low Light and Scent

Wait, wait, you can use Alter Self to take on the form of a werewolf in hybrid form? I thought lycanthropes were off limits for this spell.

[InVinoVeritas]

Boggards give you Darkvision, Low-Light Vision, and Swim 30. They also give you a tongue attack, but without Sticky Tongue, it's not very useful.

Troglodytes only give you Darkvision, but they also have two claw attacks and a bite attack that you do gain as well (check under the rules for polymorph spells).

[TwoWolves]

You can't take templated creatures, so no werewolves. Personally, I think "no templates" was intended to mean you can't have an Advanced Creature or a Celestial Creature, but a monster that IS a template should be allowed.

Barring that, sadly, the boggard is the best option in the Bestiary 1. Swim speed, darkvision, natural attack form, low-light vision, it hits most of the bases. Outside the B1 (I am not as familiar with B2), the charu-ka is probably the best small form (darkvision and natural attacks), and the Stryx is the only one that gives flight. Both are in the new Inner Sea guide.

All of this is off the top of my sleep-deprived head, so trust but verify.

[InVinoVeritas]

Unfortunately, Alter Self can never give you flight, so the Strix won't help.

I also don't remember anything in Bestiary 2 that seemed to do more than the Boggard or Troglodyte. Bugbears are good choices if you need the Scent.