This is kind of a mix of questions, so bear with me please. I did a quick search for any previous threads, but if I missed them, my bad.
So! Form of the Dragon is a polymorph spell. As per the Magic section of the Core Rulebook, you can't have more than one Polymorph spell in place at a time.
Now, Fiery Body is transmutation, but it is not a polymorph effect.
So Question #1: Am I correct in figuring you may have both of these in effect at the same time? I don't really see any reason to think you couldn't as it's not so much giving you a new form, but altering the one you have (for example, an actual dragon would be free to cast Fiery Body, and it would still look like a dragon, just made of fire). I assume this is why there is no polymorph descriptor in the first place.
If they do work together, then let's move on to the next bit.
Form of the Dragon III gives you immunity to an energy type, and certain dragon forms have vulnerabilities as well. Let's say we turn into a White Dragon, giving us Immunity to Cold, Vulnerability to Fire, and dragon breath for Cold damage. Just in general, we also get Fly 120 ft.(Poor), and 6 natural attacks.
We're free to cast in dragon form, so let's also put on Fiery Body. We now have Vulnerability to Cold(not explicitly stated, but we take 150% damage from it. Pretty much same deal). We've also got Fly 40 ft.(Perfect) and +3d6 fire damage on unarmed strikes.
We also have immunity to Fire... except that it is a bit different from regular immunity.
In fact, every time you would normally take damage from fire, you are instead healed of damage at a rate of 1 point per 3 points of damage the fire attack would have normally inflicted.
So in summary, we have:
-Immunity to Cold-Immunity to Fire (Healing through Fire, actually)
-Vulnerability to Cold
-Vulnerability to Fire
-Fly 120 ft. (Poor)
-Fly 40 ft. (Perfect)
Question #2: How does all this stuff resolve? What happens when we take fire or cold damage? How far can we fly in a given round, and what distances are we using for fly checks? What bonus/penalty do we have on those fly checks as well?
This is what I'm most curious about, how these all play out. I'm guessing the immunity to cold trumps the vulnerability, since 50% extra means little if it all gets canceled anyway.
But how does the vulnerability to fire factor into how much is healed? If 30 points of Fire is coming at you, it's technically getting negated. But it would have inflicted 45 without that immunity, so are you restoring 10 HP or 15?
How the Fly speeds interact in this case is also interesting. It'd be easy to say take the better if it were 120 ft.(Perfect) vs. 40 ft.(Poor), but with one offering better distance and the other offering better maneuverability, what happens there?
Primarily, I'm most interested in RAW on these interactions.
And lastly, Question #3: This is kind of just an extra thought, but how do the breath weapon and natural attacks work out? In theory, we still have access to Cold breath, despite the fact that we're made out of fire. We're also getting 3d6 Fire damage on unarmed strikes, but does this apply to natural attacks, as well?
RAW, I can't see any reason to say we no longer can breathe Cold, and technically there's no reason to apply the Fire damage to natural weapons, since it only says unarmed strikes. Both scenarios seem a bit odd, though.
In this case, I'm interested in both the RAW and RAI.
And if there's any obvious oversights in this scenario, so that it doesn't make sense, I apologize. Please let me know if that's the case.
not sure how the fly speeds interact, I think you might have to pick one to use for your movement each round.
as far as I can tell, you're immune to cold, and heal half ( take 150%, then heal 1/3 of that ) of fire damage dealt to you.
you'd still get cold breath, and since the fire damage is applied only to unarmed strikes then no you don't get it for natural attacks. which sucks because this looks like an awesome combo.
Now, Fiery Body is transmutation, but it is not a polymorph effect.
So Question #1: Am I correct in figuring you may have both of these in effect at the same time?
Short of errata, this is a perfectly legal spell combo
Question #2: How does all this stuff resolve? What happens when we take fire or cold damage?
If you are attacked via cold damage, you take none. You are immune by virtue of your being a white dragon. If you take fire damage you take none (and heal) by virtue of being made up of fire. Immunity trumps vulnerability every time.
How far can we fly in a given round, and what distances are we using for fly checks? What bonus/penalty do we have on those fly checks as well? Okay, I guess that's not a single question, but still.
...
How the Fly speeds interact in this case is also interesting. It'd be easy to say take the better if it were 120 ft.(Perfect) vs. 40 ft.(Poor), but with one offering better distance and the other offering better maneuverability, what happens there?
I'm pretty sure you will end up with a fly speed of 120 feet with perfect maneuverability. You can fly 120 feet as a move action, double move 240 feet with two move actions, charge 240 feet as a full round action (or 480 feet if you are diving downward), or take the run action to move 1,060 feet as a full round action (provided you fly in a straight line). You do not need to make Fly checks at all, except for under special circumstances, as outlined under the Fly skill.
But how does the vulnerability to fire factor into how much is healed? If 30 points of Fire is coming at you, it's technically getting negated. But it would have inflicted 45 without that immunity, so are you restoring 10 HP or 15?
I know not as it is a corner case, but I would assume you benefit from additional healing.
And lastly, Question #3: This is kind of just an extra thought, but how do the breath weapon and natural attacks work out? In theory, we still have access to Cold breath, despite the fact that we're made out of fire. We're also getting 3d6 Fire damage on unarmed strikes, but does this apply to natural attacks, as well?
Fiery body does not add damage bonuses to your natural attacks, therefore they deal normal damage. You can still use your cold breath weapon despite being made of fire. It may help to remember that breath weapons are supernatural abilities. They don't have to make sense.
which sucks because this looks like an awesome combo.
It does, doesn't it? :P And thanks very much for the feedback. Flight seems to be the weirdest thing to consider here. I can see the logic behind choosing which one you'd be using in any given round, but it's hard to say for sure.
I'm pretty sure you will end up with a fly speed of 120 feet with perfect maneuverability. You can fly 120 feet as a move action... You do not need to make Fly checks at all, except for under special circumstances, as outlined under the Fly skill.
The reason I ask about fly checks in this case is because that they could matter in some curious ways. With a 120 foot fly speed, if you want to move 30 feet, a check is needed because you're moving less than half your speed. On the other hand, with the 40 ft. fly speed, you wouldn't need a check for moving 30 because it isn't less than half your speed. And then there's the matter of whether you get a -4 or a +8 for it, which is a sizeable difference. It seems to make for a weird case.
It may help to remember that breath weapons are supernatural abilities. They don't have to make sense.
That's a very good point. It certainly does help to think of it that way :P