Alter Self spell


Rules Questions


Pathfinder Starfinder Maps Subscriber

Can you cast the Alter Self spell and just get the relevant ability modifier, but without altering your appearance or emulating a particular being? For example, could a human magus cast the spell, without making any changes to himself, and still gain the +2 strength bonus?

Scarab Sages

well, the spell has to do what it says, namely make you appear as the creature you took the flesh from (the material component), and give you either a +2 to dex or +2 to str. If you took the flesh from yourself (a little dandruff or similar) then a human would gain a +2 to strength, and his form would magically look like... himself.

tl;dr: yes


You don't need the material component if you have eschew materials, of course. :)


You become "Mr. Generic".

Lantern Lodge

niteowl24 wrote:
Can you cast the Alter Self spell and just get the relevant ability modifier, but without altering your appearance or emulating a particular being? For example, could a human magus cast the spell, without making any changes to himself, and still gain the +2 strength bonus?

It's not so simple.

1. You don't look like yourself, as Pupsocket noted, you are a generic version of your own race. PRD: "Unless otherwise noted, polymorph spells cannot be used to change into specific individuals."

2. Remember, Alter Self only lets you take the form of a small or medium "humanoid". Your example of a Human Magus is fine, but watch out for some of the non-humanoid races. For example, Aasimars and Tieflings are NOT humanoids. They are native outsiders, so a Tiefling cannot transform himself into a Tiefling.

3. Alter Self is a polymorph spell. PRD "While under the effects of a polymorph spell, you lose all extraordinary and supernatural abilities that depend on your original form (such as keen senses, scent, and darkvision), as well as any natural attacks and movement types possessed by your original form. You also lose any class features that depend upon form, but those that allow you to add features (such as sorcerers that can grow claws) still function." So you lose abilities, BUT they are NOT necessarily given back just because you take the same form. PRD "Your new form might restore a number of these abilities if they are possessed by the new form." Remember that Alter Self has a very limited set of powers that it conveys, so you might lose powers that the spell does not then restore. For example, if you were a Duergar, you'd lose Superior Darkvision and DDuergar Immunities, but Alter Self would only give you back ordinary Darkvision (a lesser form of Superior Darkvision). So you would have polymorphed into a creature that looks like a Duergar, but has only 60' Darkvision and no Duergar Immunities. On the plus side, I think you'd lose your Light Sensitivity!

In some cases (depending on your race), it may not be worth using Alter Self to get the +2 DEX or +2 STR.

Scarab Sages

Captain Zoom wrote:
1. You don't look like yourself, as Pupsocket noted, you are a generic version of your own race. PRD: "Unless otherwise noted, polymorph spells cannot be used to change into specific individuals."

Alter Self grants a +10 to your Disguise skill. If you want to look like yourself, the skill check can be made untrained.

PRD wrote:
Special: Magic that alters your form, such as alter self, disguise self, polymorph, or shapechange, grants you a +10 bonus on Disguise checks (see the individual spell descriptions). Divination magic that allows people to see through illusions (such as true seeing) does not penetrate a mundane disguise, but it can negate the magical component of a magically enhanced one.

Silver Crusade

Would Alter Self have a chance of randomly changing your gender?

Scarab Sages

Velxir wrote:
Would Alter Self have a chance of randomly changing your gender?

No, though you could choose too.

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