The Nycar is a valid Improved Familiar that has a bunch of handy defensive abilities:
- Regeneration 1 (cold iron)
- DR 5/cold iron
- Ferocity
- Immunity to paralysis
- Immunity to sleep
- Resist acid 5
- (Ex) Elusive: make Escape Artist checks as a swift action
If I were to use Share Spells to cast a polymorph spell, such as Monstrous Physique, on this familiar, will it retain any of these special abilities?
Assuming that the familiar would not retain Regeneration...
What happens if the familiar dies while polymorphed? After the polymorph effect ends, the familiar would regain Regeneration. Does this count as the Regeneration having been disabled by a cold iron attack, leading to normal death, or could it effectively bring the familiar back to life?
Well...
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.
It would lose all of those listed abilities, basically. But, you do bring up an interesting question. What happens when something, that normally has regeneration, effected by a form changing polymorph spell dies?
Well, it's polymorphed. It doesn't have its regeneration for the duration of the effect. The regeneration hasn't been disabled, it's just not there at all. It would be dead. However, it would regain regeneration as soon as the effect's duration ended. And since Regeneration(Ex) has no limitations similar to a Ring of Regeneration, the hit points would begin ticking back up. Even if what killed it during the polymorph was a cold iron weapon; its regeneration hasn't actually been disabled as it didn't have it at the time of the final attack.
At least, that's my understanding of it. I could definitely see an argument for the other way too.
I'd argue that if it dies while polymorphed, then it dies.
I figured the familiar would lose them all, but I wasn't sure. After all, do dragons gain immunity to sleep due something physical or something mental? That's never defined, but only physical traits are removed by polymorph.
Barring that, then, is there any way for a Magus to give his familiar regeneration while it is polymorphed?