Baleful Polymorph

[pennywit]

At last session, my group's wizard got hit with a Baleful Polymorph. He failed the Fort save, but he made the Will save ... and he's now a pigeon. I just wanted to make sure I have the rules right:

* Dispel Magic can turn him from a pigeon back into an elf.
* While baleful polymorphed, he can't speak, and therefore can't cast spells requiring verbal or somatic components.

Is this correct?

[Pizza Lord]

A successful Dispel can end the spell and turn the pigeon back into an elf.

As for the part about not casting spells. That is correct, but for completeness sake it's because he's a pigeon, which can't talk, or make effective somatic gestures, and his spell component pouch would have melded to his new form.

Had he failed his Will save then he would have flat out lost his spell-casting abilities (amongst other things). Having passed it, the reason he can't cast is because of the form he's in. If he can mitigate the limitations of the form, such as with Silent Spell, Still Spell, Eschew Materials, etc. then he can cast spells.

[pennywit]

However, as a pigeon, he can still make a deposit on a new wizard's tower.

Thanks for the help.

[Pizza Lord]

Yes, he can be the bane of statues and also, if feathers or bird droppings are required components of spells, I would rule them as readily available.

[bbangerter]

It should also be noted that the majority of spells do not require a material component, so in many cases this is not a limiting factor in and of itself.

[Tarantula]

Also, if he could get access to another wizards spellbook, he could prepare spells that he had in his own spellbook using the borrowed spellbook rules. If he also happened to know the silent/still spell feats, he could possibly prepare a silent still dispell magic to cast on himself.

[Ravingdork]

bbangerter wrote:

It should also be noted that the majority of spells do not require a material component, so in many cases this is not a limiting factor in and of itself.

Actually, most spells (or at least half) definitely require material components.

I think it would be more accurate to say the majority of spells do not require a material component IF you have a spell component pouch or Eschew Materials.

[bbangerter]

Ravingdork wrote:

bbangerter wrote:

It should also be noted that the majority of spells do not require a material component, so in many cases this is not a limiting factor in and of itself.

Actually, most spells (or at least half) definitely require material components.

I think it would be more accurate to say the majority of spells do not require a material component IF you have a spell component pouch or Eschew Materials.

Of 142 1st level wizard spells only 64 require a material component or focus or both. Less then half.

A random sampling of 5th level wizard spells suggests about the same ratio (though an accurate count may prove this different).

Saying they don't require a material component if you have a spell component pouch is a meaningless statement - that is the whole point of the component pouch, to provide the common components (e.g, not expensive, and not Focus components).

[Charon's Little Helper]

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0178.html