So, one of our players in the group wants to use alter self on his half-elf(arcane trickster, wizard/rouge) to change him into a goblin for the sake of darkvision and the added dex bonus of the spell.
But we came into a discussion about if he would keep any of the racial traits from half-elf. Like elven magic that are not specified as supernatural or extraordinary abilities form any source I have looked at. These sources being d20pfsrd and paizos race builder site.
I have also checked similar threads on this. These threads being Trolls and alter self, How does Alter Self really work?, and Alter Self Cheat Sheet. While the latter two to give us a explanation about the alter self spell itself.
The Polymorph rules say that only abilities based on form are lost.
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you lose all extraordinary and supernatural abilities that depend on your original form (such as keen senses, scent, and darkvision)
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Elven Magic presumably isn't due to any physical features, so they keep it. The half elf would lose Low Light Vision, though.
Thanks for the quick answers, but then what race abilities are listed as that and is there a quick way to find this for other races?
Thanks for the quick answers, but then what race abilities are listed as that and is there a quick way to find this for other races?
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. While most of these should be obvious, the GM is the final arbiter of what abilities depend on form and are lost when a new form is assumed. Your new form might restore a number of these abilities if they are possessed by the new form.