Armor properties and Polymorph

[AlastarOG]

Greetings,

I have a question and I can't seem to find the thread for it, so I thought I'd ask the community.

So lets say I have a nice juicy Spinosaurus animal companion as a Sylvan Sorcerer.

My spinosaurus being my best friend, I got him a nice set of +1 heavy fortification Leather armor Barding.

I cast shapechange on my spinosaurus (through share spell) and he uses a free action to change into a dragon. The armor melds into him and he loses the armor bonus.

The real question is:

Does he keep heavy fortification?

He would of course lose the armor bonus, but do armor abilities remain active since they are a constant effect?

thanks in advance.

[Feauce]

The armor would only meld into your animal companion if his new form was unable to wear barding. Otherwise, it would alter to fit the new shape. Dragons are capable of wearing barding, so the armor should remain visible and active.

Assuming your GM insists that it melds into the new shape, all AC bonuses, abilities, and powers (such as Celestial Armor's fly ability) are dormant and inactive.

[blahpers]

The relevant rules in their totality:

Transmutation (polymorph) wrote:

When you cast a polymorph spell that changes you into a creature of the animal, dragon, elemental, magical beast, plant, or vermin type, all of your gear melds into your body. Items that provide constant bonuses and do not need to be activated continue to function while melded in this way (with the exception of armor and shield bonuses, which cease to function). Items that require activation cannot be used while you maintain that form. While in such a form, you cannot cast any spells that require material components (unless you have the Eschew Materials or Natural Spell feat), and can only cast spells with somatic or verbal components if the form you choose has the capability to make such movements or speak, such as a dragon. Other polymorph spells might be subject to this restriction as well, if they change you into a form that is unlike your original form (subject to GM discretion). If your new form does not cause your equipment to meld into your form, the equipment resizes to match your new size.

If your spinosaurus changes into a dragon, the armor will meld. Armor and shield bonuses stop working, but heavy fortification should work fine as it is neither an armor bonus nor a shield bonus and does not require activation.

[Scott Wilhelm]

blahpers wrote:

The relevant rules in their totality:

Transmutation (polymorph) wrote:

When you cast a polymorph spell that changes you into a creature of the animal, dragon, elemental, magical beast, plant, or vermin type, all of your gear melds into your body. Items that provide constant bonuses and do not need to be activated continue to function while melded in this way (with the exception of armor and shield bonuses, which cease to function). Items that require activation cannot be used while you maintain that form. While in such a form, you cannot cast any spells that require material components (unless you have the Eschew Materials or Natural Spell feat), and can only cast spells with somatic or verbal components if the form you choose has the capability to make such movements or speak, such as a dragon. Other polymorph spells might be subject to this restriction as well, if they change you into a form that is unlike your original form (subject to GM discretion). If your new form does not cause your equipment to meld into your form, the equipment resizes to match your new size.

If your spinosaurus changes into a dragon, the armor will meld. Armor and shield bonuses stop working, but heavy fortification should work fine as it is neither an armor bonus nor a shield bonus and does not require activation.

Yeah, there should be some perspective on the rule. It's humanoid-centric. If a humanoid Polymorphs into a Humanoid or Monstrous Humanoid, he keeps his gear. If an Animal Polymorphs into An Animal or Magical Beast, he should keep his gear.

But the rules say he doesn't.

[AlastarOG]

Yeah that makes a lot of sense, it's just hard to get a confirmation on that.

Now i Just need to find decent feats for him to take... :P