Polymorph any object question

[Yqatuba]

If you polymorph, say, a rock into a statue (let's say the statue is made out of the same material so it will be permanent) is any craft skill check required? Or does it just automatically look like whatever the caster wanted even if they have no crafting skills whatsoever?

[Meirril]

Well, this is a polymorph effect. So the rules for polymorph effects apply.

Polymorph wrote:

Unless otherwise noted, polymorph spells cannot be used to change into specific individuals. Although many of the fine details can be controlled, your appearance is always that of a generic member of that creature’s type.

So no it doesn't look exactly like what you want. Only sort of like what you want. Good enough to be identified as the correct race, gender, and general details. But it won't look like a statue of a specific person. It certainly shouldn't look like a masterworked item, but more of a common statue.

[Yqatuba]

Ok I guess that works. It still seems kind of overpowered this way as I would think even an "average-looking" 20 ft stone statue would be worth thousands of gp, and you can create it basically for free (just pick up a rock you find outside somewhere.)

[OmniMage]

From what I recall, you need to make a craft check for anything that has a craft DC of 15 or more.

[Pan, definitely not a Kitsune]

Yeah, I'd probably invoke the Fabricate clause of "You must make an appropriate Craft check to fabricate articles requiring a high degree of craftsmanship."

Except, well, this is a permanent Polymorph effect, not an instantaneous transformation. (Which also means that a Dispel Magic can turn the statue back into a rock.)

So maybe I'd allow to substitute Disguise for Craft: Masonry to "disguise" the rock as a statue (with a +10 Bonus from the Polymorph effect)?

[JDLPF]

Do not go down the rabbit hole of Polymorph Any Object.

Only an ocean of madness filled with the tears of players and GMs alike awaits you.

[Claxon]

Really the answer is "While you can try to find someone who wants to buy a 20 ft marble statue from an unknown artist, there are no serious offers. Someone offered to trade their 20 ft wooden statue for your rock one, but you suspect it may be a polymorph effect."

[ErichAD]

The main difficulty is that the duration is permanent, not instant. This means that the spell can be dispelled leaving you with a pebble at any time.

I'm also relatively sure that the spell doesn't give extra hit points, so your obelisk is going to have pebble HP, which isn't ideal.

You could make more money selling the spell slot for some other purpose, and you wouldn't need to scam people with fragile boulders.

[Yqatuba]

ErichAD wrote:

The main difficulty is that the duration is permanent, not instant. This means that the spell can be dispelled leaving you with a pebble at any time.

I'm also relatively sure that the spell doesn't give extra hit points, so your obelisk is going to have pebble HP, which isn't ideal.

You could make more money selling the spell slot for some other purpose, and you wouldn't need to scam people with fragile boulders.

I don't think things turned into objects have the same hp. Otherwise, would a great wyrm dragon turned into a piece of paper still have 500 hp?

[ErichAD]

Yes. I'd say you'd end up with a sturdy piece of paper. There are no rules provided for determining the HP of a polymorphed target that has lost or gained hit dice due to starting as or becoming an object. No other polymorph effect changes hit points either, so I'd expect there to be rules for it in the spell.