|
So I'd like to make a small change to how polymorph type spells work and I'm just posting it here to see if anyone can see a potential problem I'm missing with it.
Polymorph spells as per the rules are . . .
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. Polymorph spells cannot be used to assume the form of a creature with a template or an advanced version of a creature.
What I'd like to change this too is that rather than becoming a generic member of that creatures type you instead become what you would be if you were born one. So the first time you change into one e.g human to fox you can pick the fine details e.g. fur patterns and colouring (just like you pick your character fine details) but each time after that this is the form you take. So you'll always be a red furred fox with black socks, a white tip on the tail, etc. If (for the sake of argument) you shifted from a human to an elf your hair and eye colour would remain the same and you'd probably be recognizable to those who know you because aside from being an elf you'd still look pretty much the same (variant racial options applying e.g. high elves with metalic silver or gold hair which humans don't have).
So you can't use them to look like someone else but you always look like what you'd be if you were X. The obvious exception would be things like disguise that are specifically intended to make you look different. Oh and before anyone asks yes the last part of that quoted paragraph still remains you can't use it to take on a template or advanced version of a creature unless you have a template or are an advanced version of something but that would be unlikely.
Sounds fine to me.
It seems like this would imply that, rather than a character finding some sort of power or ability that alters what/who they are in some sense, things like wild shape or polymorph would instead allow you to take on an alternate form, but one that is still you. It feels much more...animistic? Like how a deeper, more subtle, somehow more believable magic would function. Almost Castenadian.
|
|
Thank you and yes I was aiming for the alternate form that's still you in how it works. Though I admit I was thinking more multiverse and your assuming the shape you have in the universe where you were born a troll, fox, pony, eagle, human (for the non-human caster :)) even if you don't realize it and not a believable magic system. Nice to see you think it works that way too.
In "The Teachings of Don Juan", Carlos undergoes a sort of drug-ritual to transform into a bird.
He vividly recalls doing exactly that upon waking, but he suspects it could have all been a hallucination. So he basically asks his teacher "did I really fly?"
To which the guy says "don't you remember flying? Of course you flew."
Still confused, he follows up with "did I fly as a bird flys or as a man files?"
And his teacher scoffs and tells him "you're you, whatever shape you take, so you flew as a man flies, obviously."
--kind of a "perception shapes reality" sort of deal, where a sufficiently skewed perception leads to magic.
It all felt...well. Plausible. The fact that most of it was revealed as fraudulent doesn't change that.
|
|
I thought alter self was a sort of "Look I'm an elf now" unless your talking about the hat which seemed to me more of a "this is a better version of disguise and you can be a small child" type of deal. The spell description online (can't check my books right now) say's . . .
When you cast this spell, you can assume the form of any Small or Medium creature of the humanoid type. If the form you assume has any of the following abilities, you gain the listed ability: darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, scent, and swim 30 feet.
While disguise say's . . .
You make yourself – including clothing, armor, weapons, and equipment – look different. You can seem 1 foot shorter or taller, thin, fat, or in between. You cannot change your creature type (although you can appear as another subtype). Otherwise, the extent of the apparent change is up to you. You could add or obscure a minor feature or look like an entirely different person or gender.
The spell does not provide the abilities or mannerisms of the chosen form, nor does it alter the perceived tactile (touch) or audible (sound) properties of you or your equipment. If you use this spell to create a disguise, you get a +10 bonus on the Disguise check. A creature that interacts with the glamer gets a Will save to recognize it as an illusion.
But then you've got the hat of guises that specifies it functions as alter self. I'd probably say GM call but if I were the GM I'd say it functions as disguise and put more information in the alter self spell to make it clear. Which would put it in the last paragraph of my original post. Something like this . . .
When you cast this spell, you can assume the form of any Small or Medium creature of the humanoid type. If the form you assume has any of the following abilities, you gain the listed ability: darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, scent, and swim 30 feet.
At the time of casting you can choose whether to simply assume the form you would have if born a member of that species or to use the spell to alter your appearance further as per the disguise spell.
If using this spell for disguise purposes this spell functions slightly differently. It only affects the caster and not their equipment however it is a complete physical change i.e. you actually become a small dwarven girl instead of a medium human man for the duration of the spell.
with more thought given to wording and balance obviously as this is just off the top of my head. Basically it falls in a gray area between the two if you just go spell -> Kitsune (which I think you can't because they're shapeshifters but anyway) you'll become the kitsune you would have been if born that way. On the other hand you can also cast spell -Disguise function -> Kitsune and become a fat kitsune of the opposite gender who's a foot shorter and has completely different fur patterns and colouring.
Honestly I’ve always looked at polymorph spells, especially alter self, as altering your form to the race/ creature specified, while all details of your exact appearance are derived directly from your actual appearance. Giving enough similarity to your original form to cause those who know you to get a sense of recognition yet not instantly know its you unless they witnessed the transformation.
|
Plenty of polymorph spells allow you to become a member of your original race. Alter self is an example. It is a way to disguise yourself, appear younger or older, change your height, sex, etc.
The disguise skill says:
"Special: Magic that alters your form, such as alter self, disguise self, polymorph, or shapechange, grants you a +10 bonus on Disguise checks (see the individual spell descriptions)."
So if you are a 20-year-old, slender female with a height of 6' and want to disguise as the 60 years old, male, obese and bald major of the town, using Alter self you get a +10 bonus as you become an average 60-year-old, obese, bald, male. You can't simulate the face of the major, but you get a bonus as you can simulate most of his common features.
It is not a big problem, it changes the spell.
Personally, I prefer the idea that you can "create" your alternate form when you cast the spell the first time and that you can use it when you use the spell again unless you choose to use a modified form. That way you have an alter ego and use it again and again.
Yeah, Alter Self has a different sort of purpose than your run-of-the-mill shapeshifting.
You could certainly use Beast Shape to disguise yourself, but I think the far more typical uses include changes to your ability scores and special features, like scent or a fly speed. Disguise Self is just for, well, a disguise, and Alter Self is sort of the middle ground.
I don't think alter-self should be under the same umbrella as the other spells. You're not taking on a shape that is different from your normal one, but it somehow still you. You are altering yourself. That seems to imply something else.