Hi everyone.
I think this may be a stupid question, but I would like to check if I'm right about this.
So in my game I have a halfling druid. He casts the spell Animal Form.
Does he lose access to heritage mechanics, like Keen Eyes? Does he lose access to the Halfling Luck feat?
I think the answer to both is no he doesn't, by reading the spell and the polymorpth trait rules. He gains the animal trait and that's it. Maybe I'm missing something.
Thanks!
Polymorph
Source Core Rulebook pg. 635 1.1
These effects transform the target into a new form. A target can’t be under the effect of more than one polymorph effect at a time. If it comes under the effect of a second polymorph effect, the second polymorph effect attempts to counteract the first. If it succeeds, it takes effect, and if it fails, the spell has no effect on that target. Any Strikes specifically granted by a polymorph effect are magical. Unless otherwise stated, polymorph spells don’t allow the target to take on the appearance of a specific individual creature, but rather just a generic creature of a general type or ancestry.
If you take on a battle form with a polymorph spell, the special statistics can be adjusted only by circumstance bonuses, status bonuses, and penalties. Unless otherwise noted, the battle form prevents you from casting spells, speaking, and using most manipulate actions that require hands. (If there’s doubt about whether you can use an action, the GM decides.) Your gear is absorbed into you; the constant abilities of your gear still function, but you can’t activate any items.
Animal Form Spell 2
Polymorph Transmutation
Source Core Rulebook pg. 317 1.1
Traditions primal
Deities Angazhan, Cernunnos, Geryon, Kazutal, Lamashtu, Stag Mother of the Forest of Stones, Wadjet
Cast Two Actions somatic, verbal
Duration 1 minute
You call upon primal energy to transform yourself into a Medium animal battle form. When you first cast this spell, choose ape, bear, bull, canine, cat, deer, frog, shark, or snake. You can decide the specific type of animal (such as lion or snow leopard for cat), but this has no effect on the form's Size or statistics. While in this form, you gain the animal trait. You can Dismiss the spell.
You gain the following statistics and abilities regardless of which battle form you choose:
AC = 16 + your level. Ignore your armor's check penalty and Speed reduction.
5 temporary Hit Points.
Low-light vision and imprecise scent 30 feet.
One or more unarmed melee attacks specific to the battle form you choose, which are the only attacks you can use. You're trained with them. Your attack modifier is +9, and your damage bonus is +1. These attacks are Strength based (for the purpose of the enfeebled condition, for example). If your unarmed attack bonus is higher, you can use it instead.
Athletics modifier of +9, unless your own modifier is higher.
You also gain specific abilities based on the type of animal you choose:
Ape Speed 25 feet, climb Speed 20 feet; Melee Single Action fist, Damage 2d6 bludgeoning.
Bear Speed 30 feet; Melee Single Action jaws, Damage 2d8 piercing; Melee Single Action claw (agile), Damage 1d8 slashing.
Bull Speed 30 feet; MeleeSingle Action horn , Damage 2d8 piercing.
Canine Speed 40 feet; Melee Single Action jaws, Damage 2d8 piercing.
Cat Speed 40 feet; MeleeSingle Action jaws, Damage 2d6 piercing; Melee Single Action claw (agile), Damage 1d10 slashing.
Deer Speed 50 feet; MeleeSingle Action antler , Damage 2d6 piercing.
Frog Speed 25 feet, swim Speed 25 feet; MeleeSingle Action jaws, Damage 2d6 bludgeoning; Melee Single Action tongue (reach 15 feet), Damage 2d4 bludgeoning.
Shark swim Speed 35 feet; Melee Single Action jaws, Damage 2d8 piercing; breathe underwater but not in air.
Snake Speed 20 feet, climb Speed 20 feet, swim Speed 20 feet; Melee Single Action fangs , Damage 2d4 piercing plus 1d6 poison.
Heightened (3rd) You instead gain 10 temporary HP, AC = 17 + your level, attack modifier +14, damage bonus +5, and Athletics +14.
Heightened (4th) Your battle form is Large and your attacks have 10-foot reach. You must have enough space to expand into or the spell is lost. You instead gain 15 temporary HP, AC = 18 + your level, attack modifier +16, damage bonus +9, and Athletics +16.
Heightened (5th) Your battle form is Huge and your attacks have 15-foot reach. You must have enough space to expand into or the spell is lost. You instead gain 20 temporary HP, AC = 18 + your level, attack modifier +18, damage bonus +7 and double the number of damage dice, and Athletics +20.
Here's how I would think about it - when you are polymorphed, your heritage doesn't change. You might be a tiger, but your parents were still your parents, and your culture was still your culture. If your sense of personal identity, memories, and disposition can all stay intact while you polymorph I don't see why you couldn't also retain heritage traits.
Furthermore, your heritage does not change in animal form because (p33)
A heritage is not the same as a culture or ethnicity,
so becoming a tiger might change your ethnicity and species but these are not the things from which heritage stems.
But rules as written - these spells seem to be very specific about what you can and can't do in your animal form and what you gain. Since your heritage traits are not explicitly mentioned, I feel like they could stick around. The claws or bite attack from your ancestry is explicitly disallowed in the animal form spell description so that's easily ruled.
One or more unarmed melee attacks specific to the battle form you choose, which are the only attacks you can use.
As far as racial traits, those would go. Polymorph could GRANT you darkvision or something like that and in order to be able to do that it really needs to change your physiology in such a way that you would keep nothing from your previous physical form. If the thing that made your eyes keen was mental it might be debatable but it sounds like a physiological halfling trait to me.
So it seems that RAW you keep all your racial traits except those that are specifically disallowed by the spell, such as attacks other than what the beast form you adopt allows.