Polymorph: A few questions

[Taja the Barbarian]

Assuming you a building a non-specific form for a 2nd level Polymorph spell (Appendix 3: Polymorphing):

• A) Are 'alternate racial traits' valid options for 'racial traits'? In particular, the Andorid's 'Xenometric Android' alternate racial trait potentially offers a lot of 'bang for your buck' (2 or 3 racial traits for one trait slot).
  
• B) Can you 'overwrite' the 'downsides' of a trait with your other options? For example, the 'Xenometric Android (Kalo)' specifically gives you both Medium size and a 20' land speed, but could you take the 'free' 40' land speed and just decide to make the final form 'small' instead? If
  
• C) Is the 'only traits of a physical nature' restriction mentioned in the Polymorphing Rules actually meaningful? Considering there is no further mention/elaboration on this and the 'Racial Traits' rule later states 'When selecting a racial trait for a polymorph form, you can select any one player character racial trait of a race that grants such rules and that does not refer to or require any equipment, armor, armor upgrade, or drone upgrade to function', I am guessing this line doesn't actually mean anything (perhaps it's a remnant of an earlier ruleset)...

[Cellion]

The real answer to these questions is that Paizo has not written all the racial traits with full consideration on how they interact with polymorph, nor with much attention to how balanced they are against other racial traits when taken in isolation. As a result, I'd consider it up to the player (and GM if needed) to avoid exploiting the myriad holes in the system (like the absurd grab-bag of immunities in the SRO Robotic trait, or the Stellifera Hydrobody).

So personally as a player and GM, I'd say no to A), not let you mitigate the tradeoffs you describe in B), and for C), deny you from taking cultural traits like a dwarf's "traditional enemies", which is clearly not related to the dwarf's physical body.

[E-div_drone]

Important clarification for A: Xenomorphic Android is not a trait, it is exchanging a number of racial traits for an equal value of alternate traits, with several case examples given. Therefore, it is not a trait that could be taken on its own for any effect.