Main» Polymorph

Transmutation

You change the willing subject’s shape into that of another kind of living creature, hereafter known as the assumed shape. The assumed shape must be one that you are familiar with; in other words, you must have personally interacted with the creature, either in combat or in some other manner. (The DM has final say over familiarity in all situations.)

Permissible assumed shapes

The assumed shape may be one of the following types of creatures:

• animal
• fey
• giant
• humanoid
• magical beast
• monstrous humanoid
• vermin

… or it may be a creature of the same type as the subject, even if it is not one of the listed types.

The assumed shape cannot have more Hit Dice than your caster level or the subject’s Hit Dice, whichever is lower. You can’t cause a subject to assume a form smaller than Fine, or bigger than Large or your own size category (whichever is larger), nor can you cause a subject to assume an incorporeal or gaseous form. Furthermore, the change in shape cannot grant the subject any ability to assume an incorporeal or gaseous form.

Immediate effects of changing shape

Upon changing, the subject regains lost hit points as if it had rested for a night (though this healing does not restore temporary ability damage and provide other benefits of resting; and changing back does not heal the subject further).

Consequences of the transformation

The subject’s type remains the same, no matter the type of the assumed shape, as does his subtype (though see below for exceptions). The subject retains all qualities associated with its type; for example, an outsider that has assumed human shape still does not need to eat or sleep. The subject loses any of the following subtypes: Air, Aquatic, Cold, Earth, Fire, Goblinoid, Incorporeal, Reptilian, Swarm, and Water. If the assumed shape has any of these subtypes (except Incorporeal), the creature gains them. The creature also gains the Shapechanger subtype if it does not normally possess it.

The subject acquires the physical qualities of the assumed shape while retaining its own mind. (See below for details.)

The subject retains the following:

• its own ability scores
• its class and level
• its alignment
• its base attack bonus
• its base save bonuses
• all supernatural and spell-like special attacks and qualities of its normal form
  (except for those that require physical aspects that the assumed shape does not have)
• special abilities gained from class levels
  (provided they can still function in the new form)

The subject loses the following:

• all racial extraordinary special attacks and special qualities that are physical in nature

The subject gains the following:

• natural size
• mundane movement capabilities
  (such as burrowing, climbing, walking, swimming, and flight with wings)
• natural armor bonus
  (although polymorph cannot grant a natural armor bonus greater than one-half of your caster level or the subject’s hit dice, whichever is lower)
• natural weapons
  (such as claw, bite, and so on)
• racial skill bonuses
  (deriving from physical features, or to skills that are physical in nature, such as a racial bonus to Spot checks due to superior vision)
• racial bonus feats
  (that are physical in nature; for example, Weapon Finesse but not Quicken Spell-Like Ability)
• any gross physical qualities
  (presence or absence of wings, number of extremities, and so forth)
• all extraordinary special attacks and special qualities possessed by the creature whose form is assumed
  (provided those special attacks or qualities are physical in nature)

All special attacks and qualities that have effects based on hit dice use the hit dice of the subject. (Consult your DM for details on specific abilities.)

The subject can use the natural attack routine(s) of the assumed shape, using the subject’s own base attack bonus. Alternatively, the subject may use its normal iterative attack routine, provided the assumed shape’s physical qualities permit it.

If the assumed shape is capable of speech, the subject can communicate normally. The subject retains any spellcasting ability it had in its original form, but the new form must be able to speak intelligibly (that is, speak a language) to use verbal components, and must have limbs capable of fine manipulation to use somatic or material components.

You can freely designate the assumed shape’s minor physical qualities (such as hair color, hair texture, and skin color) within the normal ranges of a creature of that kind. The assumed shape’s significant physical qualities (such as height, weight, and gender) are also under your control, but they must fall within the norm for the assumed shape’s kind. The subject is effectively disguised as a an average member of the assumed shape’s race.

If slain, the subject reverts to its original form, though it remains dead.

Effects on equipment

When the change occurs, the subject’s equipment, if any, either remains worn or held by the new form (if it is capable of wearing or holding the item), or melds into the new form and becomes nonfunctional. If the assumed shape can use a given piece of equipment, but is of a different size from the subject’s natural form, that equipment resizes to fit the new form.

When the subject reverts to its true form, any objects previously melded into the new form reappear in the same location on the subject’s body they previously occupied and are once again functional. Any new items the subject wore in the assumed form that it can’t wear in its normal form fall off and land at the subject’s feet; any that the subject could wear in either form or carry in a body part common to both forms (mouth, hands, or the like) at the time of reversion are still held in the same way.

Any part of the body or piece of equipment that is separated from the whole reverts to its true form.

Unaffected creatures

Incorporeal and gaseous creatures are immune to being polymorphed, and a creature with the Shapechanger subtype (including one that has been granted that subtype by a polymorph spell) can revert to its natural form as a standard action, which ends the spell.

Material Component

An empty cocoon.