ShapeChanging Examples

Living With the Rule:

Example 1: A 7th level elf wizard uses anthromorph to take the form of an ogre mage.

  1. His size becomes Large, and he gains 10 ft. reach.
  2. His type stays Humanoid, and he neither gains nor loses any subtypes.
  3. His speed increases to 40 ft., but he does not gain a fly speed, as the ogre mage's ability to fly is 
      specifically called out as a Supernatural ability.
  4. He gains a +5 natural armor bonus.
  5. He gains no natural weapon attacks.
  6. He gains no special attacks.
  7. He gains darkvision and low-light vision. He does not gain the ogre mage's spell resistance or regeneration.
  8. He gains none of the ogre mage's spell-like abilities.
  9. He loses his racial +2 bonus against enchantment spells.
 10. He loses his +2 racial bonus to Dexterity and his -2 racial bonus to Constitution. 
      The ogre mage's racial adjustments are +10 Strength, +0 Dex, and +6 Constitution. 
      Because he is a 7th level caster, however, he cannot gain the full Strength bonus and must settle for 
      gaining +7 Strength, +0 Dexterity, and +6 Constitution.
 11. He loses his racial bonus to Listen, Search, and Spot skills.
 12. His equipment grows to be appropriate for a Large-sized creature.

Example 2: A 15th level dwarven cleric casts planomorph and takes the form of a planetar.

  1. His size becomes Large, and he gains 10 ft. reach.
  2. His type remains Humanoid. While he does not gain the Good subtype, his natural and manufactured weapons 
      are treated as good-aligned weapons.
  3. His speed increases to 30 ft., and he gains a fly speed of 90 ft. (with good maneuverability).
  4. A planetar has a +19 natural armor bonus, but as the cleric's caster level is only 15, so he only gains a +15 bonus.
  5. He gains a slam attack that inflicts 2d8 damage, plus 1-1/2 his Strength bonus.
  6. He gains no special attacks.
  7. He gains darkvision, low-light vision, immunity to acid, immunity to cold, resistance to electricity 10, 
      resistance to fire 10. He does not gain the planetar's damage reduction, regeneration, or spell resistance. 
      He does not gain immunity to petrification, because it is not on the list of special qualities gained. 
      He does not gain the protective aura or tongues abilities, because these are Supernatural.
  8. He gains none of the planetar's spell-like abilities or spells.
  9. He loses his dwarven +2 racial bonuses against spells and poisons, but gains the planetar's +4 racial bonus against poison.
 10. He loses his +2 racial bonus to Constitution but not his -2 racial bonus to Charisma (because it is a mental ability score). 
     He gains the planetar's racial ability adjustments of +14 Strength, +8 Dexterity, and +10 Constitution.
 11. He loses his +2 racial bonus on Search checks concerning stonework. This may seem odd, but it's a necessary 
      simplification, as many creatures have bonuses to Search based on superior eyesight.
 12. His weapon and shield grow to be appropriate for a Large-sized creature. His armor, however, is not able to 
      accommodate the planetar's wings, and thus melds into his new form.
 13. The dwarf retains his conditional dodge bonus against giants, his stability bonus against bull rush or trip attacks, 
      and his attack bonus against orcs and goblinoids.
 14. He retains his ability to turn undead. While this is a Supernatural special attack, it is not a racial special attack, 
      and thus is not affected by being polymorphed.

Example 3: A very old silver dragon uses its natural Shapechanging ability to take on the shape of a halfling.

  1. His size drops from Huge to Small, and he loses his reach.
  2. His type remains Dragon, but he loses his Cold subtype.
  3. His speed drops to 20 ft., and he loses his fly speed.
  4. He loses his natural armor bonus of +30.
  5. He loses his claw, bite, tail slap, wing, and crush natural weapon attacks.
  6. He gains no special attacks, and loses his Supernatural breath weapon.
  7. He loses his blindsense, darkvision, frightful presence, immunity to acid, immunity to cold, keen senses, 
      and vulnerability to fire. He retains his cloudwalking ability, as it is a Supernatural special quality. 
      He retains his spell resistance and damage reduction.
  8. He retains the use of his spells and spell-like abilities.
  9. He gains the halfling's +1 racial bonus to all saving throws. He does not gain the halfling's +2 bonus against 
      fear effects because that is a morale bonus, not a racial bonus.
 10. He loses his +22 racial bonus to Strength and his +12 racial bonus to Constitution. He gains the halfling's +2 racial 
      bonus to Dexterity and -2 racial penalty to Strength.
 11. He gains the halfling's +2 racial bonus to Climb, Jump, Listen, and Move Silently skills.
 12. Since he doesn't normally use any equipment, he is naked and weaponless when the transformation is complete 
      (though he might keep appropriate clothing available for such situations).
 13. The dragon does not gain the halfling's racial bonus to attack rolls with slings.

Open Game Content on this page is derived from the content that was copyright 2004-2006 by Rich Burlew.