D&D 5E polymorph downside?

[Mage of Spellford]

I have noticed quite a lot of threads where polymorphing a party member into a t-rex is considered a viable option. Just curious but wouldn't an obvious downside be the int=2. Your character retains their personality but you now have the reasoning ability of a very very stupid beast. No more using tactics or working in concert with the other party members except for attacks. A t-rex would probably have a limited repertoire of actions like i kill my enemies and if i get badly hurt i run away. I could see it defending its companions maybe but the player would definitely no longer contribute advice or undrrstand what its companions were doing except in the most rudimentry terms.

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

Sometimes all you need is some big dumb muscle. The t-rex isn't the best option to use against swarms of golins that can figure out how to spread their forces and kite the t-rex, but it works wonders when you use it against mindless monsters that can't use tactics very well themselves, like zombies, elementals or oozes.

Like many spells in this edition polymorph isn't a universal solution. It's a tool to be used at the right time. Though since it pulls double duty as both buff and debuff it's a more versatile tool than most.

 

[WarpedAcorn]

Does Polymorph change your mental stats too? I don't have the book in front of me, but I seem to recall the Polymorph spell being a means to gain the physical attributes (Str, Con, Dex included) of something else while retaining your own mental attributes (Int, Wis, Cha).

 

[jasper]

Does Polymorph change your mental stats too? I don't have the book in front of me, but I seem to recall the Polymorph spell being a means to gain the physical attributes (Str, Con, Dex included) of something else while retaining your own mental attributes (Int, Wis, Cha).

from srd. The Target's game statistics, including mental ability scores are replaced by the staistics of the chosen beast.

 

[Croesus]

Does Polymorph change your mental stats too? I don't have the book in front of me, but I seem to recall the Polymorph spell being a means to gain the physical attributes (Str, Con, Dex included) of something else while retaining your own mental attributes (Int, Wis, Cha).

I believe you're thinking of druidic wild shape. The polymorph spell does change mental stats.

Edit: Ninja'd...

 

[TwoSix]

There are plenty of times when the best option is to simply charge at something and bite it really hard. If more complex combat actions are what's needed, that's what giant ape polymorph is for.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

I have noticed quite a lot of threads where polymorphing a party member into a t-rex is considered a viable option. Just curious but wouldn't an obvious downside be the int=2. Your character retains their personality but you now have the reasoning ability of a very very stupid beast. No more using tactics or working in concert with the other party members except for attacks. A t-rex would probably have a limited repertoire of actions like i kill my enemies and if i get badly hurt i run away. I could see it defending its companions maybe but the player would definitely no longer contribute advice or undrrstand what its companions were doing except in the most rudimentry terms.

The obvious downside to Polymorph is Intellect Devourers.

But I would never dictate to a player the choices they must make. I do have a way to model the impact of lower intelligence in combat (essentially, you have a longer OODA loop, so complicated tactics are harder to pull off) but beyond that I wouldn't constrain the tactics you can use when Polymorphed.

I think you might find that kiting T-Rexes with goblins is harder than you think, since they have 50' of movement and 10' of reach. It's not impossible that it might turn out to be the T-Rex which does the kiting, especially (1) against slower enemies like zombies, or (2) when Longstridered.

 

[aco175]

Depending on the Int of the creature you polymorph into, I would be concerned that it may attack it's party as well as the enemy. I may argue that the player is giving up some of its control to gain power and damage. Typically I always want to let the players control their character, but this may change what his character is for a time. I'm not sue how low Int needs to be before you no longer recognize your friends as such. One can argue that dogs won't attack their master or something, but when you Intelligence instantly becomes so low things may change.

 

[TwoSix]

Depending on the Int of the creature you polymorph into, I would be concerned that it may attack it's party as well as the enemy. I may argue that the player is giving up some of its control to gain power and damage. Typically I always want to let the players control their character, but this may change what his character is for a time. I'm not sue how low Int needs to be before you no longer recognize your friends as such. One can argue that dogs won't attack their master or something, but when you Intelligence instantly becomes so low things may change.

One of my current characters is a 9th level sorcerer, and I've used polymorph quite a bit. We play it that the polymorphed character with low Intellgience recognizes friend from foe (since they retain their personality), they just can't make complex plans. No ready actions or anything like that. No running over to grapple a spellcaster (although we certainly allow you to change targets if they really hurt you). T-Rexs have to keep moving and attacking, but they won't attack party members or other allies. It's why I use giant ape form for fights that require a bit more finesse.

 

[WarpedAcorn]

from srd. The Target's game statistics, including mental ability scores are replaced by the staistics of the chosen beast.

Oh man, that sucks. I guess that makes it a better spell to cast on someone else than on your friends...unless they say something that annoys you. =D