D&D 5E Shapechanger (Transmuter 10) (polymorph'ing yourself)

[roddyriot]

So, I was pretty excited getting my Transmuter to level 10. Then, I check my rules-as-written, and when my wizard polymorphs himself, his intelligence changes to 1 or 2. How does he even remember he's a wizard and to change back later? Isn't the utility of turning into a bird or a fish tremendously diminished by having next to no smarts left in the shape?

 

[Lancelot]

I think, thematically, the idea is to go all "Hulk Smash!". Turn into a giant ape and go... ape... on the enemy. Turn into a T-rex, and re-enact Jurassic Park from the perspective of the "good guys" (i.e. the dinosaurs).

You retain enough of your intelligence to know that you're maintaining concentration on the effect, and you become something else (something weaker... puny Bruce Banner... Hulk hate puny Banner!) if you cease concentration. But that's about it. As a DM, I'd certainly be looking hard at complex tactics or actions that would never occur to a rampaging beast.

Also, if you're new to polymorph, I assume you're aware of the major drawback of turning into a beast yourself. Every hit requires a concentration check or you lose the spell. Our party wizard found that out the hard way when he turned into a T-Rex and charged a bunch of mook brigands. He was laughing when he took a dozen arrows for only 40 points damage... but then he realized it was 12 Constitution saving throws or the polymorph was gone. Even with the T-Rex's excellent Constitution, he was in a heap of trouble. Since then, he's stuck to polymorphing the party fighter into a T-Rex instead...

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

So, I was pretty excited getting my Transmuter to level 10. Then, I check my rules-as-written, and when my wizard polymorphs himself, his intelligence changes to 1 or 2. How does he even remember he's a wizard and to change back later? Isn't the utility of turning into a bird or a fish tremendously diminished by having next to no smarts left in the shape?

Funny you should ask that... the game session last night featured three intellect devourers in the big fight, and one PC and one NPC got perma-stunned. (If the Intellect Devourer devours your intellect, your Int drops to zero and you are stunned until you recover at least one point of Int.) It turns out though that being stunned doesn't prevent you from moving or manipulating objects though, and when my players asked if they could still think at all I was like, "Sure, you can have one big idea that occupies your crippled mind at all times," which was going to be, "Get to the flesh machine!" [Basically a fantasy autodoc that can probably fix this illness, like it fixes other things.] But then the player realized that he'd gained enough experience to get a level and Shadow Monk 8 comes with an ASI, so he's raising his Intelligence to 2 in order to no longer be permastunned. (When/if he gets his intellect un-devoured, his Int will go up from 10 to 12 so it's not a waste. He started off with an Int of 9 and has been steadily raising it.)

So anyway, for the next several sessions at least I'll have a PC at my table with an Int of 2, about the same as a pony, rat, or bear but dumber than a wolf or a giant wolf spider. I'd certainly let an Int 2 wizard remember that he's really a wizard though--even if he doesn't really understand the implications. E.g. if there's an enemy spellcaster, and I were the one playing a Polymorphed wizard with a Tyrannosaurus Rex's Int 2, I'm probably not going to think, "Hey, I should turn back into a wizard so I can counterspell that enemy's magic without risking letting him hit my weak mental saves with a disabling mental spell like Hold Monster." My thought processes are more like, "Enemy wizard bad! Hulk smash!"

Edit: just noticed that the post before mine also says "Hulk Smash!" Yup. Play like the Hulk and you can't go far wrong. I'd probably play an Int 1 creature as even dumber, but for Int 2 the Hulk is fine IMO. I don't think the Hulk himself is actually quite that stupid (Int 6 maybe?), but his methods are so direct that his relative "brilliance" compared to a bear or a weasel doesn't make much practical difference.

 

[Lancelot]

....It turns out though that being stunned doesn't prevent you from moving or manipulating objects though...

Actually, it does. From the Basic Rules (which I'm sure is the same as the PH), a stunned creature in incapacitated, can't move, and can only speak falteringly. I guess it's a DM's call whether you can manipulate objects or not, but the "can't move" bit is going to be problematic.

Still, I love the fact that the PC got over the problem by putting their ability increase from leveling up into Intelligence. I have to think a lot of DM's wouldn't allow that (i.e. leveling up while basically in a coma), but it's so clever that I have to applaud it. Kudos to the player.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Actually, it does. From the Basic Rules (which I'm sure is the same as the PH), a stunned creature in incapacitated, can't move, and can only speak falteringly.

Whoops! Thanks for the correction. Fortunately nothing important happened after that fight, but I'll let my guys know I misremembered. That leaves us then with one NPC fighter who is quietly drooling on himself in the corner all day (it's Elmo from Hommlet, so not that much of a change from his normal behavior ) and one no-longer-stunned Shadow Monk 8/Druid 4.

I'm glad you approve of the player's choice. It was pretty creative. I find it interesting how willing everybody is to invest in Intelligence at my table even though it gives no mechanical benefit except being able to know what less-intelligent creatures are doing in combat before you declare your own action for the round. (It's a Speed Factor initiative variant.) I don't know if that just makes everybody awesome roleplayers or if it means that knowledge is power, but either way I find it interesting that Int is not a dump stat even for those who dumped it originally.

 

[roddyriot]

I think, thematically, the idea is to go all "Hulk Smash!". Turn into a giant ape

Not with the Shapechanger feature, which limits the caster to CR 1 and below.

 

[Celtavian]

Not with the Shapechanger feature, which limits the caster to CR 1 and below.

That ability is lame. Making a level 10 polymorph into a CR 1 creature every short rest was one of those developer brain farts I hate because it is pretty obvious a weak, nearly useless ability better accomplished with the find familiar spell. I guess there are a few instances where it could be cool like sneaking into a place. Even that can be problematic since it would be extremely easy to kill you and you're alone when you revert. It seems like a really underpowered level 10 ability.

 

[Fanaelialae]

I think it's intended as an exploration ability. You can turn into a giant wasp and scout the terrain ahead (I picked Giant Wasp because, honestly, what sane creature picks a fight with a giant wasp!?). You could turn into Giant Octopus and investigate a pool of water. If your DM is willing to let you get creative, you could turn into a giant spider and weave webs for various purposes. Or transform into a Lion if you need to track someone by scent. You can always use a weaker but more insignificant form if being attacked is an issue. It's pretty unlikely that the local dragon goes to the trouble of killing every raven and rat in its territory on the off chance that it could be a polymorphed wizard or a familiar.

While it certainly won't make you beastly in combat, a polymorph that recharges on a short rest has a lot of utility.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

All CR 1 or lower:

Giant Eagle has an Int of 8 and sufficient sophistication to qualify it to have an alignment. It speaks its own language and understand 2 others (including Common).

Giant Owl is the same but understands an additional language.

Giant Vulture has Int 6, but still has an alignment and understands Common.

And just for information, the CR 2 Giant Elk has Int 7, doesn't get an alignment, but speaks its own language and understands 3 (including Common).

Beasts in 5e are not necessarily purely instinctive creatures. Some of them have moral capacity and can understand and speak languages. As far as I can tell, it's only those 4 of them, but it's worth being aware of.

 

[Lancelot]

Not with the Shapechanger feature, which limits the caster to CR 1 and below.

Aaah... I stand corrected, then. I wasn't aware that you were talking about a Transmuter class feature. I thought you were talking about the actual polymorph spell.

In that case, I guess I'm with Fanaelialae's and Sword of Spirit's comments above, then. There are some options which have a modicum of intelligence, and it's useful as a scouting feature nonetheless.

If you're into classic fantasy fiction, I'm actually reminded of the Wizard of Earthsea series by Ursula le Guin. Wizards in that setting are capable of polymorphing themselves into a variety of shapes. The principal character, Sparrowhawk, uses this power in a number of different ways. However, it's explicitly stated in the novels that such magic is perilous. Remaining in the shape of a creature too long, you begin to adopt it's unique mental patterns. Sparrowhawk himself nearly suffers this fate after fleeing a deadly enemy in the shape of a bird. He remains in the bird's shape (Int = 2...?) for too long, and only the intervention of an ally helps him regain his own shape and mind afterwards. If he hadn't received this assistance, he might have forgotten that he was a wizard entirely, and remained in bird shape for the rest of his life.

...which is kind of an interesting take on it, for me. It creates a number of story-based opportunities. Maybe that strange parrot on the pirate's shoulder is actually a Transmuter who legitimately forgot to turn back into human form after his last adventure. The parrot glows when subjected to a detect magic. If the party casts a dispel magic on the bird, then helps nurse the wizard's broken mind back to sanity, then maybe they gain a powerful new friend...

As for your own Transmuter, perhaps there's something in that approach to help roleplay it. Maybe your Intelligence (in roleplaying terms; forget the mechanics for a moment) doesn't immediately drop to 1 or 2. You have enough intellect to go scouting for a while, or outfly your pursuers, or squeeze through the tiny crack in the wall, or whatever cool thing you want to be doing in small animal form. But the longer you stay in the form, the more your Intelligence actually gets closer to 2. You begin losing sense of who you really are, and begin picking up more animalistic traits (curious about bright objects, hungry, getting attracted to that female chimpanzee over there). Your Transmuter needs to remember to pop out of Shapechanged form before they lose their mind completely. I think that'd be a ton of fun to roleplay!