Baleful Polymorph: Difference between revisions

* [[Trope Namer|Named after]] the ''baleful polymorph'' [http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/balefulPolymorph.htm spell] in ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' (previously called ''polymorph other'', which turns involuntary targets into small, weak animals, physically and ''possibly'' mentally. There is also ''polymorph any object'', which does [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]]: you can turn pretty much anything into pretty much anything.

** Turning them into something that would kill them (a non-lunged fish on land, or a non-flying animal in a situation where only a flying creature has a reasonable chance of survival) makes the spell easier to resist, as though the target instinctively knows what he's being turned into and that the situation is even worse.

** Though the duration is permanent, the subject gets a second save to retain their mental faculties and their special powers. Then again, succeeding on this save [[And I Must Scream|might be an even worse fate.]]

** Some editions made this even deadlier, with a game mechanic called a System Shock. Any time a character's body is so dramatically and suddenly reshaped (not just by polymorph, it also applies to those subjected to [[Taken for Granite| petrification]] or [[Rapid Aging]]), a special Saving Throw has to be made to avoid dying from the trauma. Even worse, if the victim ''does'' survive, if magic is used to change him ''back'' it requires a ''second'' System Shock roll! Fortunately, in most cases, this is an optional rule; fans are split whether applying such a "realistic" side effect to magic is a good thing.