alright, this little conundrum popped up as i was making a wereraven character. my goal was cram as much raven and crow themed shit in them as possible, even going to far as to reflavor spells to be crow themed. all well and good. but here now I am re-reading polymorph for the millionth time and i realize something i didn't think of before. there is a clause in the spell that states, Shapeshifters are not affected by this spell. lycanthropes, and were-monsters in general are shapeshifters, so that included myself. if a wizard tried polymorphing me, it shouldn't work. . .so rules as written, being a shapechanger, . .I shouldn't be able to cast polymorph on myself? is that right?
You *can* shift if you like. You can remain polymorphed if you like, so long as you have control of yourself. A were-critter that has to shift under the full moon won't be able to remain polymorphed. You cannot be polymorphed against your will. That would appear to satisfy all the Rules.
According to the spell, any creature with the shapechanger trait should not be affected by polymorph, and there isn't any exception made.
A character who becomes a lycanthrope retains his or her statistics except as specified by lycanthrope type. The character gains the lycanthrope’s speeds in nonhumanoid form, damage immunities, traits, and actions that don’t involve equipment.
On the other hand, wereravens have the shapechanger tag but don't have the shapechanger trait.
I would say that if you want to allow your wereraven character to be affected by polymoprh, then it should be affected by your own as well as other players'. Pick one and just go with it.
Edit: I read a bit more. I'm still a little unclear on this.
Though they probably should (ask your DM), PCs with lycanthropy don't gain the shapechanger trait RAW. So polymorph would still work as normal.
If your DM does decide you are a shapechanger, you can't polymorph yourself either. You are either fully immune to the spell, or fully vulnerable, no half ways.
According to the spell, any creature with the shapechanger trait should not be affected by polymorph, and there isn't any exception made.
A character who becomes a lycanthrope retains his or her statistics except as specified by lycanthrope type. The character gains the lycanthrope’s speeds in nonhumanoid form, damage immunities, traits, and actions that don’t involve equipment.
On the other hand, wereravens have the shapechanger tag but don't have the shapechanger trait.
I would say that if you want to allow your wereraven character to be affected by polymoprh, then it should be affected by your own as well as other players'. Pick one and just go with it.
Edit: I read a bit more. I'm still a little unclear on this.
They do have the Shapechanger trait in the Curse of Strahd book. For some reason, Candlekeep Mysteries gave them a "Change Shape" action instead of a trait and gave them Regeneration for some reason. Honestly, I think someone had a bit of a brain fart when putting together the stat block in Candlekeep Mysteries.
Though they probably should (ask your DM), PCs with lycanthropy don't gain the shapechanger trait RAW. So polymorph would still work as normal.
What makes you say that? The Monster Manual says “The character gains the lycanthrope’s speeds in nonhumanoid form, damage immunities, traits, and actions that don’t involve equipment.” Am I missing something here?
Though they probably should (ask your DM), PCs with lycanthropy don't gain the shapechanger trait RAW. So polymorph would still work as normal.
What makes you say that? The Monster Manual says “The character gains the lycanthrope’s speeds in nonhumanoid form, damage immunities, traits, and actions that don’t involve equipment.” Am I missing something here?
I missed that when reading that paragraph
I actually meant "Tag," not "trait."
Tags
A monster might have one or more tags appended to its type, in parentheses. For example, an orc has the humanoid (orc) type. The parenthetical tags provide additional categorization for certain creatures. The tags have no rules of their own, but something in the game, such as a magic item, might refer to them. For instance, a spear that is especially effective at fighting demons would work against any monster that has the demon tag.
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alright, this little conundrum popped up as i was making a wereraven character. my goal was cram as much raven and crow themed shit in them as possible, even going to far as to reflavor spells to be crow themed. all well and good. but here now I am re-reading polymorph for the millionth time and i realize something i didn't think of before. there is a clause in the spell that states, Shapeshifters are not affected by this spell. lycanthropes, and were-monsters in general are shapeshifters, so that included myself. if a wizard tried polymorphing me, it shouldn't work. . .so rules as written, being a shapechanger, . .I shouldn't be able to cast polymorph on myself? is that right?
You *can* shift if you like. You can remain polymorphed if you like, so long as you have control of yourself. A were-critter that has to shift under the full moon won't be able to remain polymorphed. You cannot be polymorphed against your will. That would appear to satisfy all the Rules.
<Insert clever signature here>
According to the spell, any creature with the shapechanger trait should not be affected by polymorph, and there isn't any exception made.
On the other hand, wereravens have the shapechanger tag but don't have the shapechanger trait.
I would say that if you want to allow your wereraven character to be affected by polymoprh, then it should be affected by your own as well as other players'. Pick one and just go with it.
Edit: I read a bit more. I'm still a little unclear on this.
Though they probably should (ask your DM), PCs with lycanthropy don't gain the shapechanger trait RAW. So polymorph would still work as normal.
If your DM does decide you are a shapechanger, you can't polymorph yourself either. You are either fully immune to the spell, or fully vulnerable, no half ways.
They do have the Shapechanger trait in the Curse of Strahd book. For some reason, Candlekeep Mysteries gave them a "Change Shape" action instead of a trait and gave them Regeneration for some reason. Honestly, I think someone had a bit of a brain fart when putting together the stat block in Candlekeep Mysteries.
What makes you say that? The Monster Manual says “The character gains the lycanthrope’s speeds in nonhumanoid form, damage immunities, traits, and actions that don’t involve equipment.” Am I missing something here?