"The transformation lasts for the duration, or until the target drops to 0 hit points or dies. If you concentrate on this spell for the full duration, the transformation becomes permanent." There is no statement that corrects the previous declaration of 0HP returning you to your original form. The permanent effect only applies to the duration of the spell, it does not state directly that being reduced to 0HP does not remove the effects of this spell. Therefore, with how specific the wordings of rules and spells are, the duration is permanent until dispelled or the target is reduced to 0HP. This essentially acts as a long-term initial form for the target creature. When the target creature is reduced to 0HP, the target reverts to their original form, be it 3 hours, 10 days, 7 months, or 20 years from then. It is actually quite clear about this. So you can techinicaly transform a Barbarian into a Dragon, they can fight for a while as a dragon, and upon being killed, they become a barbarian again. Alternatively, if your DM doe not follow rules as written(which, again, are clearly stated here), and decides to change how the spell functions and decides that you are just now only this form and have no original form until it is dispelled(which technically happens when you revert to 0HP, but again we are assuming that the DM is changing the rules for some reason), the caster can simply dispel the transformation when the Dragon form is low on HP and allow the Barbarian to assume his original form, effectively functioning very similar to the original wording of the spell.
Finally, there is an actual note in this spell that directly says everyone saying being reduced to 0HP doesn't revert to their original form is actually wrong. " If it reverts as a result of dropping to 0 hit points, any excess damage carries over to its normal form. As long as the excess damage doesn't reduce the creature's normal form to 0 hit points, it isn't knocked unconscious."
I fail to see how "permanent" can be ended by falling to 0 hp. Permanent means forever, so the only way to end it is to make this effect no longer exist, via dispel magic.
I fail to see how "permanent" can be ended by falling to 0 hp. Permanent means forever, so the only way to end it is to make this effect no longer exist, via dispel magic.
Permanent means "lasts until removed". Anything that causes the spell to end early will end it. Other than dispel type effects, for the 2014 version that means reducing the polymorphed form to 0 hp. For the 2024 version, it originally meant losing all temporary hit points, then got errata'd to remove that restriction, and is only removed on death or destruction.
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I fail to see how "permanent" can be ended by falling to 0 hp. Permanent means forever, so the only way to end it is to make this effect no longer exist, via dispel magic.
Permanent means "lasts until removed". Anything that causes the spell to end early will end it. Other than dispel type effects, for the 2014 version that means reducing the polymorphed form to 0 hp. For the 2024 version, it originally meant losing all temporary hit points, then got errata'd to remove that restriction, and is only removed on death or destruction.