As stated above, I believe the wording of the "Second Form" Dark gift is written in a way that is needlessly confusing. Specifically the Transformation feature. The section states:
Transformation. You can cast the alter self spell to appear in your second form. When you do so, you gain the effects of that spell’s Change Appearance option and cannot end it to gain the benefits of a different option. Casting alter self in this way requires no spell slot, and you must finish a long rest before you can cast it this way again. Your spellcasting ability for this spell is Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma (your choice when you gain this Dark Gift). If you have spell slots of 2nd level or higher, you can cast this spell with them.
When you cast alter self using this feature, some cosmetic aspect of your second form remains after the spell ends. This visibly marks you unless you actively hide or disguise it. The mark is a perceptible change such as scaly skin, stunted wings, eyes without pupils, or horns. The mark fades after you finish a long rest.
So, if I understand this correctly, you can only take advantage of one of the alter self spell's three features. Specifically, the "Change Appearance" feature. But even that feature is severely restricted in it's use:
You can cast the alter self spell to appear in your second form.
If I'm understanding this correctly, you can literally only use this to change into your pre-chosen second form. And that's it. If that's the case, why do they even need to mention the alter self spell at all? Why not just say "You can transform into your second form for an hour. You can't appear as a creature of a different size than you, and your basic shape stays the same; if you're bipedal, you can't use this spell to become quadrupedal, for instance."?
Mentioning the the spell is just going to confuse people into thinking you can change your appearance to any shape the spell allows. But I don't think that's how this feature is intended.
Can someone enlighten me? Am I way off base here and it allows for more functionality than I'm seeing?
As stated above, I believe the wording of the "Second Form" Dark gift is written in a way that is needlessly confusing. Specifically the Transformation feature. The section states:
So, if I understand this correctly, you can only take advantage of one of the alter self spell's three features. Specifically, the "Change Appearance" feature. But even that feature is severely restricted in it's use:
If I'm understanding this correctly, you can literally only use this to change into your pre-chosen second form. And that's it. If that's the case, why do they even need to mention the alter self spell at all? Why not just say "You can transform into your second form for an hour. You can't appear as a creature of a different size than you, and your basic shape stays the same; if you're bipedal, you can't use this spell to become quadrupedal, for instance."?
Mentioning the the spell is just going to confuse people into thinking you can change your appearance to any shape the spell allows. But I don't think that's how this feature is intended.
Can someone enlighten me? Am I way off base here and it allows for more functionality than I'm seeing?
1) If there is something that does what you want, why not use it?
2) You can cast the spell normally with spell slots, so there is that benefit.
I don't think it is that confusing. You and I both came to the same conclusions after reading it.