True Polymorph: Be All That You Can Be

Usable By: Bard, Warlock, Wizard

Spell Level: 9

School: Transmutation

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: 30 feet

Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour

Components: V, S, M (A drop of mercury, a dollop of gum arabic, and a wisp of smoke)

Choose one creature or nonmagical object that you can see within range. You transform the creature into a different creature, the creature into an object, or the object into a creature (the object must be neither worn nor carried by another creature). 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 lasts until it is dispelled.

This spell has no effect on a shapechanger or a creature with 0 hit points. An unwilling creature can make a Wisdom saving throw, and if it succeeds, it isn’t affected by this spell.

Creature into Creature. If you turn a creature into another kind of creature, the new form can be any kind you choose whose challenge rating is equal to or less than the target’s (or its level, if the target doesn’t have a challenge rating). The target’s game statistics, including mental ability scores, are replaced by the statistics of the new form. It retains its alignment and personality. The target assumes the hit points of its new form, and when it reverts to its normal form, the creature returns to the number of hit points it had before it transformed. 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. The creature is limited in the actions it can perform by the nature of its new form, and it can’t speak, cast spells, or take any other action that requires hands or speech, unless its new form is capable of such actions. The target’s gear melds into the new form. The creature can’t activate, use, wield, or otherwise benefit from any of its equipment.

Object into Creature. You can turn an object into any kind of creature, as long as the creature’s size is no larger than the object’s size and the creature’s challenge rating is 9 or lower. The creature is friendly to you and your companions. It acts on each of your turns. You decide what action it takes and how it moves. The GM has the creature’s statistics and resolves all of its actions and movement. If the spell becomes permanent, you no longer control the creature. It might remain friendly to you, depending on how you have treated it.

Creature into Object. If you turn a creature into an object, it transforms along with whatever it is wearing and carrying into that form. The creature’s statistics become those of the object, and the creature has no memory of time spent in this form, after the spell ends and it returns to its normal form.

Review by Samuel West, Twitter: @CrierKobold

Have you ever wanted all the abilities of every creature CR 20 or below? Do you want the ability to summon a friendly version of any CR 9 or lower monster, just because you can? Do you want to be a rock, just to experience life as a rock? True Polymorph has your back. To break down how absolutely bafflingly busted True Polymorph is, we have to take a quick peek into the Monster Manual.

The key reason True Polymorph breaks game balance in half is unlike spells that disable spellcasting like Shapechange, True Polymorph has no such rider. You can transform into a CR 12 Archmage, which has a full suite of 17th level wizard spells at its disposal including Time Stop, another 9th level spell. Seems like a pretty busted place to start. As more books get released, more creatures get Spellcasting, and some get bonus abilities on top of spellcasting.

An important note here is that rules in the Monster Manual deny access to legendary or lair actions; so while you’re getting some wild goodies with it, it doesn’t include ones that are built for monsters only. What these rules DON’T mention, though, are legendary resistances, meaning if you transform yourself into something like an Ancient White Dragon, you get three uses of Legendary Resistances for the transformation. You can use these as you please; you’re basically getting a fighter’s Indomitable, but way, way, better. To top it off, these help prevent you from breaking concentration, making it all the more likely you’ll maintain the form and continue breaking all the rules with this silly little spell.

Beyond offering you the tools to double your spellcasting suite whenever you want while simultaneously offering you free passes to saving throws as you like, it also alots you a suite of tools limited normally to monsters. Having a recharge 5-6 16d8 breath weapon makes the damage this spell offers close, if not surpassing, many other 9th level spells. Meteor Swarm is dealing around 140 damage; two breath weapons at 16d8 matches that, and also gives you whatever else the form you chose gets. If they ever print a monster lower than CR 21 with Meteor Swarm, you just also can cast Meteor Swarm with True Polymorph.

If you don’t want to be that guy and spend your time transforming into stuff from the books that breaks any semblance of game balance, you can just have access to a summonable version of anything CR 9 or less you’ve seen. When you turn a rock into a Kuo-Tao Archpriest, you just spawned in a 10th level cleric at your command with a full suite of spells up to 5th level. Some mid CR monsters have a massive swath of HP; Hydras, for example, sit comfortably at 172 hit points, and can make five attacks each turn to start. With a bit of prep and metagaming, you can keep slicing off those heads and get unfair numbers of attacks each turn. You can basically trade fifty hit points for ten extra heads with a bit of pruning, giving you a summonable monster that can make FIFTEEN attacks each turn. Best part is, the creature just IS friendly to you, regardless of what you do to it. You could hypothetically keep doing this if you get it to last the full duration and have however many heads you want with enough rest and relaxation, but note you’ll have to figure out some other way to control it.

The sheer quantity of game breaking shenanigans True Polymorph offers makes it a top tier spell. It is one of the best in the game, if not the best. True Polymorph only gets better as more books are printed, and its floor is so game warping I’d recommend discussing what you and your DM feel it should be able to do at the table before trying it out. True Polymorph is on another level of unfair; I’ve just scratched the surface here on some of the nonsense you can get up to with it. You can turn to nearly any page of the Monster Manual and find SOMETHING that can be abused with True Polymorph.

5e Spells

True Polymorph: Be All That You Can Be