Undead Druids Immune to Polymorph?

[RedDragons]

I have seen a few forum users post druids can't wildshape due to undead being immune to polymorph, yet if I look at the undead type SRD, it says nothing about this?

[Vaz]

Pg177, PHB.


Voluntarily Giving up a Saving Throw: A creature can voluntarily forego a saving throw and willingly accept a spell’s result. Even a character with a special resistance to magic (for example, an elf’s resistance to sleep effects) can suppress this quality.

Immunity to Polymorph is including within "special resistance".

Edit; reasoning

Even if they had the comment saying Immunity to Polymorph a) Wild Shape isn't polymorph, it's Alternate Form IIRC, b) the quote above disproves that, and b) Lich's are the only undead thing I can recall at the moment with such immunity, which is specifically disproved by the above quote.

[Gnaeus]

Basic rules imply that they can.

Libris Mortis says that they need a special feat to wildshape. "Corrupted Wildshape". Their reasoning is spotty as to why this feat is necessary.

Your other problem of course, is that in most D&D worlds, being undead is pretty much anathema to anything natural, and a druid who ceases to revere nature loses his powers including wildshape. YMMV.

[Spuddles]

The example walker in the waste, a 10 level prestige class from sand storm that turns you into a lich, has a druid chassis.

[sleepyphoenixx]

The example walker in the waste, a 10 level prestige class from sand storm that turns you into a lich, has a druid chassis.

It's certainly possible to enter as a druid but not really optimal.

It basically turns you into a cleric with worse spell list and no turning in exchange for one Wild Shape use that's limited to 5hd and a useless AC.

And that's not even touching on the fluff issues with a druid becoming a lich
without losing his connection to nature, but ymmv.

On topic: undead are immune to polymorph only in the sense that most hostile
polymorph effects require a fort save.

Undead are immune to those unless they
specifically affect objects as well as creatures,
so they are immune to
Baleful Polymorph, Flesh to Stone and similar attacks.

There is no restriction
to undead changing shape otherwise.

Liches are explicitely immune to any polymorph effects that they don't cast themselves.
That's a special immunity from being a lich though and doesn't have anything
to do with being undead (except that liches are, by default, undead).

[Spuddles]

It's certainly possible to enter as a druid but not really optimal.

It basically turns you into a cleric with worse spell list and no turning in exchange for one Wild Shape use that's limited to 5hd and a useless AC.

And that's not even touching on the fluff issues with a druid becoming a lich
without losing his connection to nature, but ymmv.

On topic: undead are immune to polymorph only in the sense that most hostile
polymorph effects require a fort save.

Undead are immune to those unless they
specifically affect objects as well as creatures,
so they are immune to
Baleful Polymorph, Flesh to Stone and similar attacks.

There is no restriction
to undead changing shape otherwise.

Liches are explicitely immune to any polymorph effects that they don't cast themselves.
That's a special immunity from being a lich though and doesn't have anything
to do with being undead (except that liches are, by default, undead).

dat text alignment


Anyway, there's nothing in the rules that prevents polymorph/wildshape to work on undead. The Walker in Sandstorm is an example of that.

And there aren't really any fluff issues, either, unless you're one of those weak woodland druids of tree-hugging hippy gods.

[Vaz]

The walker in sandstorm is not exactly a brilliant example; as the Druid cannot actually qualify for it in the example given.