Polymorph and Aging

[defiantdan]

I have recently acquired the Phalactry of Change. The form I have taken is a Gloura. Since I am now the fey type and the phalactry is an indefinite change. Am I now immortal? If the effect is dispelled or I change back to my original form do I suddenly age to the appropriate age or has my aging process stopped?

[Surpriser]

As there is just about no magic powerful enough to reverse or stop aging (well, except for epic magic, possibly, and various anti-aging products according to popular advertisements...) you would probably continue to age as normal for your original race.

[defiantdan]

As there is just about no magic powerful enough to reverse or stop aging (well, except for epic magic, possibly, and various anti-aging products according to popular advertisements...) you would probably continue to age as normal for your original race.

So if I ever change back or my phylactery is surpressed I age suddenly to the appropriate category of my race?

[torrasque666]

So if I ever change back or my phylactery is surpressed I age suddenly to the appropriate category of my race?

This will be interesting. Death by AMF due to aging.

[Deophaun]

As there is just about no magic powerful enough to reverse or stop aging...
Steal life. Sorcerer/Wizard 8

[Lightlawbliss]

So if I ever change back or my phylactery is surpressed I age suddenly to the appropriate category of my race?

You are still the same age. I don't know of anything in polymorph that gives you the age categories of the new form and the age categories determine old age.

[torrasque666]

You are still the same age. I don't know of anything in polymorph that gives you the age categories of the new form and the age categories determine old age.

dunno. age categories might fall under "gross physical qualities" from Alter Self.​

[defiantdan]

let's say for example I lived unhindered for 2000 years while wearing the phylactery of change in Gloura form. One day minding my own business I step into an amf or it is dispelled. While I was a fey I wouldn't die from being any age. However, now that I am back to my orginial form (an elf) would I be instantly dead or just resume aging from when I left off as an elf? If you are permanantly baleful polymorphed into a toad, do you have a toad lifespan or your original base race lifespan?

[danzibr]

That's a great question. At first I thought you'd age proportionately, but then again, that's not quite how like hp loss works. Hmm...

[Surpriser]

Are there actually any rules about the age of the body you polymorph into? So, what happens if you are venerable and polymorph into a a younger body or into some ageless creature? Do the penalties to your physical stats remain or are they completely replaced by the stats of the new form?

My intuition is that you still age at the normal rate for your original race, although the effects are not felt until you suddenly drop dead from old age at some point. Since you can simply assume the same form as the day before, your assumed form will never age, unless you want it to (and you can choose a different age next day). When dispelled or in an AMF, you immediately gain the appropriate penalties for your true age.
You would still get the boni on mental stats as appropriate for your original race.

This is how I would houserule it, if no official rules about the combination of polymorph and aging exist.

[Cruiser1]

I have recently acquired the Phalactry of Change. The form I have taken is a Gloura. Since I am now the fey type and the phalactry is an indefinite change. Am I now immortal? If the effect is dispelled or I change back to my original form do I suddenly age to the appropriate age or has my aging process stopped?
First, are fey immortal? Some PrC's which give you the fey type say you no longer age, but that doesn't mean everything with the fey type is ageless and has no age categories. Constructs, undead, and non-native Outsiders are definitely immortal with respect to age though. Casting [Lesser] Holy Transformation and then persisting it is a quick way for a caster to get full Outsider type permanently without magic items.

Assuming you do take the form of something that doesn't age, I would assume getting immortality is based on your creature type, because having a creature type assigns you the Traits of that type. That would mean Alter Self doesn't stop or change the original aging rate, but Polymorph does.

About dispelling, there are mechanics in the game that suspend aging, and allow it to resume where you left off, such as petrification and being restored, or most versions of the Binding spell. There are also mechanics that suspend aging and later allow it to catch up to you all at once, such as visiting the plane of Faerie and then returning from it, or using and losing the Gray Portrait artifact.

[defiantdan]

First, are fey immortal? Some PrC's which give you the fey type say you no longer age, but that doesn't mean everything with the fey type is ageless and has no age categories. Constructs, undead, and non-native Outsiders are definitely immortal with respect to age though. Casting [Lesser] Holy Transformation and then persisting it is a quick way for a caster to get full Outsider type permanently without magic items.

Assuming you do take the form of something that doesn't age, I would assume getting immortality is based on your creature type, because having a creature type assigns you the Traits of that type. That would mean Alter Self doesn't stop or change the original aging rate, but Polymorph does.

About dispelling, there are mechanics in the game that suspend aging, and allow it to resume where you left off, such as petrification and being restored, or most versions of the Binding spell. There are also mechanics that suspend aging and later allow it to catch up to you all at once, such as visiting the plane of Faerie and then returning from it, or using and losing the Gray Portrait artifact.

Everything I've read thus far has included them in not dying from old age, along with your list and aberrations. In any case thank you all for this input. I think it's safe to say that I would die if my phylactery is disabled and enough time has passed.

[Bronk]

I think most fey are assumed to be immortal, but some definitely aren't, like dryads, who are bound to their trees.

As for aging while continually polymorphed, I think that even though your outward stats would be constant, you'd be aging underneath it and would die at the end of your regular life span. The only place I've seen that alludes to this is the 'true seeing' spell, which says, "You confer on the subject the ability to see all things as they actually are," and later says that it "sees the true form of polymorphed, changed, or transmuted things."

To me that implies that since this is a permanent effect instead of an instantaneous change, your true form is still magically there the whole time, and since there isn't anything that actually says that stops aging...

[defiantdan]

except for this part of alter self "Any part of the body or piece of equipment that is separated from the whole reverts to its true form." So that suggests that underneath isn't happening while polymorphed until the polymorph is done or is seperated.

[goto124]

Do people actually use ages as a mechanic?

[defiantdan]

Do people actually use ages as a mechanic?

Yes, it's a great way for a caster to get +3 to his casting state. a -6 to my physical stats are meaningless when I can polymorph indefinitely.

[malonkey1]

If the Phylactery's effects were removed, you'd simply return to your normal form, with no aging. If you lose energy resistance or DR, you don't suddenly suffer all the damage you resisted, do you?

[goto124]

I return to my 20-year-old elf form which had existed 2000 years ago, before I wore the phyla... fancy necklace?

[Bronk]

except for this part of alter self "Any part of the body or piece of equipment that is separated from the whole reverts to its true form." So that suggests that underneath isn't happening while polymorphed until the polymorph is done or is seperated.

I'm looking more at the 'as they actually are' part, which implies that your your new form isn't how you actually are, your old form is. I think a lopped off arm returning to its 'true form' while the rest body is still affected supports that, too.

That interpretation also isn't a stretch for the spell description and fits the fluff.

Anyway, that's what I go with in my games.

[Solaris]

If the Phylactery's effects were removed, you'd simply return to your normal form, with no aging. If you lose energy resistance or DR, you don't suddenly suffer all the damage you resisted, do you?


I return to my 20-year-old elf form which had existed 2000 years ago, before I wore the phyla... fancy necklace?

That's pretty much how I'd run with it. It's not like someone who's been petrified and returned to flesh ages over the interim.

[Bronk]

That's pretty much how I'd run with it. It's not like someone who's been petrified and returned to flesh ages over the interim.

I don't know about that, since being petrified just makes you stone and unconscious.

Oddly, the 'flesh to stone' spell doesn't petrify you, but does specify that you are inert and not dead, so that matches more of the immortality fluff (from novels and games) than the actual 'petrify' condition!

[Jack_Simth]

I have recently acquired the Phalactry of Change. The form I have taken is a Gloura. Since I am now the fey type and the phalactry is an indefinite change. Am I now immortal? If the effect is dispelled or I change back to my original form do I suddenly age to the appropriate age or has my aging process stopped?

"Not clearly specified in RAW", which means "ask your DM". Of necessity, the rules don't cover everything. This is one of those. Different DMs will run it different ways. Basic options as I see them:
1) You continue to age under the polymorph, and die when your time is up even with no interruption on the polymorph.
2) You continue to age under the polymorph, and if you exceed your max age, you die if the polymorph ever ends for any reason.
3) You do not continue to age while under polymorph, and only non-polymorphed time counts towards aging.
4) It's irrelevant (few campaigns last long enough to change even one age category, and agelessness has no effect on game balance except for a tiny handful of effects that don't come up much).

Technically, age is not one of the things that's specifically covered by polymorph - so theoretically your aging tables are completely unchanged (other than the little issue that the polymorph effect makes your physical stats fixed for the duration). Thus, that human who spends all of his time in some unaging form suddenly drops dead of old age with no warning somewhere between 72 and 110 (70 + 2d20).

Of course, by RAW, the human Lich has the same problem even after lichification (nothing in the template explicitly stops aging, you see...) and most people handwave that away.

So you'll need to ask your DM. About the most that random people on the internet can give you is their own opinions.