alter self troubles (sort of)

[bjoern]

I love alter self. I'd say its my favorite spell. Its very low level, always useful. And its used in almost every session of every campaign. The problem is that as much as it can do, I want it to do more. I've run into this a couple times before but my current dilema is that I want to use alter self to become a Tren for natural armor and a natural bite attack and I also want to be an avariel for flight and some fluff (a flying elf is more "goodish" than a lizard man monster thing)

Well becoming a little long winded, which would be a better choice to use alter self for and which could be replaced by a magic item or a spell?

[GilesTheCleric]

Alter Self and co vary depending on whether you're using errata/ updates or not, so first check to see which polymorphing ruleset you're using. I imagine the PF version is also different; I do recall that the custom race creation rules had an option for some shapechanging, but I don't remember the limitations since my use was limited to going from a weasel to a human just for fluff (Hengeyokai).

After that, there's a number of spells and feats that you can pick up to improve your abilities. Spells like Imbue with Spell Ability, Awaken, Girallon's Blessing, Psychic Reformat, etc. can give you the abilities of creatures. Feats like Assume Supernatural Ability, Dilate Aura, Virulent Poison, Powerful Charge, Metabreath feats, Empower Spell-like Ability, Multigrab, etc. will help. Check SS and MM1. Some of the Races of X books might have useful things, too.

Alter Self does have limitations, so at a point you'll need to upgrade in spell level to continue to gain more power. Magic Jar might be a good option outside of the polymorph line. If your game includes possession mechanics (HoH, Gw), then you might be able to leverage those as well.

Lastly, and you're probably already aware of this, changing your own creature type will allow you to pick from more forms. Templates and some spells will change your sub/type. Don't forget about savage progressions, either. If all else fails, there's always limited/wish.

[Sith_Happens]

Flight is doable with Overland Flight or an item.

[bjoern]

Flight is doable with Overland Flight or an item.

Yeah, I was kinda gravitating towards that. Mainly needing flight for combat. Was thinking either fly spell or cloak of the dragon (complete champion) however I'm not sure what my flight maneuverability would be with the cloak, doesn't say.