The Amazing Vanishing Sheep?

[Grey Watcher]

This little corner case of weirdness came up at the table last night:


You cast polymorph on yourself. If you fail the saving throw, you turn into a sheep for the spell's duration.

But when we looked up Polymorph.


Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour


You can end concentration at any time (no action required).

So, it seems that you can recover from involuntary sheepdom instantly. I mean you could maintain concentration...


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.

But I'm not sure why you would want to?


The target’s game statistics, including mental ability scores, are replaced by the statistics of the chosen beast. It retains its alignment and personality.

It seems counter to the design intent for the sheep to be a brief flash, but that seems to be how it works? Was there an Errata or Sage Advice about this?

[Arenabait]

First of all, this would've been better suited for the RAW megathread.

Second, no. The wizard can polymorph himself, and stay polymorphed until the concentration ends, one way or another. He can choose end it at any point in time (So if he wanted, it couldbe a quick flash, but the keyword up there is can. Meaning he doesn't have to, but he has the capability to), or wait until the duration ends. Casting the spell requires the components, but maintaining concentration does not, so he can stay polymorphed until he fails his concentration save when he gets hit, ends the spell willingly, or the time limit ends.

[Potato_Priest]

Wild Magic doesn't require concentration (and thus can't be ended by not maintaining it) even if it normally would.

Edit: you can find that under the general rules for wild magic surge.

[Arenabait]

Wild Magic doesn't require concentration (and thus can't be ended by not maintaining it) even if it normally would.

Edit: you can find that under the general rules for wild magic surge.

Ah, good to know as well!

[EternalPrime]

Copied from the official PH errata:

Wild Magic Surge (p. 103). A surge can happen once per turn. If a surge effect is a spell, it’s too wild to be affected by Metamagic. If it normally requires concentration, it doesn’t require concentration in this case; the spell lasts for its full duration.