so u found a loophole...

[Joe dirt]

would u allow someone to summon a small group of pixies then have those pixies cast polymorph on the group then the pixies hide.... this is breaking the game at the mid levels, are there any official updates to correct this clear oversight?

[LeonBH]

The player who casts the Conjure Woodland Beings spell does not get to decide on which beings they conjure. The DM decides this. Also, as far as I know, in AL, pixies cannot be summoned this way.

[Falcon X]

Oh yeah, most broken thing in the game. I wouldn’t allow it (at least without repercussion).

For starters, nowhere in the spell does it say that the player gets to choose which type of fey are summoned. So there is some ammunition for you.

Also, I believe that summoning pixies with this spell is outright banned in Adventurers League, so there is precedence if you also choose to ban it. Just say that you follow AL rulings.

If you don’t feel it right to ban it, you can punish them for it. Perhaps it isn’t kosher with the fey to be used in this way. Maybe a Faerie Lord also decides to appear at some point and teaches the player a lesson. Great quest starter as there is no end to the trouble an archfey can cause.

[Malifice]

would u allow someone to summon a small group of pixies then have those pixies cast polymorph on the group then the pixies hide.... this is breaking the game at the mid levels, are there any official updates to correct this clear oversight?

The DM determines what gets summoned with summoning spells. PC gets a say, but DM has the final say.

Also, the Pixies are NPC's. Friendly NPC's, but NPC's nonetheless.

They have a notorious sense of humor and prankster nature. They might decide to Polymorph everyone into something hillarious (a flock of chickens + 1 cat + 1 dog) instead of what you want. Its more fun that way.

[suplee215]

The fact that the player does not get final say on what is summoned makes it extremely easy to control. Personally I will allow the player to do it once for the sheer awesomeness of it and then have it no longer do that crazy bull**** while also talking to the player out of game afterward they won't be able to abuse it because that is so insanely overpowered.

[Falcon X]

The DM determines what gets summoned with summoning spells. PC gets a say, but DM has the final say.

Also, the Pixies are NPC's. Friendly NPC's, but NPC's nonetheless.

They have a notorious sense of humor and prankster nature. They might decide to Polymorph everyone into something hillarious (a flock of chickens + 1 cat + 1 dog) instead of what you want. Its more fun that way.
Yeah, they better be careful how they word the polymorph command. If there is any possible way to twist it, the pixies will do so. This will frustrate the player into stopping, but not make them feel like they are being shut down arbitrarily.
Examples:
1. “I command each of you to target a different sentient being that I have been traveling with for over a month with a polymorph spell. This should turn them into a Stone Giant.”
- Response: Faeiries turn merge all allies into one single stone giant megazord instead of 5 different stone giants. Accomplished by making one person a sentient arm that will fit into the torso that is another person. You get where I am going with this....
- Respose 2: They all become blind, deaf, midget, sickly, or otherwise handicapped stone giants. If they specify no status ailments, well, being a midget isn’t a status ailment, it’s genetic.
- Reaponse 3: They become moving stone sculptures of giants. Their actual stats are that of a stone golem. If they say “the creature commonly known as a stone giant”, just make something else up.

[LeonBH]

Yeah, they better be careful how they word the polymorph command. If there is any possible way to twist it, the pixies will do so. This will frustrate the player into stopping, but not make them feel like they are being shut down arbitrarily.
Examples:
1. “I command each of you to target a different sentient being that I have been traveling with for over a month with a polymorph spell. This should turn them into a Stone Giant.”
- Response: Faeiries turn merge all allies into one single stone giant megazord instead of 5 different stone giants. Accomplished by making one person a sentient arm that will fit into the torso that is another person. You get where I am going with this....
- Respose 2: They all become blind, deaf, midget, sickly, or otherwise handicapped stone giants. If they specify no status ailments, well, being a midget isn’t a status ailment, it’s genetic.
- Reaponse 3: They become moving stone sculptures of giants. Their actual stats are that of a stone golem. If they say “the creature commonly known as a stone giant”, just make something else up.

Sounds like an adversarial reading. Just don't let them summon pixies in the first place.

[Varlon]

Sounds like an adversarial reading. Just don't let them summon pixies in the first place.

It absolutely is, because the spell can't do any of those things.

[Malifice]

“I command each of you to target a different sentient being that I have been traveling with for over a month with a polymorph spell. This should turn them into a Stone Giant.”

Your companions suddenly turn into red eyed giants holding bongs and laughing hysterically.

Pixies: We thought you said 'Stoned giant'.

[Oerlaf]

would u allow someone to summon a small group of pixies then have those pixies cast polymorph on the group then the pixies hide.... this is breaking the game at the mid levels, are there any official updates to correct this clear oversight?

I would not allow the character to decide what appears up deliberately but because I love randomness, I would use Conjuration Tables from the DMsguild and have him roll a random monster. If he gets pixies, so be it.

For that particular option, the random table looks like 1d10, on 1-3 you get blink dogs, on 4-6 pixies, on 7-9 sprites and on 10 you get boggie of CR 1/8 from Volo's. So, you have a 30% chance to get pixies you desire.

And if they do get pixies and do get polymorphed... I can always add a caster with dispel magic prepared.

[Unoriginal]

Let's say you turn into a T. Rex or whatever after summoning the Pixies. How exactly are you managing your Concentration checks any time you get hurt?

If you lose your concentration, say goodbye to your pixies, who will disappear, and your transformation, which will follow.

[Willie the Duck]

would u allow someone to summon a small group of pixies then have those pixies cast polymorph on the group then the pixies hide.... this is breaking the game at the mid levels, are there any official updates to correct this clear oversight?

That pixie summoning has been removed from AL is at least evidence that someone at WotC recognizes that this can be problematic. That is the 'official update' you should expect on the matter. WotC has made relatively clear, through actions and inactions*, that it is not going to be policing non-AL games to get rid of every combination or exploit people find abusive. That's the same space that rulings over rules is supposed to control.
*there is no M:tG-like banned-card-like list, for example, other than for AL.

That said, as others have pointed out, this is a hard exploit to pull off--because player does not control what is summoned, because summoned pixies are hard to order to polymorph right people into right creatures, because creatures are then polymorphed (with all the limitations inherent to that), and has several points of failure--pixie summoner's concentration, pixies' concentration, pixies' hp, both of their initiatives, everyone's action economy, etc.

[JackPhoenix]

Let's say you turn into a T. Rex or whatever after summoning the Pixies. How exactly are you managing your Concentration checks any time you get hurt?

If you lose your concentration, say goodbye to your pixies, who will disappear, and your transformation, which will follow.

By having +4 to Con saves as a Tyrannosaurus, which is likely better than what you had as a caster?

And there's no range limit on keeping concentration spells running, including being in a different plane, so unless the pixies stop concentrating deliberately when they return home (which, admittedly, is likely), you don't care.

Or you just turn everyone else in your group to T. Rexes and stay in your normal form yourself.

[alchahest]

I wonder why you wouldn't just talk to the players and say "this is a little too potent, so, before preparing the spell, just as a heads up, at my table you can't use it to summon pixies. I'll let you choose from one of the other options, though."

[SharkForce]

That pixie summoning has been removed from AL is at least evidence that someone at WotC recognizes that this can be problematic. That is the 'official update' you should expect on the matter. WotC has made relatively clear, through actions and inactions*, that it is not going to be policing non-AL games to get rid of every combination or exploit people find abusive. That's the same space that rulings over rules is supposed to control.
*there is no M:tG-like banned-card-like list, for example, other than for AL.

That said, as others have pointed out, this is a hard exploit to pull off--because player does not control what is summoned, because summoned pixies are hard to order to polymorph right people into right creatures, because creatures are then polymorphed (with all the limitations inherent to that), and has several points of failure--pixie summoner's concentration, pixies' concentration, pixies' hp, both of their initiatives, everyone's action economy, etc.

pixies were formerly banned by virtue of not being on the explicitly allowed list. that has since changed. the entire monster manual is on the allowed list, so pixies are definitely a possibility now.

additionally, at least in former times, there was an official AL rule that players choose their summons. i don't know if that is still official. on the other hand, there is as far as i know a rule that allows DMs to use clarifications from sage advice, so you can arguably have DM's choice even then.

this comes up regularly. yes, it is broken, and the main problem is the CR of pixies is completely wrong. it should at the very least be CR 1/4 and that presumes you give no value to the sleep spell, which is absolutely devastating when used correctly.

the better solution, of course, is to just not abuse stuff, but in this case, since WotC can't be bothered to fix the CR of pixies after years of everyone knowing it's broken as hell, i would invoke sage advice and go DM's choice, but let them make requests (which is just your prerogative as DM)... and if they request anything *except* pixies, give them what they want, because nothing else is going to cause problems in the same way.

[Toofey]

There are so many ways to short circuit this (including the one I would probably apply... a realistic assessment of what a pixies' CR should be) but I would point something out: Fey are immune to being charmed.

[Zanthy1]

I have a player who always seems to find these big power play sorta things, probably because he reads the books A LOT and also spends a lot of time, like myself, on the internet/forums/chatrooms. He always lets me know ahead of time if he's found something he intends to use, and oftentimes I'll let him know if I find it too powerful/gamebreaking. I do, however, let him do many of them once because why not? I just make sure he knows it cannot happen every time. He did this exact thing during a dungeon's final boss room, and it was so much fun, the other players were having a blast. Totally worth allowing, but I made sure they knew it probably wouldn't happen again.

[wilhelmdubdub]

the DM says, "sorry the pixie already cast that spell today"