Shapechange and regaining HPs

[Biggus]

Upon changing, the subject regains lost hit points as if it had rested for a night


This spell functions like polymorph, except that it enables you to assume the form of any single nonunique creature (of any type) from Fine to Colossal size. [...] You can change form once each round as a free action.

So...when you change form using Shapechange, do you regain lost HPs every time or only the first time? My DMing instincts say the latter (Shapechange is awesome enough without healing you every round as well) but I can certainly see a RAW argument for the former. Has this ever been clarified? If not how do you play it?

[Jack_Simth]

So...when you change form using Shapechange, do you regain lost HPs every time or only the first time? My DMing instincts say the latter (Shapechange is awesome enough without healing you every round as well) but I can certainly see a RAW argument for the former. Has this ever been clarified? If not how do you play it?
Effective Fast Healing = Level is nowhere near the most problematic thing one can do with Shapechange. It's fine to run it that way.

[Efrate]

By raw each time you switch forms. In a single combat it won't matter much, and there are tons of things with regeneration or a healing effect between all monsters printed ever for between combat.

[RedMage125]

Effective Fast Healing = Level is nowhere near the most problematic thing one can do with Shapechange. It's fine to run it that way.


By raw each time you switch forms. In a single combat it won't matter much, and there are tons of things with regeneration or a healing effect between all monsters printed ever for between combat.

Right? In terms of just damage mitigation and healing, even. When thing like a Solar are on the table (DR/epic and Regeneration), regaining hp equal to one's Hit Dice in a round is trivial.

[Mr Adventurer]

Does "as if it had rested for a night" mean you get 4,800 rounds of Fast Healing if you have any?

If it only refers to natural healing, do you use your HD, or the HD of the form you are leaving behind? Or something else?

[Efrate]

I would say HD of your character not the form. Polymorph has a lot more limitations than shapechange but just to keep it sane I believe just using actual character HD would be RAI, which also eliminates 8k hp regained for a nights rest since it is based on your character hd.

Now if you have fast healing independent of shapechange, from a class, race, or even persistent lesser vigor, I would let that go. Immortality is easy once you have 9ths, full healing every round is on the lower scale of cool things my high level caster can do.

[CIDE]

By the time Shapechange is on the table managing HP is one of the last things anyone (player or DM) should really be all that concerned about. Regaining HP is easy using Shapechange through a variety of means. Especially outside of combat. And at that level, even low OP, the DM's shouldn't really be that worried about just tossing bigger numbers at players.

[Biggus]

Yeah...I'm well aware that fast healing is not the most powerful thing you can do with Shapechange. In fact, that was my point: as it's already an overpowered spell, even by 9th-level standards, to my mind the last thing it needs is to add fast healing 17+ (which stacks with any other FH it grants) to everything else it does.