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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Rewriting Tenser's Transformation



Segev
2020-04-07, 03:54 PM
Design thoughts and motivations: Tenser's transformation has always been in a very weird place, ever since 1e AD&D (which is where teenaged-me first saw it and thought, "Why would I ever cast this?") wherein it specificaly did not give you proficiency with new weapons, did eliminate your casting, but supposedly made you a powerhouse warrior that was not quite on par with a fighter.

In 3e, where the question as to why you'd play a fighter because the caster can do it better with various buff spells is still asked to this day, tenser's transformation is notably not one of the spells used to achieve this.

In 5e, it wasn't even a core spell; it's printed in Xanathar's Guide to Everything, and...well, it's potentially okay-ish, maybe, but it has some glaring flaws and is overly complicated. Most notable, to me, is that it grants armor proficiencies that are literally impossible to use if you don't have them without the spell, because it lasts exactly long enough to don said armor and then run out before you could use it (and you can't pre-don it, because 5e rules say that spell failure occurs if you cast spells wearing armor you're not proficient in).

Combine this with the very neat way 5e has for handling polymorph-type effects, and this is termed "Tenser's transformation," and I propose the following as a complete replacement:

Tenser's Transformation
6th-level transmutation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (a few hairs from a bull)
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes

You endow yourself with endurance and martial prowess fueled by magic. When you cast the spell, select up to one shield and suit of armor that can fit a creature of your size and body type within 5 ft. that is not being worn by an unwilling creature. That shield and armor flies from wherever it is and onto you, donning itself properly. Until the spell ends, you can’t cast spells, gain proficiency with the shield and suit of armor you're wearing, and with all martial weapons. You become more muscular and hale, and gain the statistics of the champion (as printed in Volo's Guide to Monsters), save for your armor class (determined by the armor you're wearing) and the specific weapon damage and range/reach statistics based on whatever you're wielding. These stats entirely replace yours while this spell lasts, though you retain your personality and memories and basic knowledge and languages. This spell ends if you hit 0 hp.

When this spell ends, the armor and shield falls off of you and collapses in a space adjacent to you, and you regain your normal build and however many hit points you had before the spell was cast. If the spell ended due to you reaching 0 hit points, any additional damage applies to your normal hit point pool.

At higher levels. If cast with an 8th or 9th level spell slot, you also gain the benefits of the haste spell while this spell lasts.

The champion is a CR 9 warrior-type NPC. If the player and the DM wish, they can customize it for the caster's actual race, but the idea here is to give him a combat form taht is close to, but not quite at, the level he's supposed to be. Given that a CR 9 is supposed to challenge a full group of 4 level 9 PCs, and this can be cast at the earliest at level 11, I think it's probably about the right power level.

The upcast option is there so it can stay relevant if the caster REALLY wants it to, giving him an extra action to play with and a few other perks. I figure the spell should at least be as powerful as a polymorph, hence a full-stat-replacement with something that matches the archetype aimed for.

Kane0
2020-04-07, 09:57 PM
It's a lot more reasonable (i'd just make the armor rather than taking a nearby suit, simpler that way) but still relies on concentration. I know that Polymorph and Guardian of Nature are also both concentration but Tenser's is 6th level.

Edit: and uses your action and only affects you and restricts your casting.

Segev
2020-04-08, 12:27 AM
It's a lot more reasonable (i'd just make the armor rather than taking a nearby suit, simpler that way) but still relies on concentration. I know that Polymorph and Guardian of Nature are also both concentration but Tenser's is 6th level.

Edit: and uses your action and only affects you and restricts your casting.

Restricting your casting is kind of a legacy thing with it. The whole point is, "I'm magicking myself into being a fighter!" not "I'm going to gish harder." That's always going to be a downside, lest it stop being Tenser's transformation. The Concentration is ... actually, probably something that can go, or it can get a "you automatically succeed on any check made to maintain Concentration due to taking damage" clause. The idea is mainly to stay in theme of "no, you don't get to still be a wizard while also using this spell to be a fighter."

I'm open to suggestions for buffs to the spell; making Tenser's transformation actually attractive to use would be awesome. But the theme of the spell has always been "ditch being a caster and be a fighter for the duration." Anything that would let you play a full-on gish even as well as a Wild Shaping druid using Concentration spell effects they pre-cast is off-theme. Does that make sense? (This is a difficulty with working with legacy items. Especially those which were never...great...to begin with, but have history worth preserving and homaging.)

But yeah, I think something that makes you automatically succeed on Concentration checks (I forget if they're Con checks or Con saves) imposed by damage would work, here. You're supposed to be front-lining, after all, when it's active.

Kane0
2020-04-08, 01:41 AM
Agreed, keeping the 'you can't cast' part is important. I would either make it a bonus action to cast or simply remove the concentration, seeing as you won't be casting spells anyway. Maybe add that you cannot continue concentrating on an existing spell when you cast this as well to avoid shenanigans.

Also, I think being able to martial it up with your wizard weapons makes it more interesting than taking on martial ones. Perhaps drop the free armor and weapons altogether and set AC like Mage Armor does with some bonus damage to your attacks. You might be using a spell to make yourself a part-time martial, but lets not throw away the opportunity to do the job in style with a dagger or staff.

Actually, a Champion might not be strong enough on closer inspection. It's not much better than a T-Rex which you can get from casting Polymorph on a level 8 PC.

Segev
2020-04-08, 11:47 AM
Agreed, keeping the 'you can't cast' part is important. I would either make it a bonus action to cast or simply remove the concentration, seeing as you won't be casting spells anyway. Maybe add that you cannot continue concentrating on an existing spell when you cast this as well to avoid shenanigans.

Also, I think being able to martial it up with your wizard weapons makes it more interesting than taking on martial ones. Perhaps drop the free armor and weapons altogether and set AC like Mage Armor does with some bonus damage to your attacks. You might be using a spell to make yourself a part-time martial, but lets not throw away the opportunity to do the job in style with a dagger or staff.

Actually, a Champion might not be strong enough on closer inspection. It's not much better than a T-Rex which you can get from casting Polymorph on a level 8 PC.

Hm. This is where my own aesthetics and disappointments from reading the legacy spell for the first time, and my desire to keep faith with legacy, come into conflict: Keeping "wizard weapons" is... it's not stylish. "I'm a hulking martial powerhouse, watch as I cut you apart with this...kitchen knife..."

I know, daggers are bigger than kitchen knives. I know, technically, just adding a d4 to a dagger's damage would make it roughly on par with a one-handed longsword. And a wizard with a quarterstaff who isn't using its Versatile trait is being silly, so a quarterstaff keeps up with a non-versatile longsword, and adding a d4 to that would take it a step above.

Not giving them armor...hrm. Mage armor is fine for a low-level wizard, and even okay for a high-level one not relying on AC as their primary defense. Wizards aren't front-liners. It is not fine for wading into the front line as a beatstick.

This is just my interpretation from way back when I read the 1e AD&D Tenser's Transformation spell, but the "you still can't use anything but daggers and you don't get armor" clauses sounded a lot to me like trade-offs Tenser's player had to make with Gary Gygax to get the spell approved, lest it step too heavily on the fighting-man's toes. In 5e, that's either a ship that's long sailed, or not a risk, depending on who you ask. Either way, it's a non-issue. But if there's truly some "style" to keeping them armorless and wielding wizard wepaons while not being wizards...maybe. It is legacy.

I'm not sure there is an NPC non-caster that's higher than CR 9. Not in the "NPC templates" section, anyway. I'd be willing to go stronger.

One of the strengths of doing the full-replacement is that it at least guarantees matching a particular power level, without having to re-finagle all the stats and stuff you built to be a wizard and worry about whether being a gish makes this too good or not.

The Concentration issue is...interesting. I suppose "you can't cast spells nor concentrate on them" is a simple way to shut down the shenanigans I worry about.

Maybe some sort of smite-like mechanic would bolster the Champion chassis? "When you hit with an attack with a weapon, you may choose to spend a spell slot to augment it. The attack's damage becomes magical, and it deals an additional number of dice of damage equal to the spell level expended." ...though this encourages the greataxe over the greatsword, which, while good in designing a barbarian, isn't so good in designing this. Could just be bonus d10s equal to the level of the spell? Twice the level of the spell?

Maybe something like, "As a reaction, when you take damage, you may expend a spell slot and gain 1d6 temporary hit points per level of the slot before you take the damage. These temporary hit points disappear at the start of your next turn," as well.


I'm still not sure where to come down on armor/no armor and forcing them to use wizard weapons.




Hm. As a complete alternative to the smite-like and temporary hit point things, maybe have them pick 3 Battle Master Maneuvers and spend spell slots for superiority dice?

Kane0
2020-04-08, 05:50 PM
So taking the above into consideration, how about this:

Tenser's Transformation
6th level Transmutation
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M
Duration: 10 Minutes

You sacrifice your use of magic to temporarily transform into a formidable warrior. Your equipment and game statistics are replaced by those of a Champion, retaining your personality and assuming the hit points of the new form. While you are transformed you cannot cast or concentrate on any spells and your melee weapon attacks are considered magical, dealing an additional +1d6 Force damage on a hit.
The transformation lasts for the duration, until you drop to 0 hit points or choose to end the spell as an action. When you revert to your normal form, you return to the number of hit points you had before the transformation. If you revert as a result of dropping to 0 hit points, any excess damage carries over to your normal form. As long as the excess damage doesn’t reduce the creature’s normal form to 0 hit points, you are not knocked unconscious.

Then for upcasting maybe something like some THP plus the benefits of Longstrider or Jump at 7th, Enlarge/Reduce or Spider Climb at 8th and Fly or Haste at 9th.
There are higher CR humanoids you can use in place of the Champion if you want to upcast that way, or just make some up if you don't like the existing options. OR like recent UA summon spells have one statblock incorporated into the spell description that scales with the caster.

Segev
2020-04-08, 06:39 PM
Not bad. I'll probably give it another pass, but I think I'll use yours as a core. Just doing a replacement, equipment included, with a Champion (or whatever statblock) is cleaner and easier, and handles questions of proficiencies et al nicely.

There will be people asking about picking up equipment left on the ground nearby, but that's probably fine. Sure, go ahead and wield the Rod of Lordly Might while under the effects of the spell. Why not?

Zhorn
2020-04-08, 07:18 PM
The spell as RAW has always fascinated me because of that weird area it exists in, too high a level for martial casters or Ring of Spell Storing, and only on the wizards spell list (a class who is better served NOT using it given access to their alternatives).

I can see it being a prime candidate for a Bard's Magical Secrets, but more so I think the spell is best served being paired with Glyph of Warding, having it as a fail safe in a base, and making the spell transferable to a non-caster.
A 10min concentration free buff on a martial class already built to wreck face? Those invaders just strolled into the wrong neighbourhood.