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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Other New Spell: Talandra's Truthful Transfiguration (PEACH)



Scots Dragon
2020-12-29, 09:27 AM
An old spell I quickly wrote up that I figured I'd share after the back-and-forth arguments in the Intersex PCs thread. The idea is a relatively low-level and easily-accessible gender affirmation spell for any trans wizards you might have a desire to create.


Talandra’s Truthful Transfiguration
School transmutation (polymorph); Level alchemist 3, shaman 4, sorcerer/wizard 4, witch 4, wu jen 4
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (dose of mulibrous tincture or anderos salve worth 5 gp)
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft/2 levels)
Target self or one creature
Duration instant; or 10 minutes/level (see below)
Saving Throw none; or Will negates

Talandra’s Truthful Transfiguration is a powerful but very specific variation upon the polymorph spell, and may be used either upon the caster or upon a willing recipient to change them into what could best be called their 'true self'.

Therefore a wizard who realises that her supposedly ‘male’ body does not match the truth of her soul can change her body to one which reflects that of her true self. For those who are genderfluid the form granted does not initially change but instead confers upon the recipient an ability similar to the blessed of Corellon Larethian, where their physical sex can shift upon resting at their choice. Similarly a creature transformed or cursed into a form not their own is immediately changed into their original form, or a form close to it that matches who their true self would supposedly be. In addition, any mind that has been altered by polymorph other would be undone. This usage of the spell is instantaneous and cannot be reversed or changed further except through further polymorphing magic.

It can also be cast upon a shape-changed or polymorphed target, transforming them at once into their original selves, and in the process rendering them unable to change again for a duration of 10 minutes/level. A werewolf would therefore be returned to their human form, a wolfwere would be locked into their wolf form for the duration, and a spellcaster would be unable to cast another polymorph upon themselves. This secondary usage can be negated by a successful will saving throw.

Due to the popularity of such spells, near-identical variations have been developed and cast by a variety of different spellcasters under a variety of different names. A few well-known variations are Edran’s Effervescent Metamorphosis, Dynamene’s Joyful Change, Adelia’s Alleviating Alteration, and Teseren’s Transitional Transformation, amongst many, many others.

This spell may be used in place of polymorph when creating an Elixir of Sex Shifting (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/e-g/elixir-of-sex-shifting/).

BisectedBrioche
2020-12-29, 10:40 AM
I love this! Reminds me of a more mundane item I created for a trans PC of mine with the DM's approval:


Herbal Mixture*: 1sp/52 doses; 1/2 lb bag: A fairly common mixture of medicinal herbs with several names and uses (as well as a fair few regional substitutions). Most alchemists will mix it without batting an eye and sell it to anyone without question. In lower doses (~1 a day) it can be used to treat a range of symptoms from heart conditions to joint pain. At higher doses (starting at twice a day, although this often needs to be adjusted based on the individual for the best results) and taken over time, it has a feminising effect on the body; this allows AMAB individuals of most humanoid races whose gender identity does not so lie to adjust their body accordingly. Similar herbal mixtures can have the opposite effect for those who wish to have a more masculine appearance. Neither affects the patient's stats. Each dose consists of dried herbs which can be swallowed, chewed (like tobacco), allowed to dissolve under the tongue, or brewed in hot water for a few minutes to form a drinkable infusion.


*I didn't give it a proper name aside from the punny "HR Tea".

Scots Dragon
2020-12-29, 10:53 AM
I like it. Pathfinder has something similar with its mulibrous tincture and anderos salve, which I borrowed as the material components for this spell.

sandmote
2020-12-29, 12:04 PM
This is likely the best place to ask about a 5e spell I wrote I'll see for years (if I ever see a more appropriate place).

Originally the spell was going to explicitly allow minor changes to a creature's anatomy as chosen by the target, but I dropped the concept because I have no idea how to make the mechanics appropriate (zero first-hand experience here, sorry). The idea was to make transitioning usable with a regular healing spell, in the same manner as anything else you'd expect to require a herbal, alchemical, or spell remedy for.


Minor Regeneration
4th-level transmutation

Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: touch
Components: V, S, M (a prayer wheel or holy water)
Duration: 10 minutes
You touch a creature and stimulate its natural healing ability. The target regains 4d8 + 15 hit points.

One of the target's severed or destroyed organs (a hand, an eye, a jaw, and so on) of the creature's choice, if any, is restored after 2 minutes, after which the spell begins restoring another part. If you have the severed part and hold it to the stump, the spell causes the part to knit to the stump over the duration. This spell can also grow and repair internal organs, whether injured or naturally deformed. For instance, this spell can restore a creature born with a missing lung.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the healing increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 4th.

(Artificer, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger)

Any suggestions on how to bring gender affirmation (if that's the correct term) back into the concept? Or is the general concept an issue and I should leave it for a dedicated spell on its own?

Edit: if this isn't related to the intent of the thread, please do ignore it. After the initial "oh wait; someone who knows what they're doing," wore off I'm a bit nervous about coming in and asking.

Scots Dragon
2020-12-29, 02:43 PM
I think you should make your own thread for that spell.

Morphic tide
2020-12-29, 05:22 PM
Given the many angles of touchiness with the topic, as even enthusiastic supporters of trans rights have a pile of different takes, I'd suggest altering the particulars of the functionality as more of a granted ability to allow a given Willing target to choose a form to change into, with duration relating to similarity to their form sans any ongoing effects as with the Polymorph Any Object text and an Instantaneous mode for when it's used for the same by-the-book creature; this covers the desired sex-change aspect and gives an opening for other matters of long-term changing on a good budget of power without bolting it to one very specific "take" so you don't need to watch out for player disagreements on the subject because the spell itself isn't taking a stance, it's "simply" a low-level version of Polymorph Any Object "intended" to act as a greatly extended Alter Self mixed with Transmutation breaker.

It should also definitely be on the Druid and Bard lists, given the former's access to Reincarnate making it useful for correcting poor rolls and the latter's reputation alongside status as the "main" Arcane healer of 3.5, and the spell is currently missing its Spell Resistance entry.

For exact text, perhaps replacing the blunt negation of ongoing effects with "the target may make an additional save against any number of ongoing from-altering effects(/one ongoing effect per five caster levels?) with a +1 Resistance bonus per caster level (maximum +10)" is in order. After all, Break Enchantment is a level higher spell and demands a CL check, with many of the particularly nasty things you actually get out Break Enchantment for being Transmutations to begin with, despite the name. Remove Curse at the same spell level does nothing but remove a far narrower range of detrimental effects, while this allows for dealing with normally rather difficult magical afflictions like Lycanthropy at much lower levels than normal and also preventing follow-up changes in case an enemy wants to try to double-tap.

Also, on a fluff level, I really can't help but poke at the mention of there being "numerous near-identical spells" for a solution to a matter with a half percent incidence rate, which is another reason for thinking it works better as a more general Alter Self expansion because then it actually makes sense to have it be popular for being the nigh-perfect answer to all mechanically-cosmetic long-term changes and also a nigh-perfect answer to the majority of unwanted form-altering effects. By and large, when you're talking about specialized 4th level spells on willing targets in 3.5, you're already starting on the territory of rewriting people's minds so the discomfort stops being there by the benchmark of Modify Memory, the goal you're going after of an Instantaneous sex change is pretty much justifiable on a 3rd level spell since it's mechanically purely cosmetic.

Scots Dragon
2020-12-29, 05:29 PM
Also, on a fluff level, I really can't help but poke at the mention of there being "numerous near-identical spells" for a solution to a matter with a half percent incidence rate,

Trans people are simply more common amongst magic users for reasons of ‘I said so’.

The tone here and at the beginning of your post makes me reluctant to take on any fairer points you may have. Not to critique your critique, but opening with weird rando nonsense about trans rights being an issue argued heavily about and how there aren’t enough trans people to justify a few dozen other spells made by other wizards under a similar theme is not a good way to set your tone.

Morphic tide
2020-12-29, 06:45 PM
Trans people are simply more common amongst magic users for reasons of ‘I said so’.

The tone here and at the beginning of your post makes me reluctant to take on any fairer points you may have. Not to critique your critique, but opening with weird rando nonsense about trans rights being an issue argued heavily about and how there aren’t enough trans people to justify a few dozen other spells made by other wizards under a similar theme is not a good way to set your tone.
Except you said nearly identical, not similar, which means that you have to not only have a very extremely disproportionate number of transgender magic users to have enough innovative examples to develop such spells, you must also have this be enough to have such a number of 7th-level transgender magic users for those innovators to be capable of developing a functionally-identical-to-this spell, and most importantly also have this combination of factors be in extensive isolation from other instances for there to be multiple versions in the first place instead of them just copying somebody else's version of the spell for the function to skip the hassle and move on with something properly useful like the more general Alter Self derivative I described that's worth casting more than literally once in your life.

You can fudge this with the nonchalance of Elminster for the subject, a perfect example of how high-level casters largely stop caring for any issues like this because they're insignificant in the face of the spells they can cast (Elminster, IIRC, routinely swaps sexes for no other reason than a hint of novelty), but there's only so much redundant development you can excuse like this. Dozens of copies of a function is utterly insane worldbuilding if you have anything resembling a coherent magical community. When it's so functionally trivial as a sex changing spell, something achievable by numerous other far more versatile means with much less shenanigans, the secrecy justifications evaporate considerably, vastly reducing scarcity of any given copy and thereby massively reducing the odds of further copies being developed because those interested will just go grab an existing spell instead of having any need to make their own version.

As for the arguments around the details to the nature of transgenderism, it's rather vital if you want to actually implement it. The fluff on the spell you've written is going to wreck utter hell on party politics if a genderfluid person comes in because it very bluntly assumes a singular true state, and must be recast with each change so even if you accommodate that disjoint it's causing a player to be burning actually very useful spell slots constantly for a literally mechanically irrelevant aspect of their character, driving them into much narrower niches of "faking" it with either very strange edge-cases, rapidly expanding tangles of houserules and refluffing, or a second bespoke solution that is extremely likely to render this spell completely redundant.

Simply put, it's relevant and not "weird rando nonsense" because you have specifically created a spell for the sole purpose of affirming gender identity. Therefor the fact that there's a pile of differing interpretations of the subject that are continually argued is expressly relevant because said interpretations determine what the end result of the purpose even is, and if the players have clashing perspectives, any talk about the details is very likely to turn into an active argument. Something that can only reasonably be discussed in a space without any disagreement on the subject is incredibly terrible roleplay material, though I admit that I'm probably wildly overestimating the viciousness of sectarianism on the topic.

...Also, having zero mechanical specification for the limits on the "true self" is just begging for DM nightmares when somebody decides to attempt to use it as a fig leaf of powergaming, and even besides that makes for an ever-adding-up annoyance whenever anything that is mechanically significant is included, like a Half-Orc deciding to remove the "half" and thus needing to get answers for all the mechanical changes. There is a reason so many illusions redundantly specify swaths of things they can't do and ability-copying spells get such convoluted wording. It is because having open ends very, very easily leads to balancing disasters and massive time sinks as decision paralysis and DM decision-making stacks up with each instance. In this particular case it's not much an issue from being intended as a "once in a lifetime" cast, but that brings its own issue in that it becomes very difficult to justify for any degree of crunch on spell access if there's challenges coming up that are being taken seriously.

Scots Dragon
2020-12-29, 07:01 PM
I added a note for genderfluid characters.

The rest is mostly stuff that's only a problem for the most anal-retentive of pedants.

Damon_Tor
2020-12-29, 07:50 PM
Need to tighten up some wording here. Not everybody's "true self" is going to be a change without mechanical implications (https://i.imgur.com/ebFieGP.png). And I feel like that werewolf you forced to return to the species he was assigned at birth might go against the spirit of the spell.

sandmote
2020-12-29, 08:14 PM
I think you should make your own thread for that spell. There's a terrifying response.

The version where I panicked and went "I don't know enough about this, I guess this'll be adjustable without needing to change crunch," can be found here (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?610860-Marine-Spells&p=24864782), which I have bumped up. Sorry for intruding to your stuff.

Herbert_W
2021-01-02, 11:29 AM
There's a few ways that this spell, as-written, doesn't quite do what it's intended to do.

Creative players will misuse it.


. . . to change them into what could best be called their 'true self'.

This needs more elaboration. Can this regenerate lost limbs or other body parts? Can this change a character's race, including racial ability score modifiers (in campaigns that use them)? Can this turn a character into a race that normally wouldn't be playable? Can this cure disease? Can this allow a character to respec their base ability scores? How about feats? Class levels?

I'll admit that this seems like insane nitpickery. In a certain sense, it is insane nitpickery - but that's what's going to happen when you put a spell into the hands of creative players: they're going to look for ways to use it for their advantage.

Given that this was intended to be a gender affirmation spell, it may make sense to limit it to specifically alter biological sex and nothing else. That leaves a minimal amount of room for (mis)use.


For those who are genderfluid the form granted does not initially change but instead confers upon the recipient an ability similar to the blessed of Corellon Larethian, where their physical sex can shift upon resting at their choice.

So . . . this duplicates much of the benefit of a disguise self effect, except that it requires a rest and presumably offers a limited number of preset forms that can be switched between. For something that costs a single spell slot once that can be cast during downtime and is usable without restriction ever after, that's pretty powerful!

Imagine the scene: as the king's soldiers rush into the ruined castle where Robilar had reportedly been hiding, they find only his sister Libroar locked up in the dungeons. She tearfully thanks them for rescuing her, and starts feeding them stories about what Robilar is planning and where he may have fled. She barely manages to suppress a sly grin as they tell her what they think they've figured out about her traitorous "brother."

In the worst case, you might have players who declare their character genderfluid, despite lacking the interest or knowledge to play such a character, specifically in order to take advantage of this spell.

It's too powerful as a cursebreaker


Similarly a creature transformed or cursed into a form not their own is immediately changed into their original form, or a form close to it that matches who their true self would supposedly be. In addition, any mind that has been altered by polymorph other would be undone.

Undoing polymorph effects is thematically appropriate for this spell - but undoing all polymorph effects, regardless of the source of the effect, is way too powerful. Some curses are supposed to be difficult to remove. Some curses are supposed to require a quest to remove. This gives players a shortcut that renders "do a thing to break a curse" unusable as a plot hook.

It's also too weak

Polymorph other is a specific spell. As-written, your spell would not reverse the metal effects of baleful polymorph etc. because these are different spells. I doubt that this is what you intended.

It's not great for shapeshifters


It can also be cast upon a shape-changed or polymorphed target, transforming them at once into their original selves, and in the process rendering them unable to change again . . . This secondary usage can be negated by a successful will saving throw.

Given that the intent of this spell is to allow characters to have a form that matches the one that they'd feel comfortable with, and that many shapeshifting characters gain a benefit from (and may even identify with!) their ability to shapeshift rather than just any one individual form, this feature of the spell feels at odds with the rest. If this spell were to specifically only prevent involuntary shapeshifting, I think that'd fit more appropriately with the intention of the spell.

On the other hand, a spell that blocks both voluntary and involuntary shapeshifting would be interesting from a gameplay perspective. This spell would have multiple uses - it could e.g. allow an involuntary werewolf a period of respite from their curse, or be used in order to defeat a shapeshifting opponent. If players only have a limited number of e.g. scrolls of this spell, this would force them to make a difficult choice as to how to use it. That'd be a good spell, but I don't think it's the spell that you're trying to write here.

It's also unusual for a spell that targets willing creatures to allow a will save. This makes sense here, because a creature might want some of the other effects of the spell while wanting to make a save against this specific effect. It also make sense here, because a creature might be willing at the time of casting but change their mind later. If you're allowing for the latter then you should clarify when they can make this save, and whether and when they can retry if they fail.

It doesn't make sense as a single spell


Due to the popularity of such spells, near-identical variations have been developed and cast by a variety of different spellcasters under a variety of different names.

This spell does four specific things: sex change, granting permanent limited shapeshifting to genderfluid characters, undoing polymorph effects, and preventing shapeshifting. It's more common for spells in DnD to do only one thing, or to do one of several things chosen at the time of casting. (For example, in 3e dispel magic does only one of three things - a targeted dispel, area dispel, or counterspell - chosen at the time of casting.)

It's very unlikely that a spell with nearly exactly these functions would be independently developed by multiple casters, especially considering that most people being targeted by this spell will only want one of those four effects (and may regard some of the others as a hindrance)!

It'd make more sense if this were four separate spells. This would also IMO be easier to balance.

This spell could make it impossible to play a trans character

I also suspect that this spell would have the opposite of the intended effect on the campaign world - it'd make it impossible to play a trans character past a certain point. Let's say you're playing a transwoman. She gets an opportunity to have them spell cast on her. There's no good in-universe reason why she wouldn't, so she does, and now you're just playing a woman.

This spell would dramatically improve the life of certain characters, but that's not the same thing as improving the game for their players!

rferries
2021-01-04, 12:39 PM
Streamlining the effects a bit:

True Self
Conjuration (Healing)
Level: Clr 3, Drd 3
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

"To thine own self be true."

You transform the subject's sex to match their gender.

The subject is considered to be their new sex for the purpose of Disguise checks but otherwise has the same statistics and can be recognized by creatures that knew them before their transformation.

This spell counters and removes false self.

False Self
Transmutation (Polymorph) [Curse]
Level: Sor/Wiz 4
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

"To thine own self be false."

You transform the subject's sex to the opposite of their gender (or for intersex and nonbinary subjects, whichever sex would cause them the most distress).

The subject is considered to be their new sex for the purpose of Disguise checks but otherwise has the same statistics and can be recognized by creatures that knew them before their transformation.

The curse bestowed by this spell cannot be dispelled, but it can be removed with a break enchantment, limited wish, miracle, remove curse, true self, or wish spell.

anthon
2021-01-06, 10:41 PM
i don't have a problem with the text or class access, but I'd probably bump it up to 7th level or so and set the duration to Permanent, with a ritual tag.