3.P - Keeping Armor & Item Abilities While Polymorphed/Metamorphosis'd/etc?

[MaxiDuRaritry]

I know you can use wild armor to keep AC bonuses while wild shaped, and wilding clasps let you keep a magic item's properties while wild shaped.

Is there any way to allow armor, gauntlets, and other magic items to meld with your body while polymorphed, metamorphosis'd, shapechanged, etc, while still keeping their properties, like how wilding clasps do with wild shape?

[Gruftzwerg]

dungeon magazine 92: Druid's Satchel (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?485064-Polymorpher-s-item)

Basically a small bag of holding that you keep with ANY form changing ability. But the real deal is that you can retrieve any item as "free action"!

Helps to retrieve wands, spellcasting pouch, magic focus items, consumables and more.

The free action part makes it imho more handy than a Handy Haversack ^^

edit: Bracers of Armor is the option to go for armor abilities (rules are in the Arms and Equipment book IIRC). If you should find yourself to constantly using forms without the required body slot, use the rules to craft em into a different item slot (e.g. necklace). This works for the core PHB spells but NOT for any of the later released polymorph subschool based spells/invocations.

[Saintheart]

Indirectly, Necklace of Natural Weapons ...

[Pezzo]

daggerspell shaper from complete adventurer does that for daggers only

[Jack_Simth]

In Pathfinder, constant abilities of merged equipment remain (armor doesn't, though). It's part of the Polymorph subschool:
Items that provide constant bonuses and do not need to be activated continue to function while melded in this way (with the exception of armor and shield bonuses, which cease to function).

[YellowJohn]

There's the 'shapeshifting' armour quality in Oriental Adventures.
Exactly the same as Wild armour (including the +3 cost), but works with all shapeshifting.

Apart from armour, basically anything else you wear you can keep when polymorphed if your new form could wear it. My Bear Warrior keeps basically everything when he polymorphs. Amulet, belt, vest, hat & bracers are pretty uncontroversial. Rings & gloves & may raise some eyebrows (bear fingers are stubby & mostly claw - but they exist), as may boots (but why not? They have feet and ankles). A cloak on a quadraped is more controversial but ultimately it flew - ymmv.
What I'm trying to say here is: think about your common forms, and think what they could reasonably wear - this may not be as much of a problem as you think.

[Seward]

Ioun stones.

Lots and lots of ioun stones.

They'll circle around your head no matter what form you are in, as they aren't equipped on your body. (probably. Some GMs may not agree)

Best solution is buffs. Do everything with spells you possibly can, since enchantments always carry over between forms. Greater Resistance, various +4 attribute enhancement spells, a natural armor spell, an armor spell blah blah.

If you just have one form you usually go to and it lasts long enough, divesting yourself of any item that could possibly work on the new form and maybe keeping some barding around or nonhumanoid armor to be put on after you shift can work. It is the route a lot of druids take who can't get access to wilding clasps or in lower levels where they are simply too expensive. It won't help though with things like bear warrior (a few rounds), polymorph (minute/level) etc. It works best with hour/level shapeshift that doesn't change after you shift once, like vanilla wildshape.

Pathfinder1e, as noted, was a lot more reasonable on this front than 3.5 with letting static bonuses stay.