Alternative to Polymorph

[Cheiromancer]

Infinite polymorphing into anything large or smaller?
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/phasm.htm

Dimension door as a free action?
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/blinkDog.htm

Constant invisibility?
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/sprite.htm#pixie

This is all from the SRD and without really a lot of effort spent looking. Really, the biggest problem here is that you can do all of these things and more with a single spell prepared/known. As a wizard or sorc, it's hard to imagine why you would ever NOT take this spell, since it essentially lets you get dozens of other spells whenever you need them.

The phasm's alternate form ability makes my skin crawl. It is exactly the kind of complicated mess that I was hoping that this alternative would eliminate. And as for invisibility, I think that a will-o'-wisp would do much better. The pixie form is too fragile. Also it counts as having already used up its daily abilities (since they are all 1/day) and so is not very useful in combat.

The blink dog trick is cool, though. Cast the spell, dimension door as a free action then dismiss the spell... Wait a second. Dismissing a spell requires verbal components, which a blink dog can't manage. That's funny: the sorcerer is stuck in the form of a blink dog until the spell ends or the assumed form is killed. The same would be true of a number of other forms. (edit: fixed in a later revision)

But, yeah. The point about flexibility is very well taken. Sure, a sorcerer could charm a cloaker, or a will-o'-wisp or whatever, but it would take time to track them down, and if they died they could not easily be replaced. Meanwhile a 15th level sorcerer probably has eight 4th level slots that could all be spent on polymorph, and each could be used in a different way. Only for a few minutes each day, though. And charm monster has better action economy; you turn an enemy into an ally, and you still retain all your own abilities and actions. (edit: the spell is split; types that are immune to mind-affecting are now bundled in the 5th level version.)

Still, I really like the simplicity of being able to play a monster out of the book. I don't want to eliminate the special abilities entirely. I'd rather make polymorph a whole family of spells, each with only one form. Or maybe a couple of forms. Dunno.

@Amechra: no outsiders (even if you are one yourself), no spellcasting (neither yours nor the assumed creature), yes to the extraordinary abilities. You basically play a creature that has been snatched up more than half-way through its adventuring day (which is why its daily uses are over half used up).