Tenser's Transformation Balance?

[Viskocity]

This spell gets a lot of hate from optimizers. To me, it seems like a relatively good spell with one huge flaw. It eliminates the use of a spellcaster's primary class feature; namely the ability to cast spells.

Therefore I ask you playgrounders, if not for this one clause, would Tenser's Transformation be balanced with other spells of its level, or any other? Clerics get all kinds of love from Divine Power many levels below the point where a wizard gets Transformation. Is there a reasonable justification for the power split, or is it just a case of WOTC overvaluing full BAB (and casting in armor. Oh the horror!) and doing there utmost to prevent wizards from becoming (somewhat subpar) fighters?

[Snake-Aes]

It is a dire case of overvaluing casting in armor and full bab, as they themselves said when they mentioned the hexblade/duskblade comparison. As it is it can probably be a lvl 4 spell...or keep at 6 without losing spellcasting.

[Ernir]

Eh, as a level 6th spell with an expensive material component... I might sometimes consider using it if there were no loss of spellcasting involved. The ability score bonuses being Enhancement bonuses are another problem.

But really, I consider Body of War from the Spell Compendium to be the successor to Tenser's Transformation.

[Endarire]

I left the spell's effect as-is, but lowered it to a level 2 spell and nixed the expensive component.

[cupkeyk]

There is nothing wrong with this spell. The wizard should not use it on himself, instead uses craft contingent spell, places it on a monk/rogue (any non full bab class with a trigger of "When I get into a fight" and now the ally has been buffed as a non-action.

[Frosty]

I just cast that sort of spell on my Familiar instead.

[Marnath]

I've never thought about whether or not loss of casting ability matters or not, because i always thought it was that one spell you save to the very bitter end as a last ditch method of self defense. You used all your fireballs, acid arrow's and whatnot, time to cast tenser's and draw the bastard sword you keep on your back for just this purpose. Ideally things should never get that desperate because if you're in a situation like that you should probably have run away 15 minutes ago.

[Viskocity]

There is nothing wrong with this spell. The wizard should not use it on himself, instead uses craft contingent spell, places it on a monk/rogue (any non full bab class with a trigger of "When I get into a fight" and now the ally has been buffed as a non-action.

That seems like it would get incredibly expensive.

[cupkeyk]

By the time you can cast Tenser's transformation, it isn't.

[Marnath]

Isn't expensive, or isn't a decent last stand move? I don't know who you're talking to.

[cupkeyk]

I meant that it isn't expensive but isn't a good last stand either. A wizard has terrible hit points and at level 11 shouldn't be running out of spells anymore. You should have wands and scrolls and contingent spells and other nasty tricks other than spells by now.

[Marnath]

That depends on the campaign, A) are contingencies available B) how much access to disposable resources like wands do you have C) maybe it's a heroes of battle campaign where you don't neccessarily have time to rest for spells for days at a time? This is all very specific, but i did say that it should never come to that.

*edit I fully support moving it to a level 4ish spell slot.

[Fizban]

I think it would be fine even at a lower level while retaining spellcasting. For a 6th level "I wanna hit things too" buff, I'd take nothing less than Lesser Dragonshape. You become a young red dragon, gaining 6 natural attacks, flight speed, natural armor and stat boosts, a decent breath weapon, temporary hp, and the spell is only a swift action. And while you generally replace your statblock with the monster's, it's still just a buff on you, so all your other buffs keep running. So you're actually a young red dragon with Mage Armor, Shield, Heart of Earth/Stoneskin, and any other fancy buff you want up.

[Marnath]

I never said it was the best, i'm just trying to give examples of times it's usable.

I like the flavor of it better than becoming a dragon.

Also, not everyone has access to every spell and feat ever written....

[cupkeyk]

That depends on the campaign, A) are contingencies available B) how much access to disposable resources like wands do you have C) maybe it's a heroes of battle campaign where you don't neccessarily have time to rest for spells for days at a time? This is all very specific, but i did say that it should never come to that.

*edit I fully support moving it to a level 4ish spell slot.

If you are aware that it will be an extended battle then you should have those reservoir feats in CA or CM instead. Tenser's transformation places a mage in melee, somewhere they should never be.

[Marnath]

If you are aware that it will be an extended battle then you should have those reservoir feats in CA or CM instead. Tenser's transformation places a mage in melee, somewhere they should never be.

Strictly speaking, there's probably not time to learn a whole new approach to magic right before a long battle. If you don't already know how you're probably not going to learn how(level up) before the battle. Also, see my above comment about not necessarily having every feat ever written.

I'ma go to bed now before i start snapping at people. >.>
I'll be back fresh tomorrow to converse logically again.

[cupkeyk]

But, then do you know who never runs out of spells? The fighter.

Long 8 hour battle? you should have cast Overland flight on yourself first thing in the morning. Buffed the fighter and the rogue, debuffed the baddies, put a zone down or two, nova your attack spells then hide. Which is what any respectable wizard does. Casting tenser's transformation on your last round and rushing into battle is not helping much, especially your survival.

[Aotrs Commander]

Tenser's Transformation suffered too much from the edition switch. In AD&D, where it doubled your hit points, it was so worth it for a fighter/mage. I have fond memories of Baldur's Gate 2, and ripping Irenicus a new one with Stoneskin invulnerability and 350 hits points...(That's not small change in 3.5, let alone AD&D!)

3.x Tenser's? Not so much. It's not even as good as the much lower level Divine Power, which gives you a better Str bonus in any case. Any Tenser's other benefits are massively out-weighed by the loss of spellcasting.

[Morph Bark]

If it'd allow you to keep your spellcasting, you'd prolly just stick to spellcasting spells with attack rolls. I'd moreso try something like... your caster level gets halved and as such the higher-level spells you got become uncastable.

[Roderick_BR]

I've never thought about whether or not loss of casting ability matters or not, because i always thought it was that one spell you save to the very bitter end as a last ditch method of self defense. You used all your fireballs, acid arrow's and whatnot, time to cast tenser's and draw the bastard sword you keep on your back for just this purpose. Ideally things should never get that desperate because if you're in a situation like that you should probably have run away 15 minutes ago.

Agreed. You just save it for when you ran out of your other useful spells, and need to survive long enough to fight your way out.

If you allow the wizard to keep casting, you get the same problem that Divine Power get, of being too broke by making fighters/barbarians/paladins/rangers useless.

[Human Paragon 3]

I cast it off a scroll as a feat rogue focused on UMD. You can still use UMD while under the effects of it, so you just get better! I built an interesting character based around this concept for Test of Spite and won a couple matchups with him. Basically he's a mounted charger loaded with wands. Tensor's Transformation brings up the BAB etc.

[Snake-Aes]

I cast it off a scroll as a feat rogue focused on UMD. You can still use UMD while under the effects of it, so you just get better! I built an interesting character based around this concept for Test of Spite and won a couple matchups with him. Basically he's a mounted charger loaded with wands. Tensor's Transformation brings up the BAB etc.

What would you use UMD for, other than items that you can't use due to Tenser's restriction of Spell Trigger and Spell Completion items?

[Human Paragon 3]

Got a rod of many wands and filled it with true strike, enervation and glitter dust to soften up opponents and boost my likelihood to hit a high AC opponent with a full power attack lance charge. I was a rogue with no natural spellcasting whatsoever.

Also had emergency scrolls.

This was Test of Spite, after all.

[Foryn Gilnith]

Agreed. You just save it for when you ran out of your other useful spells, and need to survive long enough to fight your way out.

If you had another 6th-level spell (or another 4th-level spell, even), there's a good chance you wouldn't have run out of useful spells.

Or, alternatively, you'd have a better chance of escaping, since Transformation just strikes me as mediocre. Stat bonuses that might overlap with what you already have, a +4 damage increase compared to a club (and that's assuming you have martial weapons on hand), a bonus to AC far inferior to armor, and a boost to Fortitude saves; all for 1 round/level. Not very impressive.

[Snake-Aes]

Got a rod of many wands and filled it with true strike, enervation and glitter dust to soften up opponents and boost my likelihood to hit a high AC opponent with a full power attack lance charge. I was a rogue with no natural spellcasting whatsoever.

Also had emergency scrolls.

This was Test of Spite, after all.

Wands use the spell trigger activation method, so casting a spell from a wand is usually a standard action that doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity. (If the spell being cast, however, has a longer casting time than 1 standard action, it takes that long to cast the spell from a wand.) To activate a wand, a character must hold it in hand (or whatever passes for a hand, for nonhumanoid creatures) and point it in the general direction of the target or area. A wand may be used while grappling or while swallowed whole.

You can't use wands while Tensered.

[Human Paragon 3]

Nothing in that quoted block suggests otherwise.

Tensor's Transformation

You lose your spellcasting ability, including your ability to use spell trigger or spell completion magic items, just as if the spells were no longer on your class list.

If a spell isn't on your list, you can use UMD to emulate it. It works by RAW.

[Snake-Aes]

Nothing in that quoted block suggests otherwise.




If a spell isn't on your list, you can use UMD to emulate it. It works by RAW.

Your "By RAW" here really is sort of a dickish move. It says "You lose your spellcasting ability, including your ability to use spell trigger or spell completion magic items", and then adds "as if you had lost the spell list". It's not that you lose the spell list. You are blocked from using the spells in the first place. UMD has little value while tensered.

[Human Paragon 3]

Sorry if you disagree, but the wording is very clear. "Just as if the spells were no longer on your class list." Not "similar to as if." If you cross classed UMD on a wizard (for cleric spells, for instance) you would be able to do the same thing. If a spell is not on your list, you can use UMD to emulate it. I'll let the name calling slide.

[lesser_minion]

I'd consider nixing the spell altogether. I don't see it being especially useful unless you already have a horribly abusive build.

As for the whole "you lose your spellcasting ability", it seems pretty clear cut. It used to be explicitly "you emphatically refuse to cast spells by any means whatsoever", and I can't see any reason why 3.5 would change it other than to ease that restriction.

As I said, anyone using this spell has been buffed through the eyeballs already, at which point a free +10 to base attack bonus is potentially kind of nice. Or is a spell-to-power erudite and can continue casting as if nothing had ever happened.

[Snake-Aes]

I'd consider nixing the spell altogether. I don't see it being especially useful unless you already have a horribly abusive build.

As for the whole "you lose your spellcasting ability", it seems pretty clear cut. It used to be explicitly "you emphatically refuse to cast spells by any means whatsoever", and I can't see any reason why 3.5 would change it other than to ease that restriction.

As I said, anyone using this spell has been buffed through the eyeballs already, at which point a free +10 to base attack bonus is potentially kind of nice. Or is a spell-to-power erudite and can continue casting as if nothing had ever happened.

It still is like that.
Here's the full quote:

You become a virtual fighting machine—stronger, tougher, faster, and more skilled in combat. Your mind-set changes so that you relish combat and you can’t cast spells, even from magic items.

You gain a +4 enhancement bonus to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution, a +4 natural armor bonus to AC, a +5 competence bonus on Fortitude saves, and proficiency with all simple and martial weapons. Your base attack bonus equals your character level (which may give you multiple attacks).

You lose your spellcasting ability, including your ability to use spell trigger or spell completion magic items, just as if the spells were no longer on your class list.

Focusing on the bit in italics while skipping the bolded parts? Yeah, it's a stretch.