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I am DMing a level 20 "3-shot" set in the present day. I am trying to run the sessions as RAW as possible.

After our first session, a player whose character can cast True Polymorph wanted to polymorph a Commoner NPC into a stronger creature so they could enlist them to their cause.

The True Polymorph spell prevents turning one creature into another, more powerful, creature. However, the player asked if he could get around this by turning the target into an object first.

My instinct says that he could potentially do that, but by True Polymorphing a creature into an object – say, a rock – it becomes a rock. Therefore, when you cast it again it is functionally no different than casting True Polymorph on a rock to start with, meaning the creature has no memories of who or what they were as a human.

How would this work, by RAW?

V2Blast
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Garrett
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  • Welcome to RPG.SE! Take the [tour] if you haven't already, and check out the [help] for more guidance. – V2Blast Apr 21 '23 at 23:32

1 Answers1

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True Polymorph has duration of concentration; up to one hour, or permanent. Thus, a commoner turned into stone is not just a stone. It's still a commoner with a spell on them.

The PHB rules for combining magical effects state:

The effects of the same spell cast multiple times don't combine, however. Instead, the most potent effect--such as the highest bonus--from those castings applies while their durations overlap, or the most recent effect applies if the castings are equally potent and their durations overlap.

So, when you cast a second True Polymorph on the commoner already true polymorphed into stone, the first True Polymorph ceases to function, and the second one works as if the first one were never there. In effect, you still have to work with the CR limit of the original creature, because you are polymorphing a creature into a creature.

If the second casting would end before the duration of the first one, the first one would resume. For example, if "True Polymorph into stone" is permanent, and you "True Polymorph into a goblin" your commoner, and drop concentration after 15 minutes, he will go back to being a stone. But until then, the first casting does not count, as if it weren't there.

Mołot
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  • Re: "If the second casting would end before the duration of the first one": That is complicated and worthy of more detail. Depending on circumstances, the second casting might end first, but so might the first one, or both could end simultaneously. – Kirt Apr 21 '23 at 23:56
  • This is pretty frustrating. Why is the spell called "True" if this is the actual result...? – Qami Apr 22 '23 at 01:01
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    @Qami I can't answer that, I can only show the rules and explain how they work. If the effect was instantaneous, it would be more in line with what you seem to expect. But instead it's permanent, in other words "duration: until dispelled or something". It is what it is, it's not my place to say why. – Mołot Apr 22 '23 at 12:31
  • You already had my upvote, but I think the example makes it clearer. – Kirt Apr 22 '23 at 14:59
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    @Qami True does not mean unlimited. It is still subject to the overarching rule that Mołot cites about simultaneous same-named effects and still subject to the game-balancing principle of 'you can't turn a stone into an unlimited CR monster'. In this sense, 'true' means 'superior to 4th level polymorph' because it is not limited by kingdom (you can turn creatures into objects and vice versa), not limited by concentration (you can make it permanent until dispelled), and not limited by type (you can make creatures that are not beasts and have explicitly magical powers like spellcasting ability). – Kirt Apr 22 '23 at 15:04
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    I think this ruling also fits with how the players will expect it to work. If a woman gets transformed into a necklace, I think we would expect that transforming the necklace into a woman would get us the original person back, and transforming it into a llama would get us a llama with the woman's mind (as limited by llama intelligence). We wouldn't expect that re-transforming a transformed person would get us a brand new person unrelated to the original one. – Darth Pseudonym Apr 22 '23 at 18:08
  • @Qami: You know it can also be ended by Dispel Magic, right? It's still a magic polymorph effect, not reshaping the essence of the creature in a way that would continue even in an antimagic field. And if the creature reaches 0 hp, their form reverts with their original HP. (Rather than just dying or becoming unconscious, if their original form had been erased.) If you wanted a spell that worked that way, you might call it "reshape creature". Or "Widogast's Transmogrification". – Peter Cordes Apr 22 '23 at 18:24
  • This argument also stops you from stacking True Polymorphs on a PC during downtime, so they revert through a chain of powerful beings (especially dragons) with full HP pools before eventually reverting to their true form. I thought I remembered a Q&A about that, but a search didn't find any recent questions. – Peter Cordes Apr 22 '23 at 18:33