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Can you polymorph to a creature that is wearing armor?

In game GM polymorphed an NPC to an armored sabretooth tiger (plate armor). Is that legal?. The NPC would turn into a regular sabretooth with no half plate right?

Thomas Markov
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Jhyarelle Silver
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    Has your GM communicated an intent to always try to stick to rules as written? – Kryomaani Oct 05 '23 at 17:49
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    See also Is the DM Always Right? (tl;dr: yes) – Philipp Oct 06 '23 at 13:50
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    Your question's title is wrong. That's what my down vote is for. The DM is a special case for the use of spells, and custom spells. Also, are you playing a published adventure or a home brew adventure? Lastly, it is very bad form, and quite frankly bad manners, to "appeal to the internet" when you have not first discussed this with your DM. If you have discussed this with the DM (which I doubt, but please surprise me) then what was the result of that conversation? Add the details of that to your question, please. – KorvinStarmast Oct 06 '23 at 15:53
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    @KorvinStarmast: This is a good point. If someone wants to talk about it with their DM (after the game), a good opening question might be "Last game, x polymorphed y into an armored saber-toothed tiger, right? Is that something players can do with polymorph, or was that a special case? I thought polymorph normally wouldn't be able to create the armor." This phrasing takes it as a given that the DM can in general have NPCs do things PCs can't, although narrative justifications are nice. And hints toward intentional rule-bend vs. didn't think about it in this case when choosing a Beast. – Peter Cordes Oct 07 '23 at 01:56

2 Answers2

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It would turn into an Armored Saber-Toothed Tiger without armor and with 12 AC.

I distinguish here from just saying it turns into a regular Saber-Toothed Tiger because a Saber-Toothed Tiger has different stats from the Armored Saber-Toothed Tiger from Curse of Strahd, not just different AC.

Borrowing mostly from this answer, which focuses on True Polymorph, but is applicable here:

Though not official, this tweet from Jeremy Crawford indicates that you do not receive the equipment of a creature:

True polymorph: if you turn into a creature, you don't also get gear from the transformation.

(He clarifies in a followup tweet that the same also applies to other transformation spells.)

The interpretation of "A spell does (only) what the description says" is consistent with how spell effects are interpreted elsewhere, and equipment is not mentioned in the spell.

This interpretation also prevents the duplication of magic items (such as a Drow Matron Mother's Tentacle Rod) or artifacts that should otherwise be unique. This is pertinent considering that True Polymorphing a creature into an object carries the requirement that the object be nonmagical.

That being said, if the DM is doing this, let them bend the rules a bit.

It's likely the DM wants a challenge or just something to create a memorable moment. No need to nitpick what exact spell was used (maybe a special version of polymorph), or maybe it was a magical item that kept the NPCs shape, or the NPC has some innate magical skills, doesn't matter. DMs bending rules for fun is better, IMO, than them strictly following every rule. He's likely just saving some time: he could homebrew some Scaly Saber-Tooth Tiger with 17 natural armor and call it a day.

BlueMoon93
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  • I think the first part is right, but a DM who does something that the players can't copy is not playing fair to me.A scaly saber-tooth tiger at least works both ways. – SeriousBri Oct 05 '23 at 21:51
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    @SeriousBri I think that depends a lot on the type of game you play and how often this trick is pulled. If you're playing in an "adversarial tabletop game" style then yes, this is definitely isn't playing fair. But if the game is more "explore the unknown" or "there is a great evil over the land", doing this once or twice on key occasions is par for the course. It is however important not to do it too often, as that would take away player agency and also that unless you do intend to go into "life is suffering" mode (see Call of Cthulhu), make sure you're consistent. – biziclop Oct 05 '23 at 22:25
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    And what I mean by "key occasions" is for example a story where they encounter this "beast", slay it and then immediately go "okay folks, what the heck just happened here". And then they trot off to find out. Here the transgression of RAW is not just a random thing, it's a driver of the story and the exploration that follows. A different example is if you wonder into the Feywild, where it's pretty much anything goes. You positively expect nothing to work as you'd imagine, so DM's can go (fey)wild with it. – biziclop Oct 05 '23 at 22:29
  • @SeriousBri be a lvl20 Moon Druid. Wildshape into a sabretooth tiger. Don some armor. Polymorph back into (demi-)human, choosing to meld your equipment into new form. Confront your opponents. Drop concentration on Polymorph and turn back into armored sabretooth tiger. – Revolver_Ocelot Oct 06 '23 at 10:45
  • @Revolver_Ocelot I think your point just proves that this is unfair. – SeriousBri Oct 06 '23 at 11:09
  • @biziclop it's not about adversarial or not, it's about fair. If a spell acts differently for an NPC that's ok as long as I can learn it or there is a gizmo doing it or some plot reason, but if it's 'just coz' that will always suck imo. But my point was more to be careful with advice like this because what is fun for one person isn't fun for another. – SeriousBri Oct 06 '23 at 11:11
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    @SeriousBri and what makes you think that it isn't one of the things you described? Yo are familiar with the plot? You searched NPC body and found no signs of the gismos? You talked to gods and they told you that here are no such spell exist? What makes you think that wasn't an intelligent armored sabretooth tiger capable of Change Shape masquerading as an NPC? Or if someone just dropped concentration on Polymorph spell? You have one question with little background information, no indication what exactly happened, and what spell (if it was spell) was used. – Revolver_Ocelot Oct 06 '23 at 12:47
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    And that not even taking into account that 95% of the MM are doing stuff players won't be able to get access to. Does Ancient Gold Dragon using his Legendary or Lair actions perform a crime against fairness? How can a character get permanent invisibility? Or the ability to use spells without needing any components? Cast Resurrection for free? Don't forget that basis of the published adventures can often be described as "bad guys are doing stuff you won't ever be able to do". Even DMG says that monsters are not characters and should not be built with character constraints in mind. – Revolver_Ocelot Oct 06 '23 at 12:48
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    +1 for "let the DM bend the rules". Most likely, the DM is just looking to give your group an interesting challenge. Changing the encounter after it's been designed by rules-lawyering is unlikely to improve the experience for anyone. – Jorn Oct 06 '23 at 12:56
  • There is a saber tooth tiger with half plate armor/barding in one of the published adventures. (See comments under Thomas Markov's answer). – KorvinStarmast Oct 06 '23 at 15:56
  • @Revolver_Ocelot I mean you are taking this to a crazy level, but if I true polymorphed into a dragon and made a lair I would definitely expect the DM to give me lair actions. My only real point was that it isn't always fun for everyone, doesn't matter how many arguments you make, it isn't fun for me, therefore it isn't fun for everyone. – SeriousBri Oct 06 '23 at 20:18
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"The target's game statistics, including mental ability scores, are replaced by the statistics of the chosen beast."

Polymorph states:

The target's game statistics, including mental ability scores, are replaced by the statistics of the chosen beast.

The "statistics of the chosen beast" refers to the beast's printed statblock. If the chosen beast's printed statblock doesn't have it wearing armor, then the resulting form of polymorph is not wearing armor. So the situation you describe would not be consistent with the rules as written, since there is no statblock for a sabre tooth tiger wearing armor. However, the DM can also do whatever they want.

Thomas Markov
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