บท 9: By the Power of Polymorph!

"Hahahahaha! Polymorph, what a great joke!" Eranoth laughed.

"This chapter is going to be a bit quick. In short, Polymorph is either very LAZY or very GODLY! (Or both) Seriously, shapeshifting in this way will lead to a very broken world quickly. This is something that if you use it, be prepared for potentially harmful ramifications."

"Among all of the shapeshifting lore out there, polymorph, along with a few other things of very similar nature, function under the sole rule: 'It's magical, don't question it.'

The stereotypical dragon transformation power is usually portrayed in a very similar fashion. 'It's a dragon's special power, don't question it.' Thankfully, there is dragon lore pertaining to their shapeshifting abilities that do make sense (for another chapter another time). But, sadly from what I have seen, people prefer the lazy path especially with powerful beings.

Polymorph doesn't have a 'how this works'. Logically, it makes no sense even if applied to magic. The skill is way too Godly for mortal minds to comprehend…"

Eranoth shook his head. "Let me put it into perspective a bit. I am a master wizard. I can turn you into anything I want with a simple wave of my hand. By touching you with my magic, you are now something completely different with NO issues. Another example: I am a powerful dragon. I can become anything I want at will. You don't know if I am the cat that has been stalking you for the last few days or not. Oh, and there is no side effects to my transformation. It isn't a disguise though, I really am a cat, physically, but I retain all my dragon strength. There is no way to stop me from turning back into my majestic self. And while I am a cat, I can still demolish this entire town with a swipe of my tiny paw."

"How many stupid things did you just read in that paragraph alone? That, my friends is the extreme end of polymorph and similar abilities because of the lack of proper rules or logic."

"Now, to explain the other half of the statement, Godly skill. Considering how many problems polymorph (and similarly lazy abilities) bring up, let us put it into one of the only ways lazy works.

Godly, or arch-fiendish power. Readers will rarely question the 'hows' for the extreme sources of power. If it is a god or an arch-fiend you can add the descriptive clause called. "Powerful being has used their power to reshape your existence how they please. The major detriment to this is if they can do it to you, what is to stop them from doing it to whomever they please?"

In D&D 3.5, Wildshape is also lazy. "I can turn into an animal because I am a druid, don't question it... (I don't know about the other versions because I haven't played much of them.) I understand that Druidism is very selective about what is public knowledge and what is exclusive knowledge, but when you give up halfway into your explanations and go with the don't question it attitude, you only invite disaster upon yourself.

Thankfully, those who have gone with this lazy approach, have created ways to inhibit the extremes through 'made up rules'. Like, you can only turn into a bear if you are strong enough to handle that transformation. Or this spell only works up to such a level of power. Or this spell only works on those that are willing. Etc. These however are only Band-Aids and bandages to cover the holes in your plot. They don't fix the core of the problem. As an author you have no idea how your shape shifting actually operates. Because of this, it is easy to accidently go to an exteme.

In my chapter 1 I brought up the scene in Harry Potter 4. If you don't know the 'how' you don't have the knowledge of the 'not how'. As Fellow author Murakami_Takai pointed out in his comments in chapter 1, Lawlessness in stories leading to problems, applies to significantly more than just shapeshifting."

FYI this rant about lawless transformations is different from the druidic and shamanic shapeshifting skills. There are examples of how they work. Druidic and Shamanic shifting are not lazy, you just have to take the time to comprehend it. But those are topics for a different chapter.

Hope you all enjoyed my rant on the stupidity of lazy lore!"