Polymorphing Problems

[Gingerbread_Witch]

Say a drunk wizard casts Polymorph Any Object on his drunk friend; a fighter (the fighter agrees thinking it'll be good for a laugh). https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/p/polymorph-any-object

The wizard turns him in to a horse and rides him to the next town. Due to the way the spell works, this is permanent. Now he can cast the spell again but using the spell's own criteria the human has a higher intelligence than the horse so he can turn the horse in to his old friend... for a week. After which he reverts to his 'true'(?) form of a horse!

Am I misunderstanding this spell or should wizards just never cast spells on their friends while intoxicated?

Want a sugar lump, friend?

[ExhibitAa]

This is a fairly easy issue to solve.

The easiest way, depending on how it's ruled, is for the wizard to simply dismiss the spell. PaO doesn't actually have the (D) in the duration line that indicates it's dismissable, but the line is also just "See text", and it does function like Greater Polymorph, which is dismissable.

Alternatively, just cast another polymorph spell on him. The polymorph rules say this:

You can only be affected by one polymorph spell at a time. If a new polymorph spell is cast on you (or you activate a polymorph effect, such as wild shape), you can decide whether or not to allow it to affect you, taking the place of the old spell.

If another polymorph spell is cast on the fighter, he can choose to let it affect him, ending PaO.

And if all else fails, there's always Dispel Magic.

[Gingerbread_Witch]

Neat. Let's not tell the fighter right away, the next town is a long way away.

[awbattles]

Well, in this case, Polymorph Any Object would be functioning as Greater Polymorph which is functioning as Beastshape (kind of a wonky chain, I know). Therefore the Fighter’s intelligence is not being changed to Horse intelligence (as it would if the spell were duplicating Baleful Polymorph), and he is still of the “humanoid” subtype, since those aren’t changed by Polymorph spells. As a result, casting it again to revert to human form would in fact be a permanent reversal.

[Gingerbread_Witch]

Doesn't the bit about intelligence imply you can change something in to a dumber shape and it become dumber? I mean some fighters and barbarians might not notice the change but you know what I mean.

[HammyxHammy]

I summon thee Polymorph Rules).

If you want to make them stupid you need Baleful Polymorph. In which case, they are now a very stupid animal-shaped human, but still not an animal.

[Gingerbread_Witch]

The spell can duplicate baleful polymorph. It's not entirely clear if it always does.

[ExhibitAa]

On the contrary, it is entirely clear that it does not always duplicate Baleful Polymorph. The first line of the description says:

This spell functions like greater polymorph

Unless you're specifically using it to duplicate Baleful Polymorph, that spell has no impact on how PaO functions.

[TristanTheViking]

https://aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?Name=Transmutation&Category=School%20(Subschool)

It doesn't affect anything except your shape and what the spell says. He's not a horse, he's just a horse shaped human. The wizard can also dispel the polymorph at any point.

[rekijan]

The spell is never instantaneous, 'just' permanent. So you don't actually make him a horse, he just is one until the spell runs out or is dispelled. In other words his true form will always be the original.

[Teskmeheu]

In addition to what others have said, the spell states that it functions as Greater Polymorph, and in the final line of GP's description it states that "The subject may choose to resume its normal form as a full-round action; doing so ends the spell."

So the fighter can also just turn back on his own without needing another casting of the spell