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Suppose you have a target you absolutely need to fail a particular saving throw, and you've gotten a wand of polymorph to help improve your odds. Examples:

  • a single dose of an expensive poison or a single spell slot for the flesh to stone spell (Con save);
  • a dominate monster spell (Wis save);
  • an imprisonment spell (Cha save);

or any other save with a long, lingering effect that will outlast the 1 hour duration of polymorph.

Most ordinary beasts have very low Intelligence scores, but what beasts have the worst ability scores for Constitution/Wisdom/Charisma saves like the above, and have the highest odds of failing those saving throws?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Why would you want to burn your dominate monster spell on a single quipper or frog? I mean its interesting for curiosity reasons to know which beasts have low scores but the in-game motivation for this seems somewhat far-fetched. \$\endgroup\$
    – Nobody the Hobgoblin
    Commented Mar 19 at 6:31
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    \$\begingroup\$ @NobodytheHobgoblin I think the idea is you have a high value non-beast target, then you use polymorph to turn it into a beast (as required by the spell) with a bad save for your domination spell which persists after the polymorph ends. \$\endgroup\$
    – Kirt
    Commented Mar 19 at 7:24
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Kirt I get that, but polymorph itself requires a Wis save, so if your goal is to make it easier to succeed on a Wis save, that ploy is utterly useless. \$\endgroup\$
    – Nobody the Hobgoblin
    Commented Mar 19 at 10:28
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    \$\begingroup\$ @NobodytheHobgoblin except if your source of polymorph is less expensive than the save you're trying to improve. If you have plenty of ways to polymorph a foe but a single use for the powerful save effect, it makes sense to "burn" your inexpensive spells until you get the best odds for your one-time ace. Also that's much more cinematic, but I'm always biased towards those kinds of strategies. \$\endgroup\$
    – Matthieu
    Commented Mar 19 at 13:27

1 Answer 1

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Constitution

Beasts are a healthy lot with an all-natural diet, there's no Constitution modifier lower than -1.

Constitution 8 beasts

  • bat
  • frog
  • hawk
  • owl
  • raven
  • scorpion
  • sea horse
  • spider
  • weasel

Constitution 9 beasts

  • quipper
  • rat

Wisdom

Only four beasts have a -2 Wisdom modifier.

Wisdom 7 beasts

  • giant boar
  • giant centipede
  • giant fire beetle
  • quipper

Wisdom 8 beasts

  • camel
  • crab
  • frog
  • lizard
  • scorpion

Wisdom 9 beasts

  • boar
  • giant crab
  • giant scorpion
  • pteranodon

Charisma

There are plenty of Intelligence 1 beasts, but there are no Charisma 1 beasts. Oozes like the gelatinous cube have Charisma 1, but even a spider needs to somehow secure a mate for sexual reproduction.

Charisma 2 beasts

  • crab
  • quipper
  • scorpion
  • sea horse
  • spider

Charisma 3 beasts

  • constrictor snake
  • frog
  • giant centipede
  • giant constrictor snake
  • giant crab
  • giant fire beetle
  • giant frog
  • giant poisonous snake
  • giant scorpion
  • giant toad
  • giant wasp
  • lizard
  • poisonous snake
  • weasel

Only the quipper is at the bottom of all tiers

The quipper has -1 to Con saves, -2 to Wis saves, and -4 to Cha saves. (The more traditional frog is only two out of three - it has a -1 Wis modifier.) A quipper can 'hold its breath' - so to speak - outside of water for 30 seconds, and drops to 0 hp 1 round after that, which ends the polymorph spell, so put it in a fish bowl long enough to do whatever you need to.

Quippers, frogs, and any other beasts with Charisma 3 or lower literally can't meet a spell save DC of 17 against the imprisonment spell, effectively guaranteeing the caster will succeed.

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