PC swallowed whole by giant toad - polymorphed the toad into a caterpillar

[sorvan76]

What should happen to the swallowed dwarf?

Last night in my campaign (5E, Forgotten Realms) a dwarf paladin PC got swallowed whole by a giant toad. One of the party members (an elven bladesinger) cast polymorph on the giant toad. It failed the save, changed it into a caterpillar. It was in the middle of a frantic life-or-death combat during a swamp encounter. I let the dwarf off lightly by keeping him intact, effectively one-hit-killing the toad. I'm wondering how other DMs might have handled this? To be fair, it was quite funny and I did award an inspiration point to the elf for his quick-thinking and the jokes after it.

[Jiminimonka]

What should happen to the swallowed dwarf?

Last night in my campaign (5E, Forgotten Realms) a dwarf paladin PC got swallowed whole by a giant toad. One of the party members (an elven bladesinger) cast polymorph on the giant toad. It failed the save, changed it into a caterpillar. It was in the middle of a frantic life-or-death combat during a swamp encounter. I let the dwarf off lightly by keeping him intact, effectively one-hit-killing the toad. I'm wondering how other DMs might have handled this? To be fair, it was quite funny and I did award an inspiration point to the elf for his quick-thinking and the jokes after it.

Good call. Let the players do out of the box stuff but having a chance to fail would be good too if handled correctly.. like the dwarf got turned into a caterpillar....

[damned]

When I read the subject line I thought it was a colorful description of your computer dying and you losing all your work!

[LordEntrails]

If the table was laughing and smiling then the solution was a good one!

[Nyarly Dude]

Minor force damage to both + dwarf is shunted into a nearest unoccupied space.

[Griogre]

First, as others have said if it was fun then that's the goal of gaming.

However that is not how the Polymorph spell in 5E works. It's suppose to work like Banishing something that isn't extra planar.

This spell transforms a creature that you can see within range into a new form. An unwilling creature must make a Wisdom saving throw to avoid the effect. The spell has no effect on a shapechanger or a creature with 0 hit points.

The transformation lasts for the duration, or until the target drops to 0 hit points or dies. The new form can be any beast whose challenge rating is equal to or less than the target's (or the target's level, if it doesn't have a challenge rating). The target's game statistics, including mental ability scores, are replaced by the statistics of the chosen beast. It retains its alignment and personality.

The target assumes the hit points of its new form. When it reverts to its normal form, the creature returns to the number of hit points it had before it transformed. If it reverts as a result of dropping to 0 hit points, any excess damage carries over to its normal form. As long as the excess damage doesn't reduce the creature's normal form to 0 hit points, it isn't knocked unconscious.

The creature is limited in the actions it can perform by the nature of its new form, and it can't speak, cast spells, or take any other action that requires hands or speech.

The target's gear melds into the new form. The creature can't activate, use, wield, or otherwise benefit from any of its equipment.

Basically when the caterpillar "died" the toad should have come back with a few less hp. Personally, as the bladesinger cast a major spell I would have ruled the dwarf was outside the toad and continued the toad battle. The spell really isn't clear on what should have happened to the dwarf - but it is very clear that the toad should have come back with the death of the caterpillar.