Basic Transmuter/Form questions

[arpade]

Hey!
I was thinking of playing around with a few classes i never tried, and I've never played a transmuter.

I wanted to ask things which will be relevant in chosing race in regards to interactions with forms.
When a Alterer transforms, does he retain original HP (should i worry about having a good Con score if i want to fight with a alterer)?  Or maybe they gain new HP based on spellcasting? Does spellcasting ability affect the form's fighting in any way (translate to hit/dam or something)?

What about resistances, do we keep our original?

I imagine racial specifics are lost (like a draconian regeneration)?

Do any item effects maintain when transformed? I imagine auto-cast items wont proc, but any that give buffs continue to work? (enlarge, regeneration, etc?)

Thanks!

[Raider]

Each form has its own stats - str, dex, con, hr/dr, resistances, number of attacks(hidden), dodge (hidden).
Int and wis are -2 from your true form. In general you dont want to gain level in forms, because their con is somewhat low.

Your hp, saves, hp/mv/mana regen,  +vs race damage and +af are retained when shapeshifted. Autocasts, item skills - dont work.
Resistances are overwriten by the form. So true form resists have no effect. Same with shrink/enlarge - this spell gets stripped when you shift (bug?).
Elven sneak works (bug?), other racial skills - do not.

You lose 20 mana each tick to maintain the form. So you dont regen mana naturally when shapeshifted.

In short you want a race with the highest con (for hp) and int (for mana and faster mastering) - gnome or human. Or with sneak (h-elf) for pvp.
Forms from the books are restricted to your align, so it is a consideration as well.

You can pick offense or defense as your 'focus' at lvl 16. This only determines which form will be granted first. So if you picked offense, you get jackal/fox at 16 and hare/turtle around 20.
As an alter you get your first major form at 26-28 and second at 31-33.