The Pen-Ultimate Guide Around The Stone Skin Spell
The Pen-Ultimate Guide Around The Stone Skin Spell
by Jens-Arthur Leirbakk


"Will the defendant please rise!" The multi-toned voice of the Tribunal of Dungeon Masters rang out over the crowd, and an expectant hush settled over the audience. Slowly, the nervous spell, Stoneskin, got up.

"You are charged with being too powerful for a mere 4th level spell!" the tribunal intoned, while several of the other spells nodded in agreement, among them the weird but powerful Wish, the stately Ironguard, and the cunning Protection from Normal Weapons.

"What do you have to say in your defense?"

Stoneskin tentatively cleared its throat, and wished he could call himself on himself, to let himself lend him some strength and toughness. Of course, calling spells is not allowed in the Great Hall, so he restricted himself to whispering a brief prayer to Midnight, the goddess of magic.

"Well, Your Honors, I have several things I would like to present to the Jury in my defense."

With that, he began on a long, rallying speech in defense of himself, and his integrity, painfully aware of all the versions of himself altered by angry DMs all over the world. Nevertheless, he might just make it, he decided.


The offender:Stoneskin (4th level, Alteration)

Here are some of the common misconceptions about the spell, and their refutation:

  • It is possible to stack the spell, thereby creating immunity to an immense number of attacks.
  • The Stoneskin spell protects only against attacks that originally hit the character. Now, with my AC of -5... Now, let's consider other ways around the spell. First, we do the mundane ways that I could come up with during a 5-minute brainstorm.

  • The 20 Kobolds Trap
  • Poison
  • Availability
  • Breathing would be cool now and then...
  • Hanging tough
  • And the walls came tumbling down...
  • Hanging tough 2
  • Don't get antsy now
  • Do you feel a burning sensation? Now, over to the magical ways around the spell. The spells were selected specifically to counteract the Stoneskin spell, either because of multiple attacks, inescapable effects, or other debilitating effects which will impair the combat effectiveness of the Stoneskinned person.

    Here we go for the magical variations. First, a word about magical weapons. Magical weapons which depend on a wound to work, will not work. The weapon itself will never cause any damage, but the special effects may still work. What I mean is - though a Vorpal Sword may not decapitate a person protected by a Stoneskin, a "normal" flaming sword will still burn the person protected by the Stoneskin... but the sword per se will not damage the Stoneskinned person. Weapons whose special effect may or may not work (taken from the top of my head - I am sure that you can find more if you go through the Encyclopedia of Magic, your copy of the DMG, or whatever):

    I think you get the idea. Back to the spells able to counteract the Stoneskin. Remember that the spell does not, at ALL, protect against spells... Also, I have not included all of the mundane, no-brainer attack spells like Fireball and Chain Lightning. First, the wizard spells.

    1st level Wizard spells:

    Audible Glamer   - distracting a person, luring them off the edge of cliffs
    Charm Person     - obvious; if you can't beat them, join them
    Color Spray      - same as Charm Person
    Enlarge (r)      - make'em small, then kick them away
    Magic Missile    - at high levels, this counts as a good amount of attacks
    Phantasmal Force - same as Audible Glamer
    
    2nd level Wizard spells:
    Bind                      - incapacitating and distracting
    Flaming Sphere            - lasts several rounds, worth many attacks
    Hypnotic Pattern          - same as Bind
    Improved Phantasmal Force - same as Audible Glamer
    Melf's Acid Arrow         - lasts several rounds
    Stinking Cloud            - same as Bind
    Summon Swarm              - lasts several rounds, counts as many attacks
    
    3rd level Wizard spells:
    Dispel Magic          - pretty obvious, isn't it?
    Flame Arrow           - worth several attacks
    Hold Person           - incapacitating
    Melf's Minute Meteors - worth a multitude of attacks
    Sepia Snake Sigil     - incapacitating
    Slow                  - impairs combat effectiveness
    Spectral Force        - same as Audible Glamer
    Vampiric Touch        - weakens opponent, counts as an attack, beneficial
    
    4th level Wizard spells:
    Charm Monster           - if you can't beat them, charm them
    Confusion               - incapacitating
    Contagion               - heh
    Emotion                 - hmm, can have interesting effects
    Enervation              - evil one
    Evard's Black Tentacles - this is a spell, remember?
    Fire Charm              - incapacitating
    Fire Shield             - Stoneskin, and goad your opponent to hit you
    Fire Trap               - nasty on doors... and in a maze?
    Hallucinatory Terrain   - there isn't really a pit there you know
    Ice Storm               - the hailstorm variant is a multitude of attacks
    Illusionary Wall        - disorienting
    Phantasmal Killer       - it's all in your mind
    Rainbow Pattern         - incapacitating
    Stoneskin               - takes a thief to catch one
    Wall of Fire            - attacks, and damages
    Wall of Ice             - ice sheet, impedes progress
    
    5th level Wizard spells:
    Advanced Illusion     - disorienting
    Chaos                 - disorienting
    Cloudkill             - Stoneskin doesn't protect against this
    Hold Monster          - incapacitating
    Summon Swarm          - worth many attacks
    Summon Shadow         - saps Strength
    Transmute Rock to Mud - incapacitating, drowning?
    Wall of Force         - impedes progress
    Wall of Iron          - impedes progress
    Wall of Stone         - impedes progress
    
    6th level Wizard spells:
    Anti-Magic Shell    - heh, now you're protected, now you're not
    Death Fog           - obvious
    Death Spell         - obvious
    Disintegrate        - heh, you're a goner, literally
    Eyebite             - this is evil
    Geas                - so is this
    Permanent Illusion  - as Audible Glamer
    Programmed Illusion - even more effective
    Project Image       - I am standing in front of your friend... NOT
    
    7th level Wizard spells:
    Finger of Death     - obvious
    Force Cage          - well, impedes progress at least
    Mordekainen's Sword - again, doesn't protect against spells, remember?
    Power Word Stun     - heh, you're stunned
    Prismatic Spray     - incapacitating
    
    8th level Wizard spells:
    Bigby's Clenched Fist     - impedes progress
    Incendiary Cloud          - ouch
    Mass Charm                - if you can't beat'em, join 'em
    Otto's Irresistible Dance - heh, feel for a jig? Nasty for spellcasting
    Power Word Blind          - now you see me, now you don't
    Prismatic Wall            - yeah
    Trap the Soul             - nasty doesn't begin to describe it
    
    9th level Wizard spells:
    Bigby's Crushing Hand - well
    Meteor Swarm          - large scale destruction
    Power Word Kill       - death might not be too good for you
    Prismatic Sphere      - untouchable, are we now?
    Temporal Stasis       - impedes progress
    Weird                 - heh, weird
    
    1st level Priest spells:
    Command  - yeah (my favourite? Defecate!)
    Entangle - impedes progress
    
    2nd level Priest spells:
    Charm Person or Mammal - join them
    Fire Trap              - yeah, like, boom (Incidentally, I once used this spell for mines)
    Flame Blade            - this is a spell, so it'll go right through Stoneskin
    Hold Person            - scared stiff?
    
    3rd level Priest spells:
    Dispel Magic     - obvious
    Glyph of Warding - obvious
    Summon Insects   - multitude of attacks from little bugs
    
    4th level Priest spells:
    Neutralize Poison (r) - heh, this would be nasty
    Produce Fire          - is that your hair burning?
    Spell Immunity        - you're immune to Stoneskin or something
    
    5th level Priest spells:
    Insect Plague         - I do so like bugs
    Rainbow               - over the rainbow, skies are blue - bow version
    Transmute Rock to Mud - this drowning sensation
    Wall of Fire          - yeah
    
    6th level Priest spells:
    Blade Barrier  - this is created, so the damage's a part of the spell
    Fire Seed      - creates missiles is the key word
    Heal (r)       - does this Harm you?
    Wall of Thorns - creates a barrier is the key word
    
    7th level Priest spells:
    Chariot Of Sustarre - going to hell in a handbasket, or chariot as the case may be
    Confusion           - what do you wanna do?
    Creeping Doom       - those bugs really bite, don't they?
    Fire Storm          - always useful aren't they
    Wither              - those things're gonna kill you
    Resurrection (r)    - you're gonna be destroyed
    
    I'm sure that you can find other spells as well. Remember, the Stoneskin spell doesn't protect against spells or their effects, so go for the spells that make weapons or the like, such as acid lash, the various Bigby spells, and so on.
    Stoneskin's throat was parched. It sat down, heavily. Funny, it hadn't noticed how wobbly its knees had been while it had stood at the bar. The tribunal pondered Stoneskin's case. Clearly, a good case had been stated for its continuing 4th level Alteration status. Yet, so many had sued against the spell that there had to be some merit in the case against Stoneskin...

    As I've always followed guidelines similar to this one when I've encountered Stoneskin in any of my campaigns, I've never really had problems with the spell. Especially, I think, after the time I did the contact poison trick. (Evil grin? Me? Naah.)