June 25, 2025 • 9 mins
We crack open the Stoneskin spell... first seen in Dragon Magazine, then polished up for Unearthed Arcana. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. What does “a single attack sequence” even mean? Is it one swing, one volley, one round? Does a monk’s flurry count as one or many? Does falling count as an attack? We talk about how DMs have handled it, what makes sense at the table, and when to step in with pure DM fiat. If you’ve ever had a fighter shrug off a fire giant’s club like it was a slap, this one’s for you.
#adnd #ADnDSpells #Unearthed
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:17):
Hey, welcome back to the podcastEvil Dungeon Master Universe
Podcast. I'm your host, Evil Dungeon
Master Vince, and it is Wednesday.
It is time for another podcast. Hopefully you're doing well out
there in podcast land. Middle of the week closer to
getting, you know, the weekend, closer to the 4th of July
holiday weekend. Get some days off for that and
(00:40):
maybe some gaming in for that hopefully.
Or you know, just spend some time with the family.
Whatever. The evil dm.com is my website.
Ask the DM with theevildm.com ismy e-mail address.
patreon.com/the evil DM is whereyou can support me.
On to today's topic. So I got I was looking at some
(01:01):
comments on Spotify and I noticed that one of the
listeners named Jeremy asked me,do you talk about a spell in
Unarthed Arcana called Stoneskin?
Now, I remember this spell very much because the seven, a fourth
(01:22):
level spell that you obtained atseventh level.
And there was a little bit of controversy around the spell
when it came to how the spell was written and what certain
things meant. And this, this spell obviously
came from Dragon Magazine, as all Unarthed Arcana stuff
basically did. When they decided that they
needed more money and wanted to put out a book, they started
(01:44):
putting together on Arthur Arcana and stuff like that.
So this is a fourth level spell.It's touch special.
One creature, verbal, semantic, and material is needed.
One segment, casting time, and there's no saving throw.
So when this spell is cast, the affected creature gains the
virtual immunity to any attack, cut, blow, projectile or the
(02:07):
like. Thus, even a sort of sharpness
would not affect the creature protected by some skin, nor
would a rock hurled by a giant, a snake strike, etcetera would
affect him. However, magical attacks from
such things like Fireball and Magic Missile, Lightning bolt,
and so on forth would have a normal effect.
(02:28):
Any attack or any attack sequence.
That's where it was a little bitweird from a single opponent
dispels the duomer, although it makes the creature immune to
that single attack or attack sequence.
Attacks with relatively soft weapons, such as a monk's hand
(02:49):
or or gorillion's fist will inflict one to two points of
damage on the attacker for each such attack.
While attack creature is protected by Stoneskin spell,
but it will not the spell do it over.
The material components of the spell are granite and diamond
dust sprinkled on the recipient's skin.
(03:11):
So what exactly is the attack sequence?
Something that was, we always kind of wondered, and is that
attack sequence, if the fighter does, you know, 3 attacks, one
attack, what, what exactly is anattack sequence?
I'm assuming attack sequence. And we've always listed an
(03:32):
attack sequence as their actual actions of attack.
So if some creature has a bite, a claw, claw bite, that's
considered an attack sequence. If a fighter has, you know, 3/2
attacks, that's his attack sequence.
Whatever he does with those attacks, as long as it isn't,
it's an offensive attack on the person with the stoneskin.
(03:56):
And yeah, it pretty much that's it.
This spell, well, there is some of a couple things that came up
over the years of people using this spell because this is one
of the spells that once we unleash the unearthed or can a
book and allow people to use it.This is one of the spells that
they look for, especially when they get up at higher levels.
(04:18):
So for instance, how much does this stoneskin spell actually
protect you as far as damage is concerned?
Now it's saying you're virtuallyimmune to any attack sequence
until it's complete and you don't take any damage.
So does that mean that somebody can jump from a castle tower and
(04:43):
land on the ground and walk away, skate free?
Essentially, yes. Yeah, you heard me.
You could jump from heights withthis spell and basically not
take any damage according to thespell.
But is there a limit on this that Adm should impose?
(05:04):
Like, should they allow a playercharacter to jump from hundreds
of feet just to land on the ground and dust off and walk
away like nothing ever happened?Now, when people have done this
in the campaigns that I've run for Stoneskin, I've always
limited to the maximum of 100 feet.
That sounds logical. After that, no, it doesn't work
(05:28):
out so well. So yeah, 100 feet I think is
reasonable that someone with this type of spell be protected.
I mean, this is Adm decision, DMFiat here, so to speak.
So it's really up to your DM andif he doesn't want to allow it,
then he doesn't have to allow itagain, it's his rules and his
(05:48):
campaign. So, and there was always another
argument about this spell is especially if it's Adm that uses
components. Like a lot of times in campaigns
I've really ignored components when it can't.
I didn't want to have to deal with it.
My group didn't want to have to deal with it.
We all agreed that when it came through certain components,
(06:09):
unless it was really, really rare, that they always had a
component pouch. And that if when you went to
town, you automatically spent depending on what level you
were. I think if you were first level,
you'd spend like 5 gold and thatwould give you enough to
supplement your spells that you needed.
(06:30):
And then as we went up in level,we multiplied it by level 1015,
things like that. 2030 gold to the point that you were spending
100 gold every time you went into town to refill your magical
pouch of components. And we also made a deal that if
(06:50):
you didn't use it, you would have to pay half of what it was
regardless if you use spells or not that day, because it was
just one of those things becauseyou need components for these
spells, obviously. So we all came to a certain deal
that regardless if you used it or not, you're still paying a
certain amount and it's better than having to go make sure you
(07:11):
have exactly every little component.
Now diamond dust, on the other hand, was always something that
we said that you had to actuallyobtain because diamonds aren't
something you could just walk intown with.
Hey, can I have some diamonds? It's not like modern day where
you can go to the store and buy yourself a diamond ring for that
girl you want to marry and then not like her.
(07:35):
But diamond dust is hard to find.
So it's going to be, well, it doesn't actually say how much
granite or how much diamond dustyou need.
It just says sprinkled on the skin.
So is a pinch an ounce? I don't know, do whatever you
want. It's a pinch.
So we would say that you would buy diamond dust or find
(07:57):
diamonds and destroy diamonds and dust it and you would have
it for quite some time because really you're not going to be
casting a fourth level spell that often.
Generally, like I said, in the past, most of the campaigns I've
been a part of never really get that high.
So being 7th level was kind of near the tail end of when we
would stop playing, maybe around8th the most 9th.
(08:22):
So you really weren't using too many different spells or, you
know, basically was the end of the campaign at that point.
But this spell spell can be I found on page 57.
I honestly want to hear what youguys think in the comments about
the Stoneskin spell and if it could be used for fall damage or
(08:48):
something like that. Like what a rock is thrown at
you. Yeah, sure, you'll be thrown and
you know the rock hurled at you.Boom, you go flying.
Now after you go flying, do you take damage?
Maybe. I don't know.
You tell me in the comments. I want to hear your decision on
this as Adm. Please comment below in Spotify
(09:10):
or YouTube or bitch shoot or wherever else you could find
this podcast. If there's a comment, then you
can comment. Excuse me.
With that said, I'm going to head out.
Keep it original, keep it old school.
Goodnight and God bless everybody.
Hey, welcome back to the podcastEvil Dungeon Master Universe
Podcast. I'm your host, Evil Dungeon
Master Vince, and it is Wednesday.
It is time for another podcast. Hopefully you're doing well out
there in podcast land. Middle of the week closer to
getting, you know, the weekend, closer to the 4th of July
holiday weekend. Get some days off for that and
(00:40):
maybe some gaming in for that hopefully.
Or you know, just spend some time with the family.
Whatever. The evil dm.com is my website.
Ask the DM with theevildm.com ismy e-mail address.
patreon.com/the evil DM is whereyou can support me.
On to today's topic. So I got I was looking at some
(01:01):
comments on Spotify and I noticed that one of the
listeners named Jeremy asked me,do you talk about a spell in
Unarthed Arcana called Stoneskin?
Now, I remember this spell very much because the seven, a fourth
(01:22):
level spell that you obtained atseventh level.
And there was a little bit of controversy around the spell
when it came to how the spell was written and what certain
things meant. And this, this spell obviously
came from Dragon Magazine, as all Unarthed Arcana stuff
basically did. When they decided that they
needed more money and wanted to put out a book, they started
(01:44):
putting together on Arthur Arcana and stuff like that.
So this is a fourth level spell.It's touch special.
One creature, verbal, semantic, and material is needed.
One segment, casting time, and there's no saving throw.
So when this spell is cast, the affected creature gains the
virtual immunity to any attack, cut, blow, projectile or the
(02:07):
like. Thus, even a sort of sharpness
would not affect the creature protected by some skin, nor
would a rock hurled by a giant, a snake strike, etcetera would
affect him. However, magical attacks from
such things like Fireball and Magic Missile, Lightning bolt,
and so on forth would have a normal effect.
(02:28):
Any attack or any attack sequence.
That's where it was a little bitweird from a single opponent
dispels the duomer, although it makes the creature immune to
that single attack or attack sequence.
Attacks with relatively soft weapons, such as a monk's hand
(02:49):
or or gorillion's fist will inflict one to two points of
damage on the attacker for each such attack.
While attack creature is protected by Stoneskin spell,
but it will not the spell do it over.
The material components of the spell are granite and diamond
dust sprinkled on the recipient's skin.
(03:11):
So what exactly is the attack sequence?
Something that was, we always kind of wondered, and is that
attack sequence, if the fighter does, you know, 3 attacks, one
attack, what, what exactly is anattack sequence?
I'm assuming attack sequence. And we've always listed an
(03:32):
attack sequence as their actual actions of attack.
So if some creature has a bite, a claw, claw bite, that's
considered an attack sequence. If a fighter has, you know, 3/2
attacks, that's his attack sequence.
Whatever he does with those attacks, as long as it isn't,
it's an offensive attack on the person with the stoneskin.
(03:56):
And yeah, it pretty much that's it.
This spell, well, there is some of a couple things that came up
over the years of people using this spell because this is one
of the spells that once we unleash the unearthed or can a
book and allow people to use it.This is one of the spells that
they look for, especially when they get up at higher levels.
(04:18):
So for instance, how much does this stoneskin spell actually
protect you as far as damage is concerned?
Now it's saying you're virtuallyimmune to any attack sequence
until it's complete and you don't take any damage.
So does that mean that somebody can jump from a castle tower and
(04:43):
land on the ground and walk away, skate free?
Essentially, yes. Yeah, you heard me.
You could jump from heights withthis spell and basically not
take any damage according to thespell.
But is there a limit on this that Adm should impose?
(05:04):
Like, should they allow a playercharacter to jump from hundreds
of feet just to land on the ground and dust off and walk
away like nothing ever happened?Now, when people have done this
in the campaigns that I've run for Stoneskin, I've always
limited to the maximum of 100 feet.
That sounds logical. After that, no, it doesn't work
(05:28):
out so well. So yeah, 100 feet I think is
reasonable that someone with this type of spell be protected.
I mean, this is Adm decision, DMFiat here, so to speak.
So it's really up to your DM andif he doesn't want to allow it,
then he doesn't have to allow itagain, it's his rules and his
(05:48):
campaign. So, and there was always another
argument about this spell is especially if it's Adm that uses
components. Like a lot of times in campaigns
I've really ignored components when it can't.
I didn't want to have to deal with it.
My group didn't want to have to deal with it.
We all agreed that when it came through certain components,
(06:09):
unless it was really, really rare, that they always had a
component pouch. And that if when you went to
town, you automatically spent depending on what level you
were. I think if you were first level,
you'd spend like 5 gold and thatwould give you enough to
supplement your spells that you needed.
(06:30):
And then as we went up in level,we multiplied it by level 1015,
things like that. 2030 gold to the point that you were spending
100 gold every time you went into town to refill your magical
pouch of components. And we also made a deal that if
(06:50):
you didn't use it, you would have to pay half of what it was
regardless if you use spells or not that day, because it was
just one of those things becauseyou need components for these
spells, obviously. So we all came to a certain deal
that regardless if you used it or not, you're still paying a
certain amount and it's better than having to go make sure you
(07:11):
have exactly every little component.
Now diamond dust, on the other hand, was always something that
we said that you had to actuallyobtain because diamonds aren't
something you could just walk intown with.
Hey, can I have some diamonds? It's not like modern day where
you can go to the store and buy yourself a diamond ring for that
girl you want to marry and then not like her.
(07:35):
But diamond dust is hard to find.
So it's going to be, well, it doesn't actually say how much
granite or how much diamond dustyou need.
It just says sprinkled on the skin.
So is a pinch an ounce? I don't know, do whatever you
want. It's a pinch.
So we would say that you would buy diamond dust or find
(07:57):
diamonds and destroy diamonds and dust it and you would have
it for quite some time because really you're not going to be
casting a fourth level spell that often.
Generally, like I said, in the past, most of the campaigns I've
been a part of never really get that high.
So being 7th level was kind of near the tail end of when we
would stop playing, maybe around8th the most 9th.
(08:22):
So you really weren't using too many different spells or, you
know, basically was the end of the campaign at that point.
But this spell spell can be I found on page 57.
I honestly want to hear what youguys think in the comments about
the Stoneskin spell and if it could be used for fall damage or
(08:48):
something like that. Like what a rock is thrown at
you. Yeah, sure, you'll be thrown and
you know the rock hurled at you.Boom, you go flying.
Now after you go flying, do you take damage?
Maybe. I don't know.
You tell me in the comments. I want to hear your decision on
this as Adm. Please comment below in Spotify
(09:10):
or YouTube or bitch shoot or wherever else you could find
this podcast. If there's a comment, then you
can comment. Excuse me.
With that said, I'm going to head out.
Keep it original, keep it old school.
Goodnight and God bless everybody.
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