Stoneskin

[Nail]

If players fight only one or two battles in a day and then go rest, then yes the money is wasted. Otherwise this spell is great.

Exactly.

It's another one of those "DM pacing" issues.

When I DM, the PCs typically face 2 to 4 battles per day, with a major Bad Guy coming after a battle of mooks (kinda like a murder of crows....). In such a situation, casting a Stoneskin on the Ftr saves a bundle of healing later...as well as making success more likely.

The cost of Stoneskin is fine.

YMMV.

 

[Plane Sailing]

So you have a bunch of selfish misers who think the Hit points of those protecting them are worth less than 3 to 4 gp each?

What makes you think it is all right to characterise the people I play with in this way?

Please don't ascribe imagined motives to other people (or in this instance, their PCs), you know it doesn't constitute civil posting.

Thanks

 

[Nail]

Aspersions on other game's PCs aside, this looks like a good Poll topic: "Do PCs use/cast stoneskin in your game?"

 

[Nail]

And when fighting giants, this spell is a must. Even on a scroll, this winds up work it. 14 gp per HP is shaves off those clubs will leave the recipient being very thankfull.

frankthedm, could you spell out your calculations and assumptions? Thanks.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Part of the problem might be that it isn't just '250gp to cast the spell' - the material component is 250gp worth of diamond dust. If setting out on a wilderness expedition, or a deep dungeon crawl, how much diamond dust do I need to buy? Am I going to need to cast the spell 10 times over the next three months, or more, or less? Is it going to eat into my wealth that I've been saving up for that magic item? We have enough of an issue in getting hold of enough solid diamonds to use in the odd raise-dead

Those are some of the likely in-character reasons that it hasn't appeared much in our campaigns. Mostly logistical I guess. I'm sure that there are some situations where it would be brilliant to have the spell available though, and I'm not surprised that in high level play it sees a little more action (when more cash is typically available, and carrying lots of diamond dust is small change)

Cheers

 

[Pyrex]

A CL 7 scroll of Stoneskin costs 25*4*7 + 250 = 950gp and absorbs 70hp of damage for a total cost (if fully utilized) of 950/70 = 13.57gp/hp.

Which, per HP, makes it slightly cheaper than a Scroll of Cure Moderate Wounds (13.64gp/hp assuming an average roll)

 

[Plane Sailing]

Aspersions on other game's PCs aside, this looks like a good Poll topic: "Do PCs use/cast stoneskin in your game?"

Interesting idea - do you want to start it?

 

[frankthedm]

What makes you think it is all right to characterise the people I play with in this way?

The sentence that ends with a question mark asks if they are. Admittedly, the question was pretty loaded none the less so I’ll edit it.

I just see too many casters with the “If the spell does not optimally help me, the spell is worthless” line of thought, such as with the 3.5 haste change, so I do make too many assumptions

 

[pallandrome]

Yeah, as the fighter and pretty much only tank of the group, I <3 Stoneskin, and use it frequently.

 

[frankthedm]

If setting out on a wilderness expedition, or a deep dungeon crawl, how much diamond dust do I need to buy? Am I going to need to cast the spell 10 times over the next three months, or more, or less?

Nondetection [50gp] and Restoration[100gp] both use diamond dust as components and those should be spells an adventuring party uses a lot. And one better damn well have those diamonds ready when the negative levels come rolling around.

Is it going to eat into my wealth that I've been saving up for that magic item?

No sympathy on this one. Money is no good if you are dead. If the group is cohesive and is willing to work together and share costs, the party should be spliting the cost of the diamond dust for when it is cast on those going into the thick of combat and sheilding the soft target characters from the monsters.

We have enough of an issue in getting hold of enough solid diamonds to use in the odd raise-dead

The component is 5k of diamonds, might not valuable diamond dust be a part of that?