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jayphonic
2007-04-06, 04:40 PM
Hey Folks,

I was wondering if people had a couple of go to Contingencies that they will use when they cast the Contingency spell. My wizard will soon be hitting 11 and I want to be ready!

Cheers,
Jayphonic

JaronK
2007-04-06, 04:51 PM
"When I cast Feather Fall" is a very useful contingency, since FF is an immediate action and thus allow you to cast the contingent spell exactly when you want, even in other people's turns.

JaronK

Arbitrarity
2007-04-06, 05:10 PM
Oooh, very nice, never though of that!

Jasdoif
2007-04-06, 05:32 PM
Or, you could tie to saying a specific word.
In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn’t your turn.

Anyway. At 11th level, the contingent spell can only be up to 3rd level, so that does limit your options somewhat. A contingency to bring invisibility on yourself when you take damage could be handy.

Cruiser1
2007-04-06, 06:04 PM
Some more useful spell choices for Contingency:

Circle of Protection: Evil: "If I or an ally within 10 feet of me is mind controlled by an evil source, or if an evil source is about to attack me, or if I say the command word 'qwerty', then cast Circle of Protection: Evil on me." If you get dominated or charmed, you want to cancel the effect right away before killing your party. If a buddy gets dominated, you can cancel its effect by just moving within 2 squares of him. The +2 AC helps prevent the enemies attack from hitting you.

Protection from Energy (Fire): "If I'm about to take fire damage, or if I say the command word 'qwerty', then cast Protection from Energy (Fire) on me." Excellent to keep your low hp self from falling to a Fireball or three. Since the spell technically gets cast ahead of time, you regrettably have to choose the specific element to protect against ahead of time.

At 12th level you can have 4th level spells in your Contingency. Good choices then are Lesser Globe of Invulnerability (disable Fireballs and Lightning Bolts before they get to you), Remove Curse (get rid of that curse the moment it hits you, so it doesn't interfere with your next turn), or Dimension Door (escape back to the entrance to the dungeon).

Kel_Arath
2007-04-06, 06:11 PM
try, "if i see a mo that is gonna try and hurt us, cast summon monster III" then beat down a mo with a powerful monster!

SMDVogrin
2007-04-06, 06:35 PM
Some more useful spell choices for Contingency:

Circle of Protection: Evil: "If I or an ally within 10 feet of me is mind controlled by an evil source, or if an evil source is about to attack me, or if I say the command word 'qwerty', then cast Circle of Protection: Evil on me." If you get dominated or charmed, you want to cancel the effect right away before killing your party. If a buddy gets dominated, you can cancel its effect by just moving within 2 squares of him. The +2 AC helps prevent the enemies attack from hitting you.

Protection from Energy (Fire): "If I'm about to take fire damage, or if I say the command word 'qwerty', then cast Protection from Energy (Fire) on me." Excellent to keep your low hp self from falling to a Fireball or three. Since the spell technically gets cast ahead of time, you regrettably have to choose the specific element to protect against ahead of time.

I can't speak for your DM, of course, but I can pretty much guarantee that mine wouldn't allow conditions like "an evil source is about to attack me" or "I'm about to take fire damage". Contingency is Evocation, not Divination, it doesn't get to predict the future.

Raum
2007-04-06, 06:39 PM
I'll separate activation conditions from effect since they're often interchangeable. Here's a few possibilities...

Conditions:
- If I am attacked...
- If I say <insert nonsense syllables here>...
- If I am surprised...
- If I am injured below half my hit points...
- If any of my abilities are damaged...
- If any of my abilities are penalized...

On conditions: The first two are generally better options unless you're using craft contingency and crafting a different contingency for each situation. I've also limited the conditions to things which do / have happened...if you interpret Contingency to allow knowledge of the future the spell becomes far more abusable. Likewise if multiple conditions are allowed.

Effects:
- ...cast Celerity. **This is generally considered pure stinky cheese. But if you tend to die a lot, a kind DM might allow it.
- ...cast <insert spell>

Third level spells to consider: Heroism / Wind Wall / Blink / Invisibility / Fly / Gaseous Form

Second level spells: Invisibility / Bear's Endurance / False Life / Blur / Mirror Image

First level spells: Expeditious Retreat / Shield

Once you can use level 4 spells with Contingency I'd recommend looking at Resilient Sphere, Dimension Door, or Greater Invisibility. With level 5 spells you'll be able to add Teleport to the list of possibilities.

There are more, but hopefully these will help spark ideas.

Cruiser1
2007-04-06, 07:39 PM
I can't speak for your DM, of course, but I can pretty much guarantee that mine wouldn't allow conditions like "an evil source is about to attack me" or "I'm about to take fire damage".There's no official ruling for what Contingency can do, but a good rule of thumb is the spell has whatever knowledge or perception you do. I should clarify "evil source" as "a source that I would consider to be evil", and "fire damage" as "something that I think would deal fire damage".

For example, if a skeleton swings its sword at me, Contingency should activate, since that seems to be an evil source. If however a my Fighter ally has been replaced with a Doppleganger, and he swings at me, my Contingency won't activate because I (incorrectly) think its still a good source. A better wording which avoids this issue is just "if something is about to attack me". Even then, one could claim that Contingency shouldn't go off if I'm flatfooted and attacked in a surprise round of combat.

For fire damage, if I see a Fireball bead flying my way, I should recognize that a Fireball is about to go off around me, which should be enough to activate Contingency. Same if a Fire Elemental is reaching to grapple me. Of course, that means my Contingency should also go off if I fall into a pit with an illusion of lava at the bottom, since I think (incorrectly) that I'm about to take fire damage.