Contingency in 3.5

[Zhepna]

Hi,

I play edition 3.5

1) do I have to tell my Dm what is the condition to active the Contingency when I cast it or do I cast it, write it on a page and flip it when the occasion written occur?

2) I have the war weaver prestige class and Spellguard of Silverymoon lvl 4 soon. Can I target the war weaver with contingency or it's only me that I can target?

3) at the end of the spell we can read: Focus
A statuette of you carved from elephant ivory and decorated with gems (worth at least 1,500 gp). You must carry the focus for the contingency to work.

What does Focus mean? Do I have to use the spell focus feat? If I pay the 1500, what does it add to the spell?

Thanks a lot for the information.

[Doctor Awkward]

1) Generally, yes. You tell the DM about any special preparations you are making, including what spells you are preparing. In much the same way that you tell the DM what you are doing when you choose to ready an action in combat.

2) If you mean the Eldritch Tapestry, then no. It specifically prohibits casting spells with a range of personal. Spellguard of Silverymoon does not change the range of the spell, only how it may be cast.

3) A spell focus is a small object that must be present in order to cast the spell. It is usually something that you can hold in your hand. For contingency, it must be something worth at least 1,500 GP, and you must have it on you for as long as the contingency is in effect.

[Deophaun]

1) Entirely depends on your table etiquette. Does you DM enjoy you yelling "You've activated my trap card!"? Then don't tell him. Otherwise, probably a good idea to tell him. At least ask. He's probably going to forget anyway.

2) Since you can now cast a personal-range spell onto another character with a touch, you maybe can use it through your tapestry. Depends on how you read it. The Spellguard's ability doesn't explicitly say it stops being a personal range spell, and being a personal range spell is all the prohibition cares about. In short, ask your DM.

3) A focus is just an added doodad you need in your hands when you want to cast the spell. It's like a material component, only it isn't consumed after the spell is cast. It adds nothing else to the spell, and it requires no additional feat to use. It's just like every other component: if you don't have it, you can't cast the spell.

[Kayblis]

Hello!

1) It's common practice to tell your GM the conditions you set for your Contingency, both because he must approve of it(no "activate when I want it", it has to be an actual condition) and because you yourself can forget your condition or "interpret" it in a way you benefit more than you should if no one's keeping tabs(the usual "Wait, that's the 3rd time this 'condition' is triggered! You can't hide it like that!"). The Contingency spell explicitly states the rider spell is activated regardless of whether you want it to.

2) The contingency spell reads as such:

The spell to be brought into effect by the contingency must be one that affects your person and be of a spell level no higher than one-third your caster level (rounded down, maximum 6th level).
As long as you follow this rule, you can freely choose your spell.
EDIT: Just to clarify, the text doesn't specify "Range:Personal" or "Target:You". It must be a spell that affects your person. Therefore, the usual shenanigans for affecting other people with personal spells doesn't affect Contingency and won't be able to affect other people.

3) An "Arcane Focus" is an item needed to complete, maintain or activate the spell that asks for it. It's like how every Cleric spell requires a holy symbol as a Focus. This works kinda like the Scrying spell, which requires a focus of a special mirror worth at least 1000gp. The "Focus" is never consumed, so you can cast the spell normally as long as you keep the focus item with no additional cost(except material components).