Contingencies

[Chronicled]

Contingency
Evocation
Level: Sor/Wiz 6
Components: V, S, M, F
Casting Time: At least 10 minutes; see text
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: One day/level (D) or until discharged

You can place another spell upon your person so that it comes into effect under some condition you dictate when casting contingency. The contingency spell and the companion spell are cast at the same time. The 10-minute casting time is the minimum total for both castings; if the companion spell has a casting time longer than 10 minutes, use that instead.

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).

The conditions needed to bring the spell into effect must be clear, although they can be general. In all cases, the contingency immediately brings into effect the companion spell, the latter being “cast” instantaneously when the prescribed circumstances occur. If complicated or convoluted conditions are prescribed, the whole spell combination (contingency and the companion magic) may fail when called on. The companion spell occurs based solely on the stated conditions, regardless of whether you want it to.

You can use only one contingency spell at a time; if a second is cast, the first one (if still active) is dispelled.

Material Component
That of the companion spell, plus quicksilver and an eyelash of an ogre mage, rakshasa, or similar spell-using creature.

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.

So, we all know that Batman wizards rely on having a well-worded contingency spell up all the time. What's your best/favorite contingency, for a day of general adventuring (or, heck, give your best/favorite situational ones too)? Not just for level 20, either--you get contingency at level 11, so what do you use as the levels progress?

[Emperor Demonking]

The dimension door or teleport if I think of using the contingincy or cast feather fall.

[ThunderEagle]

favourite contingency would be of the spell celerity, or, if that is banned, telekinetic resilient sphere, activated by saying sucker and meaning to activate the contingency. talking is a free action, and thinking is no action. not a command word, just the word. easy way to save your skin if needed.


doable at level 12, or level 11 with a CL boost.

[Chronicled]

If you think of something? Seems like that would fire off instantly.

For future reference, I'm looking for the spell you'd have it cast, the wording you'd have to trigger it, and the level you'd do this at.

Edit: I like the telekinetic sphere one! Celerity gets banned in most games I'm in, so...

[Jack_Simth]

Telekinetic Sphere is too high of a level for Contingency - you want Resilient Sphere, which you can do as early as 12th level (as it's a 4th level spell; 11th, if you've got an Orange Prism Ioun Stone by then). Simplest triggering condition would be attempting to cast Feather Fall while on the ground.

Celerity is a broken spell, but is otherwise about the best option out there for this (which is part of Celerity being a broken spell...)

Feather Fall is a specially designed Free action that can be cast even when not your turn - and unlike an Immediate Action, there's no restriction about being flat-footed.

The only downside is that it is very clearly limited to your own perceptions for the triggering condition - but on the plus side, this means it's a lot less of a headache for the DM to adjucate.

At 11th? Invisibility Sphere is a fair one, as is Blink.

[Crow]

I have to do mine at level 16 because I'm a Sorcerer using it through Greater Shadow Evocation. Otherwise 11-12.

Celerity if my Necklace of Warning alerts me to an immediate danger of which I am unaware.

[Crow]

Telekinetic Sphere is too high of a level for Contingency - you want Resilient Sphere, which you can do as early as 12th level (as it's a 4th level spell; 11th, if you've got an Orange Prism Ioun Stone by then). Simplest triggering condition would be attempting to cast Feather Fall while on the ground.

Celerity is a broken spell, but is otherwise about the best option out there for this (which is part of Celerity being a broken spell...)

Feather Fall is a specially designed Free action that can be cast even when not your turn - and unlike an Immediate Action, there's no restriction about being flat-footed.

The only downside is that it is very clearly limited to your own perceptions for the triggering condition - but on the plus side, this means it's a lot less of a headache for the DM to adjucate.

At 11th? Invisibility Sphere is a fair one, as is Blink.

That feather fall one sounds great, but didn't they change featherfall to an immediate action? Also, regarding the flat-footedness; Let's say your wizard gets ambushed. Wouldn't the first of his ambushers get their action off before the wizard gets a chance to cast featherfall? How does the wizard know to cast it?

I'm not trying to be a d i ck. I am honestly curious, and unsure of how the rules work in this regard.

[Chronicled]

I'm also curious to know the answer to Crow's question.

Also, I'd like to hear more suggestions if Celerity is banned.

[Azerian Kelimon]

Feather fall was changed, but I think it had a special wording.

[Curmudgeon]

In the update to make Feather Fall an immediate action spell, they broke it. Fixing it back to the way it worked is one of my few house rules.

As far as Contingency goes, a lot depends on whether you allow the spell to see a tiny bit into the future (say, into that window between when the damage dice are rolled and when your character gets hurt). Simply because it's not a Divination spell, many DMs don't allow that bit of anticipation; with them, your Contingeny fires off only after the damage is done. I like to point to Anticipate Teleportation (in Spell Compendium) and a couple of other spells that see into the future but also aren't Divinations.

In my games, Contingency can see a tiny bit into the future, and triggers the second spell for situations that would otherwise occur. (This is better than a readied action, which is merely a plan and has nothing but the planner's senses to determine when to execute it.)

[Balkash]

If my players have really annoyed me, I'll find some slip up in the wording and exploit it, but most of the time they just do, some kind of "after taking any amount of damage cast resiliant sphere or blink or globe of invulnerability. Though that feather fall trigger is a great idea. I'll need to keep that one from my players though...:smallwink:

[Toliudar]

Since most of my wizards tend to be most frightened of situations where their ability to cast spells has been deprived - silence spells, AMF, immobilization - my contingencies are usually designed to help counteract one or more of those.

If a DM allows contingencies that allow an omniscient perspective - an absolute understanding of the situation rather than the character's own - I'd go with a dimension door ("100' back the way I've just come")/teleport ("two miles straight up") set to go off if I'm about to enter an antimagic field, or a polymorph to go off if I'm about to drop below 0 HP. There doesn't seem to be any requirement to state the form that you're polymorphing into prior to actually completing the spell (or else scrolls of polymorph would be considerably less useful), so there's a good chance that SOME form accessible to Polymorph will be useful in the current situation. At the very least, you're getting your level in hit points back.

If there's no omniscient perspective, I'll usually use a mental trigger phrase, which is usually interpreted as a command word since they function in a very similar way.

[Crow]

I'm still not sure if my question was really answered...but anyways;

Can somebody point me to the updated version of Feather Fall. Book/Page? My SRD still says free action under casting time.

[SpiderKoopa]

I always enjoyed Azalin's(sp?), the lich from Ravenloft. "If someone attacks me in melee, cast flesh to stone on the attacker."

[Jack_Simth]

That feather fall one sounds great, but didn't they change featherfall to an immediate action? Also, regarding the flat-footedness; Let's say your wizard gets ambushed. Wouldn't the first of his ambushers get their action off before the wizard gets a chance to cast featherfall? How does the wizard know to cast it?

I'm not trying to be a d i ck. I am honestly curious, and unsure of how the rules work in this regard.

There's no mention of Feather Fall in the Errata (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20060531a) for the Players Handbook (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/PHBErrata02062006.zip).


I always enjoyed Azalin's(sp?), the lich from Ravenloft. "If someone attacks me in melee, cast flesh to stone on the attacker."Not valid in 3.5 with the normal Contingency - must be a spell that affects the caster.

[Toliudar]

Crow, I'm not sure there's a RAW answer to your question. I'd certainly consider a contingency going off as being like an attack of opportunity, resolved between the statement of intent for a triggering action and the completion (where appropriate for the trigger). But that's an opinion, not a rule.

[SpiderKoopa]

There's no mention of Feather Fall in the Errata (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20060531a) for the Players Handbook (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/PHBErrata02062006.zip).

Not valid in 3.5 with the normal Contingency - must be a spell that affects the caster.

-Goes and rereads contingency.-
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Pardon me, I must go and cry in a corner now.:smallfrown:

However, I have to say I'm now favoring a teleport when brought unconcious by a spell or attack.

[Crow]

There's no Errata on the changes to Reaving Dispel in the Complete Arcane (this spell was changed when republished in the Spell Compendium) either. But the later source supercedes the previous.

As an immediate action, you can't cast feather fall if you are flat-footed.

[Chronicled]

However, I have to say I'm now favoring a teleport when brought unconcious by a spell or attack.

It'd have to be to a friendly temple (assuming one is in range) or healer's house, otherwise "unconcious" could mean in negative HP and dropping--in which case you've just lost contact with your closest source of healing.

[Kurald Galain]

There was a spell called "<somebody's> Disrobement", which was effectively a contingency that triggered on the subject's clothes being torn. Of course, it's kind of hard to stick a sword in someone without tearing their clothes.

I tend to use contingencies like "cast Lightning Bolt straight ahead when I clap my hands" because they're fun. Since that isn't legal in 3.5, I'd use a Flame Aura spell instead.

[SpiderKoopa]

It'd have to be to a friendly temple (assuming one is in range) or healer's house, otherwise "unconcious" could mean in negative HP and dropping--in which case you've just lost contact with your closest source of healing.

Yes, I was thinking of coupling this with buying a permanent room in a temple that has an alarm go off when you enter it (notifying the clerics if/when the contingency goes off).

Edit: And a huzzah! I've made it to dwarf in the playground. :smallbiggrin:

[tyckspoon]

Nerveskitter (Sor/Wiz 1, Spell Compendium) would be a good trigger condition for a 'I've been caught unready to fight, need to buy some time' contingency (like the ones that cast Resilient Sphere or Invisibility). It's specifically castable during the Initiative phase, and it'll both set off your contingency and improve your Init check to help you go first.

[Douglas]

Not strictly Contingency, but a spell with a contingent effect built in: Death Pact from the Spell Compendium. Spend 1000 gp and take a -2 con penalty to get Contingent True Resurrection with a spell slot one level lower. 1/25th the material cost, available 2 levels earlier, and works in combat without even requiring an action. It can be dispelled, of course, but nothing quite beats being able to face a Hulking Hurler and say "You deal eleventy billion damage? Ok. I'm fine. My turn now." :smallbiggrin: :smallcool:

[Kurobara]

Easier to make possible with Craft Contingent Spell than Contingency, but Revivify triggered upon death is nice.

[Curmudgeon]

Death Pact from the Spell Compendium. Spend 1000 gp and take a -2 con penalty to get Contingent True Resurrection with a spell slot one level lower. No, that's not right. It isn't a penalty to CON (which could be fixed, magically): your deity has permanently lowered your CON, and you can't ever get that back.

[tyckspoon]

You can recover them with a Wish or Miracle after the pact has been discharged or dispelled. You should have relatively easy access to those spells at the levels where you can use Death Pact, but the reduction means it's not the no-brainer that it would otherwise be.

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

Contingent Resurrection is always a favorite of mine. And the bane of adventuring parties everywhere.

[Aquillion]

Yes, I was thinking of coupling this with buying a permanent room in a temple that has an alarm go off when you enter it (notifying the clerics if/when the contingency goes off).Keep in mind that you can die within one minute after dropping into negatives, possibly much faster if you were below -1... One or two rounds is enough time for your companions to reach and save you in combat, often. At 6-12 seconds, it isn't going to be enough time for the clerics to react to the alarm. No matter how cleverly you decide where to teleport, that's a pretty big risk... I'd say you're better off staying near your companions when you drop into the negatives (since they're the people who are most likely to be ready to heal you instantly), and instead wording your contingency to try and avoid going into the negatives in the first place.

Another option: If you have access to both cleric and wizard spells somehow, or access to Contingency as a cleric (time domain, I think?) you can Contingency Revivify to bring you back to life with no level loss the instant you die. Of course, you might just get killed again immediately in many cases... but you can do this without giving up two points of con or anything silly like that. You just have to have the time domain and Revivify, and both are already all kinds of awesome.

[Chronicled]

Time to condense! The contingent spell suggestions so far are:

Get away: Dimension door or Teleport

Hard to hit: Blink, (Greater) Mirror Image, Invisibility Sphere

Bubble and Buff: Resilient Sphere

Hurt them too: Flame Aura

Cheese: Celerity

Of the non-cheesy options presented here, Resilient Sphere seems like the best early option.

The best/easiest trigger so far seems to be "When I cast Feather Fall," with the downsides that 1) You also have to prepare Feather Fall, 2) Casting Feather Fall for another reason means that your Contingency will activate as well, 3) Feather Fall may or may not be an immediate action (no absolute clarification yet). Having a spoken/mental word be the trigger would likely fall under the "Command Word" line of magic activations, requiring a standard action (still decent, depending on the Contingency). Having it triggered upon being attacked can require precise wording to not have the DM get around it. If you have a Necklace of Warning, the phrase "If my Necklace of Warning alerts me to an immediate danger of which I am unaware," works great. Toliudar makes a valid point about omniscient vs caster perceived triggers; you should probably ask your DM about it.

[Talic]

If I'm attacked in melee: Fly

or

If I attempt a touch attack: <insert damaging touch spell here>

or

If I close my eyes for longer than 5 seconds without being in my tent: Polymorph <insert a critter you like here>

or

If anyone other than myself opens my coin pouch:
Flame Aura.

[Yami]

No no no, you guys are thinking too utilitarian. If your grabbing contingancy it's best to let the DM get used to it before making yourself so well buffed he hates you. Here are some I like from the socially inept wizard.

"If the party rogue tries pickpocketing me again - Defenestrating Sphere"

"If a person of the opposite gender speaks with me for more than five minutes - Eagles Spleandor" Or charm Person, but I try to ditch the Enchantment school when I can.

"If I am surrounded by more than 20 hostile creatures within 50 feet of me - Enlarged, Explosive Dance of Ruin." (Gotta love the look on your parties faces when you begin dancing ^_^) You could of course try to remove the need for dancing, but I think it ruins the suspense.

"If a hostile creature tries to attack me - Baleful transposition." (For that dratted rogue again.)

These are but a sample of the sort of fun you can have with contingency.

[Kristoss]

Contingent Resurrection is always a favorite of mine. And the bane of adventuring parties everywhere.

Contingency requires your caster level to be at least three times the level of the spell. So unless your protagonists are epic they can't contingency spell resurrect. :smallyuk:

[Trenelus]

After our DM found out that teleport was our party's number 1 way to flee, enemy spellcasters started to hit us and expecially me, the only one in our party with teleportation magic, with dimensional anchor. After few times and many near-deaths, I figured out way ensure our escape, with Contigency:
Spell: Dispell Magic (later greater version), targeted version attacking only against all spell effect that prevent me from dimensional traveling.
Trigger: When I cast teleportation spell and I'm in an effect that stops dimensional traveling, triggers as an last thing before teleport takes effect.
Downside is that you need cl 12 (18 for greater) for this to work.
Surely I have to success in dispell check, but it hasn't been to hard these far with 14 lv. wizard/archmage.

[Kurald Galain]

Contingency requires your caster level to be at least three times the level of the spell. So unless your protagonists are epic they can't contingency spell resurrect. :smallyuk:

You can, however, Contingency Reincarnate. How is that not fun? :smallbiggrin:

[Witch]

Contingency requires your caster level to be at least three times the level of the spell. So unless your protagonists are epic they can't contingency spell resurrect. :smallyuk:

Which is why you use Craft Contingent Spell instead :)

[SpiderKoopa]

Keep in mind that you can die within one minute after dropping into negatives, possibly much faster if you were below -1... One or two rounds is enough time for your companions to reach and save you in combat, often. At 6-12 seconds, it isn't going to be enough time for the clerics to react to the alarm. No matter how cleverly you decide where to teleport, that's a pretty big risk... I'd say you're better off staying near your companions when you drop into the negatives (since they're the people who are most likely to be ready to heal you instantly), and instead wording your contingency to try and avoid going into the negatives in the first place.

Another option: If you have access to both cleric and wizard spells somehow, or access to Contingency as a cleric (time domain, I think?) you can Contingency Revivify to bring you back to life with no level loss the instant you die. Of course, you might just get killed again immediately in many cases... but you can do this without giving up two points of con or anything silly like that. You just have to have the time domain and Revivify, and both are already all kinds of awesome.

Ah, well, to tell the truth, I was thinking about it from the perspective of DM with a BBEG who the PC's got a lucky shot on before the real fight with him/her was supposed to happen.

Contingency for a pc though... I guess all the good ones have already been stated by better players than myself. :smallsmile:

[Kaelik]

After our DM found out that teleport was our party's number 1 way to flee, enemy spellcasters started to hit us and expecially me, the only one in our party with teleportation magic, with dimensional anchor. After few times and many near-deaths, I figured out way ensure our escape, with Contigency:
Spell: Dispell Magic (later greater version), targeted version attacking only against all spell effect that prevent me from dimensional traveling.
Trigger: When I cast teleportation spell and I'm in an effect that stops dimensional traveling, triggers as an last thing before teleport takes effect.
Downside is that you need cl 12 (18 for greater) for this to work.
Surely I have to success in dispell check, but it hasn't been to hard these far with 14 lv. wizard/archmage.

You can't choose to dispel in that way. If you are going to make up custom spells to be in your contingency a better one is:

Spell: Kill all enemies in the universe, No Save, No SR.
Trigger: Every 10 seconds to infinity.

[Trenelus]

Orginally Posted by Kaelik
You can't choose to dispel in that way.
I take natural 1 on my owm spell effects and try to dispell only others. It's just flexible use of existing spell, not new one... or is it illegal to try to find new ways to use old stuff?

[tyckspoon]

I take natural 1 on my owm spell effects and try to dispell only others. It's just flexible use of existing spell, not new one... or is it illegal to try to find new ways to use old stuff?

It's not illegal, it just doesn't work that way. You set off a targeted Dispel aimed at yourself. Your options in regard to the spells you cast yourself are: Automatically succeed at Dispelling them
or
Make a normal Dispel check against your own spell.

There is no way for you to make a Dispel check and voluntarily fail against your own spells while making a full-strength check against the spells you want to get rid of. The nearest thing to that is casting the Dispel with the lowest caster level you can, but that also gives you very high odds of failing to get rid of whatever was cast on you by your enemy.

[Trenelus]

Hmmmmm....
Then I just take the feat in CA that let's me to take natural 10 in caster level check's and tada-a, i just take 10 in my owm spells and thus fail to dispell them by 1, and depending on the opponents power i either take 10 or make my roll.

Would this be legal?

[tyckspoon]

mm.. oh, yes, that should work. It'd be ok for getting rid of a Dimensional Anchor, if the opposing caster wasn't optimized to the point of getting outside of Dispellable caster levels. Wouldn't work on Dimensional Lock, I think; the spell you want to get rid of there isn't *on* you, you're just in its area of effect.

[Trenelus]

Orginally Posted by tyckspoon
mm.. oh, yes, that should work. It'd be ok for getting rid of a Dimensional Anchor, if the opposing caster wasn't optimized to the point of getting outside of Dispellable caster levels. Wouldn't work on Dimensional Lock, I think; the spell you want to get rid of there isn't *on* you, you're just in its area of effect.

Couldn't you then make it as area dispell, centered on you?

[Chronicled]

Couldn't you then make it as area dispell, centered on you?

That might strip away one of your or your allies' buffs. Which could really screw things up.


"If a person of the opposite gender speaks with me for more than five minutes - Eagles Splendor"

This suggestion is pure gold. Next time I play a character with Contingency, that is going to be my sole use for it :smalltongue:.

[Witch]

My favorite triggers are:
"If I say X"
"If I blink Y times quickly in a row"
"When I have taken Z damage"

This results to interesting things like:

Contingent Spells:
Upon saying particular orcish phrases, mass heal. (5 different versions)
Upon blinking three times quickly in a row with only the left eye, dimension door 750 ft towards the direction being looked at.
Upon blinking three times quickly in a row with only the right eye, freedom on self.
Upon blinking three times quickly in a row with both eyes, mages disjunction centered on self.
Upon being reduced to 350 hit points, heal on self.
Upon being reduced to 250 hit points, mass heal on self as well as fortunate fate on self.
Upon death, superior invisibility as well as greater teleport 2d4 miles away in a random direction, followed by true resurrection.

[Chronicled]

Contingency doesn't work like that (even if you're a cleric with the Time domain). Again, for easy reference (some parts bolded for emphasis):


Contingency
Evocation
Level: Sor/Wiz 6
Components: V, S, M, F
Casting Time: At least 10 minutes; see text
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: One day/level (D) or until discharged

You can place another spell upon your person so that it comes into effect under some condition you dictate when casting contingency. The contingency spell and the companion spell are cast at the same time. The 10-minute casting time is the minimum total for both castings; if the companion spell has a casting time longer than 10 minutes, use that instead.

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).

The conditions needed to bring the spell into effect must be clear, although they can be general. In all cases, the contingency immediately brings into effect the companion spell, the latter being “cast” instantaneously when the prescribed circumstances occur. If complicated or convoluted conditions are prescribed, the whole spell combination (contingency and the companion magic) may fail when called on. The companion spell occurs based solely on the stated conditions, regardless of whether you want it to.

You can use only one contingency spell at a time; if a second is cast, the first one (if still active) is dispelled.

Material Component
That of the companion spell, plus quicksilver and an eyelash of an ogre mage, rakshasa, or similar spell-using creature.

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.

[Witch]

That's why I use Craft Contingent Spell, which is far less explicit on such things, and allows up to your hit dice in contingent spells on you.

I can't copy it all, due to copyright, but relevant parts:



"Triggers for contingent spells are usually events that happen to the bearer of the spell, ..."
"At any one time, a creature can bear a number of contingent spells equal to its Hit Dice".

No mention at all about a level limit.