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2007-08-31, 05:49 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2005
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Contingency: triggers and effects
I've tried to start a similar thread to this one a while back, but it didn't get very many useful replies... So I hope this one does better.
Provided celerity has been banned from your games:
-What spell do you cast into your contingency?
-What is the trigger for this spell?
-Have you ever run this combo by a DM who didn't like/allow it?
-Does it save you consistently?
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2007-08-31, 05:53 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2007
- Location
- London
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Re: Contingency: triggers and effects
the spell is teleport, the trigger is the word teleport which is a free action, and the result is that you can be killed if they're smart and take you by surprise but if not you're out of there pal. Traps and ambushes can still acount for real encounters and hopefully the party isn't wiped on TPKs
Give them bread and circusses and the plebs wont rise against you. Give adventurers dungeons and trapped chests and they won't waste time looking to ransack your home and kill your wife.
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2007-08-31, 05:56 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2007
- Location
- Boston MA, US
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Re: Contingency: triggers and effects
erm...do you mind me asking what Contingency and Celerity are?
I don't remember seeing those spells in core...
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2007-08-31, 06:01 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2007
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Re: Contingency: triggers and effects
Oh, really?
Celerity isn't core, it's from the PHB II. 4th level spell, immediate action casting time, and it grants you a standard action, but dazes you for a round on your next turn.
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2007-08-31, 06:06 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2007
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- The Rhine
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2007-08-31, 06:09 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2007
- Location
- Santa Monica, CA, US
- Gender
Re: Contingency: triggers and effects
Indomitibility (Spell Compendium)
"When an Indomitibility on me ends."
Or other trigger to get you that quick survive-a-hit.Avatar by Alarra
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2007-08-31, 09:29 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2007
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Re: Contingency: triggers and effects
Well I like teleport, have yourself to a place with healing potions and what not. Also if your a really high caster lvl, premake an area with permanite antimagic field set up, teleport just above it, or onto a slide that takes you into the area. This is to counter act any type of tempory statis or other nasty effects put on you before you teleport away, hopefully you can think of a way to fix this while pretectide by the field.
Also spell trigers, "If my body were to be surrounded in harmful magical energy, my mind is altered or hindered in any way or my concious slips from me." or somthing to that effect.
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2007-09-01, 04:26 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2007
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Re: Contingency: triggers and effects
Your contingency statement is a little open to interpretation. Surrounded in harmful energy could mean energy harmful to others, and mind hindered could be if you ever become confused on how to proceed with a plan. And whenever you rest for spells and/or camp for the night and conciousness slips from you your contingency goes off.
Simple words like 'Teleport' placed into a contingency could be problematic if you ever say it out of hand. "Hey joe, what spells you get today?" "Ah, just your standard array and a custom crafted Teleport..." *Poof*. "Hey, where'd Joe go?"
Complex word phrases could fall under the "speaking more than a few sentances" bit under free actions, but that would have to be a very specific long phrase like whenever I say "Fore score and seven years ago... (continues on with whole Gettysburg address)".
I generally don't agree with the free action contingency unless it is reactive but can't find any bit of rule denying it other than rule 1. The only thing that comes close is: Why would saying a short sentance allow you to activate your contingency, but it takes a standard action to command word activate a magic item?"I am bleeding, making me the victor!" - Wimp Lo, 'Kung Pow'
"Nonsense! I would never do such a thing unless you were already having been going to do that!" - Professor Hubert Farnsworth A, 'Futurama'
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2007-09-01, 05:40 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2006
- Location
- London, England.
Re: Contingency: triggers and effects
Yeah, it's definitely in the grey area. If you look at magic items, the fastest you can generally activate an item or effect is an immediate action. So an immediate-action contingency is reasonable, but a free-action one isn't, really.
Also, does anyone really use the 'teleport-away-at-the-first-sign-of-danger' tactic?
DM: "A large creature appears at the mouth of the cave. It moves its hands, mutters something and begins to speak-"
Wizard: "It's casting a spell! My contingency goes off! Teleport! *poof*"
Everyone: "..."
DM: "The creature says, 'I would like to warn you of the - wait, where did the old guy go?"
Cleric: "Don't worry, he didn't need the XP anyway. Carry on."
- SaphI'm the author of the Alex Verus series of urban fantasy novels. Fated is the first, and the final book in the series, Risen, is out as of December 2021. For updates, check my blog!
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2007-09-01, 08:38 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2006
- Location
- Sunnydale
Re: Contingency: triggers and effects
It might be a free action to activate a magic item also:
A command word can be a real word, but when this is the case, the holder of the item runs the risk of activating the item accidentally by speaking the word in normal conversation.Speak
In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn’t your turn.More often, the command word is some seemingly nonsensical word, or a word or phrase from an ancient language no longer in common use. Activating a command word magic item is a standard action and does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Anyway, here's my favorite Contingency:
If I'm about to take acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage, apply Energy Immunity to me to protect against that energy type.
It's quite expensive via Use Magic Device, but since it requires a 6th level Wizard spell at CL 18 and a 6th level Cleric spell, pretty much only flush UMD experts and Mystic Theurges can pull this combo off.