Interesting uses for Contingency

[Phhase]

Initially I was writing a post about using Contingency to raise yourself as undead, but upon reading the spell description more closely, that's very much Not A Thing™. Damn.

So, what are your favorite uses for Contingency other than saving your life automatically (Water breathing, Feather fall, Dimension door)?

[Geddy2112]

There is nothing wrong with using it as a poor man's quicken spell. Since talking is free, you can set the contingency to "I say the word X" just make sure the word or phrase is something you would never otherwise say. Delaware, somniloquy, abednego, etc. If you need to be stealthy, you can make it a hand signal, folding your tongue into a clover leaf, touching that one ball in your handy haversack, tapping twice on your left wrist with your right pinky, clicking your heels, etc.

This way, you are in total control of the situation. Obviously you could be in a situation you would be unable to speak or complete the specific action to trigger. It needs to be simple, but not simple enough you accidentally do it.

[Man_Over_Game]

Use it with a short-term short-range revival spell, like Revivify, for a low level, low cost extra life.

[Segev]

There is nothing wrong with using it as a poor man's quicken spell. Since talking is free, you can set the contingency to "I say the word X" just make sure the word or phrase is something you would never otherwise say. Delaware, somniloquy, abednego, etc. If you need to be stealthy, you can make it a hand signal, folding your tongue into a clover leaf, touching that one ball in your handy haversack, tapping twice on your left wrist with your right pinky, clicking your heels, etc.

This way, you are in total control of the situation. Obviously you could be in a situation you would be unable to speak or complete the specific action to trigger. It needs to be simple, but not simple enough you accidentally do it.

I think that explicitly doesn't work, as speaking a command word (which this amounts to) is a Standard Action.

What you can do is key it to trigger on specific other actions which have specified timings. "Polymorph me into a hydra if I cast nerveskitter," for example.

If we're talking about the magic item "Contingent Spell," you could even go so far as stacking them.

• "If I attack with a weapon, cast true strike on me."
• "If I have fewer than 5 Contingent true strikes active on me and I attack with a weapon, cast true strike on me."
• "If I have fewer than 4 Contingent true strikes active on me and I attack with a weapon, cast true strike on me."
• "If I have fewer than 3 Contingent true strikes active on me and I attack with a weapon, cast true strike on me."
• "If I have fewer than 2 Contingent true strikes active on me and I attack with a weapon, cast true strike on me."

This list would cause the next 5 attacks you make to have true strike cast on you as you make them, giving you +20 insight bonus to hit and negating miss chances. Before you make any attacks, you have 5 Contingent true strikes active on you. So the first one is the only one that will trigger on your next attack with a weapon, since you don't have fewer than 5, fewer than 4, fewer than 3, or fewer than 2 active on you.

After that first one, you have 4 Contingent true strikes active on you, so the second one (fewer than 5, and...) will trigger when you make your next attack.

And so on, until the last one ("If I have fewer than 2...") triggers on your fifth attack, when it's the only Contingent true strike active on you.

If you happen to have 5 attacks on a full attack, this will be your next full attack action. Assuming you don't make any non-full-attack attacks before hand, in which case that will deduct one each, as you'll use them up a little early.


What you can also do is use one standard action trigger word to key a bunch of Contingent spells all at once. So if you have a standard buffing suite and you want to trigger it in one round, you can set it up that way. Given that this will take a standard action anyway, may as well make it a full-on activation phrase, just to minimize chances of it misfiring. You could set up a number of these (to whatever the maximum number of Contingent Spells you can have on you is), each with a different activation phrase, though you could make it vary by as little as an iterative counter. "Activate Combat Mode Alpha Strike, key zero-one," "Activate Combat Mode Alpha Strike, key zero-two," etc.

[FaerieGodfather]

Everyone talks about contingent revivify / breath of life as a, well, contingency against dying in battle

But contingent last breath used to be one of the only non-evil ways to protect yourself from old age

[Âmesang]

It's probably inefficient, but I had a 3e spellcaster who'd use a contingent polymorph as a quick healing at 0 HP or fewer (ala the spirit shaman), maintaining her normal appearance.

Granted, her Use Magic Device skill opens her up to other options.