I'm trying to help out a friend of mine and was wondering what suggestions the forum would have for a Contingency? Any good ideas out there? Besides the old stand by of teleporting home if under 1 hp?
I am planning on casting "False Life" upcast to 5th level. The trigger being either 25%, 50%, or 75% hp loss--I haven't decided which yet. Suddenly pop back 24+1d4 Hp.....
I took a moment and looked through the spell which are eligable for a Contingency and was surprised by the many limits. The main qualifications are thus...
'Choose a spell of 5th level or lower that you can cast, that has a casting time of 1 action, and that can target you. '
So it has to target yourself and take 1 action. This actually rules out Teleportation Circle which was the standby in past editions.
So one could use Contingency as a way to keep an extra spell slotted. You could state the trigger as 'when I break this stick' and thus have total control over when the contingent spell goes off.
Really late to this, but I was looking and noticed that blink wasn't mentioned at all. It could be saved for battle, making it so that you wouldn't have to worry about casting it in your first round of combat, and instead just use the contingency.
Thanks for the response. Our campaign recently hit a reset so we are back to playing around 4th level for the moment but I think this is still an interesting topic where I see little discussion.
Yes, blink would be an excellent option. I see that it is also not a concentration spell so It would be handy to have set up.
Another I like is fire shield. Not a bad one to have ready on standby.
A lot of folks seem to recommend dimension door but I kind of think that thunder step cast at 5th level might be better. I'm not a fan of completely leaving the fight without your party.
I like the blink idea, but setting the target would be the key...perhaps a specific spell or action instead of just entering combat. For my blade singer perhaps whenever he starts his bladesong...
you might not want to have this pop at any combat....
Improved Invisibility is pretty hawt for Caster v Caster combat. Set trigger to go off if you wink three times fast. Get close for those hard hitting non-concentration spells with crappy ranges (ie Disintergrate). If they cant see invis then they cant counterspell.
i never see anyone mention combining contingency and wall of force if resilient sphere is considered a good one to use for contingency wall of force seems to be even better one of the preset wall of force shapes is a 10ft radius sphere that's enough to cover your whole party if its caught in a surprise breath weapon/ambush and the trigger can be something like when i cross my arms in defense you have counter spell for dealing with surprise fireballs etc or use a flat 60ft long wall that appears in front of you so it could be used to counter even spells like fireball or even just use contingency to cast wall of force and use whatever version of the spell is needed at the moment
if you ask me the flexibility of wall of force and the contingency spell really cant be compared to other combos
I think most folk are looking at a contingency spell option without concentration. The problem with spells with concentration is if you set up a specific circumstance for the trigger than it could interfere with a concentration spell you already have in place. And if you preset the trigger to something more controllable, like eye blinking or crossing your arms, your DM will likely require the action take place on your turn. Also, wall of force cannot target the caster so is not eligible for contingency. Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere would make for a good option in place of it although once again you have concentration to be concerned with.
Improved Invisibility is pretty hawt for Caster v Caster combat. Set trigger to go off if you wink three times fast. Get close for those hard hitting non-concentration spells with crappy ranges (ie Disintergrate). If they cant see invis then they cant counterspell.
On the fence regarding greater invisibility. At levels higher than 11th there are a large amount of opponents that can see invisible creatures in one way or another. And counterspell only has a 60ft range which is pretty close combat for spell casters. Especially a wizard.
You cast the contingent spell upon casting Contingency, and it "take effect" when the condition is met. This means that the contingent spell cannot be Counterspelled.
There is, however, a consequence to this... Because you are casting the spell when you cast Contingency and not when the condition is met, any costly material components are consumed immediately. Subsequently, if the contingent condition isn't met within the 10 day duration that Contingency lasts, those costly material components were consumed for nothing.
Contingency does not require the caster to be aware of the condition, it merely triggers when the conditions are met, and the verbiage is similar to that of the the Ready Action, so you can set the condition to when something is about to happen.
NOTE: Discuss with your DM when it comes to how he wants to handle spells that allow you to make choices upon casting them. Because you cast the contingent spell upon casting Contingency, not when the trigger happens. For example, is he ruling you choose what you Polymorph into when you cast Contingency, or when the condition is met? What about Dimension Door? Protection from Energy? et cetera. Have these discussions with your DM before taking Contingency.
Utility Usages:
When I am about to be targeted by any divination magic or perceived through magical scrying sensors, cast Nondetection.
Really good at proactively preventing enemies from scrying on you.
A decent proactive defense measure against attackers.
Can also be used with Greater Invisibility if you would rather have the added bonus of getting advantage on all spell attacks in future rounds.
When a hostile creature comes within 5 feet of me cast Dimension Door.
No one likes for hostile creatures to be within 5 feet of the squishy wizard.
Also, it is important to note that Thunder Step would not deal damage, since Contingency states that the spell only effects you, even if it can normally target others. Thus, Dimension Door is the best "teleport" option.
When a negative magical effect affects me, cast Dispel Magic.
No one likes negative magical effects to be on them.
I’m a big fan of “If I drop to 10% of my HP Polymorph Giant Ape.”
That bandit that hit you get to look way up at peeved simian.
That honestly depends on if your DM allows including Metagaming information within a condition. Hitpoints is a metagaming statistic that player characters have no real concept of, so it depends on the DM if "less than 10% of my HPs" is a quantifiable condition in their game. Though there are always ways to circumvent this:
"If I am about to be knocked unconscious due to a spell or an attack, polymorph me into a Giant Ape"
This would happen after the attack happens and would only trigger if the damage dealt to you would knock you to 0 HPs. You'd then polymorph into the Ape and the Ape would take that hit (preventing you from falling unconscious).
That being said, all of these conditions are subject to DM interpretation.
I would argue that HP is something that the characters would definitely know of, even if by a different name. people know when they're dying, when they need a little or long rest to heal, or when they're just fine.
So Grizzle when you cast cure wounds or burn hit dice does your DM roll for you but not tell you how many HP you gain back? How could you possibly know as a character if you healed 1 or 10 hit points? That seems a little harsh. The idea of having the poly pop before you hit zero is to not die if you lose concentration.
No, our characters don't talk about hitpoints because they are purely a mechanic conceptualization in the overall health of a character. They don't even corelate 1-to-1 with actual wounds.
Same way as my characters don't say 'Wait here one second while I do a stealth check'. Stealth checks, and the character sheet are purely a way to arbitrate everything we do in game.
A character has no way to gauge 'I have 5 HPs' because within the world Hitpoints *do not exist*. At least that is how I and all the tables arbitrate it.
And on LilStabby's point, I agree. But put it in those terms, 'When I am battle weary, cast Polymorph'.
Folks,
I'm trying to help out a friend of mine and was wondering what suggestions the forum would have for a Contingency? Any good ideas out there? Besides the old stand by of teleporting home if under 1 hp?
Current Characters I am playing: Dr Konstantin van Wulf | Taegen Willowrun | Mad Magnar
Check out my homebrew: Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Feats
I am planning on casting "False Life" upcast to 5th level. The trigger being either 25%, 50%, or 75% hp loss--I haven't decided which yet. Suddenly pop back 24+1d4 Hp.....
I took a moment and looked through the spell which are eligable for a Contingency and was surprised by the many limits. The main qualifications are thus...
'Choose a spell of 5th level or lower that you can cast, that has a casting time of 1 action, and that can target you. '
So it has to target yourself and take 1 action. This actually rules out Teleportation Circle which was the standby in past editions.
A handful of possibilities are:
5th level - Mislead, Seeming
4th level - Banishment, Dimension Door, Fire Shield, Greater Invisibility, Otiluke's Resilient Sphere, Polymorph
3rd level - Blink, Dispel Magic, Fly, Gaseous Form, Haste, Nondetection, Protection from Energy, Remove Curse, Thunder Step, Tongues
2nd level - Alter Self, Blur, Darkvision, Enlarge/Reduce, Invisibility, Levitate, Mirror Image, Nystul's Magic Aura, See Invisibility, Spider Climb
1st level - Comprehend Languages, Detect Magic, Disguise Self, False Life, Jump, Longstrider, Mage Armor, Protection from Evil and Good
This is mainly looking at Wizard. A Bard could include a handful of other spells if they picked up Contingency.
Current Characters I am playing: Dr Konstantin van Wulf | Taegen Willowrun | Mad Magnar
Check out my homebrew: Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Feats
So one could use Contingency as a way to keep an extra spell slotted. You could state the trigger as 'when I break this stick' and thus have total control over when the contingent spell goes off.
Mislead appears to be a strong choice and would be a good 'go to' for your BBEG. Protection from Energy and Remove Curse have their appeal...
I like Otiluke's Resilient Sphere personally. That might be a good one to set up a manual trigger.
As Badluk mentioned, False Life would also be a decent application.
Any other ideas?
Current Characters I am playing: Dr Konstantin van Wulf | Taegen Willowrun | Mad Magnar
Check out my homebrew: Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Feats
Really late to this, but I was looking and noticed that blink wasn't mentioned at all. It could be saved for battle, making it so that you wouldn't have to worry about casting it in your first round of combat, and instead just use the contingency.
Thanks for the response. Our campaign recently hit a reset so we are back to playing around 4th level for the moment but I think this is still an interesting topic where I see little discussion.
Yes, blink would be an excellent option. I see that it is also not a concentration spell so It would be handy to have set up.
Another I like is fire shield. Not a bad one to have ready on standby.
A lot of folks seem to recommend dimension door but I kind of think that thunder step cast at 5th level might be better. I'm not a fan of completely leaving the fight without your party.
Current Characters I am playing: Dr Konstantin van Wulf | Taegen Willowrun | Mad Magnar
Check out my homebrew: Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Feats
I like the blink idea, but setting the target would be the key...perhaps a specific spell or action instead of just entering combat. For my blade singer perhaps whenever he starts his bladesong...
you might not want to have this pop at any combat....
Improved Invisibility is pretty hawt for Caster v Caster combat. Set trigger to go off if you wink three times fast. Get close for those hard hitting non-concentration spells with crappy ranges (ie Disintergrate). If they cant see invis then they cant counterspell.
i never see anyone mention combining contingency and wall of force
if resilient sphere is considered a good one to use for contingency wall of force seems to be even better
one of the preset wall of force shapes is a 10ft radius sphere that's enough to cover your whole party if its caught in a surprise breath weapon/ambush and the trigger can be something like when i cross my arms in defense
you have counter spell for dealing with surprise fireballs etc
or use a flat 60ft long wall that appears in front of you so it could be used to counter even spells like fireball
or even just use contingency to cast wall of force and use whatever version of the spell is needed at the moment
if you ask me the flexibility of wall of force and the contingency spell really cant be compared to other combos
I think most folk are looking at a contingency spell option without concentration. The problem with spells with concentration is if you set up a specific circumstance for the trigger than it could interfere with a concentration spell you already have in place. And if you preset the trigger to something more controllable, like eye blinking or crossing your arms, your DM will likely require the action take place on your turn. Also, wall of force cannot target the caster so is not eligible for contingency. Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere would make for a good option in place of it although once again you have concentration to be concerned with.
Current Characters I am playing: Dr Konstantin van Wulf | Taegen Willowrun | Mad Magnar
Check out my homebrew: Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Feats
On the fence regarding greater invisibility. At levels higher than 11th there are a large amount of opponents that can see invisible creatures in one way or another. And counterspell only has a 60ft range which is pretty close combat for spell casters. Especially a wizard.
Current Characters I am playing: Dr Konstantin van Wulf | Taegen Willowrun | Mad Magnar
Check out my homebrew: Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Feats
Some more fun spells:
Dispel magic: Right before the mage fight, make it so that if they get a debuff spell on you it is gone.
Haste: For all of those bladesingers.
Cure wounds: I know that you would have to get this spell out side of you basic class, but you could set it up to be a extra powerful death ward.
Freedom of movement: Just in case you are about to be trapped.
Greater restoration: Again with the outside of basic class, but can be useful in a fight. Is quite costly though.
Revitify: And again with outside of basic class, but is very helpful
When the DM smiles, it is already to late.
From a bladesinger, a 5th level shadowblade on standby could be nice? Is it still good at this level?
(range of self and you could immediately rest to get the usually expensive slot back)
The great thing about Contingency is two fold:
NOTE: Discuss with your DM when it comes to how he wants to handle spells that allow you to make choices upon casting them. Because you cast the contingent spell upon casting Contingency, not when the trigger happens. For example, is he ruling you choose what you Polymorph into when you cast Contingency, or when the condition is met? What about Dimension Door? Protection from Energy? et cetera. Have these discussions with your DM before taking Contingency.
I’m a big fan of “If I drop to 10% of my HP Polymorph Giant Ape.”
That bandit that hit you get to look way up at peeved simian.
That honestly depends on if your DM allows including Metagaming information within a condition. Hitpoints is a metagaming statistic that player characters have no real concept of, so it depends on the DM if "less than 10% of my HPs" is a quantifiable condition in their game. Though there are always ways to circumvent this:
This would happen after the attack happens and would only trigger if the damage dealt to you would knock you to 0 HPs. You'd then polymorph into the Ape and the Ape would take that hit (preventing you from falling unconscious).
That being said, all of these conditions are subject to DM interpretation.
I would argue that HP is something that the characters would definitely know of, even if by a different name. people know when they're dying, when they need a little or long rest to heal, or when they're just fine.
So Grizzle when you cast cure wounds or burn hit dice does your DM roll for you but not tell you how many HP you gain back? How could you possibly know as a character if you healed 1 or 10 hit points? That seems a little harsh. The idea of having the poly pop before you hit zero is to not die if you lose concentration.
No, our characters don't talk about hitpoints because they are purely a mechanic conceptualization in the overall health of a character. They don't even corelate 1-to-1 with actual wounds.
Same way as my characters don't say 'Wait here one second while I do a stealth check'. Stealth checks, and the character sheet are purely a way to arbitrate everything we do in game.
A character has no way to gauge 'I have 5 HPs' because within the world Hitpoints *do not exist*. At least that is how I and all the tables arbitrate it.
And on LilStabby's point, I agree. But put it in those terms, 'When I am battle weary, cast Polymorph'.
Any suggestions for a good Contingency spell that is not on the Wizard's spell list?