Contingency - what can it do?

[der_kluge]

My player sent me this email, asking about the contingency spell.

Prior to this, he was asking about using contingency to fire a protection from evil if a ghost tried to attack him. I told him it would be too late to stop that.

> OK, that makes sense: Contingency fires as a response to some event, it
> cannot predict an event and fire the spell to avoid the event. On the
> other hand, you could have a contingency that would fire "If a ghost came
> within 5 feet of me", or perhaps even "If a ghost attempted to attack me".
> Which would allow the spell to go into effect prior to the possession
> attempt. But another question is - does the contingency spell depend on
> the perceptions of the spellcaster? In other words, can a contingency
> spell fire a Prot from Evil "If a ghost comes within 5 feet of me" even if
> I don't know the ghost exists? (Such as if the ghost sneaks up from
> behind, or if it was invisible and silent, or if I were asleep...) The
> way I see it, the contingency does not rely on a conscious decision on the
> part of the spellcaster (would an unconscious spellcaster thrown off a
> tower would still benefit from a contingency[Feather Fall]?). Another
> example that I think should work: "Cast Endurance if I ever get knocked
> unconscious". But how aware is the contingency of its surroundings? It
> seems unlikely that you would allow me to cast contingency that would
> "cast See Invisible whenever anything invisible or ethereal comes within
> 60 feet of me".

Anyone have any answers for him? Is there some official ruling on how outlandish one can get with this spell?

 

[Tabarnak Smokeblower]

Fire up a Prot. from Evil when attacked by a ghost:
First of all, the resolution of this contingency relies on the identification of the ghost by the character. It could be changed to "when I see a ghost" or "when a ghost comes within 10' of me". In both these cases, the character must identify the ghost. If there was an illusion of some sort, which was perceived by the character as being a ghost, the spell would trigger. I don't think the spell has the capacity to analyse and identify monsters...

I would say, though, that if a certain ghost was previously encountered by the character, and said character escaped, the contingency spell could be worded such: "If that ghost ever comes within 10' of me, fire up a Prot. from Evil".

I wouldn't say that the spell relies on the perception of the character, but it also relies on what the character knows (even if the character isn't in a condition to express his knowledge). A character knows what "falling" is. An unconscious character's contingency to cast Feather Fall when falling more than 5' would be activated if said character was thrown off a cliff.

A contingency [Endurance] when unconscious would work, since the character knows what being unconscious is.

A contingency [See Invisibility] when an invisible attacker is within 60' would not work, but a contingency [See invisibility] when struck by an unseen opponent would trigger the spell. Of course, if you were hit by a hiding rogue's arrow, the spell would also trigger, IMO.

Hope this helps

TS

 

[Jhyrryl]

Contingency should be a Divination spell.

Contingency is omniscient with regard to its trigger condition.

Contingency: "Cast protection from energy: fire when George starts casting fireball."

Situation: George is 7000 miles away and starts casting a stilled, silenced, material eschewed fireball while he's invisible.

What aspect of that situation would cause the contigency to fail? None. George has started casting fireball, and that's my trigger; protection from energy: fire goes up.

Same deal for pretty much any kind of detection ability. Casting see invisibility if an invisible creature comes within some distance is perfectly reasonable. What would be the duration on a specially researched 6th-level see invisibility that didn't do anything differently than see invisibility? 1 day/level seems reasonable to me, and that wouldn't have the restriction of "comes within X distance of me".

 

[Tabarnak Smokeblower]

IMO, your version of contingency is much too powerful, too powerful for its own good, but hey, diff'rent strokes.

TS

 

[AuraSeer]

The rules don't clearly specify, so it's up to the DM. IMO Jhyrryl's interpretation is unreasonably powerful, since it would make contingency the most powerful divination spell in the game (even better than many divine powers), but perhaps that's somehow balanced in his campaign.

Me, I assume contingency has the same senses as the caster, and uses them from his location. It also has the same skill bonuses as the caster (Spot, Listen, Spellcraft, etc), but since it just sits around waiting for the trigger effect, I assume it takes 20 on the appropriate checks.

Like any other spell, contingency can only work on in-game qualities like race, appearance, or actions. It won't work on intangibles like class or level.

Example: I, a human wizard, have a contingency to cast prot. evil if a demon comes within 100' of me. I stand in a lightless corridor, and a drow summons a demon 50' away. The spell does not go off, because my senses do not perceive the demon. (It would trigger if I were a dwarf, since it would have the same darkvision as me.)

Example: I set up a protection from arrows to go off when someone points a ranged weapon at me. A hidden assassin prepares to shoot an arrow at my back. Contingency takes 20 on a Spot check with my ranks, Wis modifier, and other bonuses. If it beats the rogue's Hide result, it notices him and my protection spell activates.

Example: I have a trigger to cast death ward if someone casts slay living within 100' of me. Evil Ike teleports into my office and casts a Still Silent slay living. Since there are no components, contingency is not entitled to a Spellcraft check to identify the spell, so it has no way to know that it's supposed to trigger. My ward does not go up.

None of this is official, but it's consistent and fair, and it works for me.

 

[The Spectrum Rider]

Oh, I really like this version of contingency!

"Contingency: cast faerie fire if the man who claims to be the king is really an impostor."

You could learn a lot with a spell like that.

The Spectrum Rider

 

[green slime]

Oh, I really like this version of contingency!

"Contingency: cast faerie fire if the man who claims to be the king is really an impostor."

You could learn a lot with a spell like that.

The Spectrum Rider

Seeing as there are always at least 100 mentally insane individuals claiming to be the king at any given moment, faerie fire is triggered, and you try to dispose of the regent of the land...

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Take a look at Contingent Conjuration in the DMG, under the Thaumaturgist PrC - the spell is omniscient, for good or for ill.

 

[green slime]

We always played it that way, as Jhyrryl described it.

 

[Tabarnak Smokeblower]

For me, AuraSeer's way of handling it is the best. That's how I'd handle it.

TS