Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Gnarl 03-21-05, 06:16 PM	Hi, I was wondering, could you make a contingency that triggers when the characters says "oups" ? When could the caster use such a contingency ? Only on his turn ? Anytime ? Would this be a free action ? Thanks.
Seeker95 03-21-05, 06:23 PM	Technically, you could. Because I know where such a line of thinking is going, I would not allow it.
smrtgmp 03-21-05, 06:27 PM	I say it would work. Having Contingency tied to a trigger word is a common tactic that I have seen used countless times over the 18 or so years I've been playing wizards (mages/magic-users).
Yobgod Ababua 03-21-05, 06:37 PM	When could the caster use such a contingency ? Only on his turn ? Yes, typically you may only take actions (including free actions like speaking) during your own turn. When a character’s turn comes up in the initiative sequence, that character performs his entire round’s worth of actions. (For exceptions, see Attacks of Opportunity and Special Initiative Actions.) -- 3.5 SRD So you can only say "oops" on your own initiative, but that would indeed trigger the contingency and pop off one "free" spell, just like it would do if you'd had it set to "when I get hit by a melee weapon". Remember that the contingent spell must target you. There is no reason why it won't work, nor is it really an abuse of the spell compared to it's usual effects.
smrtgmp 03-21-05, 06:43 PM	Where does it say that speaking is limited to your turn? I would think you could say a short phrase, like "Look out Grok!" at any time.
Yobgod Ababua 03-21-05, 08:00 PM	Check out the chart of action types in the combat section of the PHB or SRD. "Speak" is a Free Action. It's your DMs discretion how many free actions you can perform in a round, but you can still only perform free actions on your own turn. So, technically you can only warn Grok during your turn, although many DMs don't enforce this a draconian manner.
Seeker95 03-21-05, 09:50 PM	Yobgod is correct in his assertion that the table places speaking as a free action, and that free actions can only be taken on your own turn. The table to which Yobgod is referring is found on page 141. However, this is found in the SRD: Speak In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn’t your turn. Speaking more than few sentences is generally beyond the limit of a free action.You can also find this on page 144 of the 3.5 PHB, under FREE ACTIONS-Speak. The text description goes on to say that some DMs may allow speaking only on a character's turn, or only when a character is not flat-footed. As these appear after the "can do on another's turn" sentence, and both use "maybe optionally" language, we may surmise that the default is that speaking (of no more than a sentence or two) is a free action that can occur on someone else's turn. However, as I said earlier, regarding the initial questions, I would not allow someone to trigger their own contingency unless it was on their own turn.
smrtgmp 03-21-05, 09:52 PM	Ahh, I thougth I had seen something like that.