Post/Author/DateTime	Post
shaular 11-21-05, 11:49 PM	My wizard has just learned Contingency, but I do not see a proper way to define the trigger condition. My master won´t allow things like "if I am going to be attacked" or "if an attack comes in my direction". What are teh rules for a properly defined trtigger?
Rutibex 11-22-05, 12:01 AM	He's right not to allow you to have the trigger activate when you're about to be attacked. It takes a 9th level spell "Forsight" to even give you a warning before being attacked, and the duration is shorter than Contingency. I don't know if your DM would allow it (it's kind of metagame) but I always use a trigger that activates when I reach half hitpoints (to teleport me away). A more in game trigger would be "If I am ever incapacitated", and set it to do an area Dispel Magic or teleport you to a safe area.
ScipioX 11-22-05, 01:27 AM	Contingency isn't a divination spell. Something along the lines of 'trigger when I become aware of an incoming attack' might work.
MystErikEry 11-22-05, 01:41 AM	The contingency doesn't know what the caster is aware of, though. It mentions just what kinds of things it can see or do. And I don't think that the caster can, say, wiggle his ears when he is "about to get attacked" since it's not his turn at that point, it's always a nice option to have an expensive emergency "Quickened" Spell :) (And you don't have to be a divination spell to be aware that a wizard is about to be attacked - so long as the wizard retains his Dex bonus to AC then he is even aware of the attack. Foresight lets you see attacks and dangers of the following round, and also gives a bonus to how to dodge attacks otherwise. A contingency based on "if I am about to be attacked" should work, since, for example, the Verminfriend feat works whenever a Vermin is about to attack you, and surely there are other examples of things happening when people are about to attack someone (for example, an unarmed attacker generally provokes an attack of opportunity when they attack you, if you threaten them)...)
Nightspirit 11-22-05, 03:52 AM	the spell, as it is written, doesn't need that the caster is aware of the trigger. He simply specify a trigger condition, and when that condition take place, the contingency takes effect. Is one of the most powerful spells in the game, and the ultimate defensive spell. Try this: "when someone attack me, contingency"
Nom 11-22-05, 05:48 AM	The problem is that there aren't any; the spell is poorly written. My rules of thumb: (1) Contingency is Evocation, not Divination. It can't see into the future or react to things that might happen, only what has happened. (2) Contingency is Evocation, not Divination. It can't react to events outside the rough perception range of the caster. (3) Both examples given are things that objectively happen to the caster (immersed in water, fall more than 4 feet). I'm therefore inclined to rule that the trigger must be something that (a) the caster perceives or (b) objectively happens to the caster.
Bloodtide_the_Red 11-22-05, 09:37 AM	The Contingency spell is quite vague on the trigger. I have always gone with the idea that the trigger must be a simple, direct act that effects the caster. I would not want one that says 'when I'm, attacked', but one that says 'When I am hit hard by an object'(note you don't want to say weapon there). Time based triggers also work. BT