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Contingency

Sitra Achara

Arcane
Joined
Sep 1, 2003
Messages
1,859
Codex 2012 Codex 2013 Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015
So, what should Contingency look like?

Going by wikis, Baldur's Gate had the following trigger events:
  • Wizard is hit for damage
  • Wizard sees enemy
  • Wizard's Hit Points are at 50%
  • Wizard's Hit Points are at 25%
  • Wizard's Hit Points are at 10%
  • Wizard is helpless (i.e., charmed, dominated, confused, stunned, asleep, etc.)
  • Wizard has been poisoned

For ToEE, I was thinking of doing:
  • Hit for damage
  • HP at 50/25/10 %
  • Enter combat (instead of sees enemy)
  • Affected by the above conditions (Charmed, Dominated, Confused, Stunned, Sleeping, Paralyzed etc)

What else do you think would be helpful?
What are the usual use cases for Contingency?
What I can think of:
  • Dispel Magic / Break Enchantment for anti-spell effects
  • Short duration buff when combat entered (to not waste the 1st round)
  • HP trigger - I'm guessing mainly for death preventing spells like Otiluke's Resilient Sphere?
    Mystic Theurges would probably benefit more from this since they can heal as well.

What spells are allowed to be cast? Does stuff like Haste count? (e.g. Targeting mode multiple, but cast only on self)

Also, since the duration is 1day/lvl, does that mean it's legal to cast Contingency, rest for 8 hours, and then have your full spell slots?
With the current ToEE system that's how it would work (and I've abused this myself with multiple Extended False Lifes :) ).

Lastly, what do you think about the Arcane Focus requirement? I could abstract this as a 1500 GP single time cost per caster.
 
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Endarire

Scholar
Joined
Feb 28, 2016
Messages
395
First, alleluia! I've been wanting to use contingency in a 3.x D&D video game for many years now!

To answer your questions more thoroughly...

-Contingency lasts until triggered, dispelled, or the 1 day per caster level duration expires. Thus, you could make a contingency for mirror image, rest for a day, then have your spell slots back. That's intentional, and how it worked in Baldur's Gate II.

-I'd like an option for manual activation. By RAW, "When I want to" is a legal trigger.

-Other legal triggers: You have full HP, 95% HP, 90% HP, 85% HP, 80% HP, 75% HP... Also, a trigger for combat starting (as proposed) and combat ending; character unconscious; character poisoned; character paralyzed; character dead; character dispelled/about to be dispelled.

-For targeting, any spell that targets the caster or is centered on the caster is considered fair game. (It still must be of a legal spell level - to a maximum of spell level 6 at caster level 18+.) This means haste is legal, though perhaps self-only. (Likewise with other multi-target spells such as hide from Undead.) Similarly, bless and prayer and similar are self-centered. To my understanding, all area spells are legal, meaning self-detonating a fireball or wall of fire would be legal.

-To my understanding, spells from items (wands, scrolls, staves, and use-activated items anyway) are usable by RAW, but I'm unsure how well that can be implemented in this game. Spells from other casters still can't legally be put into your contingency.

-Focus Component: Legend lore uses it, and contingency has the 1500G focus by RAW. I'm OK with it.

-How I used contingency in Baldur's Gate II: Normally it was for buffing at the start of a fight with mirror image, haste, or stoneskin, or to cast a spell immediately since contingency bypassed normal wait times for casting.
 
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Sitra Achara

Arcane
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Why use it for 1min/lvl buffs? By the time you can use contingency these already last more than 10 minutes, which is plenty. I suppose you could for saving the spell slot...
 

Endarire

Scholar
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Feb 28, 2016
Messages
395
Contingency is very much a spell for 'invest now and benefit later.' What I wanted to be able to do in BG1/2 was contingency for teleport to get me to safety, but PCs can't learn that spell.
 
Joined
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Codex Year of the Donut
What spells are allowed to be cast? Does stuff like Haste count? (e.g. Targeting mode multiple, but cast only on self)
Yes. Any spell may be cast as long as it affects your person.

RAW, the conditional aspect is essentially unlimited. I suggest implementing an advanced AI capable of completely interpreting every possible condition, also, have it make coffee.
If you want some good examples of BG2 contingency uses, you might want to check out SCS.
 

Endarire

Scholar
Joined
Feb 28, 2016
Messages
395
In Baldur's Gate II, mage duels were common. Casters often used dispel or similar spells to debuff foes, and contingency was handy to (re)apply buffs mid-fight. As a Wizard, my most common buffs I wanted continually active were stoneskin, mirror image, and haste.

Sword Coast Strategems improved the AI of enemies, especially casters, so they could prebuff like PCs, amongst other abilities.
 

Dr. Bak

Novice
Joined
Apr 21, 2016
Messages
43
SRD said:
You can use only one contingency spell at a time; if a second is cast, the first one (if still active) is dispelled. Link
So the cast is not additive. Either way any bonus, including temp hp, do not stack if they come from the same source/spell (FAQ 3.5 p. 113)

Contingency is a spell often open to interpretation and written very badly to my taste. I'll try to be grounded but these are to be considered plain observations:

The companion spell occurs based solely on the stated conditions, regardless of whether you want it to
The spell triggers are not dependent from the caster, so a viable trigger could be "party member is affected by.."

The trigger "when I want to" ties the spell to a mental action, like casting a quickened spell. That would trigger the contingency only on your turn.

You can place another spell upon your person [...]
Looks like the caster is the only target affected by contingency, even in case of multiple targeting spells such as haste.
The spell [...] must be one that affects your person
The player's handbook cites feather fall, levitate, fly and teleport as examples, all these are targeted spells. The safest assumption, taking the wording into consideration as well, would be to abstain from making AoE spells a viable choice, since they would affect others as well.

Since PCs are not able to assess their health precisely, i would use the NWN scale for npc health (Uninjured, Barely Injured, Injured, Badly Injured, Near Death) instead of usin hp percentages. But this is really up to personal taste.
 

Dr. Bak

Novice
Joined
Apr 21, 2016
Messages
43
Well, those area effects shouldn't apply to anyone else except the caster in the same way as a haste spell.
I can see how Resilient Sphere or Globe of invulnerability are spells created with one target in mind, but what about an Antimagic Field?

The reference to an area spell centered on the caster comes from Complete Arcane's Craft Contingent Spell. That feat was a mean to make the BBEG explode on his death. It's supposed to be treated as a way more powerful tool than Contingency.

-To my understanding, spells from items (wands, scrolls, staves, and use-activated items anyway) are usable by RAW, but I'm unsure how well that can be implemented in this game. Spells from other casters still can't legally be put into your contingency.
I can't see why wouldn't work, although UMD users could Heal or resurrect themselves this way.
Spells provided by a different source from the caster will probably retain the CL of the source.
 

Endarire

Scholar
Joined
Feb 28, 2016
Messages
395
Baldur's Gate II example: Contingency allowed sunfire to be self-cast. (Sunfire is an AoE damaging fire spell centered on the caster that doesn't hurt the caster.)

Contingency with items would use the caster level of each item.
 

Dr. Bak

Novice
Joined
Apr 21, 2016
Messages
43
Baldur's Gate II example: Contingency allowed sunfire to be self-cast. (Sunfire is an AoE damaging fire spell centered on the caster that doesn't hurt the caster.)
I wouldn't agree on that use either, but that's somehow justified by the fact that, in AD&D2, the description of Contingency referenced the spell Airy Water (a spell centered on caster with range close to a resilient sphere). That reference has been swapped with another targeted spell in D&D3.0.

Fun Fact: In 5th edition the companion spell requires a target, unfortunately they also made the concept of targeting somewhat more arbitrary.

Anyway I don't wanna be a downer, we're just discussing opinions here, I don't think anybody would make a point on this in the future and I believe the best implementation is the one that brings more satisfaction from the game. Contingent AoE spells centered on caster don't look like a critical factor :)

EDIT: I forgot to tell, my favourite use of Contingency in my tabletop game is to Magic Jar as soon as i drop unconscious or dead. That way i could have an extra chance to help the party, or pick up my body and teleport.
 
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Endarire

Scholar
Joined
Feb 28, 2016
Messages
395
Dr. Bak: Contingency was fun to use on a GMPC Wizard as to why he 'abandoned' the party: "That <event> triggered my contingency!"
 

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