Our Top Ten Uses of the Contingency Spell in D&D 5e

[@SymbioteMullet]

A dm I used to play with would occasionally drop underpants of contingency. When they became wet, they cast Expeditious Retreat on the wearer.

[@44R0Ndin]

That's hilarious, and quite an interesting take on it. "Bring me my brown pants" indeed.

[@harrywhiteley89]

A-hem "When I cast Sacred Flame and Spiritual Weapon in the same turn... Cast Spirit Guardians." Arcana Cleric is fun

[@jamesmullen3068]

nice

[@captianbacon]

When I'm reduced to zero hit points cast X healing spell on myself.

[@ImmortalLemon]

*panik!!*

[@mlq1718]

@@captianbacon that’s just Death Ward

[@captianbacon]

@@mlq1718 wizards don't get death ward though and they can get a 1st lvl healing spell from lorehold backround so they could contagioncy healing word myself on death.

[@PiroMunkie]

The level of a spell is the level it was cast at. It's the first paragraph under _Casting a Spell at a Higher Level_ on page 201 of the PHB, "When a spellcaster casts a spell using a slot that is of a higher level than the spell, the spell assumes the higher level for that casting. For instance, if Umara casts magic missile using one of her 2nd-levei slots, that magic missile is 2nd level. Effectively, the spell expands to fill the slot it is put into." While I agree the wording of Contingency is a bit strange, I think the clear intention was to be able to store a spell of 5th level or lower. So upcasting a 5th level Dispel Magic would be completely acceptable, especially considering you're paying the spell slot for it at the time of casting.

[@adarian]

Yep. Was just about to post this then saw your post.

[@kneauxremorse]

P

[@TheHandgunhero]

Yes, RAW you can upcast the spell with Contigency. Upcasting Dispel Magic is a really good option.

[@edsiefker1301]

100% correct

[@escobarisanoctopus]

I believe the reason they mention this is because of the DC roll with Dispel Magic. I do think you're right, though.

[@donaldmack3458]

I remember my very first use of Contingency. This goes back many years when the spell first showed up in AD&D. I was the only player and through creative use of hirelings and henchmen I was able to get my mage up to a fairly high level. My Contingency spell was triggered when I went below 1 hp (which in those days meant death). The spell that was triggered was to Teleport me to my home. My character was married (to a woman that I had rescued in an earlier adventure) so from the DM's point of view, my character shows up dead, in my home. My distraught wife sells several of my higher-powered magic items to pay for the Raise Dead spell. I got my character back and the DM was able to get rid of some of the items I had collected that was making his job that much harder, and there wasn't much I could say about it.

[@SuperGoose42]

Wow, that's genius AND good storytelling!

[@hero3250]

I once had my group fighting against a powerful vampire spellcaster in his lair. He had a contingency setup to cast gust of wind after he turned into his mist form, thus blowing him up into the vents on the roof and whisking him away to safety.

[@chrisg8989]

A Vampire Wizard. Now that's a terrifying combination.

[@dadadajasper]

Idea: Cast haste on yourself normally Haste ends, activating your contingency for either otiluke's resilient sphere, mirror image, invisibility or dimension door.

[@levar6618]

Or another haste

[@_zurr]

@@levar6618 You'd still be stunned for that one round

[@that_guy1186]

@@_zurr i would argue, as a dm myself, that you wouldnt suffer the 1 round stun if you used contingency to cast haste as soon as the duration of haste is up. its essentially not ending if it's cast again as soon as the duration ends.

[@MyRegularNameWasTaken]

I think my favorite user of Contingency was one my DM used, where an NPC cast Feign Death upon herself after reaching 25% hit points. The result was that we thought we had killed her, and she got to listen in on our discussion of what to do now that she was dead. I don't think players can get much use out of this because they just go unconscious, but other DMs might be able to use this as a sneaky tactic.

[@euansmith3699]

The old Sober-Up-At-Closing-Time, "Okay, contingency, when the tavern keeper calls Last Orders, cast Protection from Poison on me."

[@philiphockenbury6563]

Continency is actually the name of your magic familiar.

[@FireDragons42]

Contingency saved my level 16 wizard's life when an old DM decided he wanted to kill us all (he intended it to be his last session). He dropped us into a battle with no information or prep time with a group of 4 CR 20 creatures, 3 Beholders, and assorted minions with stunning effects. We had fought off most of the minions, and even taken down 2 of the Beholders, but we were still in a bad way. The Fighter was disintegrated, the Barbarian "convinced" to fight for the other side, one wizard dead, and the Healing Bard had given up and kneeled down to await death. I got hit by a blast from the remaining Beholder which brought me down to 17 hp and triggered my "If I drop to 25 hp or less, cast Resilient Sphere on myself" That let me survive the onslaught of 4 CR 20s as they didn't have Disintegrate and the Beholder had already gone, triggering the effect. When my turn came, I moved over to the corpse of my fellow wizard, dropped concentration to grab his corpse and cast Plane Shift to get me to my personal emergency demiplane bringing the other wizard's corpse (including book and their magic items) with me. The campaign ended there as that DM had no intention of running another session, but my head canon for that character is that they worked the last little bit they needed to get to level 17 (and get access to Wish, used that to revive his fellow wizard, then proceed to get back the rest of the party back (at least the ones who would come back) and they formed a group that defends the material planes against threats from the far realms and keep an eye on up and coming adventurers for recruits. This organization exists in my world and justifies high level NPCs existing in the world that can provide occasional aid, but don't solve all the problems the party encounters. They are focused on bigger things and even when not, they'd rather see what the party can do.

[@SlvrStryker]

One of the characters I have is a Bladesinger, and I have every intent on giving him Contingency to pair with Haste. My personal trigger is upon activating Bladesong, so with a single bonus action, you become a hyper-competent melee fighter who can now move twice as fast and has the option of two attacks (or one + a cantrip; Shocking Grasp, anyone?) + the Haste action. It's also favorably controllable if you know that you're not going to activate Bladesong for anything other than a combat situation.

[@patdav56]

While definitely shocking grasp, maybe combine it with Booming Blade and the mobile feat. Go in, stab em with sound, back up, lure them to you, where they explode. Meanwhile you still also have 2 more attacks :P

[@JohnQDarksoul]

Shadow Blade will usually give you more DPR than haste (even more if combined with booming blade should your DM allow it, most do), but if you really need speed take a look at longstrider. Remember that when haste ends (hopefully it never does, with your +IntMod to concentration saves) you lose an entire turn. Math (Assuming 20 Dex and 3rd Level Shadow Blade): 2 Shadow Blade Attacks + BB = 2(3d8+5) + (1d8 + (2d8)) 3 Rapier Attacks + BB = 3(1d8+5) + (1d8 + (2d8)) If you hit 45% of the time, the DPS is 2 Shadow Blade Attacks + BB = 18.45 (22.05) 3 Rapier Attacks + BB = 13.45 (17.55)

[@adarian]

To be honest I would prefer triggering greater invisibility. Advantage on attack rolls and disadvantage on attacks against you while being immune to spells and effect that require sight like hold person etc is more defensive than haste by far and if you have elven accuracy it might even edge out haste offensively as you will be highly unlikely to miss and triple your crit chance. You also do not lose a turn if your invisibility gets taken down like you will with haste.

[@SlvrStryker]

@@JohnQDarksoul Not gonna lie, part of me *really* loves the flavor of activating Bladesong and manifesting a blade to wield with it, that is just *dope.* For the record, I love all of these comments, and may try some out. My thought process, however, leans on different mechanics, alongside flavor. Mechanics-wise, it doesn't matter how much AC you build up (for context, 18 DEX, 18 INT. Leather+1, so a total of 22 AC before a Shield reaction), you'll still have a Wizard's hit die, so playing a more hit-and-run style makes sense. Partial movement to the nearest foe, stab with a rapier(a Crystal Rapier, in my case), Shocking Grasp. If SG hits, attack with Haste action. If not, Disengage, retreat for the rest of your movement. Does it put you at risk of ranged spells that force a save? Sure. But you also shouldn't get yourself surrounded and ganged up on in melee, thus reserving some spell slots. Flavor-wise? I built this guy with a Final Fantasy Red Mage in mind. He can in theory do it all...just not as good as specialists. He can even heal, due to a feat in Fizban's! Just...don't make him the *main* healer. ^^;

[@armorfrogentertainment]

@@JohnQDarksoul unfortunately, Shadow Blade is a Bonus Action spell

[@TristanSykes1994]

There is a really easy way to use dimension door with contingency and have it activate even if your GM tells you you have to predetermine. One of the viable locations is a place you can describe. So you take some chalk into the Dungeon with you, mark down a predetermined glyph in areas you think are safe and say you teleport to the last chalk glyph you drew. This way, you have a predetermined location you can put down anywhere and at anytime for a convenient escape point.

[@44R0Ndin]

*cue angry DM noises from the frustrated but overly micromanaging DM* In other words that's the best way to dodge that particular "nerf" that I've heard of yet. Just hope that the chalk glyph hasn't become the resting place of a Gelatinous Cube.

[@bigdream_dreambig]

I'm afraid this doesn't work to get around that GM ruling. The spell says "a place you can see" or "a place you can visualize." Even if you can visualize the chalk glyph, you can't visualize the last place you drew it since you haven't drawn it there yet.

[@micramism6431]

@@bigdream_dreambig > draws chalk glyph in a specific area, thereby necessitating my presence there. specifically memorize the area to be visualized later. > leaves > oshit.jpg > trigger contingency > i wasnt actually there when i drew the chalk symbol, contingency fails >sad.png

[@Mermanticore]

@@micramism6431 I think they maybe misunderstood what was meant by “last time?” As in, some time in the future, the glyph will be drawn for the last time at this point, but you haven’t drawn it yet, so it fails. Really strange interpretation of that phrase, but it the only interpretation that I can think of that makes sense…

[@jackhuckelberry8405]

Or just teleport to “the safest location in range.” It’s pretty subjective, so either you or the DM would need to determine it, and even spiteful DMs shouldn’t be able to do much about it, because if they try to screw you over then they aren’t really choosing a safe location.

[@andrewmcmillan229]

Here's a fun one, Use contingency to cast Seeming when I cast Scatter. Have everyone in the battle suddenly look like you and teleport to random places around the battlefield, so nobody knows who is who and who to attack.

[@logancuster8035]

You can not target another creature with a Contingents spell. You could cast seeming to effect yourself but no one else.

[@sagesmith1734]

Seems like a fun idea, but the caveat to Contingency is that the caster is the only one to benefit from the spell.

[@andrewmcmillan229]

@@logancuster8035 In that case, make yourself look like the boss, so when you and the boss swap places you can point and say "He's trying to take my form! Get him!" and have the henchmen attack their boss.

[@krisjohn4668]

It looks to me like you could do something similar, using contingency to cast Dimension Door when you cast Seeming, then everyone can look like you but you'll be 500 feet away.

[@harrywhiteley89]

Death Ward and Freedom of Movement are also pretty epic spells for Contingency, also if you want to use two magical secrets Antilife Shell is also a Shout from the Druid Spell List

[@JakeConrad666]

but death ward already is a contignecy

[@harrywhiteley89]

@@JakeConrad666 10 day long deathward though ;)

[@Shaderox]

Don't know about bards since there's a lot of other spells one could pick instead of Death Ward with ones Magical Secrets, but for Arcana Domain Clerics it seems very viable.

[@TullanBennett]

I had a contingency set up for when I purposely blinked both eyes 3 times which can go into the cheeky way to trigger without needing to speak. I had it set up to cast blink

[@TheHandgunhero]

Fire Shield is a fantastic Contigency option that wasn't mentioned, you can have the trigger being when you take cold or fire damage, or better yet - when a creature within 5 feet of you hits you with a melee attack!

[@adarian]

Cast greater invisibility on myself when I Bladesing. Advantage for you on attacks and disadvantage for them if they try to hit you. Think this is a better choice overall than haste especially if you are an elf with elven accuracy and thus get 3 dice to hit them instead of just 2 and no lost turn if someone tosses a dispel at you and gets rid of your haste or you lose concentration. You are also immune to spells that require them to see you like hold person etc.

[@demoulius1529]

Dispel magic wouldnt work against a contigency anyway because a requirement for dispell magic is that they see someone casting a spell. With contigency you dont do that, the effect goes off automaticly. They also cant dispell invisibility with dispell magic because they need to see the target for the spell to work; which obviously cant happen if you are invisible :D

[@metleon]

Everyone: There are a lot of great options for Contingency. Kelly: Yeah but I'm a T-Rex and you're not.

[@heroicvileplume7184]

Alternate title: Top 10 ways Strahd will use the contingency spell to screw over the players in your campaign

[@techknight3753]

One of my favorite contingencies I've ever used was with invisibility. The trigger was a keyphrase which was intentionally easy to understand, "warp". My wizard vanishes into thin air, and any enemy who heard them assumes they have teleported somewhere else. Meanwhile, my wizard simply stays put until it's safe to reappear or run

[@AlwaysGrowing0]

Most creatures at high level have truesight. Thus, they will still see you if you are invisible. Not a good use of Contingency at high levels.

[@techknight3753]

@@AlwaysGrowing0 Alright sir buzz kill, but did I ask?

[@keithfricke6096]

I had a character that used contingency to invoke Otiluke’s Resilient sphere and set things up with another party member to cast Levitate on the sphere and get it above the ground. This helped get my character out of melee range when the spell ended, giving me the choice to cast feather fall or fly

[@DerekBarolet]

Ya'll should do one on spells like ceremony, augery, etc. Loved this

[@Jackevolution88]

I had a Bladesinger mage that when she's scream "SHAZAM" she's go Haste with contingency, too much fun with it

[@ronstahl5783]

I like True Sight triggered whenever an invisible creature, object, illusion or magically concealed door or trap is within 75’ range. In a sense it is better than a robe of eyes because you’ll know it is triggered even if your opponent is otherwise concealed so you’ll be looking carefully, without appearing to be looking carefully. It gives you the upper hand when your opponent thinks they have the upper hand.

[@O4C209]

Really wished you talked more about how this spell doesn't work if the material component is not with you. That material component being "a statuette of yourself carved from ivory and decorated with gems worth at least 1,500 gp". Just imagine a Wizard walking around with that.

[@j.asmrgaming1228]

When you think how expensive certain gems are it probably wouldn't have to be very big at all

[@benharder7816]

A "statuette" is something small, that can be handhold, like an Oscar trophy

[@DoctorFabio23]

Bag of holding.

[@adamstadick2044]

@@DoctorFabio23 I’d argue that something being in another dimension does not count as being “on you”.

[@DoctorFabio23]

@@adamstadick2044 Bit stricter than I'd rule it. It is within reach.

[@Sualokin3]

I would add that you can add "and" and "or" to the if trigger to make it more specific or open ended as you wish. Or do both for example: If I start bladesinging AND I make an attack OR say "insert keyword here"

[@chrism6315]

In regards to quotes about plans, the best is simply. 'Plans are worthless, planning is everything' Re dimension door, I would assume RAW you have to select a target when you cast it into contingency, so you have to stick within its confines. It also allows you to make the spell work how you are saying, you just need to he smarter about how you word it. Contingency states (part of it) 'a place you can visualize'. Simply state when casting the spell on the desired trigger (being attacked/surrounded etc) 'within 5 feet of the ally furthest away from me provided there is safe space to do so'. We can have our cake and eat it without bending the rules, and with a spell like contingency, I think its important to stick to RAW because its a spell easily abusable.

[@mitchc6059]

My go to contingency in older editions was cast dispel magic if an enemy spell causes loss of control of my character. Protection from evil is also in the same vein.

[@sillvvasensei]

I love Mislead. I used it for scouting in the middle of an enemy camp once, because the duplicate can't be attacked. And after I figured out where we needed to go, I used it to cause a distraction to make it easier for the party to sneak into the camp.

[@evannewell7985]

Magic Mouth is VERY open-ended in the triggers that can be used to set it off, and the ways you can combine castings to program things like alarm systems. Combining it with Contingency opens up all kinds of fun.

[@beowulf.reborn]

With the Bard's Revivify, I'd make the trigger something like, If I die, and no one raises me within X rounds. ... where X would be between 2 to 5 rounds, depending on what you think works best. That way, you give the Cleric the chance to get to you first, and you don't blow your Revivify, but if they are unable to get to you, you come back a few rounds later. It's also means that the bad guys will have hopefully moved on from you, so you can take a moment to gather your thoughts, maybe do a little self heal, stand up ... and then either rejoin the fray, or get the heck out of there.

[@talongreenlee7704]

You could word Dimension Door as “Teleport me the shortest distance to behind full cover from the creature that hit me if possible” and I would accept that as valid.

[@starslayer8390]

A recommendation for those of you that want to be fancy with the trigger words, make the trigger a relevant word in latin or a similarly obscure language. For example, the trigger for a haste might be "celeritas" or something like that.

[@crowsenpai5625]

I’ve had a “activate at 1 hp” contingency to cast [Feign Death] on me, while I was under a [Death Ward] so I would at least hit 1. Perfect faked death in the middle of combat.

[@commanderroddi7742]

I used this as a bard, and had some funs with this spell and other magical secrets spells. Since I am thinking playing a bladesinger, I am looking at this spell again. (though wonder if it changed in 2024 rules). I avoid using spells that require concentration with some exception (if I use haste, that is BAD!). I did stuff like "if incapacitated, Dispel that magic effect") or use something like "Cast chain lightning if surrounded" or replace the spell with firestorm). Mislead is a good one, and so is irror image. Dimension door I didn't use because the issue of not being able to see and maybe going into a safe place unless DM would let me state "to a safe spot". THen there's the "if HP low polimorph". AS for the Dispel magic, DM did let me up-cast dispel magic, and other spells. One I had fun with was the "if I say a word, then haste" or cast an upcasted spell like flapming sphere or heat metal.

[@PiroMunkie]

For things like Mirror Image/Invisibility/etc as defensive measures against attacks, you should state "If I _would be_ the target of an attack roll..." this way it'll trigger before the attack happens and grant you all the benefits you want against that attack. Waiting until you get hit, especially in the case of Mirror Image, defeats the purpose of preparing those spells as a contingency.

[@haleyw5677]

Yeah but that is dm dependent because it gets kinda metagame-y

[@adarian]

That terminology would make it trigger the very first time you are ever attacked. Not when you are in serious danger. Just the the first time someone lobs an arrow at you. You might want to word it as "When I am targeted by an attack while under X percentage of hp's."

[@adarian]

@@haleyw5677 Not metagaming at all. Metagaming is when someone is making decisions based on knowledge the character would not have but the player does. A wizard would fully know what his spell is capable of and how being attacked works so it would not be metagaming at all to set up a contingency like this since a character would fully have the knowledge of how the world works through their own experience with the spell and with being attacked.

[@override367]

in general, reactions occur after the trigger, however since it's off the action economy... eh? depends on the dm

[@PiroMunkie]

@@adarian Yeah I just wanted to bring up changing the language to make it more advantageous. You can (and probably should) always refine as needed to meet your use case.

[@crossc1988]

"...and can speak only falteringly." - Stunned Condition. You can still say "giggleshorts" in a falteringly manner.

[@stephenchurch1784]

Back in 3.5 when you could layer contingencies, I played a pacifist inevitable in an planescape themed campaign. My whole shtick was using contingency infused contracts to rules-lawyer bbegs into doing what the party wanted. I also worked with the dm to use it to gently keep the story moving forward when other members of the party were getting a bit too rowdy (I still let them step out of line but, when they did things like decide to fight the lady of pain, I'd magically retcon the thought out of existence)

[@Kurotekken]

Antiquing is the first word I thought of. Thank you so much, Kelly.

[@aire5592]

The logic behind making the decisions involved in casting dimension door on casting contingency is that there's no guarantee that you'll be able to make decisions when it triggers. For example, you can have the trigger "if I fall below 25% hit points, dimension door." What happens if one hit brings you from 30% HP to unconscious? Then dimension door should be cast, but you can't make decisions while unconscious. So it must have some instruction for what it should do in the situation that you can't make decisions

[@neverfinishedbeats5747]

Hey dudes, I really enjoyed this one. I love creative spell uses. Could you two do a video on how to use invisibility in creative ways. Like casting invisibility on an enemy who swallowed another player to help casters have sight on them to rescue with something like vortex warp. I just thought it was interesting that invisibility does not say the target has to be willing and there is no saving throw.

[@tinguren5629]

thats clever, but invis ends if the target attacks, so you'd need a teammate to pull it off since you just used your action to invis the monster will go again before you can vortex warp.

[@Moleje1337]

The reason Invisibility, Greater Invisibility, Mislead can be a good Contingency is you can line up your action to hide. If the enemy is unable to see you with their senses they automaticslly fail in checks to perceive you making you properly hidden.

[@thewretchedpleb7484]

Been playing a wizard/ tempest cleric in my first campaign and I had a thought about contingency once I saw it. An offensive use. Still learning and trying to remember the rules tho, so I'm not 100% certain on it. Definitely has problems though, like using 4 high level slots for a pretty niche combo. The thought was to turn myself into an i.e.d.... but lightning. Example: contingency+ chain lightning on myself, triggered by enemy proximity (got a couple ways to survive the damage). Then putting a spell glyph on my armor if the rules or DM allow, upcasting it to 5th level to use a 5th level lightning bolt, also triggered upon enemy proximity. If channel divinity is active and the enemies fail their saves it'd be easily over 100 total damage that ignores resistance. Not very useful for anything with counterspell or legendary resistances but I can imagine it clearing large but weak groups.

[@troldetorben]

My artificer1/wizard13 was using a level 5 Cure Wounds with a command word, for on-demand healing.

[@PeacefulOz]

My bladesinger uses if concentration is forcibly broken cast greater invisibility. I like the aggressive haste idea

[@ThomasHDBass]

If you know you will encounter a spellcaster, Enhance Ability on your spellcasting ability might be an interesting option to buff your counterspelling. E.g., if you have +5 and need to counter a 7th level spell with a 3rd level slot, your chance will go up from 40% to 64%. And you could trigger it on you casting Counterspell or Dispel Magic.

[@andrewhalverson6974]

Question: I always wondered if contingency would thematically work better if it followed the same parameters of what spells could work, but that it functions as a spell cast as a reaction, at any time, to cast any other spell you know, up to the level spell slot used to cast contingency (min. 6) It would amp up the diversity that a wizard can bring to bear, and free up prepared spells for non self/action spells. Thematically, I think of how a wizard is super smart, and it is a spell that supports the theme with mechanics. Unfortunately I've never gotten the opportunity to play test it done this way. I'd love to know what y'all think. Thanks for the awesome videos!

[@LlorDrei]

I would think Shield and/or Mage Armor would be in the top spots. Have the contingency be to have the spell activate in case of a surprise attack, which should also help in case of sneak attacks. Possibly Mage Armor activates, and then the caster casts shield to add an extra +5 AC to the armor... not certain if this is workable, or not.

[@AgentForest]

Contingency: Tenser's Transformation Passphrase: "By the power of Grayskull, I HAVE THE POWER!!!!!"

[@AgentForest]

Before anyone says it, I know it can't be upcast, so it can't be used for another 6th level spell, but it's a fun thought experiment. I can only assume they didn't allow you to upcast it like Glyph of Warding to store better spells is because they hate He-Man.

[@kalitasmarkov]

I like Revifify. Have an Abjurer 11/Armorer 9 planned out. Armor of Agethys upcast to deal damage and refill your ward with a Contingency on Revifify in case you actually go down. Great AC from armor and Int based attacks means you’re super SAD so you can take extra feats.

[@Treebohr]

For a villain - "Trigger: I lose half my hit points or take a large amount of damage in one turn. Effect: I cast Feign Death."

[@Treebohr]

Alternatively, the trigger can be: If I shout, "No no please!" and then take damage. This allows for more flexibility, and helps sell the idea that the attack killed the caster.

[@terryboggessii3781]

Set contingency to cast fireball on self if you fail all death saves as that final horahh!

[@DungeonDudes]

Unfortunately, this doesn't work as the Contingent spell can affect only you.

[@TheJimF007]

@@DungeonDudes true. But anyone who's rolled on the wild magic table knows you can cast fireball on yourself. The Fireball would only effect your corpse, but if you were carrying anything on your person that was extremely volatile and explosive then I would rule you could go boom.

[@Jkim3591]

This is awesome content!! Definitely helpful for newer players!!

[@666DarkOverlord]

If you know that you are about to go into a big battle the next day if you're a bladesinger you could have haste stored in the contingency with the trigger being when you activate your bladesong, that way it triggers using only the same bonus action that you would use going into a tough fight anyway and you have haste from the first turn of the fight even if you don't have a round to trigger buff spells before initiative starts and keep slots available for dealing damage or protecting sometimes that one last slot is what can push a fight over the edge to win, if you're able to pair it up with something that allows you to heal in any way aswell that extra slot being saved from being spent on hasting yourself can mean the difference between a downed ally outright dying and you being able to pop them back up before that last death save roll or killing attack happens. I've got a bladesinger who has a dragonmark of healing from eberron kinda makes a different flavour of paladin using INT instead of CHA for damage output so they can have more utility outside of battle aswell as more slots available to help teammates or trigger battlefield control stuff and am 100% planning to take contingency for this reason.

[@GrumpyGrobbyGamer]

Excellent discussion. Thank you gents.

[@andreabarberi5866]

I am watching this video even if I play only martial class or half-caste because I love your content

[@andrewrmcmaster]

Would you guys be willing to do this same kind of video for Glyph of Warding?

[@treyp6656]

for the needing to have a location for dimension door, my go to is 500 feet away at a location I have been to before. so no matter where you are you had to arrive somehow so you just get backtracked the way you came in.

[@mclark347]

Vampiric Touch could work, because you get the immediate attack and can also use your action to attack again on the same turn. Also, it's probably more fun than useful, but you can contrive triggers to prevent targets from leaving the range of Enervation by teleporting to them. The trigger condition would have to be rather wordy though.

[@parko246]

Great video guys

[@Ahglock]

On the defense side of things, Blink is a solid choice. Does not require concentration and effectively reduces your odds of being attacked by 50%. I think its more solid than mirror image though yeah the dice can screw you. I'll add that while being in a hamster ball protects you better than probably better option it also protects your enemies from you. It is why I'd prefer blink or polymorph, yes the defense is less solid but I am still active on the field and contributing.

[@emblem3272]

I think with dimension door, while needing to pick an exact direction in advance is dumb, you could have them give a parameter for where they teleport. For example, you could when casting contingency say that dimension door will take you to the furthest possible space you believe is safe.

[@dredgendorchadas6770]

It may be useful to use wish to create contingency as long as your party has a day of nothing or you have a spare 9th lvl spell slot at the end of the day before a rest

[@brooksbrown5785]

My pea brain always went with “when i cast fireball cast another fireball”

[@garyboyles5762]

Contingency trigger: Players return via Word of Recall. Cast: 5th level Aid

[@Brashnir]

You mention that Stoneskin is a bad contingency for defense and I agree, but as an offensive contingency, it's not bad for a bladesinger or a swords/valor Bard. You get to kind of just become a Barbarian with a high AC until you fail the concentration check. Yes, it does take your concentration, but so does Haste, and it lasts for up to an hour, which could get you through a few combats if you're in a dungeon.

[@christophergibson4429]

PSA when you turn invisible, YOUR ALLIES CAN"T SEE YOU EITHER; meaning if you go down to an aoe or a monster that can sense you (tremor sense, scent, life sense, etc) your friends wont be able to save you.

[@loganmcgee18]

Any advice on acquiring the material cost of contingency - "a statuette of yourself carved from ivory and decorated with gems worth at least 1,500 gp", as well, inside the spell's description it states "Also, contingency ends on you if its material component is ever not on your person". I struggle trying to reasonable create a craftsman capable of this in most cities. Usually, I just allow a hireling being sent off to acquire this statuette, and I ignore the odds of them just pocketing the 1,500g worth of gems + labor cost...

[@isaackarr6576]

Would you try whip damage triggers disadvantage on concentration checks?

[@martincroteau8372]

My wizard uses Contingency with False Life casted with a level 9 slot: When dropping to a 50 hp, False Life adds 45-48 temporary hit points.

[@alucardhellsing125]

I cast a resilient sphere spell into my contingency to trigger whenever I'm targetted with an attack, so now basically any initial sneak and surprise attacks are negated.

[@IgorLebreaud]

Great video, but I think you can't use shadow blade or spirit shroud with contingency, because both spells require bonus actions, right?

[@44R0Ndin]

You can control those spells with bonus actions, but they are cast with the main action, if memory serves. Same as with a Druid's wildfire spirit. Takes an action to summon, is controlled with bonus action.

[@cristiananao294]

​@@44R0Ndinit's the opposite, they are cast with a bonus action, then shadow blade becomes an ordinary melee weapon, and spirit shroud just surround you, no need of controlling

[@44R0Ndin]

@@cristiananao294 Yeah that's it, I was mistaken. I was thinking of the Spirit Guardians and Spiritual Weapon spells that Clerics get. Spirit Guardians just surrounds you with an AOE damage-dealing field, but Spiritual Weapon is indeed "cast with an action, controlled with a bonus action". Don't know what got into my head to make me post what I first posted.

[@cristiananao294]

@@44R0Ndin no worries mate, between actions and bonus actions it gets so confusing! I only happen to know these two because i play both a bladesinger (hence the shadowblade) and a cleric 😊

[@guybuckridge7326]

Biby's Hand is nice because of the inherent flexibility.

[@joelhoskins2066]

Good video idea!

[@IkaikaArnado]

Sleep is also an incapacitated condition. Fall asleep: FIRE BALL!

[@aidanbeesley3221]

12:46 Blur does have one niche you forgot about. Invisibility’s disadvantage on attacks will fade as soon as you attack, where as Blur’s will remain active.

[@Desdemona-XI]

However, greater invisibility doesn't fade either. As they treated both spells as one entry its kind of important to bear that in mind

[@uriniumintestor7302]

“If I fail a saving throw on a spell which will leave me incapacitated”. Fails DEX throw on a fireball… “DISSSSSSPELLL MAGGGIC!”

[@shadowskullmage8514]

...That Wither and Bloom spell looks pretty terrifying if you place it as your contingency, now, as you can heal from practically dying to a huge amount of health, and damage any foe around you when it hits.

[@reinpogo4601]

As for the Dimension door ruling. Would you do the same for a Fireball contingency? If you have a cont fireball you obviously want to pick where it lands when it activates. Noone would rule that you have to decide the range and direction when the cont is set up lmao

[@DungeonDudes]

Fireball can't be used with contingency. The spell must target only you.

[@reinpogo4601]

@@DungeonDudes right right right

[@elewyth]

The idea of using Revivify with Contingency is fun, but seems a bit expensive to spend the 300gp material component cost on Revivify every 10 days, just to maybe be saved, when you have other cheaper options.

[@turbonerd6552]

Can you have more than 1 contingency active at 1 time. As it lasts for 10 days can you cast multiple copies

[@TheRobversion1]

I prefer using non-concen spells for contingency as i wouldn't like an important concen spell broken. these usually are dimension door (the classic), dispel magic (another classic) and blink. if i'm expecting just 1 combat for the day or i know which combat will be the toughest, i definitely will go with contingency: blink set to trigger upon a command word when i enter combat.

[@corymorse4271]

A Contingency to cast steel wind strike immediately after you cast Tenser's Transformation gives an absurdly powerful nova round, especially if you have a staff of striking or a similarly powerful melee implement.

[@PingOnThis]

Fireball is the obvious best choice for "On Death" contingency.

[@matthewlaird5235]

How about a high level genie patron sorlock casting eldritch blast with contingency. 3 eldritch blast in one round isn’t bad, and by the time a sorlock can cast wish it would be a lot of lasers.

[@davidlewis8814]

What if you were in a tightly confined space when your Polymorph Contingency went off - like an Underdark tunnel, or a force cage someone put you in? How do you calculate the damage caused by exploding into a huge body in a space like that?

[@GoldNEagle92]

I only recently got access to this spell on my wizard but don't have the material component yet. I'm probably going to go with Dimension Door if I get below a certain amount of hitpoints, since I'm the primary controller of my party and thus don't want to set up a concentration contingency, such as polymorph on myself, since that may mean dropping concentration on a wall of force or hypnotic pattern.

[@GoldNEagle92]

@@Dezbood yeah, I've thought about it, like having Mirror Image go off when I cast a major concentration spell for instance

[@ThePack812]

Can you have haste as a contingency then cast shadow blade/spirit shroud since they all require concentration?

[@Desdemona-XI]

Nope. Contingency does not concentrate for you. One will break the other

[@edwinlevi6608]

Polymorph into a froghemoth. Big damage

[@Nyrnin]

How did Blink not make this list? Come on dudes!

[@DungeonDudes]

We actually did have it on our list until we realized it has a critical flaw. Under the wording of the Blink spell, you only disappear at *the end of your turn* -- not when the spell is cast. This means that if you have a contingency set to trigger reactively when it isn't your turn, the spell comes into effect, but you won't disappear until your turn actually comes around. Also, it's a coin flip whether or not Blink actually activates each turn. As great as the Blink spell is in other situations, unfortunately it makes for a rather unreliable Contingency.

[@laschicvalisca2481]

Contingency with Revivify does sound great, but it's also rather risky. If nothing happens, that's all well and good, but you've just spent 300 GP in diamonds to cast it. Revivify is one of those spells that it consumes a costly material component at the time of casting. Same thing also applies to Greater Restoration; a lot (and I mean a LOT) of people forget that spell costs 100 GP worth of diamond dust. Most DMs probably don't care about the diamond part and say "Just mark off the 300 gold from your inventory," but there are others, such as on Critical Role, that the DM will say, "Where did you get the diamond? You didn't buy one yet."

[@RyanAndyBob9797]

Itachi cast contingency on his sharingan when Obito showed his face.

[@circuithijacker]

How about coupling Contingency with Glyph of Warding? Especially to get around concentration issues.

[@tinguren5629]

has to have casting time of 1 action. glyph is 1hr

[@circuithijacker]

@@tinguren5629 what I actually meant to say was coupling a spell with glyph of warding instead of using Contingency. Especially since Clerics don't normally have Contingency, this could be a good alternative. The only issue is that there are many different printing and interpretations of glyph of warding and you would need to address it with your DM. YMMV. You could put a glyph in a portable hole or in a extra-dimensional space within a vehicle. Again your DM needs to make a ruling. Many glyphs in an extra-dimensional, go into the space, use the glyphs to buff up, Go into battle.

[@tinguren5629]

yeah you can set up glyphs in an extradimensional space if you set it all up right and it can be very strong. expensive and time consuming though.@@circuithijacker

[@fledgling9097]

Half orc wizard, polymorph contingency... Condition: if you use your relentless endurance racial feature.

[@Alternatestories]

Hey can you start covering OSR adventures / Systems / and the different philosophy than 5E

[@lord6617]

Blink is an interesting contingency choice. It is chance based, but unless a creature can reach the ethereal plane they are forced to hold reactions for when you re-appear to even attack or target you. For teleportation contingencies, if your DM is being a dick, cast one of the future prediction spells/rituals before you cast contingency. Basically do a forecast of which direction or distance your contingent teleportation should go off sometime in the next 7 days. Then if your contingency is triggered, since the gods told you where you were supposed to teleport, ask the DM to put you in the safest place within 500 feet.

[@elevenfold11x70]

Surprised Blink didn't make the list. Contingent Blink has saved me a few times, and it isn't concentration, so it won't accidentally mess up anything you have going on. I know it does have the down side of only working 50% of the time and you can't counterspell the enemy while blinked unless they're also in the ethereal. Still a very good choice for a contingency in my opinion

[@bigdream_dreambig]

You have to wait until the end of your next turn for it to do anything, so you might as well cast it with your own action. And how is working only 50% of the time a good way to get yourself out of trouble?

[@ponderosabones7803]

This will definitely come in handy if I ever make a Rick Sanchez build

[@danjbundrick]

Does a Wish spell used to cast Contingency negate the need to keep the statue on your person?

[@tinguren5629]

id rule that it does

[@chrisjones6002]

The material component says a statuette worth $1500gp but doesn't specify if it's consumed. I'm assuming it's not, is that correct?

[@tinguren5629]

right

[@ninjaguy8519]

What if you had the "X happens when i fail my 2nd death save" but are attacked and automatically gain 2 at once? (Assuming you were a 1/3)