If a wizard casts the spell Dimension Door as part of the casting of the spell Contingency, when is the moment of the choice of the place to reach? The choice is part of the casting or of the effect? If it was part of the casting the wizard could still state the relative position.
Asked
Active
Viewed 2,815 times
3
-
1Related on when a target is chosen for the Readied action – David Coffron May 28 '18 at 10:43
2 Answers
3
You must pick targets at the time of casting
However, you're not out of luck. From Dimension Door,
You arrive at exactly the spot desired. It can be a place you can see, one you can visualize, or one you can describe by stating distance and direction, such as 200 feet straight downward or upward to the northwest at a 45-degree angle, 300 feet.
Unless you plan on being within 500 feet of your chosen destination when Contingency activates, you should use the alternative option and specify a direction and distance.
This can lead to some humorous situations where your intention was to teleport 500 ft. up when you get injured in a Dungeon, but you've just returned to town and bumped into a drunkard who gave you a sucker punch, causing you to be teleported 500 ft. above town. Be careful what you pick for your contingency trigger and effect because it will be activated...
The contingent spell takes effect immediately after the circumstance is met for the first time, whether or not you want it to, and then contingency ends.
Axoren
- 11,439
- 2
- 47
- 94
-
Do you have any rules you can cite that support this answer? It's not obvious (to me) that the choice of destination for dimension door is made when it is "cast" as opposed to when it "comes into effect". – Marq May 28 '18 at 15:01
-
1
-
Downvoted this answer because it doesn't provide anything to back up the primary claim of "you must pick your targets at the time of casting".
The question linked in your comment here also doesn't support this claim either because the top answer(s) says readied spells pick a target when the readied action goes off, not when the spell is prepared.
– Micah Zoltu Oct 30 '23 at 11:04 -
The spell teleports you to "a spot within range". The range of the spell is 500 feet. "Stating distance and direction" does not free you from the limit of range of the spell. -1. – Kirt Oct 30 '23 at 15:01
-
@MicahZoltu See: here, which was already referenced in an above comment that has been read by others and +1'd. – Axoren Nov 10 '23 at 22:14
-
@Kirt This is no way allows you to teleport further from yourself than 500 ft. As described, when the spell takes effect is when you teleport "from your current location" to "to any other spot within range". In no way are the limits of the spell violated here. When the spell takes effect, you are teleported from where you are, in the direction of your choice to a distances within 500 ft. – Axoren Nov 10 '23 at 22:22
-
I read "Unless you plan on being within 500 feet of your chosen destination when Contingency activates, you should use the alternative option and specify a direction and distance." as saying if you use the alternative, you do not have to be within 500 feet of the destination. If you are not saying so, what is the purpose of this clause, "unless"? – Kirt Nov 10 '23 at 22:54
-
@Kirt You can specify a specific point in space that you can see or visualize, but that choice will only be valid if your contingency activates within 500 feet of that destination. – Axoren Nov 12 '23 at 04:01
-
@Axoren Perhaps you mean "Unless you can be sure of where you will be using the spell, you had better choose to visualize the specific destination rather than the distance and direction from where you think you will be"? – Kirt Nov 12 '23 at 05:56
-
@Axoren What matters is the accuracy of the answer, and links in comments aren't considered as part of the answer itself. More importantly though, the link you provided both times contradicts what your answer says. The answer says that you must pick targets at the time of casting, but the linked Q&A says that for held actions, the target is chosen when the spell goes off not at time of casting. – Micah Zoltu Nov 12 '23 at 11:05
-
@MicahZoltu That is not what the SA statement is. Reread: "Your target must be within range when you take a readied action, not when you first ready it." This statement implies nothing about when the target is chosen, only that when the spell is fired off, that its targets must be within range. You must still pick targets ahead of time, but those targets do not need to be valid at the time of target selection. If you Ready Magic missile against a target "First goblin to walk through that door", you can't suddenly wait for the second goblin to come out first and hit him instead. – Axoren Nov 13 '23 at 09:08
-
@Kirt That wording is confusing. If it's what I mean, there's better ways to say it than even that. Since most adventures take part more than 2 football fields away from where the Wizard long rests, Contingency to a specific point in space is usually useless. The case for when it is useful is when you know for a fact that you will be "within 500 feet of your chosen destination when Contingency activates". Otherwise, the spell will fail to deliver you to that location. Specifying a direction is always valid, regardless of how far you travel after casting Contingency. – Axoren Nov 13 '23 at 09:25
-
I disagree with your interpretation of "Your target must be within range when you take a readied action, not when you first ready it.", but that is inconsequential here because the answer you linked also disagrees with your interpretation. The linked answer is saying that you can choose the target when you use your reaction to "take the readied action" and it is using that quote to support that answer. At the very least, if you think that quote supports your answer here you should edit your answer to include it rather than linking in comments. – Micah Zoltu Nov 14 '23 at 10:22
0
Yes, if...
- Contingency is treated similarly to a readied action
- Dimension Door is considered to be targeting "you" rather than your destination.
According to Sage Advice https://media.wizards.com/2020/dnd/downloads/SA-Compendium.pdf, readied spell targeting is resolved when the spell is released not when it is prepared. Contingency is not specifically a readied action, but readied actions are the closest game rule to contingency that has anything written in the rules about how targeting works.
For readying a spell or other action, does the target have to be in range?
Your target must be within range when you take a readied action, not when you first ready it.
This alone isn't enough to make Dimension Door work though, as Contingency also only works for spells that can "target you". Dimension Door's "target" could be interpreted as the player and a willing creature, or it could be interpreted as the destination
Choose a spell of 5th level or lower that you can cast, that has a casting time of 1 action, and that can target you.
You teleport yourself from your current location to any other spot within range. [...] You can also bring one willing creature [...]
You teleport yourself from your current location to any other spot within range.
One could rule yes here and allow the player to have a contingency like, "cast dimension door if I become restrained" and upon the trigger occurring the player would state where (within range of the spell) they would like to go.
If one rules that the destination is the target of the spell, then be aware that there are other spells like Vortex Warp that very clearly have a "target" that is not the destination, and thus those would still be allowed.
If one rules that contingency doesn't behave like a readied action, then you will have to lean on DM fiat to make a call as to how it behaves because I don't believe there is any additional clarity elsewhere in the rules.
RAI
Unlike a readied action, the the Contingency spell triggers without any agency or effort exerted by the caster at the time it goes off, and it can even trigger upon your death or without you wanting it to. This implies to me that the caster cannot make any decisions about the spell at the time it is triggered, which would include the destination.
Micah Zoltu
- 109
- 2