D&D 5E Can you use misty step to arrest a fall?

[GreyLord]

I'm torn, because your explanation is very convincing from the RAW perspective, and at the same time I think that I will let the rule of cool apply. After all, reducing fall damage by 20 feet is not hugely overpowered...

That can create some other interesting ideas to utilize...if everything falls instantly...If I create a hole through the planet to the other side and step through it, do I instantly get to the other side?

And other puzzling questions like that...

 

[Horwath]

The question of inertia aside, I wouldn't allow this unless the creature had some ability to Misty Step or otherwise teleport as a reaction. Because unless it's a fall of 500 feet or more, it happens too quickly to get an action or bonus action spell off. I WOULD, for example, allow the Fey Pact Warlock to do this using their Misty Escape ability (which is a reaction).

When you Ready a spell, it's a reaction.
So you could ready Misty step, jump off, and cast it when you think is right moment.

Now, if you were pushed off, there is not enough time to cast the spell. Unless we go into whole debate of how much of 6 second per turn is Action, how much is move and how much is Bonus action.

if bonus action is 1 second, you will fall 5m(16ft, 1d6 damage) before casting, if it's 2 second you will fall 20m(66ft, 6d6 damage) before casting.
not counting in air resistance ofc.

 

[Burnside]

When you Ready a spell, it's a reaction.
So you could ready Misty step, jump off, and cast it when you think is right moment.

Now, if you were pushed off, there is not enough time to cast the spell. Unless we go into whole debate of how much of 6 second per turn is Action, how much is move and how much is Bonus action.

if bonus action is 1 second, you will fall 5m(16ft, 1d6 damage) before casting, if it's 2 second you will fall 20m(66ft, 6d6 damage) before casting.
not counting in air resistance ofc.

If a creature had readied action to cast Misty Step, I'd rule they could use it.

When you ready a spell, you essentially have completed almost the entirety of the casting process - you're just waiting to press "go". That's why the spell slot is burned whether you end up casting it or not, and why a readied spell can be foiled if the creature's concentration is broken (even if the spell doesn't normally require concentration).

 

[UngainlyTitan]

The question of inertia aside, I wouldn't allow this unless the creature had some ability to Misty Step or otherwise teleport as a reaction. Because unless it's a fall of 500 feet or more, it happens too quickly to get an action or bonus action spell off. I WOULD, for example, allow the Fey Pact Warlock to do this using their Misty Escape ability (which is a reaction). If the teleport happens as a reaction, I would rule the creature could do it more or less the instant they realized they were falling, thus eliminating the question of inertia.

Teleporting in mid-fall to escape a huge drop of 500+ feet isn't a situation I've had come up in one of my games so far. Misty Step, which only allows 30' of teleportation, isn't likely to help in that situation anyway. So the question is more about a more powerful teleport spell such as Dimension Door. I think I'd probably allow Dimension Door to work, and rule that magic > physics in that case.

My view on this: is that they cast the Misty Step on top and delay it until the trigger condition is met and then they release the spell. My immediate reaction was as I posted to go with it. On reflection and the arguments presented in this thread would be to make a Wisdom morale save on fail land prone.

 

[Nefermandias]

Although, thinking about it, there is one way to go around that limitation. It does not work if you are so completely surprised by the fall that you can't ready something, but if you suspect that you might be falling, you could ready the spell to be cast when you fall and come to 20 ft. of the ground. Technically, I think this works, the spell is "pre-cast" and the trigger is perceivable...

That makes sense and conforms with RAW.

 

[Dausuul]

For example, on your turn you use movement to jump off of a 50 foot cliff. Then after you have dropped 20 feet you use misty step to misty step to the ground and land without taking any falling damage.

Would you allow this?

Yes--mostly because it sets a precedent that teleportation can save a falling PC, and that can be a big deal when the cliff is 500 feet instead of 50. I might require the spell to be readied though (i.e., you ready the spell as your action, then use your move to walk off the cliff, then cast the readied spell). So you'd burn your reaction.

Of course, the bad guys can pull the same trick.

 

[toucanbuzz]

Building on @Tonguez 's answer, previous editions were consistent that momentum is preserved when teleporting:

• From the 3.5e FAQ: "If you’re plummeting toward the ground when you cast teleport to reach a safe spot, you’d still be “falling” and would therefore take damage as appropriate to the distance you actually fell before teleporting."
• From the 4e Rules forum FAQ: "Is momentum conserved when teleporting? The designers lean towards yes"
• From an article written on the subject by a 4e designer (Stump the Game Lizards, a former D&D forum):
  • ... If you throw a stone through a portal, it comes out the exit still flying through the air. I can't imagine anyone saying that the stone just drops to the ground with all of its momentum somehow absorbed by the portal. (If that were the case, you couldn't even step through. Force is force.) The same thing applies if you leap through; you come out the far end mid-leap...
  • ... This type of teleportation, then, is intuitively correct—which means momentum is conserved...
  • ... An important addendum to what's written above is that momentum should be conserved when jumping through a portal relative to the portal. If I step into a magic circle on a flying boat and emerge in a magic circle on the ground, I don't have the boat's momentum; I have my momentum relative to the circle I stepped into.

From Jeremy Crawford in 2010 covering the history of Teleportation effects (the oft-quoted "teleportation does not set a prone creature upright"), effects are not terminated simply because you teleport. It does stand to reason this doesn't get you out of falling (removing an effect of all your kinetic energy and momentum) any more than it does being prone.

In the real world, as has been pointed out, because the planet and universe is moving, if teleporting erased your momentum, you'd either (1) instantly be a stain upon a surface, or (2) shoot out into space at supersonic speeds.

However 5E is silent upon the matter. Sage Advice confirmed there is no official rule, and 5E leaves it to the DM whether they consider logic from prior editions to have precedent at their table.

So, take your pick.

 

[Mannahnin]

Remember Crawford's recent See Invisibility ruling? Even though you can see the invisible person, that person still get advantage when attack you because the spell doesn't say that the advantage is negated like Faerie Fire does.

Ah! More evidence for my "Crawford is trolling people for asking questions he considers stupid" theory.

 

[steeldragons]

Yes to the action, no to the bolded part. You'd still have the same momentum. You'd need to "spend" that somehow. As written above, you'd reduce the falling damage from 50ft worth to 20ft worth. Have the misty step spit you out going up from the ground and you'd still have momentum carrying you up into the air...only to fall back down. Again, you'd reduce the falling damage but not negate it.

Of course, if you had yourself "spit out" sideways -along the ground- you could roll or potentially catch yourself "running with" your momentum. I might minimize as much as to say Dex save/check (to catch yourself properly/move with your momentum). Success takes no damage. Failure takes a d6 for a "bumpy landing, "rolling/falling" along the ground.

A d6 vs. a "ker splat" sounds pretty darn good/fair to me.

 

[Steampunkette]

You -could-... but why would you?

Does the ecstasy of terror and sense of brief weightlessness, the loss of control, the sense of weight and motion, the wind rushing past your ears and through your hair, not make up for the brief impact and 5d6 damage?

... yeah, okay. I -guess-. Go ahead and Misty Step...