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

[Lyxen]

It has very specific rules. Misty Step is clear in what it allows. It allows you to appear in an unoccupied space. It does not allow you to angle how you come out,

Positioning your body is not even an action in 5e, it can therefore very well, using RAW, be considered a "flourish" (Your turn can include a variety of flourishes that require neither your action nor your move.), and dropping prone does not use any of your speed. So here you are, it's RAW that you can appear in almost any position, what it can not do is put you in a position where you stand upright if you were not that way.

because that is not written. It does not allow a fall to end, because that is not written.

You are only falling if there is nothing under you. If you Misty Step to where a place where there is something under you, you are not falling. This is perfectly RAW. And the RAW says nothing about momentum being conserved, if you think it's there, please tell me where it is.

Actually, RAW, it's you who are wrong, according to the falling rules: "At the end of a fall, a creature takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet it fell, to a maximum of 20d6." It's not the falling that causes damage, it's the hitting at the end. So if you are falling, do not hit anything, and then you misty step to a position where you are not falling, you do not take damage. You are not falling after the misty step, the fall ended before you hit the bottom, that's all.

There are also the instantaneous falling rules, which stop a bonus action from working at 500 feet or less.

But as I demonstrated before, using a readied misty step as a reaction (with a trigger 20 feet from the ground) interrupts what is happening, i.e. the fall. So you misty step, and when you appear, you are not falling, so the fall does not resume, actually it ended mid-air without you touching anything and therefore without you taking any damage.

 

[Nefermandias]

It doesn’t have to. The rules don’t speak on it anywhere, and 5e is not a game built on “you can only do what the rules specifically allow”.

Which is absurd. I’ve jumped off a 20ft thing, many times. You can shout whole phrases. You can throw something at a target. You can use a bonus action.

Wait... Are we talking real life or 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons?

Because you DO fall instantly in 5th edition D&D.

 

[Lyxen]

This would happen anyway. If you're at the equator of a spinning planet, you're moving roughly 1,000 miles per hour in the direction of the spin. Let's say it's dawn where you are; that movement is pointed straight toward the sun. What happens if you teleport to the other side of the planet, to a place where it's dusk? If momentum is conserved, you are still moving 1,000 miles per hour straight toward the sun, but everything at your destination is going 1,000 mph straight away from the sun; you are suddenly traveling 2,000 mph relative to your surroundings. Splat.

I like to use that argument in some cases, just be aware that this is only if magic does not take into account more local referentials. For example, in fiction, many magic systems are complex because the incantation depends on conditions, which are precisely that kind of thing, where you are, how humid the air is, the air pressure, etc.

So while it can certainly be used in some settings, nothing says that long range teleportation magic does not take this into account, including other things like air pressure, etc.

Even if you only teleport a couple hundred miles, you will experience a sharp, and probably very painful, change in relative motion. The only way for this to be averted is for teleportation to "align" your momentum to the destination. Whether it does so by trying to mimic your original momentum somehow, or simply overwriting it with the momentum of your new surroundings, is an open question--there's no scientific reason to favor one over the other.

Exactly. And see above about conditions on spells in fiction, they might compensate for some things and not for others, it's really local rulings.

As for portals, they clearly do not work the same way as teleportation spells. Transiting a portal is a continuous process, not an instantaneous one--there's a point when you are half on one side and half on the other--and it requires you to physically move. A portal is best understood as a wormhole, splicing together two separate points in space.

First, don't think that anything specifies this. It can be that light goes in both directions, but matter is instantaneously transfered, but again you have to be careful, first a wormhole is only considered to have a length of zero in some theories, second having a kind of "open door" creates tons of problems about atmosphere, wind and air pressure, things being carried through, etc.

Spoiler for Hyperion: In there, the transfer is considered to be instantaneous, but the core is using the synapses of the people mid-transfer, so the time is not zero and the people exist at some point in time inside the portal. And when they have the deathwand bomb explode, they explode it inside the singularity, it's not like half explodes on one world and half on the other...

 

[Maxperson]

Positioning your body is not even an action in 5e, it can therefore very well, using RAW, be considered a "flourish" (Your turn can include a variety of flourishes that require neither your action nor your move.), and dropping prone does not use any of your speed. So here you are, it's RAW that you can appear in almost any position, what it can not do is put you in a position where you stand upright if you were not that way.

He's not talking about positioning. He's talking about aiming up so you fall up at the end. That's more than just which way you are facing when you fall to the ground.

You are only falling if there is nothing under you. If you Misty Step to where a place where there is something under you, you are not falling.

Momentum doesn't stop. You are on the ground just the same as if you fell there. Impact happens just the same. All the misty step does is end the fall early at 20 feet instead of 50 feet.

This is perfectly RAW. And the RAW says nothing about momentum being conserved, if you think it's there, please tell me where it is.

It's in the lack of momentum not being conserved. If it isn't written, it's not there. So we have RAW you are falling. RAW Misty Step moves you down 30 feet. And no RAW in Misty Step that stops the fall. Therefore at the end you are still falling and impact the ground where Misty Step deposited you.

Actually, RAW, it's you who are wrong, according to the falling rules: "At the end of a fall, a creature takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet it fell, to a maximum of 20d6." It's not the falling that causes damage, it's the hitting at the end. So if you are falling, do not hit anything, and then you misty step to a position where you are not falling, you do not take damage. You are not falling after the misty step, the fall ended before you hit the bottom, that's all.

Misty Step doesn't end a fall, because it's not written that it does. Only what is written is RAW, so ending the fall with the spell is a house rule.

But as I demonstrated before, using a readied misty step as a reaction (with a trigger 20 feet from the ground) interrupts what is happening, i.e. the fall. So you misty step, and when you appear, you are not falling, so the fall does not resume, actually it ended mid-air without you touching anything and therefore without you taking any damage.

You said it. You did not demonstrate it. To demonstrate it, you need RAW that explicitly says the fall ends if you cast a spell or RAW that explicitly says that Misty Step ends falls. Otherwise you just splat at the bottom of the Misty Step when the fall ends.

And of course the falling rules don't allow you to cast Misty Step in any case. You fall 50 feet instantly. Then you can cast Misty Step.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Such a ruling constitutes a house rule. Only what is actually written is RAW. Nothing more. I mean, it's in the term. Rules as WRITTEN.

No, it’s not. This isn’t 3.5 or 4e. The rules are not written in the same way. Your excessively legalistic readings of RAW are in no way superior or more valid than any other way of reading the rules.

The rules allow the player to determine thier character’s facing. There is nothing guiding how momentum works when teleporting but old editions and your own sense of what feels right. What direction you come out of Misty Step is not specified. The closest we have to RAW is to apply the rules for facing, which is simply that your character is facing whatever direction you say they are.

And again, what is actually the RAW is that the DM decides anything that isn’t specified in the rules-text. The DM ruling on something that is unspecified is not a houserule, it’s entirely within the rules as written.

Wait. Falling rules are separate from falling?

The issues are 1) falling, and 2) Misty Step. Both are fair game in this discussion.

Falling rules are separate from how Misty Step interacts with facing. Obviously. Whether you can use a bonus action while falling is completely irrelevant to whether you can choose the facing of your teleportation on the exit. They’re two separate issues.

 

[Lyxen]

He's not talking about positioning. He's talking about aiming up so you fall up at the end. That's more than just which way you are facing when you fall to the ground.

And again, positioning yourself in your space is not defined as an action, therefore it is simply a flourish, which you can do freely.

Momentum doesn't stop. You are on the ground just the same as if you fell there. Impact happens just the same. All the misty step does is end the fall early at 20 feet instead of 50 feet.

It's in the lack of momentum not being conserved. If it isn't written, it's not there. So we have RAW you are falling. RAW Misty Step moves you down 30 feet. And no RAW in Misty Step that stops the fall. Therefore at the end you are still falling and impact the ground where Misty Step deposited you.

Misty Step doesn't end a fall, because it's not written that it does. Only what is written is RAW, so ending the fall with the spell is a house rule.

You said it. You did not demonstrate it. To demonstrate it, you need RAW that explicitly says the fall ends if you cast a spell or RAW that explicitly says that Misty Step ends falls. Otherwise you just splat at the bottom of the Misty Step when the fall ends.

Again, RAW, you are wrong. With misty step, you appear on a space. If you are on the ground, are you falling ? Just answer this question.

Remember that there is no such thing as a condition or status of "falling" that you transfer with you. The only rule is that you take damage AT THE END OF A FALL so when it hits the ground.

Simple answer is no, you are not falling, you are on the ground. Since you are not falling, simply being on the ground, why should you suffer damage from a fall that never hit the ground ? Sorry, on this one, it's the only RAW explanation.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Wait... Are we talking real life or 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons?

Because you DO fall instantly in 5th edition D&D.

I’m sorry I assumed that saying that the rule is absurd would make it clear that the next bit of text is explaining why, and thus clearly about real life.

However I will say that words like instantaneous and simultaneous are used very loosely in 5e. We can know that simply by the fact that there are reactions that can interrupt instantaneous effects, and combat is objectively not actually fully simultaneous, it’s just overlapping. If it were simultaneous, you couldn’t see an enemy move and then move to block them in the same round, or have an ally drop and them move to heal them in the same round.

So I don’t think it’s useful to take those terms too seriously outside of theorycrafting discussions. If discussing how to rule something, they aren’t useful terms.

 

[Maxperson]

No, it’s not. This isn’t 3.5 or 4e. The rules are not written in the same way. Your excessively legalistic readings of RAW are in no way superior or more valid than any other way of reading the rules.

Yes it is. Written=/=Unwritten just because it's 5e. Written=Written in all editions. This is backed up by the game designers who tell you that in 5e Written=Written.

You can house rule whatever you want through a ruling. I'm not disputing that. The OP was asking about RAW, though, and what you are proposing is not RAW.

The rules allow the player to determine thier character’s facing. There is nothing guiding how momentum works when teleporting but old editions and your own sense of what feels right. What direction you come out of Misty Step is not specified. The closest we have to RAW is to apply the rules for facing, which is simply that your character is facing whatever direction you say they are.

Sure. They can face up, down, whatever. They are still falling down, though, regardless of facing because nothing in the Misty Step spell says otherwise. The Misty Step just moves you to a space. Nothing more.

And again, what is actually the RAW is that the DM decides anything that isn’t specified in the rules-text.

So you think that it's RAW for a DM to determine that casting Misty Step in the middle of a fall detonates a nuclear explosion at the bottom? Because that's not specified in the rules text, either. That's an extreme example, but it's just as applicable as what you are proposing. You're literally arguing that the DM can make anything and everything not specified in the spell RAW through a ruling. That's 99.99999999999999999999999%(more really) of the universe.

Falling rules are separate from how Misty Step interacts with facing. Obviously. Whether you can use a bonus action while falling is completely irrelevant to whether you can choose the facing of your teleportation on the exit. They’re two separate issues.

The OP is dealing with both, though. This discussion is about both.

 

[Maxperson]

And again, positioning yourself in your space is not defined as an action, therefore it is simply a flourish, which you can do freely.

Okay. splat

Again, RAW, you are wrong. With misty step, you appear on a space. If you are on the ground, are you falling ? Just answer this question.

You don't get to inappropriately limit me.

He is falling when the spell was cast. The spell does not remove falling. Therefore, yes by RAW you are still falling.

Remember that there is no such thing as a condition or status of "falling" that you transfer with you. The only rule is that you take damage AT THE END OF A FALL so when it hits the ground.

The fall didn't end until he appeared on the ground. Trying to call it a "status" or "condition" as the terms are used in 5e, is moving the goalposts. Nobody is arguing that.

You are falling. The spell doesn't end falling. Therefore at the end you are still falling.

 

[Lyxen]

You don't get to inappropriately limit me.

He is falling when the spell was cast. The spell does not remove falling.

What is "falling" ? Please give me the exact page where "falling" is a condition that sticks to the PC.

Therefore, yes by RAW you are still falling.

Again, please point me to the exact page that defines what falling is.

The fall didn't end until he appeared on the ground. Trying to call it a "status" or "condition" as the terms are used in 5e, is moving the goalposts. Nobody is arguing that.

Yes you are, you are pretending that, after the Misty Step he was still "falling", you are even saying that Misty Step does not remove "falling", which subject that you envision falling just as a condition that can be removed.

You are falling. The spell doesn't end falling. Therefore at the end you are still falling.

Again, prove it, per RAW, since you are the one always saying that if it's not written, it's not in the RAW. Please explain to us very precisely where the definition of falling is that makes it something that can start and end, and how it does this.

Until you do, RAW says exactly what it says, there is no such thing as "falling", there is only hitting the ground which is when you compute the falling damage.

But Misty Step just makes you appear somewhere else, therefore you don't impact the ground at the end of a fall, hence no damage. Clear, simple, precise, and the only explanation possible.