D&D 5E If you use thunderstep but teleport less than 10 feet do you take damage?

[Lyxen]

Right. So you're straight up inventing the period of time when the caster is nowhere.

We're not inventing anything, it's there in the rules already. Again, nowhere in the rules does it say that the travel lasts less than an instant.

How long is this time?

An instant.

Can readied actions take place during it?

Of course they can, as I've demonstrated. The original game, and even more the Xanathar rules, clearly tell you that although some things can take place in an instant, in the same instant, does not mean that they are RESOLVED simultaneously, they are just resolved sequentially.

In the same sense than having characters to take damage if they stand in fireball is to punish power gamers that would exploit that as a tactic. A game having rules that sometimes limit your options is not punishing anyone, it is what makes game possible that makes different tactical options interesting.

And what we are presenting is not abusing any rule, it's perfectly in line with the rules exactly as written, and it's not overpowered or game breaking in any way.

Yes, there might be situations where Thunderstep is not a viable choice. This is good. Different spells exist to be used in different situations.

That is another matter entirely, one of taste, and of course you are free to rule this way. But ruling differently does not contradict any rule or game principle either.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Also, D&D has traditionally depicted teleportation as moving through an intermediate plane, either the astral or ethereal, not just blipping.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Who is inventing?

The boom happens 'the moment you disappear', not 'the moment you teleport' or 'the moment you disappear and reappear'. There's clearly a period of time within the 6 seconds it takes to cast the spell that is 'the moment you disappear'.

There is no clearly about it. There is nothing to indicate that appearing and disappearing are temporarily separate rather than just spatially separate. The rules specify the spatial difference, they do not specify a temporal difference. Thus there is no reason to assume that one exists.

This isn't about the game having rules. It's about the DM going way, way, waaaay out of their way to remove obvious utility and replace it with a fist.

It is not obvious. It is not something that would even occur to most people by reading the rules and is just a weird attempt at exploit semantics.

 

[Vaalingrade]

There is no clearly about it. There is nothing to indicate that appearing and disappearing are temporarily separate rather than just spatially separate. The rules specify the spatial difference, they do not specify a temporal difference. Thus there is no reason to assume that one exists.

Then why does it say 'disappear'?

If there is no period of time between entrance and exit (see dimension door using the portal version of teleport), then there's no disappearance. You are just in point A, then in point B.

just a weird attempt at exploit semantics.

Or reading the spell and knowing how teleportation normally works in every piece of media ever.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Then why does it say 'disappear'?

If there is no period of time between entrance and exit (see dimension door using the portal version of teleport), then there's no disappearance. You are just in point A, then in point B.

Of course there is disappearance! You cease to be in one location! This happens whether you appear in another location at the exact same moment or the next week.

 

[Lyxen]

There is no clearly about it. There is nothing to indicate that appearing and disappearing are temporarily separate rather than just spatially separate.

Nothing indicates that they are not seperate either, we only know that the whole thing happens in an instant.

The rules specify the spatial difference, they do not specify a temporal difference. Thus there is no reason to assume that one exists.

There is, however, reason to follow the sequence indicated, which is thunder after disappearance, not after teleporting, not after reappearance.

It is not obvious. It is not something that would even occur to most people by reading the rules and is just a weird attempt at exploit semantics.

Well then it encourages creative thinking. But again, look at Star Trek's teleportation, it can be a valid way of seeing all teleportations in D&D. It's in an instant, but it's not totally simultaneous either. It's cool.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Of course there is disappearance! You cease to be in one location! This happens whether you appear in another location at the exact same moment or the next week.

IF there's no period where you aren't there, you didn't disappear.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Natural Language, everyone. Let's give it a hand.... out the door and into never working in this industry again.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Oh, and let's consider the other ramifications of the "a teleportee is for a moment nowhere" interpretation. Now you can potentially use any teleport spell to avoid any damage or other effect that happens in an instant. You can just briefly blink to nowhere when the effect is about to occur.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

IF there's no period where you aren't there, you didn't disappear.

You disappeared from that location.