D&D 5E Can you case feather fall if you are not holding a feather or a focus?

[ECMO3]

Feather fall has a material component of a feather, but it is cast as a reaction. Unless you knew someone was going to fall it would be rare that you were actually holding a feather. As such can you cast it as a reaction when it is not your turn if you don't have it in hand?

 

[aco175]

Maybe you do not need it in hand. The magic of the spell uses the component from your pocket. Maybe is needs to be worn somehow, like in a hat on the outside someplace for it to be able to be used. Then, as you fall you can grab it.

I mostly handwave this.

 

[Umbran]

Feather fall has a material component of a feather, but it is cast as a reaction. Unless you knew someone was going to fall it would be rare that you were actually holding a feather. As such can you cast it as a reaction when it is not your turn if you don't have it in hand?

You need a free hand at the time you cast - you can imagine that hand quick dips into the component pouch and grabs the feather. Don't worry about it too much.

 

[overgeeked]

As others have said, you just need a free hand and the components (or pouch or focus) on your person.

“A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell’s material components—or to hold a spellcasting focus—but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components.” PHB, p203.

So you’re pushed off a cliff and as a reaction you reach down to grab your component pouch and cast the spell.

 

[J.Quondam]

I mostly handwave this.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

Feather fall has a material component of a feather, but it is cast as a reaction. Unless you knew someone was going to fall it would be rare that you were actually holding a feather. As such can you cast it as a reaction when it is not your turn if you don't have it in hand?

The RAW states that "A character can use a Component pouch or a Spellcasting focus (found in “Equipment”) in place of the Components specified for a spell." So, you do need a free hand, but you don't need to access the feather. Since the component pouch is used IN PLACE of the components specified for the spell, you just need to hold your component pouch (which, obviously, made of magic-transparent materials so holding it allows you to hold all the components inside it). There is no need to retrieve the particular material component from inside the component pouch as far as I know, making it more compatible with reaction spells.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

It may be a reaction spell, but does that really matter it it takes 10 or 20 seconds of falling before you could splat? Even 5 seconds of falling is enough time, reaction or not. The small amount of distance someone would have to fall for the split-second casting to matter is not likely to kill, so it is unlikely to get cast. But in those very rare situations, I would probably let the player get away with it, even though I normally seem to be pickier about timing than a lot of other DMs are.

 

[Maxperson]

View attachment 147649

So you're saying that it doesn't work.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

The RAW states that "A character can use a Component pouch or a Spellcasting focus (found in “Equipment”) in place of the Components specified for a spell." So, you do need a free hand, but you don't need to access the feather. Since the component pouch is used IN PLACE of the components specified for the spell, you just need to hold your component pouch (which, obviously, made of magic-transparent materials so holding it allows you to hold all the components inside it). There is no need to retrieve the particular material component from inside the component pouch as far as I know, making it more compatible with reaction spells.

Yes, a lot of it is abstracted away, as Jeremy Crawford said in a Sage Advice, but you still have to reach into the pouch for the components.

Is the intent behind a component pouch that you reach into...

D&D Sage Advice ·

www.sageadvice.eu

 

[Charlaquin]

It may be a reaction spell, but does that really matter it it takes 10 or 20 seconds of falling before you could splat? Even 5 seconds of falling is enough time, reaction or not. The small amount of distance someone would have to fall for the split-second casting to matter is not likely to kill, so it is unlikely to get cast. But in those very rare situations, I would probably let the player get away with it, even though I normally seem to be pickier about timing than a lot of other DMs are.

You’d have to be falling awfully far for it to take 10 or 20 seconds. I recommend not thinking about it too hard. The rules say you just need the components or focus on your person and a free hand. Trying to work out how long you would actually have to grab and manipulate them based on how far you’re falling only leads to madness.