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

[Maxperson]

Words have multiple definitions, that one is not a D&D rule.

And if there were travel time for teleportation, it wouldn't take you to another world instantly. If 10 feet is slower than sound, then it would take a very, very long time to get to another planet with the Teleport spell.

 

[fba827]

Using natural language to describe mechanics usually leads to questioning intent/raw/rai/etc.
so I concede that there is wiggle room for a couple interpretations (as is evident by there even being this thread discussion)

that said, if this came up at my table -as a DM or as a Player- I would (personally) rule that the wizard does indeed take damage.

mind you if a player did it I’d first say ‘are you sure? Because you’d take damage too’ and he could reassess his choices for that turn.

if the player in question had a convincing counter-argument I might give him advantage on his save, saying he was still rematerializing from his teleport at the time the boom was happening.

 

[Lyxen]

@commandercrud has a point, and so do you. This is a DM call like I said. The problem here is that you are setting up disappearing and reappearing as two different effects when that is not stated anywhere. Teleport to my knowledge has no transit time at all.

Disappearance and reappearance happening together is a reasonable interpretation, despite the "Immediately after you disappear..." portion of the spell. So is interpreting it in succession like you are doing. First the DM needs to make a ruling on that, then if it's the latter ruling, the player gets to decide. If it's the former ruling, there's nothing for the player to decide and he gets hit if me moves 10 feet or shorter in distance.

As I said, I've provided an interpretation, but as usual with the 5e rules, there is no absolute certainty and it's up to the DM to provide his own ruling. What I objected to was @commandercrud trying to imply that there was only one when it's clearly not the case.

After that, in terms of coolness factor, I can see merit in both interpretations, they can both look cool, and honestly it's not like that spell is overpowered in itself, it's nice, and a bit of flexibility rarely hurt anyone. What I think is important is the potentiality to harm others in the party of the caster, actually.

 

[Shiroiken]

Almost certainly you take damage by RAW, but I'd probably allow the caster to avoid the damage anyway. It's a pretty edge case scenario though, so unless someone finds some weird way to abuse it, I don't see the need to punish the caster for spending resources.

 

[Hriston]

From the spell teleport (bolding added):

This spell instantly transports you and up to eight willing creatures of your choice that you can see within range, or a single object that you can see within range, to a destination you select.​

 

[Ovinomancer]

1. There is a timing issue that can be questioned.
2. The GM can assert one set of timing, but if the player objects, see 1.
3. Xanathar's clearly lays out who has authority in this situation -- the player who's creating the effect.
3a. Therefore, if there is a question, the player chooses how this works.

Caveat: Now, the argument will be that it's the GM's game, and they can choose how rules work. Except, in this case, we have a clear indication of exactly how this rules is supposed to work. So, if they GM overrides it, they are using Rule Zero to change the rules of the game, in play, at the moment that they want a specific thing to happen. If you're okay with a GM that has no problem changing the rules as they want when there's a clear rule that provides an answer but the GM doesn't like it, then go for it.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

From the spell teleport (bolding added):

This spell instantly transports you and up to eight willing creatures of your choice that you can see within range, or a single object that you can see within range, to a destination you select.​

That's not desperately helpful, since Teleport is not the same spall, but the fact that it needs to state that the teleport is instant implies that sometimes teleportation is not instant.

 

[ECMO3]

Sure, but the question was, "What if you only move yourself 10 feet, do you take damage from it?" The caster made the choice and didn't move out of range.

For clarity the caster in question is blinded but has blidnsight 10 feet, so he can "see" 10 feet, but only 10 feet and the real reason he wants to teleport is that he is restrained and grappled and he wants to teleport out of that.

It is still worth the damage to lift the effect, but obviously would rather not take it.

 

[jgsugden]

As a DM, I find that when there is ambiguity, turning to the dice has a lot of benefit.

Player: "I want to Thunderstep out of the trap, but I want to appear 10 feet away. Will I take damage if I do?"

DM: "I assume you'd rather that the answer were no... but you're not sure. You can either let it fly and find out as you appear, or you can try to twist the spell as you cast it to delay your reappearance a milisecond and let the damage occur first. Trying to delay your reappearance will require an arcana ability check. If you want to try, you'll have to decide quick here."

Player: "YOLO. I'm trying."

DM: "Well, this is D&D, so there is Raise Dead. DC is 15. You don't want to roll really low."

Player: "... uhhh ... too late for guidance?"

DM: " Yup."

Player: "4"

DM: "OK ... neat. As you cast the spell you decide to delay your reappearance for just a moment. As you slip out of the Prime Material Plane and enter the Spellweave you try to drag your progress, thinking that just a little bit of hesitation will save you. However, as you drag your entry into the weave, you feel the boom build and strike. Rather than flow out in the 10 feet around you, it is pulled into the weave with you. You take 3d10 ... 14 thunder damage. Now, roll a d8 and a d100. Obody that was around you takes damage."

Player: "Ooph. I rolled a 7 and a 67. What happens?"

DM: (Figuring out a random location within range of the spell for the PC to reappear based upon the d8 haing 1 as North which makes 7 West, and 67 is 67 feet distance) "The blast throws you around in the Weave and forces you out in an unexpected place. It is a dark room. Make a DC 12 Con save to avoid being stunned."

Player: "... Made it."

DM: "You're not stunned, but you've used your action. (Checks the PC's passive perception) You're in a dark room. You can make out what appears to be light coming in around a doorway to your right, roughly 15 feet away from you. There is nothing else you can make out in the room - not even the walls. What do you want to do?"

Player: "Go to the door and open it."

DM: "It opens up into a 40 foot hallway with a door at the other end. The hallway is lit with magical light stones. Once the door is open you can hear the sound of combat from through the door at the other end of the hallway."

 

[Maxperson]

For clarity the caster in question is blinded but has blidnsight 10 feet, so he can "see" 10 feet, but only 10 feet and the real reason he wants to teleport is that he is restrained and grappled and he wants to teleport out of that.

It is still worth the damage to lift the effect, but obviously would rather not take it.

Was he blinded when he entered the area? If not, he may have a pretty clear idea of other places to teleport outside of that range that he saw. My personal DM style is to do what makes sense. And since he "saw"(assuming he wasn't blind when he entered the area) the other places, I'd allow it, though I might require an intelligence check to remember clearly enough.

If not, I'd rule that he took the damage. As I said earlier, I can see ruling it in either direction. In my mind teleportation is instantaneous with disappearance and reappearance happening simultaneously, so the sound would strike the caster. If I were with a DM who felt that there were three discrete events and the sound would not affect me, I wouldn't argue it. Not because it helped me, but because that is also a reasonable interpretation.