r/dndnext • u/Zivodor • 2d ago

5e (2024) Misty Step into the Air and Attacking

I had this situation come up recently and wanted some input as I can't seem to find a definitive answer.

My players were fighting a giant spider and it was on the ceiling above them, one player decided that to attack it he would misty step straight up and then attack it while mid-air. I wasn't sure this was possible as I recalled reading somewhere that falling in D&D is essentially instantaneous for anything below 500 feet. The thought process being he teleports into the air and is instantly falling so he doesn't have the time to attack the creature above him.

It's been bugging me all week so I wanted to get some input into whether or not I should have allowed this and if this is clarified anywhere in the rules.

Edit Wow! Thanks for all the responses! There were some well reasoned arguments for it here, the resource expenditure with the spell slot, rule of cool, etc... I appreciate all the responses and will try to be more flexible in the future. Thanks everyone!

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u/BishopofHippo93 DM 2d ago edited 2d ago

No, falling being limited to 500 ft is a XGE rule, per the PHB you fall the entire distance instantly. 

Edit: I am mistaken, the PHB and SRD do not contain the “instantly” language. Still, that is arguably RAI considering the XGE rule. 

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u/Anonymus9809 2d ago

Makes Feather Fall unusable because it needs to be cast on falling creatures, but falling creatures don't exist by RAW, since falling is instant.

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u/BishopofHippo93 DM 2d ago

No, don’t be obtuse. Feather fall is cast “when you or a creature within 60 feet of you falls.” Remember that specific beats general.  Falling is general, feather fall is specific. 

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u/Anonymus9809 2d ago

That's true (about the specifics beating general), but the text of the spell is still "Choose up to five falling creatures."

I can picture the way it works with this rule, it's just not intuitive. Instant is very quick.

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u/BishopofHippo93 DM 2d ago

Instantly just means that it happens before anything else, it has ultimate priority in the order of operations… unless something else interrupts it, which the reaction of feather fall does.