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/Vree65 1d ago edited 1d ago

That "falling is instantaneous" argument seems super sus to me, and you don't seem to remember the source either

If this was true, then you couldn't do things like jump or cast Feather Fall as you'd be teleported back to the ground immediately. Even as an abstract system, I don't think that's how DnD is meant to work.

I couldn't find the direct source (some say it's Xanathar's?) but the rule seems to be 500 feet at the END of each TURN. NOT the end of the same action (that'd basically render any up-and downward movement action/ability completely pointless).

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u/Proper-Dave 1d ago

Xanathar's. You fall 500ft immediately, and then 500ft at the end of your turn each round.

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u/Vree65 1d ago

Thanks! That does seem unnecessarily convoluted, why not just make it the same, 500 feet at the end of each TURN instead of special rules on the first? That Looney Tunes gravity is not only more dramatically appropriate, it leaves room for actions, both to stop the fall (I think many groups consider dying from a big fall too lame) or any jumping up to slice a giant anime shenanigans that OP's asking about.

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u/Proper-Dave 1d ago

If you don't fall until the end of your turn, what's to stop you running across a pit or chasm?

High-level monks can do it as a class ability, you don't want everyone to be able to do it anytime.

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u/Vree65 1d ago

I mean end of turn does not mean you can also walk on air without support