Briefly surrounded by silvery mist, you teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space that you can see.
Man this spell really just doesn't even say anything about your gear or any sort of interactions with your surroundings. Obviously, it is intended that your gear should go with you, but nothing actually says it can, or even should. But if it couldn't this is a M+ rated spell.
So, we can safely assume clothing comes with you, but what about all your other gear? And, can you choose to leave stuff behind if you did want to? Can you misty step out of armor? Clothes? Shackles? What if you're staked to the ground by a tribe of extra small gnomes like Gulliver's Travels?
And, then, what about objects at the destination?? Can you misty step into clothes laid out for you? Or armor? Or into a sealed box with a single keyhole you can see through? Or even into shackles, if that's your thing?
What do you guys think? Raw, Rai, or even just your opinion?
Well. I’ve never thought about using misty step to get dressed.
First, I’d say that everything you are wearing or holding would come with you. I know I would allow someone to use it to escape being restrained by a creature, so I’d allow shackles as well. Since it’s only a verbal component, there’s be no issue with having hands bound. As far as out of clothes or armor. I’m not sure. I can’t think of that being abusable, and would be inclined to allow it, but I am curious about other opinions. To get into clothes, maybe not. You move to a space you can see, and I don’t think you could see the inside of the clothes, just the outside of them, and if something is propping them open, the space is kind of occupied by an object.
(1) Anything you are wearing, or carrying, can come with you. Anything beyond your carrying capacity stays.
(2) Misty Stepping out of shackles and grapples is classic, so I would also allow a player to step out of their armor, or clothing, if they so choose.
(3) One Misty Steps into a space, so I would say yes to a box, but no to clothes. However, if a player went through the trouble of propping their clothes open, so that they could reasonable fit without occupying the same space, then I'd probably let them do it anyway, because... why not.
Personally this has come up in my game, and I made the ruling that Misty Step brings with everything that is on your person, no matter what. You cannot escape manacles using Misty Step, but you could escape a Grapple.
By the same logic, I would say that in your new location, your gear and everything that is on your person must be the same as what is on your person when you begin Misty Step.
It is unusual, because comparative abilities like Thunder Step and Dimension Door have wording that states you can carry objects with you up to your carrying capacity -- which would imply that without that wording, Misty Step would disallow such a thing. But that means you'd always wind up naked after a Misty Step, so I just use my above stipulations.
Honestly... I think I'd lean towards 'Rule of Cool' on this one.
I'm with Memnosyne on 1 and 2 above, but... If a character wanted to Misty Step into an outfit, does that really hurt anything? Use up a spell slot to get into armor...? I'd say that's a pretty fair trade. Misty Step out of clothes as part of a seduction? I might even throw Inspiration at the character...
Yeah, for sure ... if it was a character moment, then I'm good with it. But it would be the exception rather than the rule, IMO. (Though the "Misty Step out of shackles" I wouldn't allow ... simply getting a 30 foot head start on your captors is helpful enough.)
I feel like giving a player the option to Misty Step into a set of Heavy Armor has a lot of potential for abuse... but then again, most people just kind of hand-wave donning/doffing armor anyway, so I suppose it wouldn't make too much of a difference.
Briefly surrounded by silvery mist, you teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space that you can see.
Man this spell really just doesn't even say anything about your gear or any sort of interactions with your surroundings. Obviously, it is intended that your gear should go with you, but nothing actually says it can, or even should. But if it couldn't this is a M+ rated spell.
So, we can safely assume clothing comes with you, but what about all your other gear? And, can you choose to leave stuff behind if you did want to? Can you misty step out of armor? Clothes? Shackles? What if you're staked to the ground by a tribe of extra small gnomes like Gulliver's Travels?
And, then, what about objects at the destination?? Can you misty step into clothes laid out for you? Or armor? Or into a sealed box with a single keyhole you can see through? Or even into shackles, if that's your thing?
What do you guys think? Raw, Rai, or even just your opinion?
This is covered in the Sage Advice Compendium, which is completely official rules material - it's by definition correct.
Here's the compendium entry:
Misty step doesn’t say the caster can bring worn or car-ried equipment with them. Are they intended to leave ev-erything, including their clothes, behind?
No, the caster’s worn and carried equipment are intended to go with them. Some teleportation effects do specify that you teleport with your gear; such specification is an example of a rule being needlessly fastidious, since no teleportation effect in the game assumes that you teleport without your clothes, just as the general movement rules don’t assume that you drop everything when you walk.
So, we can safely assume clothing comes with you, but what about all your other gear? - All your gear goes with you, as per Sage Advice. In fact, you take anything you're carrying; if you can physically pick it up, you can (and must) take it with you.
And, can you choose to leave stuff behind if you did want to? - No. You can drop things before you teleport, but when you teleport, all of your stuff goes with you.
Can you misty step out of armor?- No.
Clothes?- No.
Shackles?- No.
What if you're staked to the ground by a tribe of extra small gnomes like Gulliver's Travels? - For certain, the gnomes won't teleport with you. However, you specified staked to the ground. That means the ropes aren't being carried by you (unlike if you get netted), so you have to get into the weeds of what we really mean by "worn". That means the only way out is a house rule. Since the spell will teleport you with the net in the absent of stakes, I would house rule that in this case, it still teleports you with the net, and the stakes, and the stakes will be a bit dirty, but you'll leave almost all of the ground behind when you teleport.
And, then, what about objects at the destination??- the spell says you can only teleport into an unoccupied space. Unfortunately, this is never explicitly explained anywhere in the rules - you can do a ctl-f for occupied space and unoccupied space on the PHB. You won't find the term explained, only referenced. However, further searching reveals more rules; for example, p192 of the PHB makes it clear that walls, trees, and other "terrain features" can fill a space. I believe this is universally interpreted as a synonym for occupy, which is why you can't misty step into a wall or tree. I think it's also very clear that the RAI is that teleportation spells work in atmosphere (dnd generally assumes the presence of air) and underwater (the rules on underwater combat don't restrict teleportation, so presumably they would otherwise), but, as in many RPGs, none of the teleportation rules are really fleshed out - in fact, teleport itself is also a term never defined at any point in the rulebook. I think the obvious way to interpret these rules so far is that fluids do not occupy their space but solids do, meaning you can misty step into air, water, or fire (including a miniature sun - plasma should be easier to teleport into than gas, after all), but not earth, in general. What happens to these fluids is not defined; here are some answers I've played with in the past in various games:
The spell swaps all matter to be teleported with matter in the target volume to be teleported into. This means e.g. if you misty step into a fountain, room is made for you by teleporting the water where your legs are now to where you used to be, and you'll leave a wet spot.
The spell forces matter in the target area aside, and likewise simply teleports you directly, allowing matter you leave behind to force in. This makes teleportation noisy; you leave behind a person-shaped vacuum that the air will fill in with an audible pop, and when you appear, shoving all that air aside will physically behave exactly like a small concussion grenade.
Teleportation works like it does for Nightcrawler, in the X-Men - teleporting actually involves you traveling the intervening space, just in an alternate dimension (or in dnd, plane - probably the Ethereal one). The Forcecage spell strongly implies this is how teleportation is intended to work in dnd, imho. This is also consistent with Misty Step's description of its mist, and you can make this work with the Ethereal, Shadowfell, or Feywild planes, but the Ethereal plane will probably involve the fewest headaches for your GM. So when you teleport, follow the swap mechanic above, but with the Ethereal plane on the other end of both swaps: when you teleport out, you leave behind a you-shaped amount of "Ether", which is basically silver-colored air that then dissipates (so if you do this into water, your exit space will emit bubbles that rise), and when you teleport in, the "stuff" you displace is deposited onto the Ethereal Plane. One of the consequences of this ruling is that you can use teleportation magic as a source of very small amounts of breathable air, and another is that you can use it to make water permanently leave the Material Plane. Presumably a god will fix that later. Note that this is explicitly how Phase Spiders "teleport".
A fun meme from science fiction your GM may enjoy is that, whatever plane is used, it has denizens who are upset by teleportation - this can lead directly to plot. For example, maybe every time you misty step, you have a 1% chance of tearing through a Phase Spider's webbing, and the Phase Spider Queen is tired of all this nonsense.
Those are just examples, of course.
Can you misty step into clothes laid out for you?- Generally no, because if they're laid out, they're flat. Misty Step doesn't move you in material space, so there's no way to push the fabric aside to fit a creature into the clothes.
Or armor? - This is more interesting, because plate armor can maintain its shape without you in it. This gets into the weeds of what Misty Step means by being able to see the space you're teleporting into - do you need to be able to see the entire space, or only part of it? I think the spell is functionally useless if you need to see the entire space, since that's generally impossible in the real world. If you only need to see part of the space, you should be able to teleport into the unoccupied space inside a rigid suit of armor. Of course, none of the straps will have been adjusted for you, and critically, misty step can't rotate you (or you'd be able to use it to get up from prone). That means in order to teleport into armor that fits you, you have pose exactly the right way so you're exactly where you need to be. That's a DC 25 or 30 Acrobatics check if ever I heard one. Outside of plate armor, this will usually have the same problem as clothing - all of the flexible parts will naturally collapse such that you can't fit. Depending on your interpretation of half plate, this might work for it, but after the teleport the greaves definitely won't be strapped to you.
Or into a sealed box with a single keyhole you can see through? - Yes, 100%, no question. You don't even need the keyhole if you can see inside the box - one way of many to do this is the Eldritch Invocation Ghostly Gaze. If you'll fit inside the box, then you're good. Bear in mind what I just said about Misty Step not moving your body - if you need to e.g. kneel to fit in the box, you have to do it before you cast the spell.
Or even into shackles, if that's your thing? - Same as the armor question, but a lot less challenging if the shackles are just hanging loose somewhere. DC 5 Acrobatics check to get the pose right.
You didn't ask this, but I'll throw in another one for free: none of the teleport effects in the game clarify what happens to your momentum - what happens if you teleport during a fall? On the other hand, they also don't clarify any concerns with e.g. teleporting onto or off of, say, a moving vehicle. If you decide teleportation doesn't conserve momentum, you can live through a fall by Readying a teleport (you can't Ready Misty Step without a house rule, though) and casting it at the bottom. If you decide it does conserve momentum, Dimension Door, the Distant Spell metamagic, and Feather Fall (for letting the caster live through this questionable life choice) can be combined to make a railgun (I recommend an adamantine dart for the payload) that can only shoot straight down, much like in the computer game Portal but without the ability to change direction.
Oh, and since I brought the spell up: Dimension Door has different wording from Misty Step, and you can absolutely use Dimension Door to teleport out of clothing, armor, or shackles.
teleportation spells are split about whether they include objects or not. misty step, far step, teleport and word of recall don't specify you take things you are wearing and carrying. (Teleport has an option to teleport a single object, but it's written as if you are sending the object by itself).
dimension door and thunder step, conversely, specify you can bring along objects up to your carrying capacity, and specify that others brought along can be carrying items up to their capacity when they go, but they don't specifically reference that you actively carry said objects.
Assuming the writers didn't intent for naked spellcasters appearing when they teleport, I'd rule the RAI is that normal teleporting spells allow you to go with anything you are wearing or carrying on your person, and the "special" ones that specify taking object(s) with you are allowing you to take object(s) that you aren't wearing or carrying (as there is not a requirement that you hold them when you do), so long as the additional objects don't exceed your carrying capacity.
Personally, I'd argue that if you wanted to teleport into your armor, it would have to be assembled in such a way as to allow you to do so (held open so you can fill it out, nothing inside). since the spell requires the space be "unoccupied" if the armor is laid flat (assuming its light or medium or basically anything that doesn't hold its shape when not worn) the space inside it that you need to occupy is compressed and will cause the spell to fail.
Yeah, for sure ... if it was a character moment, then I'm good with it. But it would be the exception rather than the rule, IMO. (Though the "Misty Step out of shackles" I wouldn't allow ... simply getting a 30 foot head start on your captors is helpful enough.)
Although I would tend to agree there, after that you can go in all sort of arguments if you start to be too specific. What if the manacles are secured to a wall for example ? Or held by someone ? It's one of those things that have to be ruled by each DM on case by case basis.
I feel like giving a player the option to Misty Step into a set of Heavy Armor has a lot of potential for abuse... but then again, most people just kind of hand-wave donning/doffing armor anyway, so I suppose it wouldn't make too much of a difference.
And it's still a level 2 spell, so using one for donning on armor does not seem too bad (not realistic by any means, by the way, but not silly visually and not overpowered).
Those are cases that are in between the rules, for sure, but here's how I'd rule those specific situations: Shackled to a wall: The shackles are not "on your person", as in, you are not bearing the weight of them. Misty Step would allow you to teleport out of them, as they are attached to the wall primarily, not to you. Shackles held by an enemy: The shackles are "on your person" and you would like be subject to the Grappled condition by the enemy; the fact that they are holding the shackles is just flavor. Therefore, the shackles come with you but you get away from the enemy. (Similarly, if an enemy attempted to pickpocket you and you Misty Stepped while their hand was in your bag, I'd say they end up empty-handed. Until something is not on your person, it is on your person. Weird tautology but it makes sense in my head.)
And agreed that this would all need case-by-case decisions by a DM. I'm cool with that and I'm cool with a DM ruling these differently.
Regarding abusing donning/doffing armor via Misty Step: Sure, use a second level spell slot to save time if you get caught armorless when combat breaks out. That sounds like an awesome (and decently costly!) way to solve a real problem.
Though the "Misty Step out of shackles" I wouldn't allow ... simply getting a 30 foot head start on your captors is helpful enough.
Ha! On a related note... Knock is also a Level 2 spell with only Verbal component. Between these 2 makes your caster extremely elusive, even if you can't Misty Step directly out of shackles.
So, you need to see the space, not... precisely... the exact point that you end up in within that space. If you can see the topmost corner of a 5ft space, then, you should be able to bamf into any point within that space, seen or otherwise. No?
Think about what unoccupied space means. It means a 5ft cube on a battle grid, really. So, if you can see any part of that unoccupied 5ft cube on the grid, you can end up in that 5ft cube. Now, in combat terms, that doesn't resolve with any more specificity that that. See a space, boop, you're in that space.
But, where... specifically, do you pop in? I can't see a reason it couldn't be into clothes, armor, or something else just as silly or weird. Poof right into a lounge chair. Blap onto a driver-less wagon careening out of control. Wap, you're back in those shackles at the local prison, guards never the wiser you were absent.
And, because you need only see the space you're teleporting into, not the actually exact location within that space you end up in, couldn't you theoretically teleport blind, if the barrier is super thin? Maybe immediately behind curtains, or into a large dresser. Or even into a sealed box? If sufficient room for you was inside.
So, you need to see the space, not... precisely... the exact point that you end up in within that space. If you can see the topmost corner of a 5ft space, then, you should be able to bamf into any point within that space, seen or otherwise. No?
Think about what unoccupied space means. It means a 5ft cube on a battle grid, really. So, if you can see any part of that unoccupied 5ft cube on the grid, you can end up in that 5ft cube. Now, in combat terms, that doesn't resolve with any more specificity that that. See a space, boop, you're in that space.
If you arrive at the airport in Paris, you see France through the windows, but you haven't actually seenFrance.
The grid system is a simplification of a world that has arbitrary curvature and boundaries, the rules need to be interpreted accordingly. "Space" refers to the volume of unoccupied "air" that your body will occupy, not an arbitrary "cube" that a token can occupy.
But, where... specifically, do you pop in? I can't see a reason it couldn't be into clothes, armor, or something else just as silly or weird. Poof right into a lounge chair. Blap onto a driver-less wagon careening out of control. Wap, you're back in those shackles at the local prison, guards never the wiser you were absent.
And, because you need only see the space you're teleporting into, not the actually exact location within that space you end up in, couldn't you theoretically teleport blind, if the barrier is super thin? Maybe immediately behind curtains, or into a large dresser. Or even into a sealed box? If sufficient room for you was inside.
Clothes are not a "location", they are an "object", which fills its own space. You can't instantaneously manipulate your clothing to accommodate you. (Though there are unlikely to be many serious consequences as a result of handwaving that.)
5e rules are based on "Common Language". "A space you can see" is obviously meant in opposition to teleporting blindly, so to twist it in the way you are attempting to do is overtly antithetical to the spirit of the game.
5e rules are based on "Common Language". "A space you can see" is obviously meant in opposition to teleporting blindly, so to twist it in the way you are attempting to do is overtly antithetical to the spirit of the game.
You sound fun at parties.
Clothes are not a "location", they are an "object", which fills its own space. You can't instantaneously manipulate your clothing to accommodate you. (Though there are unlikely to be many serious consequences as a result of handwaving that.)
I've never, ever...and I mean, never seen a DM rule something as inconsequential as unworn clothing... occupies a space. I mean this, seriously... never. If I drop a handkerchief on the ground, does the space now count as occupied?? Man,controlling the battlefield in your games must be super weird. "General! We are afraid our scouts bring back grim news, the enemy has entirely blocked off our armies by littering the plains with sparcely placed garments, sir... it is impassable, there is... nothing we can do but turn back."
If you arrive at the airport in Paris, you see France through the windows, but you haven't actually seenFrance.
Yes, you have.
The grid system is a simplification of a world that has arbitrary curvature and boundaries, the rules need to be interpreted accordingly. "Space" refers to the volume of unoccupied "air" that your body will occupy, not an arbitrary "cube" that a token can occupy.
Anyone and everyone I've ever played with has either formally or informally ruled and adjudicated the game that an unoccupied space is some grid position representative of 5ft cubes. Larger creatures using even larger spaces, ie larger cubes, but generally constructed of smaller 5 ft cubes. I haven't scoured the rules to pinpoint the game's definition of an occupied or unoccupied space, but if that isn't what it is referring to, I don't know what it is referring to.
Also, if you had to see the entirety of the location you will end up into then that'd mean you cannot Misty Step in grass, because the blades of grass might block the view if several millimeters of your feet's destination, can't have that. Also couldn't misty step in most outdoor locations with any other plants or foliage. You similarly could never misty step in combat since random cover is involved from all the combatants themselves. A couple gnats? No misty step. Raining? No misty step. Dust? no misty step. A light mist? No misty step.
(1) The point of my post is that to have "seen" something implies that you have obtained a "meaningful" amount of information about that thing.
Putting a cheerio in your mouth every day may count as eating, but you'll still die of starvation if you eat nothing else.
(2) "Occupy" is a game term, which I explicitly avoided using. "Objects" are physical entities, which have a volume. They exist and "fill" space. For the purpose of the spell, a "shirt" may as well be two very thin walls side by side. Either you fit within the gap, or you don't.
~~~
To "see" France, you should at least talk to the people, try the food, and see something that matters to those who live there. "France" is both a location and a living history/culture.
Memnosyne is right. I covered this in my post already. Teleportation does not move you - you cease to exist in one place and begin to exist in another. That means you could teleport behind a curtain if there was already room behind it, but you can't teleport behind a curtain that's up against the wall. The spell provides no mechanism for pulling the curtain away from the wall to make room for your body.
Same issue for clothes, as both Mem and I discussed. Consider a shirt lying on a bed. If you want to put the shirt on, you physically have to move the shirt's fabric apart so there is somewhere for your torso to be. Teleportation does not allow this - misty step provides no functionality for making the shirt accomodate your torso.
If you want a "cooler" example of the same physics in action, you could teleport into a giant soap bubble without disturbing the bubble, because 0 force means 0 force. Naturally, immediately after the teleport, all bets are off.
I've never, ever...and I mean, never seen a DM rule something as inconsequential as unworn clothing... occupies a space. I mean this, seriously... never. If I drop a handkerchief on the ground, does the space now count as occupied?? Man,controlling the battlefield in your games must be super weird. "General! We are afraid our scouts bring back grim news, the enemy has entirely blocked off our armies by littering the plains with sparcely placed garments, sir... it is impassable, there is... nothing we can do but turn back."
It occupies ITS space, not A space, that's an important distinction to make. So one shirt won't stop you from entering (or teleporting into) a space but if you dump a few thousand shirts into that space then you wouldn't be able to enter (or teleport to) it freely.
And as the shirt occupies its space you can't teleport into the shirt regardless if is is by its own or as a part of the big pile of shirts. That said I agree with Memnosyne, if a DM wants to allow it because it's fun it's likely not going to break the game.
Teleportation does not move you - you cease to exist in one place and begin to exist in another.
From SAC: "Can a creature under the effect of compelled duel teleport more than 30 feet away from the caster? No. You can’t move farther than 30 feet away from the caster of compelled duel by any means, including teleportation."
So, Teleportation does move you.
That means you could teleport behind a curtain if there was already room behind it, but you can't teleport behind a curtain that's up against the wall. The spell provides no mechanism for pulling the curtain away from the wall to make room for your body.
Same issue for clothes, as both Mem and I discussed. Consider a shirt lying on a bed. If you want to put the shirt on, you physically have to move the shirt's fabric apart so there is somewhere for your torso to be. Teleportation does not allow this - misty step provides no functionality for making the shirt accomodate your torso.
If you want a "cooler" example of the same physics in action, you could teleport into a giant soap bubble without disturbing the bubble, because 0 force means 0 force. Naturally, immediately after the teleport, all bets are off.
This is a valid interpretation, absolutely. If you simply exchange the volume of you for the volume of your intended destination. What you describe here would make perfect sense. Though, it'd do some other weird things too, like Misty Stepping into a pool would cause a splash where you left.
But what if teleportation shrinks you down to a single non-volume fixed point, then shunts this point to the destination, and then resizes you? Being able to teleport into clothing would be possible, since the cloth isn't going to resist that all that much more than the air would.
I think, since we are left guessing as to the exact mechanism of our teleportation these unspecified interactions naturally just fall well into DM prerogative. Though I did hope there was more RAW explanation about it than I guess there is.
misty step provides no functionality for making the shirt accomodate your torso.
But specifically to this point of yours... to be fair, teleportation doesn't have functionality for making the air accommodate your torso either, or any other part of you. Phasing into the same space as air, just evenly dispersed into your entire body, would be absolutely lethal. You'd explode a bit, under significant pressure from an equivalent volume of air being now also inside you. Even if the pressure somehow didn't kill you, which it absolutely would, you'd still have to contend with the gas bubbles in your blood. Blood openly exposed to oxygen would begin to clot instantly, everywhere in your body, all at once. You stroke out while having a heart attack, as all your other organs failed in unison. It'd be grisly. Every cell in your body would likely have ruptured and not a person but a limp bloated ooze flesh pile would arrive at the destination with a pop it'd spackle the ground and anything nearby...
It is safe to assume some mechanism exists to shunt matter away at your end destination. Otherwise the spell would read:
Briefly surrounded by silvery mist, you teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space that you can see, and then immediately die upon arrival.
So, like I said, safe to assume some mechanism exists for shunting or displacing matter at the destination.
Remember that D&D is based on high fantasy, not realism or science fiction. "Air", as a fluid medium, is typically ignored unless relevant to the story, because this isn't a physics simulator.
Again, context is important. This is a game/narrative driven world. The rules are only intended to make sense superficially. Magic is inherently reality breaking and doesn't survive excessive scrutiny.
It is our responsibility as DMs and Players to rationalize the rules as intended. Exploring unintended outcomes of literalism is fine, but that is going beyond the scope of the game design and will have consequences.
Man this spell really just doesn't even say anything about your gear or any sort of interactions with your surroundings. Obviously, it is intended that your gear should go with you, but nothing actually says it can, or even should. But if it couldn't this is a M+ rated spell.
So, we can safely assume clothing comes with you, but what about all your other gear? And, can you choose to leave stuff behind if you did want to? Can you misty step out of armor? Clothes? Shackles? What if you're staked to the ground by a tribe of extra small gnomes like Gulliver's Travels?
And, then, what about objects at the destination?? Can you misty step into clothes laid out for you? Or armor? Or into a sealed box with a single keyhole you can see through? Or even into shackles, if that's your thing?
What do you guys think? Raw, Rai, or even just your opinion?
I got quotes!
Well. I’ve never thought about using misty step to get dressed.
First, I’d say that everything you are wearing or holding would come with you. I know I would allow someone to use it to escape being restrained by a creature, so I’d allow shackles as well. Since it’s only a verbal component, there’s be no issue with having hands bound.
As far as out of clothes or armor. I’m not sure. I can’t think of that being abusable, and would be inclined to allow it, but I am curious about other opinions.
To get into clothes, maybe not. You move to a space you can see, and I don’t think you could see the inside of the clothes, just the outside of them, and if something is propping them open, the space is kind of occupied by an object.
Gut ruling:
(1) Anything you are wearing, or carrying, can come with you. Anything beyond your carrying capacity stays.
(2) Misty Stepping out of shackles and grapples is classic, so I would also allow a player to step out of their armor, or clothing, if they so choose.
(3) One Misty Steps into a space, so I would say yes to a box, but no to clothes. However, if a player went through the trouble of propping their clothes open, so that they could reasonable fit without occupying the same space, then I'd probably let them do it anyway, because... why not.
Personally this has come up in my game, and I made the ruling that Misty Step brings with everything that is on your person, no matter what. You cannot escape manacles using Misty Step, but you could escape a Grapple.
By the same logic, I would say that in your new location, your gear and everything that is on your person must be the same as what is on your person when you begin Misty Step.
It is unusual, because comparative abilities like Thunder Step and Dimension Door have wording that states you can carry objects with you up to your carrying capacity -- which would imply that without that wording, Misty Step would disallow such a thing. But that means you'd always wind up naked after a Misty Step, so I just use my above stipulations.
Honestly... I think I'd lean towards 'Rule of Cool' on this one.
I'm with Memnosyne on 1 and 2 above, but... If a character wanted to Misty Step into an outfit, does that really hurt anything? Use up a spell slot to get into armor...? I'd say that's a pretty fair trade. Misty Step out of clothes as part of a seduction? I might even throw Inspiration at the character...
Yeah, for sure ... if it was a character moment, then I'm good with it. But it would be the exception rather than the rule, IMO. (Though the "Misty Step out of shackles" I wouldn't allow ... simply getting a 30 foot head start on your captors is helpful enough.)
I feel like giving a player the option to Misty Step into a set of Heavy Armor has a lot of potential for abuse... but then again, most people just kind of hand-wave donning/doffing armor anyway, so I suppose it wouldn't make too much of a difference.
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This is covered in the Sage Advice Compendium, which is completely official rules material - it's by definition correct.
Here's the compendium entry:
Misty step doesn’t say the caster can bring worn or car-ried equipment with them. Are they intended to leave ev-erything, including their clothes, behind?
No, the caster’s worn and carried equipment are intended to go with them. Some teleportation effects do specify that you teleport with your gear; such specification is an example of a rule being needlessly fastidious, since no teleportation effect in the game assumes that you teleport without your clothes, just as the general movement rules don’t assume that you drop everything when you walk.
Here's the link to the compendium: https://media.wizards.com/2020/dnd/downloads/SA-Compendium.pdf
I think this is intended to be the same compendium, but you'll note some info is missing - for example, if you look up this entry, only the first sentence of the answer is present. https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/sac/sage-advice-compendium#SageAdviceCompendium
Now, let's get to your questions:
So, we can safely assume clothing comes with you, but what about all your other gear? - All your gear goes with you, as per Sage Advice. In fact, you take anything you're carrying; if you can physically pick it up, you can (and must) take it with you.
And, can you choose to leave stuff behind if you did want to? - No. You can drop things before you teleport, but when you teleport, all of your stuff goes with you.
Can you misty step out of armor?- No.
Clothes?- No.
Shackles?- No.
What if you're staked to the ground by a tribe of extra small gnomes like Gulliver's Travels? - For certain, the gnomes won't teleport with you. However, you specified staked to the ground. That means the ropes aren't being carried by you (unlike if you get netted), so you have to get into the weeds of what we really mean by "worn". That means the only way out is a house rule. Since the spell will teleport you with the net in the absent of stakes, I would house rule that in this case, it still teleports you with the net, and the stakes, and the stakes will be a bit dirty, but you'll leave almost all of the ground behind when you teleport.
And, then, what about objects at the destination??- the spell says you can only teleport into an unoccupied space. Unfortunately, this is never explicitly explained anywhere in the rules - you can do a ctl-f for occupied space and unoccupied space on the PHB. You won't find the term explained, only referenced. However, further searching reveals more rules; for example, p192 of the PHB makes it clear that walls, trees, and other "terrain features" can fill a space. I believe this is universally interpreted as a synonym for occupy, which is why you can't misty step into a wall or tree. I think it's also very clear that the RAI is that teleportation spells work in atmosphere (dnd generally assumes the presence of air) and underwater (the rules on underwater combat don't restrict teleportation, so presumably they would otherwise), but, as in many RPGs, none of the teleportation rules are really fleshed out - in fact, teleport itself is also a term never defined at any point in the rulebook. I think the obvious way to interpret these rules so far is that fluids do not occupy their space but solids do, meaning you can misty step into air, water, or fire (including a miniature sun - plasma should be easier to teleport into than gas, after all), but not earth, in general. What happens to these fluids is not defined; here are some answers I've played with in the past in various games:
Those are just examples, of course.
Can you misty step into clothes laid out for you?- Generally no, because if they're laid out, they're flat. Misty Step doesn't move you in material space, so there's no way to push the fabric aside to fit a creature into the clothes.
Or armor? - This is more interesting, because plate armor can maintain its shape without you in it. This gets into the weeds of what Misty Step means by being able to see the space you're teleporting into - do you need to be able to see the entire space, or only part of it? I think the spell is functionally useless if you need to see the entire space, since that's generally impossible in the real world. If you only need to see part of the space, you should be able to teleport into the unoccupied space inside a rigid suit of armor. Of course, none of the straps will have been adjusted for you, and critically, misty step can't rotate you (or you'd be able to use it to get up from prone). That means in order to teleport into armor that fits you, you have pose exactly the right way so you're exactly where you need to be. That's a DC 25 or 30 Acrobatics check if ever I heard one. Outside of plate armor, this will usually have the same problem as clothing - all of the flexible parts will naturally collapse such that you can't fit. Depending on your interpretation of half plate, this might work for it, but after the teleport the greaves definitely won't be strapped to you.
Or into a sealed box with a single keyhole you can see through? - Yes, 100%, no question. You don't even need the keyhole if you can see inside the box - one way of many to do this is the Eldritch Invocation Ghostly Gaze. If you'll fit inside the box, then you're good. Bear in mind what I just said about Misty Step not moving your body - if you need to e.g. kneel to fit in the box, you have to do it before you cast the spell.
Or even into shackles, if that's your thing? - Same as the armor question, but a lot less challenging if the shackles are just hanging loose somewhere. DC 5 Acrobatics check to get the pose right.
You didn't ask this, but I'll throw in another one for free: none of the teleport effects in the game clarify what happens to your momentum - what happens if you teleport during a fall? On the other hand, they also don't clarify any concerns with e.g. teleporting onto or off of, say, a moving vehicle. If you decide teleportation doesn't conserve momentum, you can live through a fall by Readying a teleport (you can't Ready Misty Step without a house rule, though) and casting it at the bottom. If you decide it does conserve momentum, Dimension Door, the Distant Spell metamagic, and Feather Fall (for letting the caster live through this questionable life choice) can be combined to make a railgun (I recommend an adamantine dart for the payload) that can only shoot straight down, much like in the computer game Portal but without the ability to change direction.
Oh, and since I brought the spell up: Dimension Door has different wording from Misty Step, and you can absolutely use Dimension Door to teleport out of clothing, armor, or shackles.
teleportation spells are split about whether they include objects or not. misty step, far step, teleport and word of recall don't specify you take things you are wearing and carrying. (Teleport has an option to teleport a single object, but it's written as if you are sending the object by itself).
dimension door and thunder step, conversely, specify you can bring along objects up to your carrying capacity, and specify that others brought along can be carrying items up to their capacity when they go, but they don't specifically reference that you actively carry said objects.
Assuming the writers didn't intent for naked spellcasters appearing when they teleport, I'd rule the RAI is that normal teleporting spells allow you to go with anything you are wearing or carrying on your person, and the "special" ones that specify taking object(s) with you are allowing you to take object(s) that you aren't wearing or carrying (as there is not a requirement that you hold them when you do), so long as the additional objects don't exceed your carrying capacity.
Personally, I'd argue that if you wanted to teleport into your armor, it would have to be assembled in such a way as to allow you to do so (held open so you can fill it out, nothing inside). since the spell requires the space be "unoccupied" if the armor is laid flat (assuming its light or medium or basically anything that doesn't hold its shape when not worn) the space inside it that you need to occupy is compressed and will cause the spell to fail.
Those are cases that are in between the rules, for sure, but here's how I'd rule those specific situations:
Shackled to a wall: The shackles are not "on your person", as in, you are not bearing the weight of them. Misty Step would allow you to teleport out of them, as they are attached to the wall primarily, not to you.
Shackles held by an enemy: The shackles are "on your person" and you would like be subject to the Grappled condition by the enemy; the fact that they are holding the shackles is just flavor. Therefore, the shackles come with you but you get away from the enemy. (Similarly, if an enemy attempted to pickpocket you and you Misty Stepped while their hand was in your bag, I'd say they end up empty-handed. Until something is not on your person, it is on your person. Weird tautology but it makes sense in my head.)
And agreed that this would all need case-by-case decisions by a DM. I'm cool with that and I'm cool with a DM ruling these differently.
Regarding abusing donning/doffing armor via Misty Step: Sure, use a second level spell slot to save time if you get caught armorless when combat breaks out. That sounds like an awesome (and decently costly!) way to solve a real problem.
Ha! On a related note... Knock is also a Level 2 spell with only Verbal component. Between these 2 makes your caster extremely elusive, even if you can't Misty Step directly out of shackles.
I got quotes!
What I think is interesting about some of these teleportation spells is they say something to effect of "to an unoccupied space you can see"
misty step, far step, thunder step
So, you need to see the space, not... precisely... the exact point that you end up in within that space. If you can see the topmost corner of a 5ft space, then, you should be able to bamf into any point within that space, seen or otherwise. No?
Think about what unoccupied space means. It means a 5ft cube on a battle grid, really. So, if you can see any part of that unoccupied 5ft cube on the grid, you can end up in that 5ft cube. Now, in combat terms, that doesn't resolve with any more specificity that that. See a space, boop, you're in that space.
But, where... specifically, do you pop in? I can't see a reason it couldn't be into clothes, armor, or something else just as silly or weird. Poof right into a lounge chair. Blap onto a driver-less wagon careening out of control. Wap, you're back in those shackles at the local prison, guards never the wiser you were absent.
And, because you need only see the space you're teleporting into, not the actually exact location within that space you end up in, couldn't you theoretically teleport blind, if the barrier is super thin? Maybe immediately behind curtains, or into a large dresser. Or even into a sealed box? If sufficient room for you was inside.
I got quotes!
If you arrive at the airport in Paris, you see France through the windows, but you haven't actually seen France.
The grid system is a simplification of a world that has arbitrary curvature and boundaries, the rules need to be interpreted accordingly. "Space" refers to the volume of unoccupied "air" that your body will occupy, not an arbitrary "cube" that a token can occupy.
Clothes are not a "location", they are an "object", which fills its own space. You can't instantaneously manipulate your clothing to accommodate you. (Though there are unlikely to be many serious consequences as a result of handwaving that.)
5e rules are based on "Common Language". "A space you can see" is obviously meant in opposition to teleporting blindly, so to twist it in the way you are attempting to do is overtly antithetical to the spirit of the game.
You sound fun at parties.
I've never, ever...and I mean, never seen a DM rule something as inconsequential as unworn clothing... occupies a space. I mean this, seriously... never. If I drop a handkerchief on the ground, does the space now count as occupied?? Man,controlling the battlefield in your games must be super weird. "General! We are afraid our scouts bring back grim news, the enemy has entirely blocked off our armies by littering the plains with sparcely placed garments, sir... it is impassable, there is... nothing we can do but turn back."
Yes, you have.
Anyone and everyone I've ever played with has either formally or informally ruled and adjudicated the game that an unoccupied space is some grid position representative of 5ft cubes. Larger creatures using even larger spaces, ie larger cubes, but generally constructed of smaller 5 ft cubes. I haven't scoured the rules to pinpoint the game's definition of an occupied or unoccupied space, but if that isn't what it is referring to, I don't know what it is referring to.
Also, if you had to see the entirety of the location you will end up into then that'd mean you cannot Misty Step in grass, because the blades of grass might block the view if several millimeters of your feet's destination, can't have that. Also couldn't misty step in most outdoor locations with any other plants or foliage. You similarly could never misty step in combat since random cover is involved from all the combatants themselves. A couple gnats? No misty step. Raining? No misty step. Dust? no misty step. A light mist? No misty step.
I got quotes!
(1) The point of my post is that to have "seen" something implies that you have obtained a "meaningful" amount of information about that thing.
Putting a cheerio in your mouth every day may count as eating, but you'll still die of starvation if you eat nothing else.
(2) "Occupy" is a game term, which I explicitly avoided using. "Objects" are physical entities, which have a volume. They exist and "fill" space. For the purpose of the spell, a "shirt" may as well be two very thin walls side by side. Either you fit within the gap, or you don't.
~~~
To "see" France, you should at least talk to the people, try the food, and see something that matters to those who live there. "France" is both a location and a living history/culture.
Memnosyne is right. I covered this in my post already. Teleportation does not move you - you cease to exist in one place and begin to exist in another. That means you could teleport behind a curtain if there was already room behind it, but you can't teleport behind a curtain that's up against the wall. The spell provides no mechanism for pulling the curtain away from the wall to make room for your body.
Same issue for clothes, as both Mem and I discussed. Consider a shirt lying on a bed. If you want to put the shirt on, you physically have to move the shirt's fabric apart so there is somewhere for your torso to be. Teleportation does not allow this - misty step provides no functionality for making the shirt accomodate your torso.
If you want a "cooler" example of the same physics in action, you could teleport into a giant soap bubble without disturbing the bubble, because 0 force means 0 force. Naturally, immediately after the teleport, all bets are off.
It occupies ITS space, not A space, that's an important distinction to make. So one shirt won't stop you from entering (or teleporting into) a space but if you dump a few thousand shirts into that space then you wouldn't be able to enter (or teleport to) it freely.
And as the shirt occupies its space you can't teleport into the shirt regardless if is is by its own or as a part of the big pile of shirts. That said I agree with Memnosyne, if a DM wants to allow it because it's fun it's likely not going to break the game.
This is a valid interpretation, absolutely. If you simply exchange the volume of you for the volume of your intended destination. What you describe here would make perfect sense. Though, it'd do some other weird things too, like Misty Stepping into a pool would cause a splash where you left.
But what if teleportation shrinks you down to a single non-volume fixed point, then shunts this point to the destination, and then resizes you? Being able to teleport into clothing would be possible, since the cloth isn't going to resist that all that much more than the air would.
I think, since we are left guessing as to the exact mechanism of our teleportation these unspecified interactions naturally just fall well into DM prerogative. Though I did hope there was more RAW explanation about it than I guess there is.
But specifically to this point of yours... to be fair, teleportation doesn't have functionality for making the air accommodate your torso either, or any other part of you. Phasing into the same space as air, just evenly dispersed into your entire body, would be absolutely lethal. You'd explode a bit, under significant pressure from an equivalent volume of air being now also inside you. Even if the pressure somehow didn't kill you, which it absolutely would, you'd still have to contend with the gas bubbles in your blood. Blood openly exposed to oxygen would begin to clot instantly, everywhere in your body, all at once. You stroke out while having a heart attack, as all your other organs failed in unison. It'd be grisly. Every cell in your body would likely have ruptured and not a person but a limp bloated ooze flesh pile would arrive at the destination with a pop it'd spackle the ground and anything nearby...
It is safe to assume some mechanism exists to shunt matter away at your end destination. Otherwise the spell would read:
So, like I said, safe to assume some mechanism exists for shunting or displacing matter at the destination.
I got quotes!
Remember that D&D is based on high fantasy, not realism or science fiction. "Air", as a fluid medium, is typically ignored unless relevant to the story, because this isn't a physics simulator.
Again, context is important. This is a game/narrative driven world. The rules are only intended to make sense superficially. Magic is inherently reality breaking and doesn't survive excessive scrutiny.
It is our responsibility as DMs and Players to rationalize the rules as intended. Exploring unintended outcomes of literalism is fine, but that is going beyond the scope of the game design and will have consequences.