Flying: check hover before a forced fall

SRD 5.2.1 · Movement

At the table

1. While flying, check for Incapacitated, Prone or Fly Speed reduced to zero.
2. If one applies, the creature falls unless it can hover.
3. Resolve the actual fall and landing separately, including any effect that changes fall damage.

Example decision

An airborne creature that cannot hover gains the Prone condition. No other effect keeps it aloft. Does the flying rule let it remain in place?

No; it falls under this rule.

Prone is explicitly one of the listed causes of a fall while flying. Hover would allow a creature to stay aloft in that circumstance, but this creature lacks that exception. Determine the remaining distance and landing consequences using the falling rule after establishing that it falls.

Watch for this mistake

A Fly Speed and hover are not interchangeable labels. Look for the actual permission to hover in the creature’s movement or effect description.

Ask the table

Which listed cause applies, and does this creature actually have hover?

Source rule

A variety of effects allow a creature to fly. While flying, you fall if you have the Incapacitated or Prone condition or your Fly Speed is reduced to 0. You can stay aloft in those circumstances if you can hover. See also “Falling” and “Fly Speed.”

Source: SRD 5.2.1, 182. Online guide.