Flying: check hover before a forced fall
A flying creature can fall when specific conditions or a zero Fly Speed apply. The ability to hover provides an exception; being airborne alone does not.
Use it at the table
- While flying, check for Incapacitated, Prone or Fly Speed reduced to zero.
- If one applies, the creature falls unless it can hover.
- Resolve the actual fall and landing separately, including any effect that changes fall damage.
Make the call
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?
The ruling
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?
The source rule
SRD 5.2.1, page 182. Read the official PDF.
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 and reuse
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
The explanation, example and table prompt are Table Ready adaptations; source text has been reflowed. This guide and its printable card are available under the same CC BY 4.0 license. Independent reference; no official affiliation. These rules are optional for our system-neutral adventures.