.@JeremyECrawford have a question! Does the monks slow fall ability use their movement? IE monk decides a to drop down a 40 ft hole, using slow fall to absorb the damage, do they still have the normal movement left?
— Big Boned Biker (@BigBonedBiker) January 16, 2019
Falling in D&D doesn't use your movement. #DnD https://t.co/PnJpi9ZFWo
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) January 24, 2019
@JeremyECrawford What about if it's a really far distance but somehow the players have means to survive the impact? Does falling always take one action or can it be multiple and how might you calculate distance? https://t.co/GY8Ao9414X
— ItWasSean (@itwassean) January 24, 2019
The basic falling rules in D&D assume a fall is instantaneous.
If you'd like rules for a very long fall, take a look at the section called "Falling" in "Xanathar's Guide to Everything" (p. 77). #DnD https://t.co/WSKyw6YKXq
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) January 24, 2019
What if you are falling at an angle? Like jumping? Or flyinf up high in an effective jump? Or do the rules as intended just ignore momentum when it comes to falling?
— True Frog Rider (@wmEbcMxDXL3HdYo) January 24, 2019
Jumping uses your movement in D&D. Falling does not.
For more information on how jumps work, take a look at the section called "Jumping" in the "Player's Handbook" (p. 182). The next page also has a useful section: "Falling." #DnD https://t.co/KAshxx4fRm
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) January 24, 2019
Another case where the rules as written clearly break down when you push them too far, and yet Crawford glibly just states, “The rules are the rules”.
There’s a technique sometimes used by grappling builds where you get a foe Grappled, then leap straight up and release the grapple, causing them to automatically take Falling Damage and land Prone.
Now, does the grappler also take damage as they return to the earth from the same height that they dropped the enemy from?
Well, if they split their jump into two halves, and use 50% of their jump distance to rise vertically, release the foe, and then use the other 50% of their jump distance to land again, they don’t take damage. So if they can leap 20 feet straight up, but they choose to only leap 10 feet up, drop the enemy, and “jump” another 10 feet back down, they’re fine.
But if instead, they simply make a “shorter” jump which takes them 10 feet up and then “ends” there, well… in that case they take Falling Damage.
This is literally a case of two identical actions having totally different results purely because they’re called different things. That’s bad game design, full stop.