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Specifically, the Flee command states:

Flee. The target spends its turn moving away from you by the fastest available means.

While I would normally suppose "the fastest available means" would suggest that the character dashes, I was wondering if this would also take into account racial, class, and optional feats, as well as magical items?

For instance, an Eladrin would be forced to dash as an action to get an additional 30ft and use Fey Step for another additional 30ft. Or a level 6 Shadow Monk with the Cape of the Mounteback would have to use their movement speed of 45ft, their cape as an action for +500ft, and their Shadow Step for an extra +60ft.

To me, this feels a little overpowered for a level 1 spell, especially considering that these are mostly limited skills that invoke much higher spells and abilities, but I cannot help but wonder why WotC would word it so openly if they did not account for these being used?

Nobody the Hobgoblin
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Victor B
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    I was pretty sure there was a question on site about whether forced movement by the fastest available means requires you to activate magic items such as winged boots, but my searches are coming up empty. – Kirt Jun 25 '22 at 16:56
  • @Kirt I tried to looked for that myself as I thought someone must have asked it, yet I too failed in my query. If it is still up, I hope someone posts it as related. – Victor B Jun 26 '22 at 04:55

1 Answers1

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Yes, command them to “Teleport!”

"Teleport" is also a verb. It does not violate any of the spell's conditions.

If “Flee!” would force them to teleport I find less clear. Teleporting is not really “moving away”: there is no movement, only instant transport. They are not spending their turn moving, they are casting a spell or activating an ability. I do not think that would work.

It's a good idea to agree with your DM outside of a game session how they handle command words, to avoid unpleasant surprises - see this answer by Kirt for much more detail on this.

V2Blast
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Nobody the Hobgoblin
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  • Using "teleport" is rather niche and might require a prior arcana check or something to know if the character even can. However, while not actually taking movement speed, teleporting is a valid means to flee from battle, to move out of a Force Cage, or even to leap onto a balcony, as the target is displaced from the geographical coordinates to another. I guess what still confuses me is that the spell is worded not to specify "movement speed," "dashing," or even talking about distance, but rather how quickly that can be achieved... and "instantly" is much faster than 6 seconds... – Victor B Jun 26 '22 at 04:51
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    @VictorB If you are the DM, you can play it like that. If not, you can try and convince your DM. I think it’s unlikely because move is a game term in the combat rules, but it’s not impossible to view it that way. – Nobody the Hobgoblin Jun 26 '22 at 07:06
  • Ah, I didn't realize it was referencing a specific game mechanic. That makes a lot more sense. – Victor B Jun 26 '22 at 09:18
  • Wouldn't the target be free to choose the target of the teleport? For example, teleport in place? – justhalf Jun 26 '22 at 12:54
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    @justhalf, yes, you could not tell them where to teleport to, only to teleport. – Nobody the Hobgoblin Jun 26 '22 at 12:58
  • Movement and speed are game terms. The verb to move is not. – illustro Jun 26 '22 at 21:56
  • @illustro p 198 PHB "On your turn, you can move a distance up to your speed and take one action. You decide whether to move first or take your action first. Your speed—sometimes called your walking speed—is noted on your character sheet." (bolding in original text) is what I reference. I assumed the bolding indicates a special meaning of the word, in the combat round. On page 190 it also has a heading talking about "Breaking up your Move", – Nobody the Hobgoblin Jun 27 '22 at 06:20
  • Let us continue this discussion in chat. – Nobody the Hobgoblin Jun 27 '22 at 08:06