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From my experience in 5th edition D&D, I've seen many creatures resist or be immune to bludgeoning damage from weapons, but never to bludgeoning damage from falling. The only instance I know is a raging barbarian player (not even sure if NPCs can rage).

Are there any creatures that are resistant/immune to falling damage (if we exclude the "Invulnerability" spell from Xanathar's Guide to Everything) ?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Are you including those who can avoid it by flying or feather fall or the like? \$\endgroup\$
    – Paul
    Commented May 28, 2018 at 18:58
  • \$\begingroup\$ I include them, as they can be knocked prone in the air (thus falling -- unless they have hover speed as now specified in an answer), and/or prevented from using their reaction. \$\endgroup\$
    – Gael L
    Commented May 28, 2018 at 20:26

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Yes, Demon Lords

In the recently released Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, there are several extremely powerful enemies. Amongst them are the Demon Lords, creatures of near-deity level power. An example of this is the Demogorgon found on page 144. Amongst their damage immunities, demon lords have the following immunity (bold added):

bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing that is nonmagical

Note that this is in contrast to the similar resistance or immunity that other creatures have to:

bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks (MToF, p. 132, bold added)

And note that, as stated in the PHB on page 183 (bold added):

At the end of a fall, a creature takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet it fell, to a maximum of 20d6.

Thus, if the Demogorgon was somehow subjected to a fall, it would take no damage, since the bludgeoning damage from a fall "is nonmagical."

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    \$\begingroup\$ A warning that does not really belong in the answer but is still worth saying: at this point MToF has not had an Errata, but it definitely contains some errors and/or omissions (for example, the Sacred Statue construct on page 194 has no listed Challenge Rating). As such, we should keep our eyes open for an Errata, to see if the text of the demon lords' immunities change. \$\endgroup\$
    – Gandalfmeansme
    Commented May 28, 2018 at 18:42
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    \$\begingroup\$ Small addendum to my warning: it would appear that the Sacred Statue doesn't need a challenge rating, since it is part of the "Eidolon" encounter, which does have a CR. \$\endgroup\$
    – Gandalfmeansme
    Commented Jun 3, 2018 at 15:44
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    \$\begingroup\$ The results are in. The 2020 MTF errata leaves these immunities as is. \$\endgroup\$
    – raithyn
    Commented Apr 26, 2020 at 16:50
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Hover creatures

Any creature with Hover and a fly speed cannot fall by normal means and is therefore not susceptible to fall damage.

If a flying creature is knocked prone, has its speed reduced to 0, or is otherwise deprived of the ability to move, the creature falls, unless it has the ability to hover or it is being held aloft by magic, such as by the fly spell.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ If creatures with a fly speed are knocked prone, or their movement is reduced to 0 somehow, don't they plummet and take fall damage? \$\endgroup\$
    – Duncan McKirdy
    Commented May 28, 2018 at 19:14
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    \$\begingroup\$ @DuncanMcKirdy unless they have hover or are held aloft magically. Added quote \$\endgroup\$
    – David Coffron
    Commented May 28, 2018 at 19:15
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    \$\begingroup\$ Very good answer... BUT! Magical fly speed can be countered by a Dispel Magic or Antimagic field. A natural hover speed can be countered by the Earthbind spell, but considering that the spell does not generate fall damage, hover creatures are effectively immune to fall damage in any circumstance, or so it seems... So you are partially CORRECT ! \$\endgroup\$
    – Gael L
    Commented May 28, 2018 at 20:35
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    \$\begingroup\$ @YannicMG in the Monster Manual, it states "Such a monster stops hovering when it dies." (MM, p. 8). It's likely that if a monster would stop hovering if it became unconscious, it would mention that there. \$\endgroup\$
    – Gandalfmeansme
    Commented May 28, 2018 at 22:06
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Mindwin The answer is still "partially correct" in the sense that the question was about immunity/resistance to DAMAGE from falls. Although it is entirely valid and valuable to point out that hovering creatures will (likely) never fall, it still makes this answer the correct answer to a slightly different question (whether or not there are creatures that will never fall). Note that if a beholder CHOSE to fall 90 feet (say, if it needed to get to the bottom of a hole very quickly) and struck the ground, it would take damage from that fall, in spite of its hover speed. \$\endgroup\$
    – Gandalfmeansme
    Commented May 28, 2018 at 22:12
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As mentioned in the answers to Do any damage resistances apply to Reverse Gravity?, a few creatures do have resistance to bludgeoning damage that's not limited to weapons or attacks.

Also, Stoneskin provides resistance to all non-magical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage (regardless of source).

Barbarian Rage (as mentioned in the question) gives resistant to all bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage, even from magical sources.

We even have explicit confirmation from Mike Mearls that Rage specifically is intended to reduce fall damage (because fall damage is simply bludgeoning damage).

Just to be clear, resistance or immunity to bludgeoning from attacks or from weapon attacks does not help with fall damage.

Jeremy Crawford tweeted:

Q: A monster is immune to damage from nonmagical bludgeoning weapons. Does he still take damage from falling?

A: Yep, that monster is still going to feel the hurt of a fall.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Note that your "explicit confirmation from Jeremy Crawford" link points to a Mearls tweet (which just so happens to be correct). You might want to instead just link to the falling rule that states the bludgeoning damage type, and point out that Rage has no caveats to its bludgeoning resistance. \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    Commented Jan 6, 2020 at 7:49

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