Would the Gust spell be able to move someone under the effect of the Levitate spell?

Question

I am playing an air genasi storm sorcerer. Air genasi have the Mingle with the Wind racial trait, which lets them cast the levitate spell once per long rest (with no material components).

The description of the levitate spell says:

One creature or object of your choice that you can see within range rises vertically, up to 20 feet, and remains suspended there for the duration. The spell can levitate a target that weighs up to 500 pounds. An unwilling creature that succeeds on a Constitution saving throw is unaffected.

The target can move only by pushing or pulling against a fixed object or surface within reach (such as a wall or a ceiling), which allows it to move as if it were climbing. You can change the target's altitude by up to 20 feet in either direction on your turn. If you are the target, you can move up or down as part of your move. Otherwise, you can use your action to move the target, which must remain within the spell's range.

The description of gust states:

You seize the air and compel it to create one of the following effects at a point you can see within range:

• One Medium or smaller creature that you choose must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be pushed up to 5 feet away from you.

• You create a small blast of air capable of moving one object that is neither held nor carried and that weighs no more than 5 pounds. The object is pushed up to 10 feet away from you. It isn’t pushed with enough force to cause damage.

• You create a harmless sensory affect using air, such as causing leaves to rustle, wind to slam shutters shut, or your clothing to ripple in a breeze.

I wanted to use the gust cantrip to move myself 5 feet in a direction, but my GM said it wouldn't work, as levitate only allows the target to move by physical means as the spell states, and I couldn't cast gust to target myself anyways.

I didn't argue at the time, but having reread the spells, I'm not sure why it wouldn't work.

Is it possible to cast levitate on yourself, then use gust to move yourself 5 feet?

Answer 1

Point of clarification: the question as you pose it in your title asks if gust can move "someone" under the effects of levitation, but in the body of your question you are specifically asking about moving yourself. I will focus on the latter.

By Rules as Written? No, absent DM fiat.

The general rule is that spells do only what they say they do, and anything more is up to the DM. The description of gust, which you've quoted, says it can be used to push others, but says nothing about moving the caster.

To put this in perspective, consider that you are effectively looking to use gust to target yourself on the receiving end of the push effect. Technically, targeting yourself might be fair game; the spell says you can target "[o]ne Medium or smaller creature that you choose," and you could perhaps choose yourself. The trouble is, the target is "pushed up to 5 feet away from you," and you cannot be pushed away from yourself. The DM could choose to ignore that bit of illogic, but it would be fiat.

By Rules as Fun? Absolutely yes.

Gust is an underwhelming cantrip. Most of its effects are duplicative of other (better) cantrips -- except for the push effect, which can be achieved just as easily by any character using the rules for shoving a creature. See PHB p. 195. Permitting a PC to cast gust in order to achieve 5 feet of lateral movement while levitating rewards creative play, and is highly unlikely to break the game. (Consider, for example, how difficult it would be to abuse this setup in combat. The PC is expending an entire action for 5 feet of movement.)

Answer 2

You can push yourself.

The levitate spell says that the "target can move only by pushing or pulling against a fixed object or surface within reach", but this just limits the ways in which the target can use its movement and does not prevent the target from being pushed, so gust can push a levitating creature.

Gust targets a point you can see within 30 feet of you, so the caster's own space certainly qualifies. As long as the caster is a medium or smaller creature, the caster can subject itself to gust's first effect and make a Strength saving throw.

The only problem is interpreting "pushed up to 5 feet away from you" as a direction. In a normal scenario, it's a single clear direction because the target and the caster are at different locations. However, in our scenario the target and the caster are in the same location so every direction is "away from you". The DM needs to interpret this part and there is not correct answer.

The caster might stay still because wind attempts to push it in every direction at once; the caster might be pushed in a random direction because the spell doesn't say it gets to choose; the caster might be pushed in a direction of its choosing because of the rule of cool; etc.