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I envision the Thunderbolt Strike as throwing the target creature away from it, not gently pushing it away. I mean lightning is an instantaneous thing, and 10 feet is more than just losing your balance.

If the target of a Thunderbolt Strike is 5 feet from a wall when the target gets knocked back 10 feet toward it, what happens?

  • Will the target just stop when they reach the wall?
  • Will they take damage as they still have 5 feet more to move when they hit it?
  • Or might they bounce back in my direction?
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Thunderstrike says (PHB p.62)

At 6th level, when you deal lightning damage to a Large or smaller creature, you can also push it up to 10 feet away from you.

Well, if there is a wall in the way, you can't push them 10' away from you.

I envision the Thunderbolt Strike as throwing the target creature away from it, not gently pushing it away. I mean lightning is an instantaneous thing and 10' is more than just losing your balance.

Well, no. The creature is "push[ed]", it doesn't even knock them prone. You can envision what you like but RAW, the creature is staggering away from you - running into a wall is going to help more than it hinders.

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    \$\begingroup\$ It could throw them away violently... just everybody lands on their feet for some reason. \$\endgroup\$
    – DCShannon
    Oct 21, 2015 at 4:18
  • \$\begingroup\$ The word "push" implies a particular thing, like being push around by a strong wind -- you stay upright and just forced back away from the source in a straight line. Similar language is used in the Warlock Eldritch Invocation Repelling blast, "When you hit a creature with eldritch blast. you can push the creature up to 10 feet away from you in a straight line." \$\endgroup\$
    – J. A. Streich
    Oct 21, 2015 at 19:53

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