Feather Fall has a casting time of '1 immediate action'... which is great, so that I can activate it whenever I need (falling won't wait for my Initiative after all). However...
'You may not take an immediate action while flat-footed' (under the action type listing) would imply that I
- will still go splat if bull-rushed from the classical bridge before my initiative (being flat-footed, I cannot activate Feather Fall)
- will still fall full force into these pit traps (well, since traps that play attacks do so vs. the recipients flat-footed AC, it's reasonable to assume I am just as flat-footed when triggering a pit trap and fail my Reflex save).
Did I miss something, or are these situations 'as intended'?
Nope, you didn't miss anything.
I doubt very highly that the designers intend your character who has feather fall memorized to be unable to cast it when they need it, but if you follow the mechanics correctly, that is exactly what happens.
I remember an immediate action spell in 3.5 that gave you a bonus to your initiative roll you were about to make. I remember reading that and thinking, "oh designers, learn the rules!" :)
Seriously, we have a pretty good idea how it is supposed to work, check with your DM, good chance they will let you use it flat footed.
at higher levels, a fall that can kill you takes you more than 1 turn to fall down.
I know it's not much of an argument, but I'm okay with magic not being as handy as say, slow fall.
Well, it's better than Quickfall.
Yeah! take that monk-haters! See! Monk can have nice things ... *looks at Ultimate Combat*
o.0 ... nevermind ...