[RPG] How tall is the Lightning Bolt spell

dnd-5espells

The lightning bolt spell creates a 100-foot long, 5-foot wide line of lightning. How tall is this line? Does a creature above the line, not on the ground, take damage because it is still, technically, within the line? The Line entry on PHB 206 isn't helpful, saying nothing about its height.

Line

A line extends from its point of origin in a straight path
up to its length and covers an area defined by its width. A line’s point of origin is not included in the line’s area of effect, unless you decide otherwise.

Best Answer

A spell's description fully describes its area of effect in three dimensions, so when any dimension is omitted for a non-flat spell effect, that's because it's unnecessary by natural reading and symmetry. So since it's not described as a ribbon or a wall, and since the bolt's width is given as 5 feet, that's the width radially in all directions around the centreline of the line — horizontally, vertically, and diagonally.

When parsing spell descriptions, remember that D&D 5e is written in natural language and doesn't assume a grid (which is an optional rule), so spell descriptions are written assuming the reader will simply picture the most logical natural shape and effects that fit the description, such as “width” being sufficient to describe the other two dimensions of a long thing that isn't already describe as flat or tall.