D&D 5E How do you handle sleeping guards/monsters/victims?

Just remember that what works for the PCs also works for the monsters. I allow passive perception checks with disadvantage for sleeping creatures. Use the unconscious rules for combat modifiers. I don't have the rules here, but pass without trace to conceal the sounds of combat or killing sounds like it's not what it's intended for. I would also have a problem random chance that somebody wakes up, depending on how many there are.


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I had a similar event pop up in curse of strahd with the vampires in a certain building in one of the towns (I don't wish to spoil). The players found them during the day and opted to nail shut two boxes and stake the rest simultaneously. I ruled a stealth check vs their perceptions to do said nailing and made then each roll agains their ac (granting players advantage) with the stakes. In the case of those monsters, they instantly die if staked as it says in the statblock, though had they been guards I would have made their attacks with advantage and critical hits as per the unconscious condition. I do in fact rule that creatures can hear while sleeping, though I will typically give them disadvantage on their perception checks (or more accurately a -5 to passive perceptions).

I don't do instant kills for a couple reasons:
1) Anything the players do is fair game to do to my players. They know this and would rather the ocassional assassination attempt go slightly awry then have half the party murdered in their sleep by enemy assassins.
2) Anyone that should reasonably be one shotted in their sleep is typically low level mooks/guards, meaning they a) won't have much HP in the first place, and anyone who archetypically would regularly be doing assassinations without setting off alarms is usually going to be a rogue, and thus have sneak attack (which I remind you is also effected by the critical of attacking someone sleeping). Targets who are higher level might still survive the first attack, at which point combat ensues as normal, but maybe they shouldn't have tried to kill the barbarian warlord king in his sleep alone? I typically will give players ample telegraphs about the "strength" of their target in such cases, or fair warning ahead of time that their would be target is a paranoid type (sets traps, guards outside the door, etc).

I should note though, all of that is entirely contingent on the genre of game I'm running. Am I running a heroic fantasy? Yes, I'm ruling as above. Am I running a gritty game of thrones esque survival game? Likely having instant kill options. Options I WILL use on players as well.

Nailen said:

We've always ruled that after casting Sleep the monsters can be dispatched by slitting the throat without needing a roll.

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As an aside, how do you think the players will react when you apply this rule to their characters?

A barracks that lets newcomers in, shares around the booze they bring and then all go to sleep at the same time with only isolated groups of sentries with no real alarm system kind of expects to be destroyed this way...

I guess I find it hard to believe that any such barracks has:
1. Nobody with a decent perception score
2. Nobody with a decent insight score
3. Nobody with the 'alarm' spell or any of the other magic spells that would make this plan hard to pull off.
4. Nobody with any kind of natural distrust of newcomers.

I also still allow perception checks while people are asleep. It just seems idiotic not to, given reality.

Roll stealth, -10 on perception for sleepers, -5 for elves.

after every attack, roll stealth with disadvantage as you try to muffle death throw sounds made by victims.

Use common sense when determining is attack could be fatal. A dagger will hardly kill a huge dragon in one hit. Even in the eye...then you get one pissed pirate dragon.

MrHotter said:

There is no 'sleeping' condition in the game. Unconcious should be close, but sleeping people are not 'unaware of their surroundings'. I know that I leap out of bed if I hear the sound of a dog about to throw up, so guards should be conditioned to wake up to the sound of someone getting stabbed to death in the bed next to them.

If the rules clarify this, then I would go with what the rules say. If I was going to make a ruling at the table without looking anything up, I would say that every round where someone is attacked then there should be a good chance of people waking up.

I like to imagine what the players would do if the roles were reversed. If I let some assassins get a free surprise attack on them while sleeping they would not be very happy. Especially if the rest of the party does not wake up after the first attack.

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It's easily built from the rules and a few rulings IMO.

Intruders making Stealth checks to get in place, vs. Passive Perception at disadvantage (which is -5). This is for sleepers and meditating Elves.

Attackers get auto-crit from Unconscious condition, which means low level mooks die easily. High level people have better honed senses so they flinch at the last minute, so they soak a critical HP attack but survive. Higher level people being better at doing the coup de grace is reflected in their high HP damage.

Every insta-kill done outside a Silence spell generates enough noise to give a Perception check to wake up. If it takes multiple attacks to kill one sleeping target, then the Perception checks to wake up are at Advantage.

The round a character wakes up they are considered in a surprise round, and don't act until their initiative next round, except for someone with Alert feat or similar ability. So, they are no longer auto-crittable, but they are still prone.

Nailen said:

So, last night the party had inveigled their way into Rivergard Keep barracks and bedded down for the night. An hour or so later, once everyone (bar the two on watch) were asleep, the party monk cast Pass Without Trace on the whole party (+10 on Sneak rolls) and they proceeded to slaughter the other occupants.

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In my games, I rule that verbal components make a loud noise that awakens any naturally sleeping creature within around 350 feet. At that point, provided there are adequate conditions for hiding, the party could then try to hide from any nearby guards using the bonus granted by the spell, but the guards would be awake. It would be more effective (again, in my games) for the party to sneak up on the sleeping guards without first casting a spell, thereby assuredly gaining surprise due to sleeping creatures having the condition Unconscious and so being unaware of their surroundings. If the party was in position to begin combat when the spell was cast then it makes no difference, but either way I would rule that any guards within about 350 feet would wake up either from the verbal component or the initiation of the attack that begins combat.