D&D 5E Choosing NOT to Long Rest?

[Rya.Reisender]

There is no such requirement written in the rules.

There definitely is:

A long rest is a period of extended downtime, at least 8
hours long, during which a character sleeps or performs
light activity: reading, talking, eating, or standing watch
for no more than 2 hours.

In other words: At least for 6 hours of those 8 hours the character must be sleeping.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

There definitely is:

In other words: At least for 6 hours of those 8 hours the character must be sleeping.

The text you have quoted does not say what you think it says. Specifically, the "or" included between the words "sleeps" and "performs" shows that sleep is an acceptable thing to do, and performing light activity is an acceptable thing to do - so you can do one or both of those, but neither is required in any specific quantity.

Edit to add: The section "standing watch for no more than 2 hours." which I assume is why you are subtracting 2 hours from the 8 required to rest in order to arrive at 6 as the number of hours you think a character is required to sleep, is not saying you can't do the activities that precede standing watch for more than 2 hours - it is clarifying that being on watch for longer than 2 hours means standing watch no longer counts as "light activity."

 

[Rya.Reisender]

No, you are misreading that.

It means you can either:
- sleep
- do light activity for no more than 2 hours

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

No, you are misreading that.

It means you can either:
- sleep
- do light activity for no more than 2 hours

The last tweet from Jeremy Crawford in this exchange suggests otherwise.

As does that, as far as I've seen, you're the only person reading that passage of text in that way.

 

[Jer]

No, you are misreading that.

It means you can either:
- sleep
- do light activity for no more than 2 hours

If that's the intent, it's certainly poorly worded. If the intention is what you say it is, I would expect the rule to read: "A long rest is a period of extended downtime, at least 8 hours long, during which a character sleeps or performs light activity for no more than 2 hours" (so that "for no more than 2 hours" modifies "performs light activity"). By having "no more than 2 hours" in the sentence where it is, it's ambiguous about whether it modifies the nearest verb phrase ("standing watch") or the whole clause, but the bias for most readers of English would be to have it modify the nearest verb phrase rather than the whole group (though the ambiguity is certainly there).

Having said that - if there was an expectation that you needed to sleep for at least 6 hours during a long rest to benefit from it I'd expect to see that rule be more explicitly laid out somewhere rather than leaving it up to a DM to infer it from those sentences. If that's the expectation then it's another example of how that rule is really poorly worded.

 

[guachi]

The tweet only says that a long rest can be a mix of sleep and light activity. Rya.Reisender says that a long rest can be a mix of sleep and light activity.

The section on long rests is confusing English where it isn't clear what the "no more than 2 hours" refers to. Is it just "standing watch" or the entire series of activities listed? It's probably the latter as it could otherwise be rewritten to "sleeps or performs no more than 2 hours of light activity"

Though you could also rewrite it if you only wanted the stipulation to cover standing watch to "reading, talking, eating, or no more than 2 hour of standing watch."

Personally, I'd say that a long rest must include actual rest and 8 hours of light activity wouldn't cut it. It doesn't mean outright sleeping but you'd need to be inactive and off your feet for at least 6 of those 8 hours to get a long rest.

Look at what you get for a long rest - all your hp, a bunch of hp, spells, class features. That's a lot. So actual inactivity/sleep is necessary in my game.

 

[ProphetSword]

I think this text, from the September 2015 "Rules Answers" on WotC's own site will clarify all of these issues, since you can't get more official than that:

A long rest is a period of relaxation that is at least 8 hours long. It can contain sleep, reading, talking, eating, and other restful activity. Standing watch is even possible during it, but for no more than 2 hours; maintaining heightened vigilance any longer than that isn’t restful. In short, a long rest and sleep aren’t the same thing; you can sleep when you’re not taking a long rest, and you can take a long rest and not sleep.

Here is the link for those that want to verify it themselves:
http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/rules-answers-september-2015

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

The tweet only says that a long rest can be a mix of sleep and light activity.

When read in the context of it being a response to a claim stating "a rest is 8 hr of sleep", saying "can be a mix of sleep and light activity" rather than something to the effect of "only 6 hrs of sleep are needed" that means something.

 

[Rya.Reisender]

The last tweet from Jeremy Crawford in this exchange suggests otherwise.

No they don't? They actually proof my point. Jeremy pretty clearly states that sleep is required (except for elves).

 

[KahlessNestor]

If that's the intent, it's certainly poorly worded. If the intention is what you say it is, I would expect the rule to read: "A long rest is a period of extended downtime, at least 8 hours long, during which a character sleeps or performs light activity for no more than 2 hours" (so that "for no more than 2 hours" modifies "performs light activity"). By having "no more than 2 hours" in the sentence where it is, it's ambiguous about whether it modifies the nearest verb phrase ("standing watch") or the whole clause, but the bias for most readers of English would be to have it modify the nearest verb phrase rather than the whole group (though the ambiguity is certainly there).

Having said that - if there was an expectation that you needed to sleep for at least 6 hours during a long rest to benefit from it I'd expect to see that rule be more explicitly laid out somewhere rather than leaving it up to a DM to infer it from those sentences. If that's the expectation then it's another example of how that rule is really poorly worded.

Um...as a (native) reader of English, I always read the 2 hours as referencing standing watch. Seems like most others read it that way, too.

Sent from my SM-G900P using EN World mobile app