D&D 5E Interrupting a Long Rest

[AaronOfBarbaria]

It's like a shopping list. If I had a list that read "6 eggs, bread, jam, ham, milk." I wouldn't get 6 of everything. Replacing eggs with walking and 6 with "an hour".

I disagree that it is like a shopping list. A shopping list inherently has an assumption of quantity for each list item because that's how shopping works. A list of activities does not have the same sort of inherent traits.

 

[Yunru]

I disagree that it is like a shopping list. A shopping list inherently has an assumption of quantity for each list item because that's how shopping works. A list of activities does not have the same sort of inherent traits.

I would disagree with your disagreement. In any list the inherent assumption is that any quantity applied to an item applies only to that item.

The problem we face in this thread is rather, being at the very start, if "one hour of" is part of the list (and thus only applying to walking), or preceeding the list (thus applying to the list in its entirety).

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

I would disagree with your disagreement. In any list the inherent assumption is that any quantity applied to an item applies only to that item.

The problem we face in this thread is rather, being at the very start, if "one hour of" is part of the list (and thus only applying to walking), or preceeding the list (thus applying to the list in its entirety).

The book informs us that it is about to list things which satisfy "a period of strenuous activity". If "1 hour of" is not applied to all of the items in that list, then only one period of activity ("1 hour of walking") is mentioned - the other list items (fighting, casting spells, similar adventuring activity) are each an activity, but they are not each a period of activity without further information.

 

[Yunru]

Right, each of them are strenuous activities, a period of doing so stops a long rest, while walking is only a strenuous activity after one hour.

Conversely, if they meant the hour to apply to everything then there is no need to use the word period. "An hour of strenuous activity" would have sufficed.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Conversely, if they meant the hour to apply to everything then there is no need to use the word period. "An hour of strenuous activity" would have sufficed.

That there is more than one way to say a thing is not evidence that one of those ways is actually saying something different.

 

[Yunru]

Indeed, the entire thing could be written in politalk too, but it's not, it's written in plain English intended to be easily understandable. Which means things like defining two different times (the indefinite 'a period of time' and "an hour") wouldn't happen unless there are parts where only one applies.

"An hour" is not defining the period of time, that would be simply silly when you're trying to write something that's easy to understand.

Given that, the most sensible reading of the paragraph is that any period of strenuous activity (left undefined because it varies by activity) interrupts a long rest, including one hour of walking.

 

[robus]

You get a laugh, even though I don't agree with categorizing the asking of a question as an argument.

Thanks for allowing me some comedic license

 

[Yunru]

As I try to explain above (and probably fail miserably) sure they are. They don't suddenly stop being a period of activity for not having the length of that period defined.

Indeed, you assume an hour must apply to it, but it doesn't.

If a minute of fighting occurs, that is a period of strenuous activity. If 18 seconds of fighting occurs (wow, combat times in 5e are insane), that's still a period of strenuous activity.
Walking is the only exception. If half an hour of walking occurs, that's not a period of strenuous activity, and doesn't become so until at least an hour of walking.

 

[robus]

The problem with requiring on hour of combat to interrupt a long rest is that it flies in the face of the rest of the game. An hour of combat is longer than the sum of all the combats in an adventuring day if each round is 6 seconds. It's beyond my suspension of disbelief.

 

[Kobold Stew]

An hour of combat is longer than the sum of all the combats most characters will face across levels 1-10.