Any rules for lack of sleep?

[Gwarok]

Suggested house rule for lack of sleep

- One day without rest, fatigued

- Second day without rest, exhausted

- after you have been awake more days than you have CON bonus, you make a DC 18 Con check every hour or fall asleep against your will. Every day past this point you are denied sleep you take 1D6 con damage.

 

[niastri]

Suggested house rule for lack of sleep

- One day without rest, fatigued

- Second day without rest, exhausted

- after you have been awake more days than you have CON bonus, you make a DC 18 Con check every hour or fall asleep against your will. Every day past this point you are denied sleep you take 1D6 con damage.

Lack of sleep will kill you faster than lack of water. Actually, the US Army tested it at one point, and nobody stayed awake long enough to find out if it would actually kill you, no matter what sort of stimuli they tried to keep you awake. And psychosis kicks in long before you pass out.

If you want to simulate real life conditions, start giving Wisdom/Charisma/Intelligence damage (1d6) after 72 hours and Con after 96. Apply the damage every 12 hours.

In both cases you have to make checks every 12 hours or go insane if you fail a Wis (DC 10) check, or pass out if you fail a Con (also DC 10) check.

So you can concievably have an overtired madman running around wacking people he is seeing in his sleep deprived hallucinations for a good long time before he passes out, in the case of a hyper Con fighter or some such.

It isn't sexy, but sleep is critical. Although in the case of the crazy fighter, it could be amusing.

I have tried to go 48 hours without sleep and managed to sleep through some of the most difficult situations you could imagine, without adrenalin rushing, I was out instantly, until somebody literally poured something on me to wake me up. Interesting story...

 

[Xeriar]

Lack of sleep will kill you faster than lack of water. Actually, the US Army tested it at one point, and nobody stayed awake long enough to find out if it would actually kill you, no matter what sort of stimuli they tried to keep you awake. And psychosis kicks in long before you pass out.

It's been awhile since I've seen the reference, but there was a study about a man who managed to stay awake for nine days. He couldn't do basic math.

When I was younger I routinely stayed up 48 to 72 hours. I've had to do it at least six times a year because of certain long drives.

It's like hunger. After a point, you're no longer tired. I would say that, for any task that matters (combat, etc) - no penalty during the first 48 or so hours without sleep, after that fatigue sets in, with exhaustion coming into play sometime within the next couple days, along with int, wis, and cha damage.

 

[Tonguez]

I can go without sleep for three days before 'damage' sets in (and I spend the next day sick asleep in bed)

According to the rules a Wizard needs 8 hours to 'recover' and I'd run 'recovery' for sleep deprivation the same way.
So after 1 day (8 hrs sleep deprived) - no penalty other than to spell casters, after 2 days (16 hours sleep deprived)= Fatigue and 3 days (24hrs) = Exhaustion
Anything longer causing con damage

 

[Darklone]

I always had character fatigued after one day without sleep and exhausted after the second, as proposed above. I know that you can go for some periods without sleep (personal record 4 days), but I usually assumed that PCs are physically more strained (usually), thus starting to feel drawbacks after one day.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Suggested house rule for lack of sleep

- One day without rest, fatigued

- Second day without rest, exhausted

- after you have been awake more days than you have CON bonus, you make a DC 18 Con check every hour or fall asleep against your will. Every day past this point you are denied sleep you take 1D6 con damage.

This sounds good. To make CON factor more heavily into it, however, I'd make it that after your first 24 hours awake, you make a CON check (DC 5) every hour you remain awake, at a -1 cumulative penalty until you become fatigued. Then, you start over with DC 5 and make a check every hour to avoid becoming exhausted. The Endurance feat would apply a bonus to all of these checks.

When you're exhausted, I'd require a Will Save (DC 20) to avoid falling asleep any time you're not engaged in strenuous activity, with the save DC increasing by 5 every consecutive day you're awake.

I wouldn't apply Con damage until the character is exhausted, and then only one point per day. While some characters might take a spectacularly long time to die of sleep deprivation, it's noted that almost everyone falls solidly asleep long before they actually die-- and the extra time makes sense for a high heroism game like D&D.

 

[MarauderX]

This sounds good. To make CON factor more heavily into it, however, I'd make it that after your first 24 hours awake, you make a CON check (DC 5) every hour you remain awake, at a -1 cumulative penalty until you become fatigued. Then, you start over with DC 5 and make a check every hour to avoid becoming exhausted. The Endurance feat would apply a bonus to all of these checks.

When you're exhausted, I'd require a Will Save (DC 20) to avoid falling asleep any time you're not engaged in strenuous activity, with the save DC increasing by 5 every consecutive day you're awake.

I wouldn't apply Con damage until the character is exhausted, and then only one point per day. While some characters might take a spectacularly long time to die of sleep deprivation, it's noted that almost everyone falls solidly asleep long before they actually die-- and the extra time makes sense for a high heroism game like D&D.

I like this... (yoink!) Not over-the-top, and not too little either... just right. Drawing from my own experience of being up for 60 hours, I think it does well, and besides the characters in D&D are, well, in a game.

I think I will apply it to one of my favorite adventures where the PCs have to escape an evil wilderness where they are attacked relentlessly by critters guided or under the control of some evil druid/ranger. A lot of it involves fatigue, and I follow the encumberance rules closely for the duration of the adventure. You would be surprised how many players shed their heavy armor when lighter armor is available so they can move at a better speed.

 

[andargor]

Anyone with military experience will know what lack of sleep is

I've been on 5 day missions without rest, but it does not necessarily mean without sleep. I'd power nap for 15 minutes at a time standing up, leaning against a tree, but no more than that (and even one time I power napped in the back of a 2-ton truck rolling at hellish speeds on a rocky road). Decision-making capabilities and time awareness are also affected. I would impose a penatly either to Wisdom or Will saves over time. You are much more open to suggestion when your mind is muddled.

And surprisingly enough, after about four days I couldn't fall asleep even if I wanted to. Back to base, it took me 4 hours to fall asleep, and I only slept 6 hours.

Sleep deprivation does strange things...

Andargor

 

[Artoomis]

Use the armor rules. It's basically the same thing - no real rest.

First day - fatigued.

Second day - exhausted.

Simple and with rules precedent.

 

[BSF]

I wonder if we can get Piratecat to weigh in on this? I generally run it as you need your sleep, if you don't get it you are fatigued. Usually, the party is more interested in having their spells available and will easily make sure everyone gets rest. But, there are times when I might want to run ongoing exhaustion as part of a storyline and more explicit rules would be nice.