D&D 5E Can you concentrate on a spell while resting?

[keterys]

But resting also means relaxing, and "standing down" from the focus a fight requires.

For example, let's say you're doing math problems in your head. Then someone says, "let's take a break". If you continue to do math problems, are you really taking a break?

Math problems is generally what I do on my breaks/rests, weirdly enough. It doesn't invalidate the point, but there's really nothing in the rules that suggests a rest breaks concentration whereas there is strong anecdotal evidence (look at those long durations) that concentration is intended to last through a short rest

 

[Leatherhead]

But resting also means relaxing, and "standing down" from the focus a fight requires.

For example, let's say you're doing math problems in your head. Then someone says, "let's take a break". If you continue to do math problems, are you really taking a break?

It is if you are also fighting for your life while you are doing math problems.

However, if that doesn't sway you, the book flat out tells you that you can read and take a short rest at the same time. Heck, you can even perform first aid while taking a short rest. So complex mental activities don't hinder it.

 

[Stalker0]

So complex mental activities don't hinder it.

Mechanically I think its hard to consider concentration a complex mental activity. I can do run, jump, fight, play an instrument, heck I can cast another non concentration spell without losing my focus. It can't be that complex a mental activity

 

[Paraxis]

Considering a short rest is something akin having a long lunch with friends, I think keeping up concentration would be easy compared to some of the things you could be doing while keeping concentration up like the following.

• Riding a horse at a gallop.
• Climbing a rope up the side of a deep dark well.
• Running at full speed cross country.
• Combat.
• Swimming across a lake.
• Essentially you could compete in the Ninja Warrior TV show.

If it is not damage, death, incapacitation, casting another concentration spell it has to fall under "certain environmental phenomena", and the example is waves crashing over a storm tossed ship.

So unless that horse is running through a warzone, or there is rain pouring down the well, the cross country is a swamp, or the lake is freezing cold you should be all good. And all of that is so far away from having some cheese and apples with your buddies, while one of them breaks out a first aid kit.

 

[Leatherhead]

Mechanically I think its hard to consider concentration a complex mental activity. I can do run, jump, fight, play an instrument, heck I can cast another non concentration spell without losing my focus. It can't be that complex a mental activity

Mechanically speaking it's just a metaphysical limitation designed to prevent using more than one "powerful spell" at a time, and provide a way of dispelling them that isn't limited to casting Counterspell (or the like). It has nothing to do with mental activity, other than you need mental activity to be able to use and maintain it.

But names can be a bit of a pain. It happens to share a legacy name with mechanics in previous editions designed to make it possible to stop spells from being cast in the first place, which also has some real world connotations which imply it is supposed to be some kind of intense mental action.

 

[Gargoyle]

Mechanically I think its hard to consider concentration a complex mental activity. I can do run, jump, fight, play an instrument, heck I can cast another non concentration spell without losing my focus. It can't be that complex a mental activity

I agree it's more like a concentration spell requires some small amount of your attention, nothing more. It seems like the requirement is that you just need to be conscious and can only have one concentration spell up at a time (the former for verisimilitude and perhaps a result of using the particular term "concentration", the latter being the primary purpose of the rule). And this is why I'd rule that you can take a short rest and benefit from it while maintaining concentration. A short rest implies catching your breath in the middle of the "work day", while a long rest implies sleep. And yeah, I'd let an elf concentrate while in their trance. Seems very elfy to me.

I can see how a DM could rule that a caster would let anyone maintain concentration through a long rest though. For one thing, long rests do not technically require sleep. Common sense says you can't put any attention to anything while sleeping, and that non-elves need to sleep eventually, and I wouldn't let a character benefit from a long rest without it more than once in a few days. I'd start giving people exhaustion levels without it, which could be fun if they had to maintain a spell for a week or so for some reason. muahahaha

 

[Lalato]

Yes for short rest. No for long rest.

 

[Chocolategravy]

Sleeping is NOT required during a long rest, you can maintain a spell through it.

Don't use the ability's name as a hint on how it works, because it isn't. It is natural to assume the names of the powers mean something like in some previous editions that were more simulation focused where that was the intent. 5E however makes little attempt to match the name with the effect. So don't think that "concentration" means you are concentrating, just like "disengage" which is more popular for charging than running away, or "twin spell" which doesn't make 2 concentration spells, just 1 spell with a greater number of targets.

 

[Umbran]

Sleeping is NOT required during a long rest, you can maintain a spell through it.

Technically correct. But going without sleep to maintain a spell has its own problems.

 

[Boarstorm]

<snip> ... just like "disengage" which is more popular for charging than running away ... <snip>.

Wait, what? Is this really the case?