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

[Joe Liker]

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

At the moment, mechanically speaking, it does not.

I agree it should, and I'm hoping this is addressed in the DMG.

 

[ingeloak]

The word concentrate would seem to be contrary to the notion that one could do it while resting. But rules wise, I've not seen anything that prevents it. And RAI, it's not clear concentration takes any real effort--you can do it for 24 hours with no chance of failure unless you get hurt etc. This gets important mainly for short rests and long duration spells. Am I missing a clear rule here? If not, what do people think?

you could concentrate on the spell up to the point you went to sleep, then it would drop. unconscious characters cannot maintain concentration

At the moment, mechanically speaking, it does not.

I agree it should, and I'm hoping this is addressed in the DMG.

actually it does cover it, sort of. going without sleep results in levels of exhaustion. ive instituted a house rule for my players covering "sleeping in armor." they can do it if they must, but it gives a level of exhaustion. do it for too long, and you have problems. sleeping in armor leaves you fatigued, you have sore muscles, blisters, etc.

 

[ingeloak]

merged post above, unable to delete

 

[professorDM]

Mearls actually put this one to bed...

Just out of curiosity, why is it that you all think Mearls got it wrong?

I don't have my PHB in front of me, but I seem to remember the spell functioning as he points out. That is, it can be transferred to a new target, and can be held up with "concentration" for an inordinately long time.

I don't see why someone couldn't, as was mentioned in this thread, carry around a bag of worms in order to transfer their curse after an encounter, only to kill the "hexxed" worm at the onset of the next engagement. I think it's an ingenious and hilarious little ploy, one which works within the mechanics of the magic and helps build and define a character.

Hunter's Mark works similarly for rangers, though the roleplaying aspect doesn't flesh out so nicely for someone who is allegedly all about respect for nature and the animal world. A hunter who carries around a bag of live squirrels just so that he can transfer his "mark" to one and kill it later (under the auspice of a meal or no) so that he can have an advantage in the next fight just seems silly, even if it's totally within the game's mechanic.

 

[billd91]

I don't see why someone couldn't, as was mentioned in this thread, carry around a bag of worms in order to transfer their curse after an encounter, only to kill the "hexxed" worm at the onset of the next engagement. I think it's an ingenious and hilarious little ploy, one which works within the mechanics of the magic and helps build and define a character.

Yeah, as a cheesey rules exploiter. If I were to even countenance letting a character keep a sacrifice creature around to keep a hex going, I'm going to require something more substantial rather rhan a totally insignificant worm or squirrel.

 

[Eejit]

Yeah, as a cheesey rules exploiter. If I were to even countenance letting a character keep a sacrifice creature around to keep a hex going, I'm going to require something more substantial rather rhan a totally insignificant worm or squirrel.

Who are you calling totally insignificant?

 

[Paraxis]

Yeah, as a cheesey rules exploiter. If I were to even countenance letting a character keep a sacrifice creature around to keep a hex going, I'm going to require something more substantial rather rhan a totally insignificant worm or squirrel.

Exactly, while I am in the opinion of a short rest doesn't break concentration this abuse of the hex spell falls clearly under the "bag of rats" rules.

From the D&D wiki.

BAG OF RATS
An exploit of several loopholes.

The original is a fighter carrying around a bag of rats, with the purpose of throwing them at an enemy, then using Whirlwind Attack to attack them all in one round, and Great Cleave to get a free hit at the actual enemy for each rat killed.

A similar issue occurs in the 4th Edition with the Warlock. Some powers like Misty Step activate upon the death of a cursed enemy. This could be exploited by carrying a bag of rats, cursing them, and killing them at the appropiate times, in order to use Misty Step at will.

The Player's Handbook doesn't specify any way for a Warlock to use powers like Misty Step outside combat, which could also result in using a bag of rats to be able to perform it at any time.

So sure some spells can be kept up all day, but sometimes you just have to say "NO" to the players.

 

[mcbobbo]

If you hold a concentration spell through a rest, and your class recovers spell slots after that rest, do you recover that slot after the rest?

I.e. You have 5 spell slots. You burn one on Concentration Spell A, leaving you with 4. Still concentrating on Spell A, you take a rest. Do you have 4 or 5 spell slots free after the rest?

It's exactly this problem that would lead me to bar concentration during rest.

If you want to regain spell slots, stop concentrating/maintaining a spell.

 

[Joe Liker]

actually it does cover it, sort of. going without sleep results in levels of exhaustion. ive instituted a house rule for my players covering "sleeping in armor." they can do it if they must, but it gives a level of exhaustion. do it for too long, and you have problems. sleeping in armor leaves you fatigued, you have sore muscles, blisters, etc.

Lack of sleep isn't explicitly covered in the exhaustion rules. In fact, at the end of a long rest, your exhaustion is reduced by one level whether you sleep or not, as long as you eat something.

Now, a reasonable house rule might be that 24 hours without sleep adds two levels of exhaustion, one of which might be mitigated by a sleepless long rest. Your "sleeping in armor" rule has no teeth unless you bump it up to two levels (minus one for the long rest), in which case you'd have to inflict three levels for no sleep at all. But that seems excessive to me.

 

[Tormyr]

I think a reasonable house rule could include not recovering an exhaustion level when you sleep in heavy armor. Not necessarily any penalty, but you are not getting better either.

As for the earlier question about if you have 5 spell slots and are concentrating during a short rest and use arcane recovery, do you have 5 or 4 available? I would rule that there are 4 available. 1 is in use due to the concentration and is not available to anything else. When the spell ends sometime after the short rest is over, the spell slot is then used up. If the spell is ended during the short rest, then arcane recovery could recover that spell slot, but the concentration spell is no longer active, so balance is maintained to some extent or another.