D&D 5E Choosing NOT to Long Rest?

[Werebat]

A question for those of you who advocate the notion that rests just "happen" if PCs are not engaging in sufficiently strenuous activity for a sufficient period of time:

Can a PC choose to NOT Long Rest even though they are not engaging in strenuous activity for 8 hours?

If Long Rests just "happen", and they are limited to one per 24 hours, then you'd think the party wizard could get screwed by being forced into a Long Rest when he hasn't cast any spells yet. And he then has to wait 24 hours before he can Long Rest again...

 

[KahlessNestor]

Well, if you sleep, that's a long rest. If you don't, then we start piling on the levels of exhaustion.

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[Caliban]

Well, if you sleep, that's a long rest. If you don't, then we start piling on the levels of exhaustion.

Well...not exactly.

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

Technically, sleep isn't required on a long rest - it's sleep or light activity. So just because you take a long rest doesn't mean you sleep.

But even assuming sleep, only 6 hours is required because you can also have 2 hours of standing watch. But what if you sleep for 6 hours and then do something more strenuous that would prevent a Long Rest? (Such as taking time to go Hex and kill a small woodland creature and prepare it for breakfast...).

Would you still gain exhaustion for not completing a long rest, even though you slept for 6 hours?

 

[Lanliss]

This issue came up in Critical Role. The barbarian had a Sword that gained power as he struck enemies with it, but the power would go away on a short or long rest. In an attempt to avoid resting, he spent everyone else's rest time keeping watch and aggressively pacing, to keep his heart rate up.

From an in world perspective, the heart rate is important, IMO. If you let your body relax, it is beginning to "rest" itself. If you don't let it rest, it begins to get exhausted, and stops responding so well. So, to avoid a long rest you don't want, you must not let your body rest. It will be up to your DM on whether you have done enough to become exhausted from not resting, though I wouldn't personally require a rest after a day of average walking pace. This would be entirely situational though, and probably influenced by past days ( "Well, you spent today just walking, but you literally died yesterday, so I wouldn't say you are quite ready to go without proper sleep yet. Take a level of exhaustion" )

 

[KahlessNestor]

Even after just 24 hours without sleep, that exhaustion is pretty real. I work nights, so I've often had to pull 24 or 30 hour days. It's not fun.

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[Lanliss]

Even after just 24 hours without sleep, that exhaustion is pretty real. I work nights, so I've often had to pull 24 or 30 hour days. It's not fun.

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I also work nights, and regularly go 24-48 hours without sleep. While it does start to show, it is not quite so bad (for me anyway) as most people make it out to be. I estimate I can go at least 40 hours before I really start to feel exhaustion, since I never really feel the lack of sleep until the second day I am pushing myself.

The real difference, so far as I have noticed, is whether you stay active. If I am in constant motion (pacing, moving things, actively focusing on something like drawing, as opposed to passive focus like watching TV) I can go for a long time without feeling any problems.

An Adventurer presumably stays pretty active, so I wouldn't rule exhaustion as a factor until 48 hours, they had a particularly brutal fight, or this particular character has a history of pulling early nights, and never staying up late.

 

[Caliban]

It hasn't actually come up for me, but if it did, think I'd let them skip one long rest without incurring exhaustion. After that, either automatic exhaustion for each Long Rest skipped, or con saves.

 

[Shiroiken]

I also work nights, and regularly go 24-48 hours without sleep. While it does start to show, it is not quite so bad (for me anyway) as most people make it out to be. I estimate I can go at least 40 hours before I really start to feel exhaustion, since I never really feel the lack of sleep until the second day I am pushing myself.

The real difference, so far as I have noticed, is whether you stay active. If I am in constant motion (pacing, moving things, actively focusing on something like drawing, as opposed to passive focus like watching TV) I can go for a long time without feeling any problems.

An Adventurer presumably stays pretty active, so I wouldn't rule exhaustion as a factor until 48 hours, they had a particularly brutal fight, or this particular character has a history of pulling early nights, and never staying up late.

Well part of it is based on the individual. I have a very hard time staying up more than 24 hours (pretty much always have), and if I do I'm basically a walking zombie. I've known another guy that can go days without sleep with little effect. I'd probably have a Con check DC: 10 after 24 hours to avoid a level of exhaustion, then every 24 hours afterwards require a Con check DC: 5+5/24 hours or fall asleep, but gain a level of exhaustion for success (unless you succeed by 5+).

 

[Lanliss]

Well part of it is based on the individual. I have a very hard time staying up more than 24 hours (pretty much always have), and if I do I'm basically a walking zombie. I've known another guy that can go days without sleep with little effect. I'd probably have a Con check DC: 10 after 24 hours to avoid a level of exhaustion, then every 24 hours afterwards require a Con check DC: 5+5/24 hours or fall asleep, but gain a level of exhaustion for success (unless you succeed by 5+).

Yeah, I am closer to that other guy. I can go days without sleep, if I keep myself moving, and I don't even have a half-asleep mode. I am either fully asleep or fully awake. Everyone I know hates me for being the 24/7 person, because I am even worse than a morning person. So yes, very much based on the individual, which is why I mentioned one of the exceptions being if the PC wasn't used to late nights.

 

[TallIan]

For those that argue they can go longer than 24 hours without I'll effect I would beg to differ.

Many people think they're ok, but reality they aren't. Training recruits in the army has given me a chance to watch people after sleep deprivation. Many of the recruits thought, "it's only one night without sleep, I'm good." (I used to think that of myself and I cope very well without a nights sleep) But watching them from a well rested position, it's VERY noticeable. EVERYONE is slower, more irritable, and less motivated - some just cope with it better.

As to choosing not to rest I would say it's very easy. It can be done inadvertantly by not having the discipline to get warm, dry and fed, you think you have rested but actually you are just colder and more run down. So if you didn't want to rest I would say that's fine. There are mechanisms in the game to make you eventually want to.

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