D&D 5E Elven trance and long rests

[Erik42]

We've been discussing this quite a bit in another thread that got off track. I mentioned my elf character only needing 4 hours for a long rest due to the trance feature. To me, it seemed like that was what the trance feature was there for, but it turned out that there were a lot of interpretations regarding trance and long rests, so I figured it deserved its own thread.

 

[Tewligan]

A long rest isn't just sleeping/trancing, though. It includes eating, binding wounds, yadda yadda. An elf may only be zoned out for 4 hours of it, but a long rest is minimum 8 hours regardless.

 

[CapnZapp]

Yes, the advantage of trance is that you can sit watch, allowing the fragile humans to get their sleep without guard duty slowing down your travels.

Remember: in real life, sitting watch is probably not something people actively enjoy. But in D&D, sitting watch means you get first shot at reacting to random encounters during the night, taking more than your share of the kills

Besides (except for the possible corner-case of an all-Elf party) there's no benefit from being able to take four-hour long rests. The only person thinking along those lines are the loner that doesn't work well in a group-centric game like D&D anyway. (If you think elves should be able to have bonus adventures while their human friends are sleeping you simply need to think again)

 

[TrippyHippy]

I seem to have got embroiled in this debate on the Warlock’s thread, so to restate the key points again:

In summary yes it seems long rests are 8 hours long for everyone including elves, but they get 4 hours of trance and 4 of light activity, while everyone else is 6 and 2.

Along with the Jeremy Crawford link:

http://www.sageadvice.eu/?s=trance

….and quote:

@imnotasnowflake A long rest is 8 hours for an elf, but the elf can spend much of it on watch and doing light activity, while others sleep. — Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) November 12, 2014

The Player’s Handbook states that a long rest is:

at least 8 hours long, during which the character sleeps or performs light activity: reading, talking, eating, or standing watch for no more than two hours.

This has been misinterpreted by some people who think ‘no more than two hours’ refers only to standing watch. It doesn’t, evidently. It refers to all forms of light activity - hence a long rest consists mostly of sleeping….unless you are an elf.

 

[SirAntoine]

The healing rate and spell and special ability recovery rates are far too fast. Sleep should also be discussed specifically. Elves should need to be still and calm, expending minimal energy. Full hit point return should mostly be dependent on magic, with natural healing being as little as 1 hp per day depending on your experience.

 

[Anth]

Problem is that Long Rest/Sleep/Trance-rules are poorly written:
PHB, p23: "Elves don't need to sleep. Instead they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day.
...
After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep."

Problem is that a human doesn't need 8 hours of sleep (PHB p186), he needs a 8 hour long rest with a maximum of 2 hours watch.
So is the elven 4 hour trance equal to the human 6 hour sleep or the 8 hour long rest?

 

[CapnZapp]

Problem is that Long Rest/Sleep/Trance-rules are poorly written:
PHB, p23: "Elves don't need to sleep. Instead they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day.
...
After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep."

Problem is that a human doesn't need 8 hours of sleep (PHB p186), he needs a 8 hour long rest with a maximum of 2 hours watch.
So is the elven 4 hour trance equal to the human 6 hour sleep or the 8 hour long rest?

It is equal to... wait for it... human 8 hour sleep

How is this poorly written? It means that elves can be roleplayed as well rested while the humans are bleary eyed (but no mechanical differences)

You can sleep more than you have to, you know. In fact, I recommend it!

 

[SirAntoine]

You would think they would be more specific with their attention to rules clarity, though. They need to break down the long rest and say what it includes.

 

[Shiroiken]

Officially (per Mike Mearls), Trance does not reduce the length of a Long Rest. However, I've allowed Trance to do so in my game, and have found no ill effects for play. Really it's just a matter of preference, as it will only matter maybe once in an entire campaign.

It really depends on the DM. If you're the DM: do whatever you want. If you're not the DM, and feel strongly about it, talk to your DM about it.

 

[Erik42]

Despite the wording that a long rest is 8 hours, any other PC race who sleeps 8 hours has a long rest, so if 4 hours of elven trance is equal to 8 hours of sleep for anyone else, logic would dictate that this would be a long rest for an elf.