How much time needed to wake up?

[Urbannen]

Last night my character got suprised by a constrictor snake while on guard duty during the night. After the suprise round and after the snake had squeezed her once again, it was her turn and she screamed for help.

One companion, a human, was asleep. Another, an elf, was in trance.

Questions: how long does it take for a human to wake up and orient himself to an emergency situation? How long does it take for an elf to come out of trance and orient himself to an emergency situation?

My guess would be:

Waking up: MEA. After waking up, a sleeping character is considered dazed.
Orientation: MEA. After becoming oriented, a character that has just woken up can act normally.
Coming out of trance: MEA. After coming out of trance, an elf can act normally.

 

[Mahali]

We go with:
You make your listen check or someone kicks you and you're awake and prone.

Would anyone really suffer if you just woke up and your life is in peril?

 

[Seonaid]

You make your listen check or someone kicks you and you're awake and prone.

That's how I've always done it as well.

 

[ThirdWizard]

You'd be surprised what that adrenaline can do to you when you wake up to a blood curdling scream.

 

[MarauderX]

You'd be surprised what that adrenaline can do to you when you wake up to a blood curdling scream.

Yeah, I HATE when that happens...

You can really pop awake quickly and be on your feet much more quickly than you may think, certainly in less than 6 seconds. I would to the Listen check with a DC appropriate for the type of sound another character was making (blood curdling screamC=2; throaty gasp for help while snake coils around neckC=20)

 

[the Jester]

I've always ruled that you get a Listen check at the end of the round and if you succeed you get to roll for initiative the next round or else roll your Listen on your turn but waking up is your full turn that round. ("You wake up, you'll be able to act next round.")

 

[Tetsubo]

Well, in real life I've "woken" up standing and already reacting to an emergancy situation. So I'd say a full round action at most.

 

[The Little Raven]

It's funny that D&D has never truly addressed how long it takes a character to go from unconscious to alert. They should just make sleeping a condition, which is different than unconscious.

From Call of Cthulhu d20, page 281:

Sleeping characters are helpless. They cannot take actions, but they can hear noises. If a sleeping character makes a successful Listen check at a -5 penalty, she wakes up when danger or suspicious activity is nearby.The DM should make this check secretly so that players are unaware of any such dangers.
Characters who are awakened either by sound or physical shaking (which works automatically) must spend a full round coming to their senses and becoming aware of their surroundings before they can take actions.

From the pen of Monte Cook (unless it was edited in by R&D after it left his hands)... and there is a little paragraph before it that talks about requiring a Concentration check (DC 15) to stay awake past midnight in a restful environment (such as a lullabye spell).

 

[Dr. Zoom]

The last line of the Listen skill on page 79 of the PH says this:

A sleeping character may make Listen checks at a -10 penalty. A successful check awakens the sleeper.

 

[Urbannen]

Thanks for the references!

As to the Call of Cthulu reference: while they are taking a round to wake up, what state are they in? I would guess dazed, and they are flat-footed until they act.

Now, what about trancing?