D&D 5E Is the sleep spell d&d 5e too powerful

[Sacrosanct]

It can be used this way at higher levels, except the problem is, the players never know when the moster is thst wounded, so it becomes a gamble, but it is a good tactic if used right.

That's where good DMing helps. Most good DMs I know narrate the battle. So you have an idea when the opponent is wearing down.

Unless you take the "full power at 1 hp" literally and no one ever shows any fatigue or wounds until exactly the moment they drop to zero hp. Then I suppose you're screwed

 

[cmad1977]

No.

 

[cmad1977]

Honestly, the answer to any ‘is this overpowered?’ Question is pretty much always ‘no’.

Same with ‘derp! This thing breaks the game!’

No it doesn’t.

 

[cmad1977]

It can be used this way at higher levels, except the problem is, the players never know when the moster is thst wounded, so it becomes a gamble, but it is a good tactic if used right.

If the DM isn’t a illustrating through description the condition of the creature being fought then they are doing it wrong.

 

[Gadget]

Sleep has a long tradition in D&D (virtually its entire history, 40 plus years) of being able to take out a fair number of weak foes without a save. While it is possible to argue that adherence to tradition has blinded designers to the balance of the spell, I don't personally agree.

1. It is definitely a big gun at very low levels, when applied at the right time and the right situation. But sometimes that right situation does not always come up, and a low level spell caster has limited resources, only a few spells at their disposal per day.
2. Sleep quickly looses its potency when you either face more foes or foes with greater hit points. This happens relatively quickly as you progress. It could be used in 5e as a "finishing blow" once the party has whittled down an opponant's hit points, but I rarely see it used so; probably because there is some guessing involved, both in the target's remaining HP and how well you will role for hp affected, such that it is probably easier to just finish off the remaining HP.
3. PvP is not something that should be considered in balance, as Monster/NPCs can and do use slightly different rules, and the game is not designed for PvP.

 

[neogod22]

That's where good DMing helps. Most good DMs I know narrate the battle. So you have an idea when the opponent is wearing down.

Unless you take the "full power at 1 hp" literally and no one ever shows any fatigue or wounds until exactly the moment they drop to zero hp. Then I suppose you're screwed

Describing how badly hurt something is shouldn't be based off a creature's HP necessarily. O hate the idea of the DM saying "the creature is bloodied" as a clue that it's at <50% health. Bloodied should mean it took damage. At 50%, an intelligent living creature should be looling to escape (in most cases), at 25%, it might go into a frenzy if it feels cornered and think it's going to die. With new players, sure the DM should do or say things to help the party make good decisions, but for seasoned players, they should take that help away.

 

[DND_Reborn]

&D 5E. Ok,hear me out. Proof sleep is too powerful. Form a group of 4 players (fighter, rogue, priest, wizard), all of which level 1. So its fair to say in order, they would have an average of 12 hp, 8 hp, 9 hp and 6 hp. Let's imagine the wizard is a serial killer... he casts sleep with an average roll of 22 hp and he could roll higher (needing only 29 total) to put all three players to sleep (NO SAVING THROW). So for the next 10 rounds he has advantage + critical on all the players. This means he has a very high probability of killing all three players without breaking a sweat! No other class or spell has this capability at level one. This makes sleep the most powerful spell even though it is level 1. Btw, the command spell is 1 round, 1 target and a saving throw!
IS THE SLEEP SPELL TOO POWERFUL AND IN NEED OF A REVISION?

Sleep was super powerful in 1E as well, but I will tell you we've had wizards in our group put weakened party members to sleep in the middle of a fight.

Also, the fighter in your scenario would likely kill the wizard if he wins initiative. And even if he lost, the wizard would do maybe 8-10 points of damage to the fighter on a critical hit and then the fighter would wake up. His bonus action is second wind, he stands up, and attack the wizard.

There are all kinds of ways this works out. It is powerful, but not OP by any means.

 

[Jasondd]

All I'm saying is that a 1st level wizard can very easily kill two other 1st levels (possibly 3) without it being complicated or in the least difficult (no saving throw). This cannot be said for any other 1st level class or spell (that I know of) Even "command" (also spell level 1) in which you say "sleep" has 1 round effectiveness with a saving throw! And affects only 1 person...

 

[Sacrosanct]

Describing how badly hurt something is shouldn't be based off a creature's HP necessarily. O hate the idea of the DM saying "the creature is bloodied" as a clue that it's at <50% health. Bloodied should mean it took damage. At 50%, an intelligent living creature should be looling to escape (in most cases), at 25%, it might go into a frenzy if it feels cornered and think it's going to die. With new players, sure the DM should do or say things to help the party make good decisions, but for seasoned players, they should take that help away.

If you've ever seen a boxing match, or MMA bout, it's pretty obvious when someone is getting worn down. Doesn't matter how smart you are, your body physically is wearing down. Lactic acid build up, lack of oxygen, etc. A DM should narrate how it would reasonably look, regardless if they are new players or seasoned ones.

 

[Dausuul]

Honestly, the answer to any ‘is this overpowered?’ Question is pretty much always ‘no’.

Well, there are some things in 5E that are legit overpowered. But they tend not to be immediately obvious, because they either happen at high levels that rarely see play (the simulacrum spell), or require combos to cause a problem (the Great Weapon Mastery and Sharpshooter feats when combined with multiple attacks and ways to mitigate the -5 penalty).