Ring of Sustenance

[Olorion]

How does this ring reflect on a full day's rest? If it takes 8h to regain HP/lvl (by official FAQ), does it take 6h to gain all the full day's rest benefits?

 

[MarkB]

The ring only does what it says it does. Since it doesn't say it allows you to gain the benefits of a full day's bed rest over a reduced time, it doesn't.

 

[cmanos]

if you are not actually resting, you do not regain hit points. Ring of Sustenence just allows you to not need sleep. You still need to rest to gain back hit points, and, quite possibly, to regain spells. I don't feel like looking the latter point up, so...

 

[Transit]

Per the SRD:

This ring continually provides its wearer with life-sustaining nourishment. The ring also refreshes the body and mind, so that its wearer needs only sleep 2 hours per day to gain the benefit of 8 hours of sleep. The ring must be worn for a full week before it begins to work. If it is removed, the owner must wear it for another week to reattune it to himself.

 

[Particle_Man]

I would say, since the ring gives the benefit of 8 hours sleep, and one of the benefits of 8 hours sleep in D&D is gaining back hp, then you gain back hp.

 

[Hypersmurf]

if you are not actually resting, you do not regain hit points. Ring of Sustenence just allows you to not need sleep. You still need to rest to gain back hit points, and, quite possibly, to regain spells. I don't feel like looking the latter point up, so...

Note that both elven trance (four hours) and the Ring of Sustenance (two hours) give the same benefit as eight hours of sleep. Note that the benefits of four hours of elven trance do not include the ability to prepare arcane spells; the elf must still rest for another four hours.

So the benefits of eight hours of sleep (which trance provides) do not include the benefits of eight hours of rest, such as the ability to prepare arcane spells (which trance does not provide). Therefore two hours of sleep with the ring does not provide the ability to prepare arcane spells; six more hours of rest is required.

For what it's worth, the 3.5 Main FAQ states:
The description of the ring of sustenance says the user
gets all the benefits of 8 hours of sleep in 2 hours. How does
this affect a bard, sorcerer, or wizard who wants to regain
spells? Specifically, how does this interact with the casting
limit rule in the Player’s Handbook?

In the case of a ring of sustenance, “all the benefits of 8
hours of sleep” means the character sleeps for 2 hours and
regains 1 hit point per level (see the rules for natural healing on
Chapter 8 of the Player’s Handbook). If the ring wearer is
fatigued, 2 hours of sleep removes the fatigue.

A wizard must have 8 hours of rest before regaining spells.
If the wizard doesn’t have to sleep for some reason, she still
requires 8 hours of rest to regain any spells (see Preparing
Wizard Spells on page 177 of the Player’s Handbook). A ring
of sustenance doesn’t change that.

A bard or sorcerer regains spells only once a day, and a
ring of sustenance doesn’t increase that.

A ring of sustenance also doesn’t exempt the wearer from
the casting limit rule. Whenever a spellcaster gets a new set of
spells, any spell slot she used in the last 8 hours is not
available. This rule has nothing to do with how much sleep the
spellcaster gets; it reflects how long a spell slot must remain
empty before the character can refill it. The ring doesn’t make 8
hours pass, so it doesn’t help the character refill the used spell
slot.

So according to the FAQ, the ring doesn't help with spells, but does help with hit points.

-Hyp.