Rules about sleeping

[aimster]

An odd comment at last weeks game brought up a PCs need to sleep.
The only rules I can find on sleep are: elves don't, sleeping in medium
of heavy armor causes fatigue, and wizards add one hour to the time
they need to rest if they are interupted. I couldn't find any rules about
interupted sleep or not enough for other PCs. Am I going blind??? or
blond???

The Aimster

 

[Pinotage]

I suspect that common sense could just prevail in scenarios where there's interupted sleep. Anyone with children could tell you that you survive fine after interupted sleep. I'd simply expect most PC to require 8 hours sleep, and accept that one or two interuptions that reduce the time slept to anything above 4 hours would suffice. Over extended periods of time I might start adding conditions such as fatique, perhaps after a few days of only getting 4 hours sleep. Anything less than 4 hours and I'd certainly make them fatiqued in the morning as a general rule.

Note that since most spellcasters require the 8 hours sleep, it's rarely going to be a problem that characters don't attempt to get some sleep.

Pinotage

 

[amazingshafeman]

Well, after years of a night shift job, and a 2nd job scheduled around classes in the morning or evening, I can tell you your body adjusts to the amount of sleep you can get. I regularly got 5-6 hours of sleep in a day, but it was very rarely contiguous.

IMC, I generally let the non-casters split sleep or sleep around watches, especially since they tend to have higher constitutions to account for that capability.

 

[Sil]

elves need 4 hours of sleep equivalent time

 

[Tonguez]

unfortunately the RAW doesn't have sleep rules which means that a non-spellcaster can go without sleep forever without fatigue or any other negative effects.

personally I use the fatigue rules - anyone suffering sleep deprevation who 'heavily exerts themselves' (like say fighting goblins) will become 'fatigued' - 'exhausted' - etc

 

[Jhulae]

Yes. According to the RAW, you're fatigued if you sleep in heavy armors (with a certain armor check penalty). However, if you decide not to sleep at all, you're good to go.

And, also note that it's Arcane spellcasters that need 8 hours of sleep. Divine casters only have to pray for an hour at the appropriate time. They're free to stay awake 24/7 (or 24/10 in Faerun) along with the non-spellcasters.

 

[Space monkey]

Common sence tells me that Everyone needs sleep, experiance tells me that you can go about 36 to 48 hours without sleep exspecialy if youve got adrenalin. comes naturaly when your fighting more then that and I would treat it as being inebreated. acording to the DMV driving while sleep deprived is like driving while drunk. I would Also take a characters Con into account.

or you could just give them a ring.

Ring of Sustenance
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.
Faint conjuration; CL 5th; Forge Ring, create food and water; Price 2,500 gp.

up to you or your DM.

 

[kanithardm]

They're free to stay awake 24/7 (or 24/10 in Faerun) along with the non-spellcasters.

Thank you for DnD political correctness.

 

[Percivellian]

Just as a side note of possible interest, I've been informed (by late night educational television, fittingly enough) that in pre-electric lighting times, the sleeping 'norm' of most people was to sleep for a few hours, get up for a couple/few more, and then finish their rest with a few more hours of sleep, as opposed to sleeping straight through like we're accustomed to today. Sadly, I'm not sure this fits into a D&D game so well, but definitely something to consider if historical accuracy floats your boat

~Percy

 

[azhrei_fje]

I play a cleric who needs to pray for his spells at midnight. So the character always takes a middle watch, along with someone else as well. If a baddie comes along while I'm praying, well, I stop praying and take care of the situation. Then I sit and meditate for a few minutes (15 minutes) and begin my spell preparation again.

Also, be careful when reading the sleep descriptions for elves. They must be in trance for 4 hours and must spend another 4 hours without strenuous activity. Note this:

The wizard does not have to slumber for every minute of the time, but she must refrain from movement, combat, spellcasting, skill use, conversation, or any other fairly demanding physical or mental task during the rest period. <...> If the character does not need to sleep for some reason, she still must have 8 hours of restful calm before preparing any spells.

To me, this says that elves are effectively in the same group with the other races; while they don't "sleep" per se, they require the same restful attitude of mind and skill use -- even conversation -- will destroy that restful state.