I think it's a great example of the clash of cultures between AD&D and D&D4.
In AD&D, spells just said stuff. Could say whatever the author felt was interesting to say.
"They fall asleep."
What does that mean? Well, what does it mean when you fall asleep? Lots of room for interpretation there. That what the GM's for, interpreting that stuff in a fair manner that didn't unbalance the game and then remembering that ruling and being consistent so the players don't rebel.
Certainly that kind of creativity is fun, made a great game. But also led to a lot of fights and arguments and what one group thought was obvious and never gave a second thought to, another group would fight about for years.
But that's a strange set of assumptions to base a game on.
D&D4 takes all those ideas and says "Right, if we can't figure out an objective, mechanical effect for this, then it's a ritual and screw it."
So everything's abstracted.
What does sleep mean in AD&D? I dunno, what does sleep mean in the real world?
What does sleep mean in D&D4?
- You’re helpless.
- You take a -5 penalty to all defenses.
- You can’t take actions.
- You fall prone, if possible.
- You can’t flank an enemy.
- You are unaware of your surroundings.
- Until you save.
Huge difference.