D&D 5E Warlocks seem pointless

[TrippyHippy]

Really? I was under the impression that an Elven Trance gives an Elf all the benefits of a full, eight hour rest. I figured that was the point of it.

That is my understanding. I don’t see it as a fuzzy rule either - it’s specific to Elves. It states:

“[After 4 hours trance]….you gain the same benefit that a human does after 8 hours of sleep.”

 

[Rune]

What's fuzzy about it isn't that it serves as sleep, but what role sleep takes in the long rest. According to the rules for a long rest, sleep isn't even requisit, but 8 hours are.

 

[TrippyHippy]

That’s not fuzzy rules, that’s just taking the description too literally. The intent, in the Elf race description, is pretty clear. Unless, of course, you can quote the exact rules that differentiates 8 hours sleep from 8 hours rest!

 

[Rune]

I already did. The long rest rule specifically says you may sleep OR engage in light activity, only two hours of which may be keeping watch.

This is not a matter of Rules As Written vs. Rules As Intended, because I really don't have any idea what actually is intended.

As I said before, I can totally see why someone would rule as you do, but the overlapping terminology makes the rule(s) far less clear than you assert.

In fact, I don't even know how it would be possible for any rules to have a description that can be "taken too literally" and still not be "fuzzy rules."

 

[Sacrosanct]

I wouldn't have any issue with an elf getting the benefits of a long rest after only 4 hours, because you still can only benefit from one long rest every 24 hours.

 

[TrippyHippy]

Can you imagine how anybody sleeping for 8 hours would not qualify as ‘resting’?

Well, Elves get the equivalent of 8 hours sleep in 4 hours trance, and the rules explicitly say they get the benefit of a full 8 hours sleep.

Ergo.

 

[Rune]

I wouldn't have any issue with an elf getting the benefits of a long rest after only 4 hours, because you still can only benefit from one long rest every 24 hours.

But, to repeat my previous question, having ruled that way, would you then let the elf to replace the trance with light activity?

 

[TrippyHippy]

No. A trance is exactly that - it’s like a meditation. The benefit is that it takes half the time to gain the benefits of a long rest. If the elf is resting with Humans, that means they could get up after four hours and do whatever activity they want.

I mean the point you’re making is the wrong way round. The ‘light activity’ is merely a qualification of the limits of what you could do during an 8 hour rest. You don’t cease to be having an 8 hour rest if you choose to stay asleep. Sleeping for 8 hours is resting for 8 hours.

 

[Rune]

So, anyone but an elf can engage in light activity instead of sleeping for the entirety of a long rest; the elf must trance and only trance for four hours?

 

[TrippyHippy]

So, anyone but an elf can engage in light activity instead of sleeping for the entirety of a long rest; the elf must trance and only trance for four hours?

No. During a long rest, of at least 8 hours, a maximum of 2 hours can be spent on light activity - eating, reading, talking etc. Any strenuous activity breaks the rest and the characters will gain no benefit. The other 6+ hours is sleep.

"Elves don’t need to sleep. Instead they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day…………After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that human does from 8 hours of sleep.”

So, if they get 4 hours of trance they don’t need commit any more time to get the benefits of a full 8 hours resting. If the party gets attacked in the middle of the night, after 4 hours of resting (in trance), the Elf will still get the full benefits of resting but the other races won’t.