A question about Half elf sleeping arrangements. [Archive] - Wizards Community

A question about Half elf sleeping arrangements. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Yalc
07-05-07, 12:15 AM This is probably a rather simply question with an answer somewhere that I just haven't found yet but for how long and exactly how do half elves sleep? I know elves enter a trance when they rest but how do half elves? Do they sleep like a human, or rest like an elf but only for 6 hours instead of 4 or is it dependant upon where the half elf is raised, such as with elves or with humans.

An answer or suggestion for this question would be helpful for rping camp scenes when someone's on watch and the party gets attacked and has to spend a round or so waking up.
jaelis
07-05-07, 12:38 AM Half-elves sleep like a human, since their racial description doesn't state otherwise.
Explosive_Zombie
07-05-07, 01:29 AM My house rule for this is Half-elves need to sleep sleep, but only for 4 hours. You still have to remain inactive for spell casters... but at least your alert.
Wharin
07-05-07, 02:28 AM To be absolutely technical about the whole thing, unless you are a (arcane) caster, you never really need to sleep at all, unless a specific activity or effect actually fatigued or exhausted you.

The matter of sleeping, for as important as it always seems to be, really could be made a little clearer. As do some of the pre existing rules reguarding sleep need some finessing. The whole thing with sleeping in armor causing fatigue needs to be reworked. People read it, and say... well.. the simple act of catching some shut eye with a breast plate on magically takes you from normal to fatigued (or even fatigued to exhausted), instead of only "bringing you back up to fatigued". That is just rediculous.

As to the OP's question, I'd say its up to the DM. I've always assumed that it was as humans sleep, since no mention of revelry is mentioned at all in their racial description (it bears mentioning that in the PHB, the elven act of revelry is not, in fact, in their statistical write-up, but rather in their flavor text). However the entry in the PHB II (I believe, but it might be Heroes of Battle book), where there are these Team-Work tricks, and one of them is where the entire group can take part in the revelry. The racial requirement for the trick is "anyone who can enter the sleep trance (Elf or Half Elf)", which now makes be think that Half Elves can indeed go into the trance and get by with only 2 hours of sleep.

It also bears mentioning that Half Elves share the same immunity to sleep spells that Elves have. While its not exactly concrete evidence, I wouldn't quite call it grasping at straws either.
Naderion
07-05-07, 09:01 AM I would say they need rest as all other races do, because they do sleep.
When elves are at rest, they do something completely different, I think of it like active meditation to restore their mental energies and rest their minds. You can do that, or you can not do that, but you can't do it half. You have to do one of the two and do this one fully.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Yalc 07-05-07, 12:15 AM	This is probably a rather simply question with an answer somewhere that I just haven't found yet but for how long and exactly how do half elves sleep? I know elves enter a trance when they rest but how do half elves? Do they sleep like a human, or rest like an elf but only for 6 hours instead of 4 or is it dependant upon where the half elf is raised, such as with elves or with humans. An answer or suggestion for this question would be helpful for rping camp scenes when someone's on watch and the party gets attacked and has to spend a round or so waking up.
jaelis 07-05-07, 12:38 AM	Half-elves sleep like a human, since their racial description doesn't state otherwise.
Explosive_Zombie 07-05-07, 01:29 AM	My house rule for this is Half-elves need to sleep sleep, but only for 4 hours. You still have to remain inactive for spell casters... but at least your alert.
Wharin 07-05-07, 02:28 AM	To be absolutely technical about the whole thing, unless you are a (arcane) caster, you never really need to sleep at all, unless a specific activity or effect actually fatigued or exhausted you. The matter of sleeping, for as important as it always seems to be, really could be made a little clearer. As do some of the pre existing rules reguarding sleep need some finessing. The whole thing with sleeping in armor causing fatigue needs to be reworked. People read it, and say... well.. the simple act of catching some shut eye with a breast plate on magically takes you from normal to fatigued (or even fatigued to exhausted), instead of only "bringing you back up to fatigued". That is just rediculous. As to the OP's question, I'd say its up to the DM. I've always assumed that it was as humans sleep, since no mention of revelry is mentioned at all in their racial description (it bears mentioning that in the PHB, the elven act of revelry is not, in fact, in their statistical write-up, but rather in their flavor text). However the entry in the PHB II (I believe, but it might be Heroes of Battle book), where there are these Team-Work tricks, and one of them is where the entire group can take part in the revelry. The racial requirement for the trick is "anyone who can enter the sleep trance (Elf or Half Elf)", which now makes be think that Half Elves can indeed go into the trance and get by with only 2 hours of sleep. It also bears mentioning that Half Elves share the same immunity to sleep spells that Elves have. While its not exactly concrete evidence, I wouldn't quite call it grasping at straws either.
Naderion 07-05-07, 09:01 AM	I would say they need rest as all other races do, because they do sleep. When elves are at rest, they do something completely different, I think of it like active meditation to restore their mental energies and rest their minds. You can do that, or you can not do that, but you can't do it half. You have to do one of the two and do this one fully.