Also, elves (among others) don't need to sleep, ever. Should they also be able to avoid the exhaustion of not taking a long rest?
Elves have an alternative to sleep that functions for them what sleep does to humans. That being the case, I'd think they'd still need to long rest (it just takes 4 hours). But I could see an argument for them not to: "don't need sleep = don't need sleep."
Warforged and reborn can long rest faster than other races, but nothing indicates they need to (no alternatives that serve the same function).
Exactly right. It is specified in the rules that the Elves are able to shorten their long rest time. With the no need to sleep features it does not specify that a long rest is shorter or not needed.
Hey guys
No, elves are not able to finish long rests after 4 hours. I know it says that in *******. I don't know if that's an errata or something, but it's been clarified in Sage Advice, so I don't think it is
Look up for the Racial Features section. They gain the same benefits of human sleep, but a long rest does not consist necessarely of sleeping. It just means that elves, instead of having to sleep for 8 houres a day like us normal humans, just trance for 4, then get to spend the rest of their long rest doing whatever. But it can still be interupted, and they only get the benefit after all 8 hours of the long rest have passed
Does the Trance trait allow an elf to finish a long rest in 4 hours? If an elf meditates during a long rest (as described in the Trance trait), the elf finishes the rest after only 4 hours. A meditating elf otherwise follows all the rules for a long rest; only the duration is changed.
Again, problematically, that section of XGtE goes back and forth on "sleep" and "long rest" about 5 times, using them almost interchangeably.
But Aspect of the moon makes it pretty clear that you still need long rests. I thought there was at least some idea that the intent of rests are that they are modal: the party must choose to take a short or a long rest, you don't automatically gain the benefits of one after the correct amount of down time.
Yes, as I recall the choice is made at the end of the activity. So if a regular human goes to sleep, intending to take a long rest, and has their long rest interrupted 2 hours later, they can choose to count the time they did sleep as a short rest.
You mean at the end of the *inactivity lol
And I don't think it is specified in the rules for rests. I remember that JC has made a tweet about it. I think he said that a DM can make the call whether an interupted long rest can count as a short rest or just as lost time. But definately not a choice made by the players
All intervals of 1 hour of light or no activity are short rests whether your players want them to be or not.
No, elves are not able to finish long rests after 4 hours. I know it says that in *******. I don't know if that's an errata or something, but it's been clarified in Sage Advice, so I don't think it is
Look up for the Racial Features section. They gain the same benefits of human sleep, but a long rest does not consist necessarely of sleeping. It just means that elves, instead of having to sleep for 8 houres a day like us normal humans, just trance for 4, then get to spend the rest of their long rest doing whatever. But it can still be interupted, and they only get the benefit after all 8 hours of the long rest have passed
Does the Trance trait allow an elf to finish a long rest in 4 hours? If an elf meditates during a long rest (as described in the Trance trait), the elf finishes the rest after only 4 hours. A meditating elf otherwise follows all the rules for a long rest; only the duration is changed.
Does this mean a creature that doesn't require sleep can take long rests in 0 time?
No, elves are not able to finish long rests after 4 hours. I know it says that in *******. I don't know if that's an errata or something, but it's been clarified in Sage Advice, so I don't think it is
Look up for the Racial Features section. They gain the same benefits of human sleep, but a long rest does not consist necessarely of sleeping. It just means that elves, instead of having to sleep for 8 houres a day like us normal humans, just trance for 4, then get to spend the rest of their long rest doing whatever. But it can still be interupted, and they only get the benefit after all 8 hours of the long rest have passed
Does the Trance trait allow an elf to finish a long rest in 4 hours? If an elf meditates during a long rest (as described in the Trance trait), the elf finishes the rest after only 4 hours. A meditating elf otherwise follows all the rules for a long rest; only the duration is changed.
Does this mean a creature that doesn't require sleep can take long rests in 0 time?
That depends. If whatever feature says a creature doesn't require sleep also says that they "gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep in 0 time," then yes, because recovering hit points, spell slots, etc. is a benefit that a human gains from 8 hours of sleep. I doubt you'll actually find that language in any officially published feature, however.
Again, problematically, that section of XGtE goes back and forth on "sleep" and "long rest" about 5 times, using them almost interchangeably.
But Aspect of the moon makes it pretty clear that you still need long rests. I thought there was at least some idea that the intent of rests are that they are modal: the party must choose to take a short or a long rest, you don't automatically gain the benefits of one after the correct amount of down time.
Yes, as I recall the choice is made at the end of the activity. So if a regular human goes to sleep, intending to take a long rest, and has their long rest interrupted 2 hours later, they can choose to count the time they did sleep as a short rest.
You mean at the end of the *inactivity lol
And I don't think it is specified in the rules for rests. I remember that JC has made a tweet about it. I think he said that a DM can make the call whether an interupted long rest can count as a short rest or just as lost time. But definately not a choice made by the players
All intervals of 1 hour of light or no activity are short rests whether your players want them to be or not.
No they aren't.
A short rest is a period of downtime, at least 1 hour long, during which a character does nothing more strenuous than eating, drinking, reading, and tending to wounds.
So if you have a period of downtime for 5 hours, it counts as ONE short rest.
As far as I'm aware, any trait that modifies long rest requirements is fairly explicit, as in the case of Warforged Sentry's Rest.
If you have any specific examples of ways to avoid sleep that don't also mention long rests, it would be fun to look at those.
A zombie, like most (all?) Undead "doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep" (emphasis mine), and isn't immune to exhaustion (in case that comes up; some Undead are immune to it and some aren't). Animate Dead can give you zombies under PC control, so this isn't a simple matter of having the DM just hand-wave it - a PC who has zombie minions needs an actual answer how zombie long rests work, including whether or not zombies need long rests (will they die of exhaustion if they don't get long rests?).
Carry a jar of insects or gather them in your "Long rest" And you can now gain over 100 temp hit points easily. Potentially a thousand. Depends on a lot of factors. That is why some DM's limit how much you can do that, and if they limit it, then it is no longer broken.
That is outdated and incorrect. The current Sage Advice Compendium says the following:
All intervals of 1 hour of light or no activity are short rests whether your players want them to be or not.
I got quotes!
Does this mean a creature that doesn't require sleep can take long rests in 0 time?
I got quotes!
As far as I'm aware, any trait that modifies long rest requirements is fairly explicit, as in the case of Warforged Sentry's Rest.
If you have any specific examples of ways to avoid sleep that don't also mention long rests, it would be fun to look at those.
That depends. If whatever feature says a creature doesn't require sleep also says that they "gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep in 0 time," then yes, because recovering hit points, spell slots, etc. is a benefit that a human gains from 8 hours of sleep. I doubt you'll actually find that language in any officially published feature, however.
No they aren't.
So if you have a period of downtime for 5 hours, it counts as ONE short rest.
A zombie, like most (all?) Undead "doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep" (emphasis mine), and isn't immune to exhaustion (in case that comes up; some Undead are immune to it and some aren't). Animate Dead can give you zombies under PC control, so this isn't a simple matter of having the DM just hand-wave it - a PC who has zombie minions needs an actual answer how zombie long rests work, including whether or not zombies need long rests (will they die of exhaustion if they don't get long rests?).
Carry a jar of insects or gather them in your "Long rest" And you can now gain over 100 temp hit points easily. Potentially a thousand. Depends on a lot of factors. That is why some DM's limit how much you can do that, and if they limit it, then it is no longer broken.
Reminder: Temporary HP don't stack.
I got quotes!