So, I was wondering...if a caster casts the Dream spell and spends the whole 8-hour spell duration in the trance that it puts them in, does it count as a long rest? Or would it only count as a long rest for races that don't have to sleep like elves or reborn, etc?
Well, it isn't strenuous activity, but it also isn't sleep or a replacement for it. Elves specifically need to meditate for 4 hours to replace sleep, dream puts them in a similar state, but not the same, so I wouldn't say it counts. Reborn is less specific about its rest needs, so it might count depending on DM, same for aspect of the moon warlock invocation.
The caster of dream isn't actually asleep, only their target is, so it wouldn't qualify for a long rest for most races as the six hours of sleep is required for them. It might count as a short rest though, depending upon your DM's definition of strenuous activity, though this may depend on what you are trying to do with the dream?
For "standard" elves their Trance feature is its own thing, I don't think just any trance will do; they presumably need to enter a specific type of "restful" trance. But since they only need four hours they could trance for fours to prevent sleep deprivation and benefit form a short rest, then use the leftover time to do the dream spell. It's worth noting that they won't be able to get a long rest in this case as a long rest still takes 8 hours for an elf, they just don't need to spend as much of the eight hours "sleeping".
This is different from newer elves such as Astral Elves, Eldarin and Shadar-kai whose trance explicitly enables them to long rest in four hours, so you could dream for four hours, and still trance for four hours while your allies are taking their eight hour long rest. I expect most DM's would allow you to use this form of trance for "standard" elves as well since they really should have been updated to match.
Reborn might be able to use dream while resting, as they only need to remain "motionless" so continuing the dream state could qualify.
Warforged probably don't as they need to be "inactive" so I'm not sure that participating in a spell would count.
There's a lot of room for DM interpretation though; personally I'd decide based on what the player is trying to do, i.e- the more "active" the dream, the more strenuous I would consider it to be.
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So, I was wondering...if a caster casts the Dream spell and spends the whole 8-hour spell duration in the trance that it puts them in, does it count as a long rest? Or would it only count as a long rest for races that don't have to sleep like elves or reborn, etc?
Well, it isn't strenuous activity, but it also isn't sleep or a replacement for it. Elves specifically need to meditate for 4 hours to replace sleep, dream puts them in a similar state, but not the same, so I wouldn't say it counts. Reborn is less specific about its rest needs, so it might count depending on DM, same for aspect of the moon warlock invocation.
Yeah, that was what I was thinking too, but I thought I would get confirmation so thanks a lot for your input. :D
The WIS save is just if you choose the option to inflict damage, right? (the effect you have on shaping the target's dreams is automatic, right?)
Interesting question!
The caster of dream isn't actually asleep, only their target is, so it wouldn't qualify for a long rest for most races as the six hours of sleep is required for them. It might count as a short rest though, depending upon your DM's definition of strenuous activity, though this may depend on what you are trying to do with the dream?
For "standard" elves their Trance feature is its own thing, I don't think just any trance will do; they presumably need to enter a specific type of "restful" trance. But since they only need four hours they could trance for fours to prevent sleep deprivation and benefit form a short rest, then use the leftover time to do the dream spell. It's worth noting that they won't be able to get a long rest in this case as a long rest still takes 8 hours for an elf, they just don't need to spend as much of the eight hours "sleeping".
This is different from newer elves such as Astral Elves, Eldarin and Shadar-kai whose trance explicitly enables them to long rest in four hours, so you could dream for four hours, and still trance for four hours while your allies are taking their eight hour long rest. I expect most DM's would allow you to use this form of trance for "standard" elves as well since they really should have been updated to match.
Reborn might be able to use dream while resting, as they only need to remain "motionless" so continuing the dream state could qualify.
Warforged probably don't as they need to be "inactive" so I'm not sure that participating in a spell would count.
There's a lot of room for DM interpretation though; personally I'd decide based on what the player is trying to do, i.e- the more "active" the dream, the more strenuous I would consider it to be.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.