Ideas for insomnia in game

[Oontarg]

So a DM i play with regularly has asked if i would like to play in a underdark campaign set in Forgotten Realms(at the time of Loths silence) . He told me that we will start at level 2. The only two races available are Drow and Duegar from FRCS. So that means players will start with ECL 4. All SB from 3.0 and 3.5 are allowed.

Now I want to play a LN Duegar cleric of Laduguer (Magic/Dwarf Domain). I also want to play an insomniac. The fluff behind this is that while being initiated into the clergy of Laduguer an event happend. From that day forward he was unable to sleep. Remember that Laduguer is a god who wants all his followers to toil constantly. As an Insomniac my character would work all day and night, never ceasing, never stopping (hopefully gaining favor with the grey dwarfs patron).

So here comes the question of how in game terms i can be an Insomniac. Is there a feat that allows me not to sleep? I am aware that there are rules about how long you can stay awake before falling asleep. Maybe the best way to do it is that my character is constantly fatigued.

I know insomnia is not a joke.

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

[GilesTheCleric]

Someone posted in the obscure thread that EE has rules for sleep deprivation. Pg 9.

[Oontarg]

Thank you for your reply GilesTheCleric. I will look into that.

[ArcturusV]

As for not actually sleeping? I dunno. The only thing that comes to mind is the Trance of elves. While that is often ruled as "Sleeping", it's not actually sleeping. And if you look to stuff that it's based off of, like say LotR, elves who were "Trancing" were also capable of doing minor things like walking along a path, riding a horse, etc.

Which would be the logical way to do that I'd think. Have it so even while you are "sleeping" you are effectively making some, minor progress in your life. So while the rest of the party is awake and riding you're Tranced out, getting your Rest, and can be active all night while they sleep.

But I don't know of any way to actually give Dwarves the Trance ability. Short of polymorphing into an Elf.

Which your God probably wouldn't like.

[GilesTheCleric]

If you don't want to be an elf, you could be an ooze, plant, undead, construct, or other being that doesn't need sleep. It's probably less offensive than being an elf.

Ring of Sustenance is core, but that still requires 2 hours of rest. However, I think that in most books other than EE, sleeping is always referred to as "rest", meaning that you might not actually have to sleep. I don't think that "rest" has any meaning as a game term beyond its requirement for regaining spells and its interaction with fatigue and things.

[Oontarg]

To gain spells you must "rest" 8 hours. My understanding of "rest" is that you do not need to sleep just "rest". While I'm resting, i would like to pay homage to my god by preforming light work. Something in the form of a "light activity" so that i would still get spells. But in game terms I'am wondering what kind of penalties i will have, like constantly being fatigued or some other penalty.

[ArcturusV]

That's not the case though. Page 179 of the Player's Handbook:

Time of Day: A divine spellcaster chooses and prepares spells ahead of time, just as a wizard does. However, a divine spellcaster does not require a period of rest to prepare spells. Instead the character chooses a particular part of the day to pray and receive spells.

So by being a Cleric you're not required to sleep or rest to gain spells. However the "Spell slots used in the last 8 hours..." bit still applies. The only reason you need to sleep is basically to avoid insanity and fatigue like in the Elder Evils book.

[Oontarg]

As a divine caster i need to pray to my god at a certain time... but in the underdark how will i know what time i must pray?

Also i am going to ask for the DM's ruling on the penalties my insomnia will incur. I posted this thread to see what people in GITP think would be a way to be an insomniac in D&D so i may give those suggestions to the DM.

[Phippster]

Realistically? You'd die after about a week as all of your internal systems shut down. Sleep is necessary for a healthy, living organism. Without it, you'll experience multiple system failure as your brain stops being able to control your autonomic processes (like your heartbeat). So absolutely never sleeping wouldn't work unless you do something like trancing, but that doesn't seem to fit your concept.

However, some insomniacs have the inability to remain asleep, where they'll wake up very quickly, rarely or never hitting REM sleep. This means they'll often be exhausted, but rarely suffer the complications of a complete lack of sleep. In character, the event could trigger some sort of night terror that wakes him up after a few minutes of sleep, leading to sleep deprivation. In game, I'd really classify that more as the exhausted condition, but unless you're some sort of full caster those penalties tend to be pretty damn painful. However, you might also be able to swing for a non-magical sleep immunity or some sort to off-set the penalties.

[ArcturusV]

Well, Time of Day really shouldn't be a problem. it's not like the time is set to the dot. It's not "You must pray at 5:36 AM every day or suffer!", and it's usually defined as "Do it ASAP, when you're not busy". Plus bodies have natural rhythms and biological clocks that should help you figure out how much time has roughly passed regardless.

Even the Underdark seems to have day/night cycles though. Some monsters are nighttime, some daytime. Cities have various timepieces they use so the populace can tell more precisely what time it is.

It really shouldn't be an issue unless your DM is being a jerk with you.

I do favor the "Microsleep" idea. Your character doesn't sleep as we think. Maybe just blanks out and sleeps with your eyes open for a minute here, a minute there. Leave you nigh permanently exhausted. Probably show the mental effects of insanity seeping in... which would suck for you as usually those are Wisdom Penalties (Like Taint, it's mental effects are described as Insanity and it reduces Wisdom).

[Oontarg]

Thanks for the post Pippster, it was very insightful in knowledge regarding insomnia. I think most insomniacs use meditation to stay alive and sane. The character design i was thinking that this grey dwarf sees the Insomnia as a blessing from his god that allows him to toil constantly. His meditation to stay sane is work... and then more work. If that kind of work ethic is sanity is another question.

[Oontarg]

ActurusV, if you are in the middledark or lowerdark miles away from "civilization" how will you know when to pray? Your in a cave miles away from the surface and being able to tell the passage of time we humans use to denote time. So why do underdark gods in Faerun even require you to pray a times that those Dammed "Surface dwellers" use. Like "pray a dawn, evening, noon or midnight". In the underdark who cares were the sun is in the (horrifying and vile) sky?

[ArcturusV]

Well, just most beings have a biological clock. I mean, think about say, if you pass out and go to sleep. You wake up, you have a naturally rough idea how long it's been since you went to sleep, even without a clock blaring it at you. Your mind is just naturally aware of the passage of time. you probably won't nail it down precisely... but close enough for the issue at hand. "Eh... it's about morning, time to pray." Course there's other signs, hunger, thirst, growth of hair, etc. Your body just has a ton of ways built in to be aware of the passage of time without looking up at the sky.

Your DM might be a jerk and say that doesn't work. But it should.

Failing that? Just by natural patterns. Are the Rothe awake or asleep? Are the fish in that underwater lake eating by the shoreline or chilling out near the middle? Lots of little natural world signs like that you could use.

And you gotta care about where the sun is... how else would you know when to plan your raids against your Surface Dwelling "kin" and make them pay in blood for their false beliefs? :smallwink:

[Phippster]

As a diagnosed insomniac, I actually tend to use hypnosis, but I've tried meditation and it does certainly work to a degree. Using work as a repetitive process for meditation could certainly work and would be a very interesting character hook, but I'd have to agree that work ethic to such a degree is fanaticism that borders on insanity. But that doesn't make it a bad thing, playing characters like that are often times the some of the most memorable.

[GilesTheCleric]

If you want to be able to serve your deity for 24 hours each day, and not sleeping doesn't involve anything worse than fatigue or exhaustion, then you can just use spells to keep yourself going. Ray of Resurgence removes exhaustion/fatigue, and is only 1st lvl. There's probably other spells that do as well, but that's the lowest leveled one I've got on my list right now. Find it in LEoF. As a bonus, it also heals strength damage.

Healing Lorecall (SC) might be useful as well, and of course lesser restoration will fix any other ability damage you might take from not sleeping.

Heward's Fortifying Bedroll (CM) will let you spend only 1 hour "resting". There's also a rod that repairs ability damage, but the name escapes me at the moment. Someone mentioned it in a thread recently, though, so it might still be near the top of the forums unless someone else remembers the name.

Pray to your deity for the strength to keep going, and he/she/it will grant it. The power of clerics ^^

[Oontarg]

Having a basic understanding of speleology(the study of caves). I know that there is no way to tell the passage of time in a cave. Most cave organisms do not function with a "biological clock" that is uses the sun. In fact most cave organisms (troglobites) have a cellular biology that is very different(in regards to time) from organisms that dwell in the sun.

Back to the tread. Maybe i should homebrew(i cringe at the thought of homebrew) a feat. Something like Laduguer's Favor. That will let me me not sleep and maybe give me an additional bonus. Like maybe curing fatigue with 4 hours of "rest".

[Oontarg]

Good sugestions GilesTheCleric. I don't mine having a character that constantly exhausted or fatigued. That would be good very god fluff for a follower of the god of toil. If he is praying this god to keep working I'm sure Laduguer will grant him that boon(since toiling constantly is a form of prayer and worship to Laduguer)

[GilesTheCleric]

Thank you. There are hourglasses and water clocks in D&D, so if all else fails, you could use one of those. I think the waterclocks are something like 1k gp, and quite large, though. There are probably also candles that mark time, although I can't remember seeing those in any rule books - most D&D candles burn for exactly 1 hour, so those could work too. Torches and oil last for fixed amounts of time, but that's less authentic =P

Also, just a note - try to avoid double posting. You can always edit your responses if you forgot something.

[Oontarg]

Sorry I'm new to posting in forums

Lugging around a water clock be a lot of work... good. Candles are a good idea but in the underdark the light may attract unwanted attention. Giant hour glasses might be a good idea... if heavy.

I have been looking at wondrous magic items, but currently i have not found any that have not been posted on this thread that help.

Also i plan on being able to craft magic items with this grey dwarf. Now i think i should take magic/crafting domains.

[GilesTheCleric]

Some candles emit darkness instead of light. I believe there are some that allow you to see through the darkness with your darkvision.

If your DM will let you swing it, you could stick a candle into a lantern case with a shutter. Check it when you feel safe. Otherwise, just use a lantern normally with the shutter closed, and when it's empty, it will weigh less. If you want to be fancy, stick something that floats in it, and when that clinks against the bottom, it's empty. Or it could be attached to a meter that falls with the oil level.

If you've got a bag of holding or a portable hole, the contents of those don't move around, so you could easily stick in a huge hourglass or water clock. Even a pendulum clock, if they have those. A candle won't work though, unless it's a 10-minute candle ^^.

Edit: you're a cleric, so that means you have the spell No Light (0 level, so it shouldn't be a problem). Just cast that on a candle. Done. When it has melted, an hour is up. No Light has a duration of min/lvl, so that won't work. However, Preserve Organ lasts for 1 day, no matter the caster level. It's also 0 level. When the organ rots, it's time to pray.

Delay Disease, Endure Elements, Healthful Rest, and Suspend Disease are all 1st lvl and have 1 day durations, if you prefer those.

[Oontarg]

GilesTheCleric, those are some of the most inventive ways of figuring out what time it is in the underdark. All those ways of figuring out when to pray in a place without the sun are awesome.

Now when planing for an ambush all you have to do is cast Preserve Organ on a few organs. Give the enspelled organs to other party members. Tell these party members that when they smell somthing rotten ATTACK!!!. Give the organ holders time to get into position. Then when that funky smell reachs your nose ATTACK!!!

Is the perfect way to plan an ambush at level one.