Sleep question...

[samcifer]

If I cast the Sleep spell and am within the AoE for the spell, am I immune, or must I roll to save against it as well?

[Rogerdodger557]

You don't roll to save. Sleep just happens.

[samcifer]

Okay, but would the spell affect me too? What about allies? I'm picturing a 'panic button' moment kind of thing and if allies are affected, it might not be the end of the world if done in the right situation at the right time, but I wonder if I would be affected as well, especially if I get cornered and take a big hit to my hp.

[Aett_Thorn]

If they are in the AoE, and there are still HP left to the spell, then yes, you or your allies could be affected. Just like if they were in the AoE of a Fireball.

[nickl_2000]

Okay, but would the spell affect me too? What about allies? I'm picturing a 'panic button' moment kind of thing and if allies are affected, it might not be the end of the world if done in the right situation at the right time, but I wonder if I would be affected as well, especially if I get cornered and take a big hit to my hp.

Yes it will

[Chugger]

It's a nice insomnia cure.

[Hootman]

I actually had a cake-walk fight for the PC's turn into a fight for their lives because the sorcerer didn't understand that friendly fire was a thing.

The Ranger is intimidating the bandits with his wolfhound, and doing pretty well since his opening gambit was to walk up and sucker punch their leader out. Unfortunately one of the bandits keeps his cool and crits the Ranger in the face.

"Alright, I'm still up, I can salvage this on my next turn. My wolf and I are gonna rip this guy in h-"
"MY TURN. I CAST SLEEP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIGHT."
"-alf...some other time. So sleepy....*thud*"

Ranger and wolf both drop, bandits are unaffected. A 5v4 becomes a 3v4 in an instant of bad decision-making, and the remaining bandits charge over the now sleeping front line and pound the sorcerer into mulch. Thankfully the other fighter held it together...yeesh.

[Maxilian]

It's a nice insomnia cure.

Now i like the idea of a Wizard that suffers from Insomnia, and that in every long rest, he/she cast Sleep on him/herself to get some rest.

[Alejandro]

At very low levels, I once centered my Sleep spell on myself, hitting the enemies that were mobbing me, while being immune to it myself as a half-elf. Worked great in a pinch :)

[nickl_2000]

At very low levels, I once centered my Sleep spell on myself, hitting the enemies that were mobbing me, while being immune to it myself as a half-elf. Worked great in a pinch :)

That's pretty much the ideal use of sleep. Get someone in the middle that is immune and drop it on everyone else.

[Koren]

That's pretty much the ideal use of sleep. Get someone in the middle that is immune and drop it on everyone else.

Maybe this doesn't belong here but would it still take your HP out of the total in this instance? Or would it ignore you since you're immune?

[nickl_2000]

Maybe this doesn't belong here but would it still take your HP out of the total in this instance? Or would it ignore you since you're immune?

You know, I don't know for sure. My table has always played that if you are immune then the spell doesn't affect you at all. Therefore no reduction in the total amount of HP.

[Alejandro]

Maybe this doesn't belong here but would it still take your HP out of the total in this instance? Or would it ignore you since you're immune?

If a PC is immune to fire (hypothetical for this situation) and gets caught in the blast of a fireball spell, their HP total does not decrease, nor is the fireball itself affected in any way, other than the immune PC occupying one blast square. They're just not affected. I would say Sleep is the same way.

[Vingelot]

If a PC is immune to fire (hypothetical for this situation) and gets caught in the blast of a fireball spell, their HP total does not decrease, nor is the fireball itself affected in any way, other than the immune PC occupying one blast square. They're just not affected. I would say Sleep is the same way.

Also, especially regarding sleep, I always thought the number of HP it affects are rather low, so it would further diminish an already underwhelming spell.

[Sir cryosin]

The way the sleep spell works is as following.
Every creature within 20 feet of a point you choose can be effected by the spell. So the creature with the lowest hp Falls asleep first. Then the next creature with the second lowest hp is next and so on. Untell your out of points in the sleep pool.

The sleep spell is one of the worse spells to use as a panic button spell. Givin that casters have lower hp then monsters.

[nickl_2000]

SNIP
The sleep spell is one of the worse spells to use as a panic button spell. Givin that casters have lower hp then monsters.

Unless your character is afraid of a violent death and wants to go out in their sleep. "Screw it, I'm going to die anyways I may as well not feel the pain of death by being asleep"

[Koren]

If a PC is immune to fire (hypothetical for this situation) and gets caught in the blast of a fireball spell, their HP total does not decrease, nor is the fireball itself affected in any way, other than the immune PC occupying one blast square. They're just not affected. I would say Sleep is the same way.

Fireballs and other damaging spells don't work out of a specific limit of damage, though. The spells are very different. If a person is immune to magical sleep it means the spell can't actually put them to sleep, however neither the immunity (with half elves for example) not the spell says anything about whether the spell will actually acknowledge them.

As far as I see both rulings seem perfectly viable.

[Aett_Thorn]

Well, looking at the text of the spell (bolding mine):

"This spell sends creatures into a magical slumber. Roll 5d8; the total is how many hit points of creatures this spell can affect. Creatures within 20 feet of a point you choose within range are affected in ascending order of their current hit points (ignoring unconscious creatures).

Starting with the creature that has the lowest current hit points, each creature affected by this spell falls unconscious until the spell ends, the sleeper takes damage, or someone uses an action to shake or slap the sleeper awake. Subtract each creature's hit points from the total before moving on to the creature with the next lowest hit points. A creature’s hit points must be equal to or less than the remaining total for that creature to be affected.

Undead and creatures immune to being charmed aren’t affected by this spell."

I would say that a creature that is immune to being put to sleep would not then be affected by the spell, which would mean that you wouldn't take their HP off of the spell's effect before moving on to the next target.

[Koren]

Well, looking at the text of the spell (bolding mine):

"This spell sends creatures into a magical slumber. Roll 5d8; the total is how many hit points of creatures this spell can affect. Creatures within 20 feet of a point you choose within range are affected in ascending order of their current hit points (ignoring unconscious creatures).

Starting with the creature that has the lowest current hit points, each creature affected by this spell falls unconscious until the spell ends, the sleeper takes damage, or someone uses an action to shake or slap the sleeper awake. Subtract each creature's hit points from the total before moving on to the creature with the next lowest hit points. A creature’s hit points must be equal to or less than the remaining total for that creature to be affected.

Undead and creatures immune to being charmed aren’t affected by this spell."

I would say that a creature that is immune to being put to sleep would not then be affected by the spell, which would mean that you wouldn't take their HP off of the spell's effect before moving on to the next target.

Oh right that last line is a thing too. This makes much more sense.

Half elf sleep bomber anyone?

[nickl_2000]

Oh right that last line is a thing too. This makes much more sense.

Half elf sleep bomber anyone?

Works great for about 2-3 levels. After that, Meh

[Slipperychicken]

It's a nice insomnia cure.


Now i like the idea of a Wizard that suffers from Insomnia, and that in every long rest, he/she cast Sleep on him/herself to get some rest.

The spell only lasts for one minute.

[ZorroGames]

The spell only lasts for one minute.

I can see a Barbarian running around laughing Manically as he twists kobold heads 360 degrees.

[Breashios]

Works great for about 2-3 levels. After that, Meh

Don't forget the spell can be cast using a higher level spell slot and then gets 2d8s more effective for each slot. While still not great in general, it has very strong niche uses. Need to take out a portion of an angry crowd of innocent villagers? The high level enemy is within 90 feet of the caster, is fighting from a ledge or is flying, has been injured in prior rounds, but has high armor class and we don't know what saves he is good at... If the sleep spell exceeds his remaining HP, he goes down, possibly falls to his death or if flying crashes to his death.

Case in point, the big bad with multi-attack was soon to act. Only the arcane trickster could act before its turn. The trickster was more than 90 feet away, but was able to move within 90 feet and put it to sleep, saving one or two other characters from being dropped.

[Sir cryosin]

That can be pretty nasty combo for a fighter 2 wizard x drop a fireball then action surge up casted sleep. Bam! Encounter over.

[Safety Sword]

The spell only lasts for one minute.

Ever tried to take a nap for "just a minute"? :smallamused:

You're right though, the magical induced sleep only lasts a minute.

If this was for character reasons I'd allow it to work. It just wouldn't work that way on hostiles.

[Slipperychicken]

Ever tried to take a nap for "just a minute"? :smallamused:

You're right though, the magical induced sleep only lasts a minute.

If this was for character reasons I'd allow it to work. It just wouldn't work that way on hostiles.

Now that you mention it, it might be easier to fall asleep for real after a brief period of magic-induced unconsciousness.

The spell's text assumes the context is a life-or-death struggle where the targets will immediately bolt awake and fight for their lives once the duration ends, but in the context of a wizard trying to get some sleep it could have a beneficial effect on restfulnes or relaxation.

[Koren]

Now that you mention it, it might be easier to fall asleep for real after a brief period of magic-induced unconsciousness.

The spell's text assumes the context is a life-or-death struggle where the targets will immediately bolt awake and fight for their lives once the duration ends, but in the context of a wizard trying to get some sleep it could have a beneficial effect on restfulnes or relaxation.

I wonder if this is one spell that, in-universe, was originally developed with general wellness in mind and was amplified for use in hostile situations.

[Slipperychicken]

I wonder if this is one spell that, in-universe, was originally developed with general wellness in mind and was amplified for use in hostile situations.

That's the wonder of roleplaying games: It's up to you! Write the lore you like best.

[Vogonjeltz]

Okay, but would the spell affect me too? What about allies? I'm picturing a 'panic button' moment kind of thing and if allies are affected, it might not be the end of the world if done in the right situation at the right time, but I wonder if I would be affected as well, especially if I get cornered and take a big hit to my hp.

This is a good reason to be an Elf.

An Elf Sorcerer, in particular, would be able to lay on the hurt with empowered and extended Sleep being immune to the effects and able to add up to 25 additional HP onto the total through judicious dice picked for re-roll.