Sleep - how do you adjudicate this spell

[Admin Pete]

waysoftheearth posted this over on ODD74 back on May 2, 2013. Titled "The Story of "Sleep".

May 2, 2013 6:07:26 GMT -5 waysoftheearth said:

The story of the "Sleep" spell...


Dalluhn OD&D Draft (Gygax & Arneson) (late 1973?)
No sleep spell.

Original D&D (Gygax & Arneson) 1st-4th prints, Jan 1974-Nov 1975.
2-16 up to 1+1HD, 2-12 up to 2+1HD, 1-6 up to 4+1HD, 240ft.

Original D&D (Gygax & Arneson) 5th+ prints, Dec 1975 onward.
2-16 up to 1+1HD, 2-12 up to 2+1HD, 1-6 up to 3HD, 1 up to 4+1HD, 240ft.

OD&D + Greyhawk (Gygax) Mar 1975
2-16 up to 1+1HD, 2-12 up to 2+1HD, 1-6 up to 3HD, 1 up to 4+1HD, 240ft, no save, no undead.

-- Basic (Holmes) 1977
-- 2-16 up to 1+1HD, 2-12 up to 2+1HD, 1-6 up to 3+2HD, 1 up to 4+1HD, 2-8 turns, 240ft, no save, no undead.

-- Basic/Expert (Moldvay) 1981
-- 2-16 HD of creatures up to 4+1HD (additional hp ignored, <1HD uses 1 HD, max 1 creature with 4+1HD), 4-16 turns, 240ft, no save, no undead.

-- Basic/Expert/Companion/Master/Immortal (Mentzer) 1983
-- 2-16 HD of small or man-sized creatures of up to 4+1HD, 4-16 turns, 240ft, no save, no undead.

-- D&D Rules Cyclopedia (Allston & Schend) 1991
-- 2-16 HD of small or man-sized creatures of up to 4+1HD, 4-16 turns, 240ft, no save, no undead.

Advanced D&D (Gygax) 1978
4-16 up to 1HD, 2-8 up to 2HD, 1-4 up to 3HD, 1-2 up to 4HD, 0-1 up to 4+4HD, 5 rounds/level, 30ft +10ft/level, no save, no undead, elves 90% resistant, half-elves 30% resistant.

AD&D 2nd Edition (Cook) 1989
2-8 HD of creatures (max 4+2HD), 5 rounds/level, 90ft, no save, no undead, elves 90% resistant, half-elves 30% resistant.

D&D 3rd Edition (Cook, Tweet & Williams) 2000
2-8 HD of creatures (of <5HD), 1 minute/level, 100ft +10ft/level, save negates, no undead, no elves, no half-elves.

D&D 3.5th Edition (Cook, Tweet & Williams) 2003
4 HD of creatures, 1 minute/level, 100ft +10ft/level, save negates, no undead, no elves, no half-elves.


edit: distinguished between early prints of OD&D.

[Deleted]

OD&D + Greyhawk (Gygax) Mar 1975
2-16 up to 1+1HD, 2-12 up to 2+1HD, 1-6 up to 3HD, 1 up to 4+1HD, 240ft, no save, no undead.

Probably the most powerful spell in the low level mage's arsenal. That and Phantasmal Forces.

[bestialwarlust]

Original D&D (Gygax & Arneson) 1st-4th prints, Jan 1974-Nov 1975.
2-16 up to 1+1HD, 2-12 up to 2+1HD, 1-6 up to 4+1HD, 240ft.

As above no save no undead.

[Admin Pete]

Bitd day the way I handled it was:

Original D&D (Gygax & Arneson) 5th+ prints, Dec 1975 onward.
2-16 up to 1+1HD, 2-12 up to 2+1HD, 1-6 up to 3HD, 1 up to 4+1HD, 240ft.

No Save, No Undead

(2-16 up to 1+1HD) +  (2-12 up to 2+1HD) + (1-6 up to 3HD) + 1 up to 4+1HD, 240ft.

I don't know anyone else who has said they run it this way; however, this is way our group ran it. All I can say is that it never seemed to be over powered for the game that we ran.

[waysoftheearth]

For me the original spell description can involve over much figuring when there are different sorts of creatures--including the players themselves--in the mix.

I'm a simpleton. So I boil it all down to 4--14 normal types (in my games 2 HD horses, cavemen, gnolls, and the like are considered normals), or exactly one heroic type (not over 4+1 HD). Only creatures that normally sleep can be affected (no undead, no oozes).

In the case of normals, I start with the nearest to the target and work outward from there. If (normal-type) players are nearest, they are affected equally.

I ignore the 1" diameter mentioned in S&S; I generally let the magic affect "the whole room" indoors, or an area similar to a haste spell outdoors.

S&S also mentions a 4--16 turn duration which seems quite long for an already potent spell. So I've toyed with the notion that duration could be the inverse of the number affected; that way sleep affects 14 normals for 1 turn, or 1 normal for 14 turns, or anything in between. In theory this saves you making an additional throw, but in practise it can be more fun to make that second throw, even if it takes marginally longer.

[Admin Pete]

For duration I always figured it was good for a nap (15-30) min or less if woken up by combat noise or woken deliberately. I use a combat melee round of 6 seconds with 10 rounds equals a turn equals a minute. I figured there was a low to medium chance of them waking due to combat noise during the first turn, and an increasing chance each turn. Of course any of the sleeping could be woken by a good hard shake or slap, etc.


I have thought about a higher level sleep spell for higher level monsters with a saving throw repeatedly over the years but have never implemented it. I don't play magic-users myself and I have yet to have a player that wanted to create new spells, but if I had one, I would absolutely love it.

[tetramorph]

MU concentrates on a target or set of possible targets
Not an "area affect" spell, but a concentrated target spell
So no worries about "friendly fire"
5+HD works on only one target and saving throw nullifies
4 HD one target no save
3 HD 1d6 targets no save
2HD 2d6 targets no save
1HD 3d6 targets no save
No undead, no oozes, nothing that doesn't sleep
Lasts until someone wakes up the sleeper by shaking or pouring water or some other serious awakening action

Wow. This is a powerful spell!

[Hexenritter Verlag]

Sleep: A Sleep spell affects from 2–16 1st-level types (hit dice of up to 1 + 1), from

2–12 2nd-level types (hit dice of up to 2 + 1), from 1–6 3rd-level types, and but

1 4th-level type (up to 4 + 1 hit dice). The spell always affects up to the number of

creatures determined by the dice. If more than the number rolled could be affected,

determine which “sleep” by random selection. Range: 24”.

Depending on campaign I will say they are sleep until the spell is dispelled in some fashion as I determine it. It does get a save unless the creature is below 1-HD, as they are too weak to resist. In a superheroic campaign the effected creature/pc can be shaken awake otherwise no dice. They can be killed sleeping, no to hit needed - straight murked.

[robertsconley]

What I wrote up for my take

Sleep (Magic-User, 1st Level)
Range: 240 feet; Duration: 1 hour, Art: Web
This spells put all enemies of the caster to sleep within line of sight. Up to 4d4 HD may be effected by this spell. Only creatures of 4 HD or less may be affected.
Focused Art: Up to 6d4 HD may be effected.