I have an elf in my group who only needs 4 hours of rest instead of 8 like all the others. The problem is he keeps asking what he can do in that time and I have no idea what to tell him. I've read in the PHB about crafting and such but it doesn't really flesh out how the system actually works. Can he for example make potions? Craft weapons? So far he has done miscellaneous things like perform for money and hunt for herbs (which I have no idea what they do).
[RPG] What can a character do during a rest
dnd-5erests
Related Solutions
An elf receives the benefits of a long rest in 4 hours while using the "Trance" trait.
According to the 2017 update to the Sage Advice Compendium:
Q: Does the Trance trait allow an elf to finish a long rest in 4 hours?
A: 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. This answer has been altered as a result of a tweak to the rules for a long rest, which appears in newer printings of the Player’s Handbook.
This ruling reverses guidance in the earlier version of the SAC, due to errata changing the rules for long rests.
Interactions between the "Trance" trait and long rests
A long rest is defined as:
... a period of extended downtime, at least 8 hours long, during which a character sleeps for at least 6 hours and performs no more than 2 hours of light activity, such as reading, talking, eating, or standing watch.
The elf's Trance trait is defined as:
Elves don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.
Since the "Trance" trait replaces the need for sleep (which most races need in order to complete a long rest), the elf is able to satisfy the requirements of the long rest while in a semiconscious trance for four hours.
There aren't rules, but there are some guidelines and boundaries...
I think you'll have an easy time interrupting a long rest (and thus denying the benefits therefrom), but going into the exhaustion mechanic seems too much. But interrupting even one night's rest should be a lesson to the characters: day two of encounters gets pretty tough, and looking ahead to a possible third day without a long rest should be enough to drive them inside. They're not paying to get the long rest, they're paying for assurance that they'll have a long rest.
Below I detail the rules and scenarios that inform my thinking.
Resting
For a long rest RAW requires at least 8 hours: at least 6 sleeping, no more than 2 of light activity: reading, talking, eating, and standing watch are the examples given. 1 hour of walking, (any) fighting, casting spells, "or similar adventuring activity" are examples of what might ruin a long rest. (PHB p.186)
Exhaustion
The next touch-point we have on the spectrum is that of exhaustion. At the mildest level of exhaustion one incurs disadvantage on all ability checks.
The general description refers to starvation or extreme (freezing or scorching) temperatures (PHB p.291). Further, under Travel Pace we see that the ninth, tenth, &c. hours of a forced march become progressively more-likely of incurring exhaustion (PHB p.181).
Two examples from D&D Expeditions modules also come to mind, one from season 2, one from season 3:
DDEX2-4 Maybem in Earthspur Mines requires the characters travel through a blizzard for approximately three days. Failing a DC12 CON save will gain characters 1d4 exhaustion levels. So three days in a blizzard might get you no exhaustion; might get you disadvantage on all checks, saves, and attacks as well as halving movement and HP.
DDEX3-2 Shackles of Blood lands the characters in a prisoners' caravan where the guards provide them only moldy bread, fetid water, and the guards "jab at prisoners with sticks to pass the time." The journey is "cramped and uncomfortable." Unless the characters alleviate these conditions, they will arrive at their destination with one level of exhaustion.
From these general guidelines and specific examples we see it takes a good deal--much more than an uncomfortable night's sleep--to incur even one level of exhaustion. So the exhaustion mechanic would seem horribly overpowered for your park-sleepers.
Encounters
Recall that encounters don't have to be hostile, and don't even have to bear sentient features. An encounter might just be the lamplighter coming by to douse lamps. Or a caravan of fish coming up from the docks at 4am. Or the night-rending sound of tomcats fighting for territory. Or a few hours' cold rain (good call, @GMJoe). Any of these--and certainly a few of them--could reasonably turn a long rest into a couple of short rests.
And a "relatively safe" urban area certainly has a militia or constabulary--or gang!--making it so. If you're not getting pick-pocketed or stabbed, it's got to be because the local authority is keeping a lid on those problems. And you're "those sorts of problems."
Economy
A night's lodging has a price. What are your characters paying for when they purchase a night's lodging? If you can answer that, you know what to take away when they eschew a roof and a bed.
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Best Answer
It's important to note that the Elf's 4 hours of sleep grants 8 only absolves it of the need to sleep, not of the need to rest 8 hours (or maybe it doesn't, that debate rages here).
So depending on which interpretation of the rule you decide to use for your game (neither one is game breaking, so it's really a pick-em for the DM), you can then use that to determine the kinds of actions that are allowable during the remaining 4 hours.
If you use the looser version of the rule things like scouting, foraging, and even short jaunts into nearby settlements are completely fair game. It's worth spending some time out of game working with the player to figure out what kinds of things he wants to do during this time. However, I'd advise against taking up game time dealing with this on a regular basis as it's something that concerns one single player and most times will be irrelevant to your other players.
If you take the designer's interpretation of this rule (and really in a mixed party, I think this is the one I'd prefer), things like taking extra watches, transcribing scrolls into spell books, brewing potions, cooking the party's meals, are all things that would be good uses of that times and great services to the party.
The important thing here is to provide the racial trait with weight, so it feels special, but doesn't make the character seem overpowered. I feel like that is what the designer's are trying to prevent with the sleep vs rest rule, they're trying to prevent the elves from feeling overpowered (I doubt very much that this would actually lead to any real balance concerns, but feel is important).