Keeping watch and resting

[Allianis]

I have a cleric with the half-celestial template, but this question can apply to any spellcaster who does not require sleep. The rules state that spellcasters require a night's rest in order to replenish their spells, but they don't require sleep. Can such a character keep watch while the rest of the part sleeps in the camp, and count the watch as "rest"?

[lytokk]

Elves only require 4 hours of trancing, not a full 8. But elvish spellcasters still need a full 8 hours of rest in order to cast spells. I'm referring to arcane spellcasters since I don't think divine casters even require sleep.

Another example is warforged, as they don't sleep, but can still be arcane spellcasters. I think its safe to say they can keep watch and still prepare their spells in the morning. Its actually, in my mind, a good time for the WF to do self repairs and even craft items. They just need 8 hours of mental rest in order to prepare spells, and sometimes its easy to relax by performing menial tasks.

[bjoern]

From the SRD's section on Arcane Spells:

Rest
To prepare her daily spells, a wizard must first sleep for 8 hours. The wizard does not have to slumber for every minute of the time, but she must refrain from movement, combat, spellcasting, skill use, conversation, or any other fairly demanding physical or mental task during the rest period. If her rest is interrupted, each interruption adds 1 hour to the total amount of time she has to rest in order to clear her mind, and she must have at least 1 hour of uninterrupted rest immediately prior to preparing her spells. If the character does not need to sleep for some reason, she still must have 8 hours of restful calm before preparing any spells.

Taking the role of night watch requires constant mental focus in what is happening around you. Your mind isn't able to rest. If your mind is resting then you are "dozing off" and aren't providing attention as a "night watch" and will get eaten by a moose.

[dextercorvia]

I have a cleric with the half-celestial template, but this question can apply to any spellcaster who does not require sleep. The rules state that spellcasters require a night's rest in order to replenish their spells, but they don't require sleep. Can such a character keep watch while the rest of the part sleeps in the camp, and count the watch as "rest"?

I think most DMs equate rest with doing basically nothing, whether or not you are sleeping. However, clerics do not require 8 hours of rest to recover spells.

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. The time is usually associated with some daily event. If some event prevents a character from praying at the proper time, he must do so as soon as possible. If the character does not stop to pray for spells at the first opportunity, he must wait until the next day to prepare spells.

[atemu1234]

From the SRD's section on Arcane Spells:

Rest
To prepare her daily spells, a wizard must first sleep for 8 hours. The wizard does not have to slumber for every minute of the time, but she must refrain from movement, combat, spellcasting, skill use, conversation, or any other fairly demanding physical or mental task during the rest period. If her rest is interrupted, each interruption adds 1 hour to the total amount of time she has to rest in order to clear her mind, and she must have at least 1 hour of uninterrupted rest immediately prior to preparing her spells. If the character does not need to sleep for some reason, she still must have 8 hours of restful calm before preparing any spells.

Taking the role of night watch requires constant mental focus in what is happening around you. Your mind isn't able to rest. If your mind is resting then you are "dozing off" and aren't providing attention as a "night watch" and will get eaten by a moose.

Or raccoons. I have stories.

[ZamielVanWeber]

Divine spells terse lose their daily spells if they cast them within 8 hours of regaining them, but that is the only downside of the clerich keeping watch and can be avoided with persistent buffs (if he is in to that sort of thing).

[BowStreetRunner]

In most of the campaigns I've been in, arcane casters who do not need to sleep cannot be considered to be on watch during their rest period to regain spells. The only real advantage for them is that if there is an encounter during this time, they do not need to make listen checks at a -10 penalty to see if the noise wakes them.