Somnium
Sleeping
Celerity: 6 Hours
Requirements: Usually a dry and hopefully comfortable place to lay down or sit still.
Effect
Gain the benefits of Complete Natural Healing and Stress Reset.
Remove 1 Stack of Sleep Deprivation if applicable.
Detriments: Every Day without Sleeping applies a stack of Sleep Deprivation.
Sleep Deprivation: At 1 Stack of Sleep Deprivation, Relax is disabled.
Each additional stack of Sleep Deprivation increases Stress by one for each category of Endurance.
Stress Collapse applies as normal, but cannot be recovered from until all stacks of Sleep Deprivation have been removed.
Story Guide’s Notes
I tend to combine Somnium with Routine. This creates a 10 Hour block where our party heals up, resets their stress levels, and knocks out all of their Routine. Since these two mechanics run together easily, I leave it up to the players how they manage the block of time by instituting that any shelf life and perishables from their Routines don’t start their timers until the last hour. This opens up keeping watch sleep blocks where they can do their daily things and of course, campfire tales, all while always having an eye open.
In instances where I am going to intentionally have them work with Sleep Deprivation and damage carried over from the previous day with stress levels kept high, well, if it suits the situation before somnium is even mentioned then I feel I have done good plot work. Springing these problems on a party leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
In my long years as a Story Guide, I find nurturing my player’s sense of security about their characters when it comes to certain mechanics is among the best ways to maintain keeping long term campaigns rolling right along. I suppose this is especially important as a note for professional Story Guides.
