Full Version: Characters and Sleep
OK, my "search-fu" is failing me. I'm learning the SR4 rules because it's time to get my kids hooked on gaming and I've noticed in the core rulebook there are two references to modifiers bue to lack of sleep (the drug Long Haul on p 249 and the Sleep Regulator bioware on p 340) but I can't find what the modifiers actually should be or just how much sleep a character actually "needs" in a day. Am I just missing it, or is this one of those GM decisions? On a related note, does the Extended Test interval of 1 Day actually mean the entire "waking" day, or just 8 hours or so of that day?
Welcome to Dumpshock!!
Its largely a GM discretion thing. You could adapt the rules for fatigue on page 155, to force PCs to sleep after exceptionally long hauls. You should also note that the main reason (from a game mechanics perspective) to sleep is to heal stun damage. Otherwise its mostly a role-playing element.
As far as the 1 day extended test interval, I generally consider "1 day" to mean a 24 hour period during which the character is spending every spare minute (i.e. other than sleeping, eating and toileting) working on their project. You could even say that the sleep they do get is so minimal that at the end of the 24 hour period they get a few boxes of stun damage for fatigue and need to rest once their work is done. Alternately, you could rule that a PC can forego sleep altogether to shorten their interval by 6-8 hours, but then I would definitely use some kind of fatigue rule (maybe 6 boxes of stun minus their hits on the extended test). Eventually they would accrue so much damage they'd have to sleep or risk a glitch and ruining their work. Thats when the sleep regulator would really come into its own.
Its largely a GM discretion thing. You could adapt the rules for fatigue on page 155, to force PCs to sleep after exceptionally long hauls. You should also note that the main reason (from a game mechanics perspective) to sleep is to heal stun damage. Otherwise its mostly a role-playing element.
As far as the 1 day extended test interval, I generally consider "1 day" to mean a 24 hour period during which the character is spending every spare minute (i.e. other than sleeping, eating and toileting) working on their project. You could even say that the sleep they do get is so minimal that at the end of the 24 hour period they get a few boxes of stun damage for fatigue and need to rest once their work is done. Alternately, you could rule that a PC can forego sleep altogether to shorten their interval by 6-8 hours, but then I would definitely use some kind of fatigue rule (maybe 6 boxes of stun minus their hits on the extended test). Eventually they would accrue so much damage they'd have to sleep or risk a glitch and ruining their work. Thats when the sleep regulator would really come into its own.
QUOTE (tricwebs @ Dec 31 2008, 10:48 AM) 
On a related note, does the Extended Test interval of 1 Day actually mean the entire "waking" day, or just 8 hours or so of that day?
I have always played it that a "1 day" interval (when it's something a character is "working on") represents 8-12 hours of work. However, the character cannot engage in any other task "of significance" during the period they are working on the task.
Welcome to DS! Good luck on hooking your kids.
I personally hold to the belief that Runners are used to pushing their bodies to extremes. I hold that after 48 hours of being up and going is were most runners have to call it a day. I have personally run for 3 full days with no sleep then crashed for like 20 hrs. so I know the body may not like it but with enough adrenaline anyone can go for days with no sleep.
The system we use:
A character can stay up 16 hours without trouble, after which he has to make a Willpower + Body roll (wound modifiers apply). Each hit is an additional hour he can stay up.
After this time, he takes one point of (unresisted) Stun DV, and re-rolls. This continues until he's incapacitated.
While sleeping, a character heals one Stun DV per hour. On top of this, a character typically needs 8 hours of sleep per night. Waking up early requires a Willpower + Body check, with a number of hits needed equal to the remaining hours. If you fail, you take one Stun DV for each hit you failed by.
Does this make any sense?
A character can stay up 16 hours without trouble, after which he has to make a Willpower + Body roll (wound modifiers apply). Each hit is an additional hour he can stay up.
After this time, he takes one point of (unresisted) Stun DV, and re-rolls. This continues until he's incapacitated.
While sleeping, a character heals one Stun DV per hour. On top of this, a character typically needs 8 hours of sleep per night. Waking up early requires a Willpower + Body check, with a number of hits needed equal to the remaining hours. If you fail, you take one Stun DV for each hit you failed by.
Does this make any sense?
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