[Basic] Advantage of the Week (#42): Doesn't Sleep, Less Sleep

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

Is there one for being able to precisely customize one's sleeping patterns? People with odd occupational demands along that line have some ability to do so but suppose it was more precise. For instance what if you knew you had a long yomp coming tomorrow so you tell your body to sleep for 24 hours and it does so?

Sleeps (known) primary function is as a cleanup and repair system, of the body and of the brain. You can't proactively repair things that haven't happened yet, any more than you can show up in the ER to get gunshot wounds you haven't received yet fixed.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

Is there one for being able to precisely customize one's sleeping patterns? People with odd occupational demands along that line have some ability to do so but suppose it was more precise. For instance what if you knew you had a long yomp coming tomorrow so you tell your body to sleep for 24 hours and it does so?

In a SF game this can be done technologically. For instance the Imperial Marines are ready to heroically jump on the bloodthirsty terrorists/ferociously swoop down on the gallant rebels. They are in artificial hibernation until they reach the area of operations. So they have several days before they go out. If this is bad biology add some genetic manipulation phlebotanium as a smokescreen.

Doesn't Sleep (Time-Spanning, +100%) [40]

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Anders

Doesn't Sleep (Time-Spanning, +100%) [40]

That seems totally unreasonably overpriced and not like a logical build.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

That seems totally unreasonably overpriced and not like a logical build.

I should have added a smiley.

But Less Sleep with a Cosmic (+50%) addition seems like a reasonable build. This adds versatility but isn't good enough for a +100% version. And of course you have to determine just how much sleep you can store up.

Or maybe an Energy Reserve that can only go towards paying for lost sleep and which can only be recharged with sleep.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Anders

I should have added a smiley.

But Less Sleep with a Cosmic (+50%) addition seems like a reasonable build. This adds versatility but isn't good enough for a +100% version. And of course you have to determine just how much sleep you can store up.

Or maybe an Energy Reserve that can only go towards paying for lost sleep and which can only be recharged with sleep.

The percentage of hours spent sleeping and the length of the cycle are two separate things. In general, having a longer cycle seems more useful, since you have a greater leeway. This is why I miss the Reduced Sleep trait. (Admittedly, the trait was muddy due to combining a different cycle length with a different percentage of sleep.) So the trait should have a cost separate from Less Sleep.

As for how to get a few days of being awake in a row at TL9:
Accessory (Modafinil dispenser, TL8, BIO152) [1].

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

That seems totally unreasonably overpriced and not like a logical build.

As described it would be a something a Bene Gesserit would have. Surely it would cost a lot.

[Celti]

I simply charge a single point for the perk "Catnapper", allowing people to sleep in arbitrary patterns as long as they get at least (8 - Less Sleep) hours every 24.

It's never caused game breakage for me.

[Kalzazz]

Being able to bank sleep to me would be less sleep, preparation required

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Celti

I simply charge a single point for the perk "Catnapper", allowing people to sleep in arbitrary patterns as long as they get at least (8 - Less Sleep) hours every 24.

For a human character, that sounds about right. More or fewer hours is an actual disadvantage or advantage, and past a certain point is either an illness or an exotic advantage. Having the standard 8 hours (or whatever other number of hours you need) differently distributed would usually be a feature, if it was a fixed pattern. Having the ability to change the distribution at will seems like a perk; normally it would take a Will roll (or maybe a HT roll) to go to sleep at an unusual time, I think.

Now I might allow a quirk of "wakes up in the middle of the night"; that's a common aspect of aging, often accompanied by a need to get to the bathroom quickly.

For nonhumans, I'd allow radically differently distributed "sleep." For example, a seasonal spirit might be awake all winter and sleep the other nine months.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Kalzazz

Being able to bank sleep to me would be less sleep, preparation required

It comes out pretty neatly as a perk that way:

Less Sleep, 1 hour (Preparation required, 1 hour, -50%) [1].

So I'd just call it a perk. You could even make it a leveled perk, at least up to the normal human limit of four hours.