Sleep

Arcane Eye may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn more.
1st level Enchantment
Casting Time
1 Action
Range
90 Feet
Duration
1 minute
Components
V
S
M
Materials Required
A pinch of fine sand, rose petals, or a cricket
Class
Bard
Sorcerer
Wizard

Spell Description

This spell sends creatures into a magical slumber. Roll 5d8; the total is how many hit points of creatures this spell can affect. Creatures within 20 feet of a point you choose within range are affected in ascending order of their current hit points (ignoring unconscious creatures).

Starting with the creature that has the lowest current hit points, each creature affected by this spell falls unconscious until the spell ends, the sleeper takes damage, or someone uses an action to shake or slap the sleeper awake. Subtract each creature’s hit points from the total before moving on to the creature with the next lowest hit points. A creature’s hit points must be equal to or less than the remaining total for that creature to be affected.

Undead and creatures immune to being charmed aren’t affected by this spell.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, roll an additional 2d8 for each slot level above 1st.

Is Sleep Good?

Overall Rating: Green. This means that Sleep is a good spell.

Overall Notes: Sleep is a very good 1st level spell slot. It can easily end encounters at lower levels. By the time you reach 5th-level  it will be pretty useless unless you want a semi-consistent way of none lethal damage.

Class Specific Ratings for Sleep

Arcane Trickster rogue: Sleep is really good at low levels, but struggles to scale with enemy HP. Once you get to above level 5, doing non-lethal melee damage is a much more reliable way to knock enemies out.