Sleep — Complete D&D 5e Spell Guide

Table of Contents

• •Quick Answer
• •Overview
• •Stat Block
• •When NOT to Use This
• •Spell Slot Efficiency
• •Pro Tips
• •Common Mistakes to Avoid
• •Usage Tips
• •Rules Notes
• •Synergies
• •Anti-Patterns
• •Tactical Modules
• •Countermeasures
• •Sleep in the 2024 Rules
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Quick Answer

Sleep is a 1st-level enchantment spell for Bards, Sorcerers, and Wizards. In the 2014 rules there is no saving throw: you roll 5d8, and creatures within 20 feet of a point you choose fall unconscious, lowest current hit points first, until the total runs out. In the 2024 rules it is a different spell: targets in a 5-foot-radius sphere make a Wisdom save, a failure leaves them incapacitated, and a second failed save on their next turn knocks them unconscious.

Overview

Sleep is two spells sharing one name, and the tactics barely overlap.

The 2014 version is a hit point budget. Roll 5d8 (average 22.5). Starting with the lowest current hit points, each creature in the 20-foot radius falls unconscious and its hit points come off the total. When the next creature has more hit points than the total has left, the spell stops. At 1st level that usually means two or three goblins or kobolds asleep before they act. Against an enemy with more hit points than the pool, it only works once that enemy is wounded, so at higher levels it turns into a finisher.

The 2024 version uses saves. Each creature you choose in a 5-foot-radius sphere makes a Wisdom save. On a failure it is incapacitated until the end of its next turn, then it saves again. Fail twice and it is unconscious for up to 1 minute while you concentrate. It works on a creature of any hit point total, but a single success ends it, and the area is much smaller.

Both versions have the same weakness: damage wakes the sleeper. Sleep sets up a capture, a getaway, or a free round. It is not a damage combo.

Stat Block

When NOT to Use This

• •(2014) Every enemy has more hit points than you can roll. An unhurt ogre has 59. Even a 3rd-level slot (9d8) tops out at 72 and averages 40.5.
• •(2014) Your wounded ally is standing in the radius. The spell picks the lowest current hit points first, friend or foe. A fighter at 6 hit points goes to sleep before the goblin next to them.
• •The targets are immune. Undead and creatures immune to being charmed ignore the 2014 spell. Elves and creatures immune to exhaustion automatically succeed against the 2024 spell.

Spell Slot Efficiency

When worth the slot: Early-level fights against groups of small creatures (2014), or a strong single enemy with a low Wisdom save that you want to capture (2024).

When NOT worth the slot: Against creatures immune to it (see below), or (2014) against healthy enemies at mid levels.

Upcasting

The 2014 spell adds 2d8 to the pool for each slot level above 1st. The 2024 spell has no upcasting entry, so a higher slot changes nothing.

Pro Tips

Tip #1: (2014) Cast it after the enemy is hurt.

Why it works: The pool counts current hit points, not maximum. An ogre with 59 hit points is out of reach, but once your party has knocked it down to 20, a 1st-level Sleep (5d8) puts it down about 72% of the time.

This avoids the mistake of: Opening with Sleep on a healthy brute and rolling a total that can't touch it.

Tip #2: (2014) Count the sleepers before you cast.

Why it works: Four 2014 goblins have 7 hit points each. Your 5d8 needs 14 for two of them (96%), 21 for three (65%), and 28 for all four (17%). At 2nd level (7d8) the odds of all four rise to about 74%. Decide whether two asleep is worth the slot before you spend it.

This avoids the mistake of: Expecting a 1st-level Sleep to clear a whole room.

Tip #3: (2024) Use the first failure as a free round.

Why it works: A creature that fails the first save is incapacitated until the end of its next turn: no actions, bonus actions, or reactions, and its own concentration breaks. It can still move. That costs it a turn even if it passes the second save, so treat the knockout as a bonus.

This avoids the mistake of: Calling the spell wasted because the target woke up on the second save.

Tip #4: Tie them up, don't stab them.

Why it works: Any damage ends the spell on that creature. Use the minute to bind, disarm, or walk past sleepers. If you must fight, fight the ones still awake.

This avoids the mistake of: Getting one critical hit against a sleeper and then facing a fully awake enemy.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Giving 2014 Sleep a saving throw

Why it's bad: The 2014 text has no save. The only questions are hit points, immunity, and whether the creature is inside the 20-foot radius.

Do this instead: Roll 5d8, sort the creatures in the area by current hit points, and subtract in order.

Thinking a big roll skips past a high-HP creature

Why it's bad: The spell works in ascending order. When the next creature has more hit points than the remaining total, nothing after it can be affected either, because everyone after it has even more.

Do this instead: Sort the creatures by current hit points before you subtract.

Thinking only damage wakes a sleeper

Why it's bad: In 2014, anyone can use an action to shake or slap a sleeper awake. In 2024, a creature within 5 feet can take an action to shake it out of the spell.

Do this instead: Keep sleepers away from their awake friends, or deal with the friends first.

Usage Tips

• •Worked example (2014), kobolds: A 2014 kobold has 5 hit points. A 1st-level Sleep needs 15 for three kobolds (94%) and 20 for four (72%).
• •Worked example (2014), bandits: A bandit has 11 hit points. One goes down 99% of the time, two (22 hit points) about 57% of the time.
• •Worked example (2024), goblins: A 1st-level wizard with 16 Intelligence has spell save DC 13. A 2024 goblin warrior (Wisdom save −1) fails on a d20 roll of 13 or lower: 65%. It fails both saves 0.65 × 0.65 = 42% of the time.
• •Worked example (2024), an ogre: An ogre has Wisdom save −2. Against DC 13 it fails each save on 14 or lower (70%), so it falls unconscious 49% of the time. A 1st-level 2014 Sleep (maximum 40) can't touch a healthy ogre at 59 hit points.
• •See what sleeping means in the unconscious condition guide, and the first stage of the 2024 spell in the incapacitated condition guide.
• •Roll the 2014 pool with the dice roller.
• •Related guides: Color Spray is another 1st-level hit point pool spell (2014), and Hold Person is the save-based control spell for humanoids.

Rules Notes

• •2014 order and cutoff: Creatures within 20 feet of the point are affected in ascending order of current hit points, ignoring creatures already unconscious. A creature's hit points must be equal to or less than the remaining total for it to be affected.
• •2014 immunity: Undead and creatures immune to being charmed aren't affected. A 2014 elf's Fey Ancestry trait also says magic can't put it to sleep.
• •2014 waking: The spell ends on a sleeper when the 1-minute duration ends, when it takes damage, or when someone uses an action to shake or slap it awake.
• •2024 saves: A failed Wisdom save means incapacitated until the end of the creature's next turn, then a second save. A second failure means unconscious for the duration.
• •2024 immunity: Creatures that don't sleep, such as elves, and creatures immune to the Exhaustion condition automatically succeed on the saves.
• •Unconscious (both editions): The creature drops what it holds, falls prone, automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saves, attacks against it have advantage, and hits from within 5 feet are critical hits.

Synergies

• •Disarming: An unconscious creature drops whatever it is holding. Pick up the weapon or the spellbook before the spell ends.
• •Burning Hands or a ranged volley first (2014): Lower the enemies' current hit points, then Sleep the wounded ones.
• •Stealth: Put a sentry to sleep and walk past it. The 2014 version has no save, so the sentry gets no roll.

Anti-Patterns

• •Attacking the sleeper you most wanted to keep out of the fight.
• •Casting 2024 Sleep on a creature immune to exhaustion, such as a 2024 zombie or skeleton.

Tactical Modules

• •Ambush opener (2014): Center the radius on the cluster of weakest enemies. Each one that drops is one fewer attack against you this round.
• •Capture (2024): Target the one creature you want alive, then keep its allies away so nobody shakes it awake.

Countermeasures

• •Threat: The target's allies shake it awake. Response: Keep them busy or out of reach. Fallback: Bind the sleeper first; waking up tied is still progress.
• •Threat: An ally's area attack hits the sleepers and wakes them. Response: Agree on targets before you cast. Fallback: Use the sleepers' lost turn to deal with the awake enemies.
• •Threat: (2024) You take damage and lose concentration, which wakes every target. Response: Stay out of reach and behind cover. Fallback: The first failed save still cost the target its actions for a turn.

Sleep in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 Player's Handbook rewrote Sleep almost completely. It is still a 1st-level enchantment for Bards, Sorcerers, and Wizards, and the duration is still 1 minute. Everything else changed:

• •Area and range: a 5-foot-radius sphere within 60 feet, instead of a 20-foot radius within 90 feet.
• •Targets: each creature of your choice in the area. The 2014 spell had no choice.
• •Saves instead of hit points: a Wisdom save, then a second save at the end of the creature's next turn. Two failures mean unconscious.
• •Concentration: now required.
• •Immunity: creatures that don't sleep (elves) and creatures immune to exhaustion automatically succeed. The old undead and charm-immunity rule is gone. Many 2024 undead and constructs are immune to exhaustion anyway, but a creature immune only to charm, such as the 2024 homunculus, can now be put to sleep.
• •No upcasting: the higher-level slot entry was removed.
• •Waking: the shaker must be within 5 feet.
• •Material: a pinch of sand or rose petals. The cricket is gone.

The 2024 text does not say whether a vampire or other undead without exhaustion immunity counts as a creature that doesn't sleep. That is a DM ruling, not rules text. A creature immune to the Unconscious condition, such as the 2024 ettin, can still be incapacitated by the first failed save, but the second step does nothing to it.

In the 2024 rules, Circle of the Land druids who choose temperate land always have Sleep prepared from druid level 3.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Sleep do in 5e?

In the 2014 rules, you roll 5d8 and creatures within 20 feet of a point fall unconscious, lowest current hit points first, until the total runs out. In the 2024 rules, chosen creatures in a 5-foot radius make a Wisdom save, are incapacitated on a failure, and fall unconscious if they fail a second save at the end of their next turn.

Does Sleep allow a saving throw in 5e?

Not in the 2014 rules, which use a hit point pool instead. The 2024 version uses two Wisdom saves, and a creature has to fail both to fall unconscious.

Does Sleep work on elves in 5e?

No. In the 2014 rules, Fey Ancestry says magic can't put an elf to sleep. The 2024 spell says creatures that don't sleep, such as elves, automatically succeed on the saves.

Does Sleep work on undead or constructs in 5e?

The 2014 spell doesn't affect undead or creatures immune to being charmed, which includes many constructs. The 2024 spell fails against creatures immune to exhaustion, which includes the 2024 zombie, skeleton, and animated armor.

Does damage wake a creature from Sleep in 5e?

Yes, in both editions. Another creature can also use an action to shake it awake; in the 2024 rules that creature must be within 5 feet.

Does Sleep need concentration in 5e?

Not in the 2014 rules. It lasts 1 minute on its own. The 2024 version requires concentration, so losing it wakes everyone.

Can Sleep hit your own allies in 5e?

The 2014 spell can. It affects every creature in the 20-foot radius in order of hit points, and a wounded ally may be first in line. The 2024 spell only affects creatures of your choice.

Is Sleep good at higher levels in 5e?

The 2014 version falls off once enemies outgrow your pool, though it still finishes wounded targets. The 2024 version doesn't scale with slots but works on any creature that fails two Wisdom saves.

Citations: SRD 5.1 (2014 rules), SRD 5.2.1 (2024 rules)

Includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, licensed under CC BY 4.0.