Does any way to negate humans' need for sleep exist?

Question

While staying human (so no altering the character into undead or constructs, or polymorphing into an elf) and keeping the ability to take Rests, is there any way to completely negate a human's need for sleep?

The purpose is for

• druid characters needing to remain awake to prevent the ending of wild shape, while restoring extended use through long rests
• characters with curses that kill when they fall asleep if not dispelled/broken first
• being in worlds where if you fall asleep your soul will be ripped into eternal torment
• etc.

Answer 1

Yes

Pact of the Tome warlocks can take the Aspect of the Moon invocation, which explicitly negates the need for sleep.

You no longer need sleep and can't be forced to sleep by any means[...]

For a druid, this obviously would require multiclassing.

Answer 2

A previous revision of this answer suggested that long rests did not require sleep and there were no rules for sleep deprivation. These assertions were respectively rendered incorrect by the publishing of 2017's PHB errata and then Xanathar's Guide to Everything.

The core books (PHB, DMG, and MM) have no rules regarding penalties for sleep deprivation; the closest I can find is that the PHB entry for Constitution states:

The DM might call for a Constitution check when you try to accomplish tasks like the following:

...

• Go without sleep

However, Xanathar's Guide to Everything contains a wealth of optional rules for DMs who want to cover more unusual situations, and on page 78 it offers the following rule regarding characters who are forgoing long rests/sleep:

Whenever you end a 24-hour period without finishing a long rest, you must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or suffer one level of exhaustion.

In any event; the application of levels of exhaustion to characters who are going without sleep is the obvious way to represent such a situation in the rules of the game. Your GM might rule that exhaustion incurred this way cannot be removed without sleeping; for starvation and dehydration, for instance, the game states that exhaustion caused by a lack of food or water cannot be removed until the character has eaten and drunk the appropriate amount.

In 3e, a popular method of overcoming fatigue was the use of the Restoration spells in their capacity to remove the conditions of exhaustion or fatigue. In 5e, the Greater Restoration spell can be used to remove one level of exhaustion (the Lesser Restoration spell only affects a much more limited set of conditions and cannot be used to combat exhaustion). Were I your GM and I was giving you levels of exhaustion for not sleeping, I would rule that Greater Restoration could be used to overcome sleep-related fatigue.

You might also have luck with the possibility of a custom magic item. 5e includes an Ioun Stone of Sustenance (and previous versions of the game included Rings of Sustenance) which enable the character to go without needing to eat or drink at all. A similarly priced item of Sleeplessness/Wakefulness which likewise negates the need for characters to actually sleep would seem like a perfectly reasonable magical item to me.

Answer 3

Yes

The penalty for never sleeping is you start gaining a level of exhaustion each day after a bit.

Greater Restoration can remove a level of exhaustion (and is on the Druid list).

• A Druid can afford to make use of this spell by using up 100gp of diamond dust daily each time they incur a level of exhaustion.
• A Cleric can do this indefinitely via casting Conjure Celestial to summon Couatls, which can cast Greater Restoration for free (once per day per Couatl), in addition to snorting diamond dust at lower levels.
• Anyone who's got the assistance of an Androsphinx can go without sleep easily-- such creatures can cast Greater Restoration thrice daily without material components.
• Anyone who's friends with an Empyrean certainly needs no sleep; said creatures can cast the spell without material components at-will.

Answer 4

Potion of Watchful Rest

Potion of Watchful Rest. When you drink this potion, you gain the following benefits for the next 8 hours: magic can’t put you to sleep, and you can remain awake during a long rest and still gain its benefits. This sweet, amber-colored brew has no effect on creatures that don’t require sleep, such as elves.

This is a common magic item and costs c. 50gp.

They can be purchased from a vendor in the Dungeon of the Mad Mage,

"The Alchemist" in room 4 of dungeon level four.

Answer 5

There are no ways to stay active and eliminate sleep, but creatures can be preserved without sleeping.

I found no way for a human to go about their ordinary adventuring life without any sleep. This is unsurprising, given the importance of long rests in 5e's mechanics. Therefore, I don't think you'll be able to attain your first example.

However, there are ways to preserve a human so that they do not need to sleep, in order to satisfy your second and third examples.

First, the Sequester spell puts creatures into a state of suspended animation:

If the target is a creature, it falls into a state of suspended animation. Time ceases to flow for it, and it doesn't grow older.

This would allow a human to be preserved in a sleepless state until the curse can be broken.

Likewise, a Mirror of Life Trapping puts a creature into an extradimensional cell where they can stay awake forever:

Creatures trapped in the mirror's cells don't age, and they don't need to eat, drink, or sleep.

Answer 6

There is also the Bead of Favor. One of the beads on the Necklace of Prayer Beads (Rare), allowing you to cast Greater Restoration once per day.

Necklace of Prayer Beads DMG'24 p281 Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement by a cleric, druid, or paladin) 1 lb. This necklace has 1d4 + 2 magic beads made from aquamarine, black pearl, or topaz. It also has many nonmagical beads made from stones such as amber, bloodstone, citrine, coral, jade, pearl, or quartz. If a magic bead is removed from the necklace, that bead loses its magic.

Six types of magic beads exist. The DM decides the type of each bead on the necklace or determines it randomly by rolling on the table below. A necklace can have more than one bead of the same type. To use one, you must be wearing the necklace. Each bead contains a spell that you can cast from it as a Bonus Action (using your spell save DC if a save is necessary). Once a magic bead's spell is cast, that bead can't be used again until the next dawn.

1d20 Bead Spell 1-6 Bead of Blessing Bless 7-12 Bead of Curing Cure Wounds (level 2 version) 13-16 Bead of Favor Greater Restoration 17-18 Bead of Smiting Shining Smite 19 Bead of Summons Guardian of Faith 20 Bead of Wind Walking Wind Walk

Answer 7

There is no requirement to sleep in order to gain the benefit of a long rest. From the Roll20 Compendium page on Resting (which is drawn from the SRD):

A long rest is a period of extended downtime, at least 8 hours long, during which a character sleeps or performs light activity: reading, talking, eating, or standing watch for no more than 2 hours.

You can sleep or you can do those other things. This Sage Advice reinforces that interpretation:

In short, a long rest and sleep aren’t the same thing; you can sleep when you’re not taking a long rest, and you can take a long rest and not sleep.

There are no rules for the effects of not sleeping but a DM would surely make a ruling, probably involving the Exhaustion condition.