How often do you use the Inspiration rules?

Rabbitbait · Feb 19, 2019

I give it out all the time. You use an alternative that you can get on Roll20 - a deck of cards where inspiration gives you advantage OR a different benefit. This is standard and I give it out quite a lot. I'd give it more, but my players tend to save it for tricky situations.

Where a character does something incredible I give them 'heroic inspiration' which gives something waaaay better.

This is where they can be found: https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/gameaddon/279/inspiration-cards

5ekyu · Feb 19, 2019

We do not at all.

my group has tried all sorts of flavor of "gimmick points" (hero points, drama points plot points, story points) in a lot of different systems and generally find them distasteful. The more the mechanics step away from character the less we like it. So it was gone before we tried 5e. a system which relies on them and incorporates them into its core mechanics (Cypher and 2d20 comes to mind) wont get past the door.

Shiroiken · Feb 19, 2019

I'm not generally a fan of the mechanic, nor is my group. I used it in my prior AP style campaign when the party achieved certain story moments, but I also modified it so that it could be used after the roll, but could not be transferred between players. Even then about half the players would forget they had it and not get it the next time.

NaturalZero · Feb 19, 2019

I think that next time I DM, I might try to give out the inspiration die and allow it ON TOP of regular advantage. I remember getting inspiration in one session while running a OoV paladin, and i could never use it when i really needed to hit because i already had advantage. If it becomes "super advantage" then it becomes a special game mechanic that players might like more and think about.

That's what I'm going to call it, actually. "Super Advantage Die." Roll it ON TOP of a normal advantage die, if you want.

Umbran · Feb 19, 2019

Shiroiken said:
Even then about half the players would forget they had it and not get it the next time.

There's an interesting bit of human psychology. If you have a resource, and are unlikely to get more of it, you hoard that resource. You never use it, because if you do, then you won't have it at that critical time. But then since you aren't in the habit of using it... you forget about it, and don't use it when you really should.

So, you wind up with a chicken and egg thing - if the GM never gives it out, the players won't use it. But, if the players don't use it, the GM also forgets, or gets the idea that the players don't find it valuable, and so they stop giving it out, ensuring that the players won't use it.

In this sense, the fact that you can only ever have one point of inspiration at a time is a flaw. It does not allow the players to test the waters, and see how quickly inspiration will come, so the GM doesn't see it used.

Ways around this: One GM I know is just super-generous with allowing someone to have advantage if they describe a really cool approach to their problem at hand. Another says that, instead of each PC having one point, the party has a pool of points equal to the number of players at the table that session. They can be drawn on by mutual agreement. There's a stack of chips on the table to remind everyone that they are there.

MNblockhead · Feb 19, 2019

I've tried a variety of approaches. When played using RAW, I didn't like it. It was easy for both DM and players to forget and I don't like the idea of the DM rewarding players for role playing. It is up to the players how they want to play the game.

Then I let the players decide when to award inspiration. That didn't help.

I like the fleeting luck mechanic of Dungeon Crawl Classics, but it doesn't work well with 5e's advantage/disadvantage mechanic.

I tried some approaches outlined by The Angry GM: https://theangrygm.com/take-the-suck-out-of-inspiration/
It was better in terms of how inspiration is rewarded, but it was still often overlooked.

In my current campaign, I am doing something entirely different. I tie inspiration with training using some concepts from an EN World En5ider article: Master and Apprentice (En5ider 23).

In my game, you have to spend time and money to level up and you make a skill roles. If you score high enough, you can gain an inspiration. The only other way to gain inspiration is by performing sacred rites as a downtime activity (DMG 129). You can only have one inspiration point at a time.

You can use inspiration to automatically succeed on any skill check, saving throw, or attack involving a skill, attribute, tool set, or weapon you are proficient in. Inspiration can also be saved to automatically bump training success up one tier. If you save your inspiration until your next training, it must be used for training. Inspiration never carried over from one level to another.

This might not make a lot of sense without giving the full context on how training and leveling up in my campaign work, but bottom line is that inspiration come from highly successful training or performing sacred rites and, in addition to using it per RAW, you an also use it to bump up your success when you next train to level up.

MNblockhead · Feb 19, 2019

Umbran said:
There's an interesting bit of human psychology. If you have a resource, and are unlikely to get more of it, you hoard that resource. You never use it, because if you do, then you won't have it at that critical time. But then since you aren't in the habit of using it... you forget about it, and don't use it when you really should.

This is why I think the DCC Lankkmar mechanic of fleeting luck works so much better.

Luck in DCC is a resource you can spend to give a plus one modifier to any role (except for thieves who can us luck points to role a d3 for each luck point spend and add the sum to their attack/save/skill check roll).

You have a luck score. But you also have "fleeting luck." You gain fleeting luck by either rolling a crit success (a 20 on a d20) or the DM can give you fleeting luck if you engage in "shenanigans" by performing cool (or foolish) actions, or just when the DM feels that the characters deserve recognition.

I find that DCC DMs often forget to give luck, so it is nice to have a dice mechanic built it.

But here is the brilliant part. If anyone rolls a "1" on a d20 roll (a fumble) EVERYONE at the table losses ALL of their fleeting luck. So it behooves you to use your fleeting luck when you have it.

Also, because you lose your luck fairly easily, players will remind, cajole, beg the DM to give them or their co-players fleeting luck when they do cool things.

In a future campaign, I am tempted to replace inspiration with fleeting luck, DCC Lankmar style.

ccs · Feb 19, 2019

I don't use the 5e inspiration mechanic at all.
You know what the reward for playing your character well is? More/more interesting things will occur. I'll write stuff more & more centered on your character.
If you just sit there rolling dice but not really bringing your character to life? Then you're relegating yourself to the role of sidekick. You can change that if you want.

Immoralkickass · Feb 19, 2019

My DM just straight up grant all of us 1 inspiration point at the start of each session. At higher levels, we got to earn up to a max of 3 points by answering some questions that flesh out our character, such as 'What is your spirit animal?'

Its funny because when you are blessed by the dice gods, you end up not using it at all. But if its not your day, you can spend all of it and still roll crap.

sim-h · Feb 19, 2019

I'm with S'mon - I give it out for cool stuff, that makes a scene more memorable in a way that melds with the character's personality, bonds, flaws etc. I will also as a secondary measure give it out for direct roleplay of a trait, bond flaw etc. but that is rarer and the same trait won't generally be rewarded for repeated use - only the first time or perhaps the first time in a long while.