D&D 5E The Bard's Inspiration Die...

[Croesus]

You might be missing that the choice to use the die is made after the d20 is rolled. Turning misses into hits or a failed saving throw into a success is huge. In the case of the Lore bard turning a hit into a miss is also huge. In effect it's not just 1 roll, it's like affecting all of the character's rolls until it is used.

This is my take. Most of the time, when the bard gives a character an inspiration die, it doesn't have much effect. Because players save it for emergencies, it's usually not even used before the (edit) ten minute duration expires.

But those times when it is used...wow, it can make a huge difference. Just one example: we were fighting Zuggtmoy and the paladin blew his save against the spores, which would have made him an ally of the demon lord. I reminded the player that the bard had given him an inspiration die. The die was enough to make the save. If he doesn't make the save, we definitely lose the fight, and might have been wiped out completely.

When playing a bard, I always want more uses of the inspiration die. That said, the bard doesn't need the boost proposed.

 

[ad_hoc]

Because players save it for emergencies, it's usually not even used before the one minute duration expires.

*10 minute duration.

That is enough for 2-3 encounters.

 

[Slit518]

The Bard is already possibly the most powerful class in the game. At the very least up there among the most powerful.

You might be missing that the choice to use the die is made after the d20 is rolled. Turning misses into hits or a failed saving throw into a success is huge. In the case of the Lore bard turning a hit into a miss is also huge. In effect it's not just 1 roll, it's like affecting all of the character's rolls until it is used.

But doesn't it still fall under the rule, "before the result?"

So I could roll the 1d20, get a 5, and as long as the DM hasn't told me if it's hit or miss, I can still use my Inspiration die, can I not? But once the DM tells me, I can no longer use the Inspirational die?

 

[Croesus]

*10 minute duration.

Erm, umm, isn't that what I said? Oops...

That is enough for 2-3 encounters.

The way my group plays, we rarely have two encounters within 10 minutes. But I take your point - in the right situation, the inspiration die can have more chances to be used.

 

[Satyrn]

But doesn't it still fall under the rule, "before the result?"

So I could roll the 1d20, get a 5, and as long as the DM hasn't told me if it's hit or miss, I can still use my Inspiration die, can I not? But once the DM tells me, I can no longer use the Inspirational die?

Totally depends on the table. My table tends to know the enemy's AC within the first couple rounds of combat so we don't need the DM to tell us anything to make effective use of the feature.

 

[Croesus]

But doesn't it still fall under the rule, "before the result?"

So I could roll the 1d20, get a 5, and as long as the DM hasn't told me if it's hit or miss, I can still use my Inspiration die, can I not? But once the DM tells me, I can no longer use the Inspirational die?

Correct per RAW, though as Satyrn says, some tables are more lenient. For myself, if I didn't give the player the opportunity to use the die before I announced the result, I'd still let them - that's my fault, not theirs.

 

[ad_hoc]

But doesn't it still fall under the rule, "before the result?"

So I could roll the 1d20, get a 5, and as long as the DM hasn't told me if it's hit or miss, I can still use my Inspiration die, can I not? But once the DM tells me, I can no longer use the Inspirational die?

I mean yes, but if you get a 5 in a regular circumstance you shouldn't waste the inspiration die on it. That's why it is so powerful to choose after you roll. If you roll very low or high just don't use it.

AC/DC are pretty easy to guess.

Saving Throw DCs are 8 + ability + proficiency
AC is Dex + (Natural) Armour.

Both of them are relatively flat across CR.

For example AC is typically around 13 for CR 0-3 and 16 at CR 9. If there are significant differences it's easy to tell by looking at the monster.

Saving Throws are even easier to guess. They basically just scale linearly with CR.

 

[ad_hoc]

The way my group plays, we rarely have two encounters within 10 minutes. But I take your point - in the right situation, the inspiration die can have more chances to be used.

Fair enough. In my experience encounters tend to happen in pockets. One combat alerts nearby creatures and so a few combats tend to happen in quick succession.

Alternatively the party needs to get somewhere in a hurry and so they end up having a few encounters without much stopping.

 

[Slit518]

I guess the best way to look at it would be an example like this:

The Bard and party are fighting. The Bard looks over to the Warrior who is facing a 2 vs 1.

The Bard speaks, "Don't worry, Jerry! You can do this, you got this, bro!"

Jerry feels inspired by the Bard's words of encouragement.

Jerry can now add 1d6 to any 1 attack roll or saving throw within the next 10 minutes.

I still feel like the Bard should have a multi-person one, even if it's a die-grade lower, and a 1 minute duration.

Like for example if the Fighter, Rogue, and Wizard are all fighting multiple opponents and are near each other.

The Bard speaks, "Don't worry, Ted, Jerry, and Vanessa, we got this! We've faced far worse before and have come out on top!"

Ted, Jerry, and Vanessa can now add 1d4 to any 1 attack roll or saving throw within the next minute.

 

[Satyrn]

I guess the best way to look at it would be an example like this:

The Bard and party are fighting. The Bard looks over to the Warrior who is facing a 2 vs 1.

The Bard speaks, "Don't worry, Jerry! You can do this, you got this, bro!"

Jerry feels inspired by the Bard's words of encouragement.

Jerry can now add 1d6 to any 1 attack roll or saving throw within the next 10 minutes.

I still feel like the Bard should have a multi-person one, even if it's a die-grade lower, and a 1 minute duration.

Like for example if the Fighter, Rogue, and Wizard are all fighting multiple opponents and are near each other.

The Bard speaks, "Don't worry, Ted, Jerry, and Vanessa, we got this! We've faced far worse before and have come out on top!"

Ted, Jerry, and Vanessa can now add 1d4 to any 1 attack roll or saving throw within the next minute.

Until now, you never suggested that making it "multi-target" would come with any such balancing changes. Indeed, when I pointed out you'd make cutting words a less appealing feature, you suggested upping it to be a multitarget effect, too, without any sort of modification to mitigate the increase in power.