D&D 5E How I'm Managing Inspiration

[Nebulous]

So, you don't suffer from the problem of forgetting to award inspiration? That's the biggie, to me.

Yes, just absolutely forget over and over to reward it. Last time we had two players use their Inspiration, but it was the first time in 6 sessions that it happened.

 

[Nebulous]

Did the PC just do something harmful to his character or character goals, yet is inline with what his character would do?

I think this is key, there has to be some element of risk to the character or the party while at the same time being aligned with the PCs traits.

 

[KarinsDad]

To each table its own. Rule zero, and everything.

But I find that my tables laugh too much, so there's no way that I would award inspiration for . Only these .

Also, D&D 5 threw several pages of bonus charts out the window. Adv/dis is the reason for that. So I wouldn't consider inspiration to be like "get out of jail free." Its more like "thank goodness I don't have to add d20+2+3+2+4-2-2."

Yeah, the problem is that inspiration is equivalent to +4 or +5 (which really didn't happen too often in earlier editions). And the choice to use it whenever the player wants (as opposed to when terrain / scenario dictates) is similar to action points or fate points.

I'm a PC, I'm going to "bend the rules" a bit by using an ability that NPCs of the same race/class can never get. It's just distasteful.

So, I want it to be special, not to be handed out like candy at the start of a session. I want players to earn it a bit. It's a boon. It shouldn't be auto-handed out. To each their own.

Btw, our table laughs a lot as well. I'm talking about "epic laughs". Ones that are remembered beyond the current session. Ones that define a group of PCs.

 

[miniaturehoarder]

So, you don't suffer from the problem of forgetting to award inspiration? That's the biggie, to me.

My players tend to "forget" that they can pass inspiration, instead hording them thinking they are some sort of after the fact Fate Point that will save their life. Had many inspirations awarded fall off into the void because those who had them failed to pass around what they had or just didn't make use of them.

 

[Kalshane]

I've DM'd 2 session and always forgot to award Inspiration.

At first thought I only wanted to award it when they played out a negative part of their character which gave them a disadvantage in the game.
My players aren't big roleplayers so I was wondering if I should award it in even more cases to encourage them.

For example my sister's character has a trait that she is often fiddling with things and dropping them by accident.
She picked up an axe that was on display in a weapons shop and dropped it.

Is this something that deserves Inspiration or not?
I want to be careful so that it's not easily exploited afterwards.

I would say if the fiddling and dropping resulted in creating a new challenge or adverse situation for the PCs (the shopkeeper gets angry at the PCs and raises his prices/orders them out of his store/whatever) or progressed the story somehow, by all means it should grant inspiration. If it was just something that happened that had no effect on the game /story, then no.

 

[Nemio]

I would say if the fiddling and dropping resulted in creating a new challenge or adverse situation for the PCs (the shopkeeper gets angry at the PCs and raises his prices/orders them out of his store/whatever) or progressed the story somehow, by all means it should grant inspiration. If it was just something that happened that had no effect on the game /story, then no.

It was just something that happened but was the first time she acted out the personality of the character.
Like I said, my players are new (like me) and not used to roleplaying.

I feel like I should reward them Inspiration more easily in the beginning to encourage them to keep it up and then make it harder to earn.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Cute idea, Jester. Doesn't really save the mechanic for me, though. I don't really much care for mechanics that try to reward 'good' RP, as judged by the DM. I don't really want my players to be dancing monkeys for my amusement, I hate having a whiny player always trying to /get/ inspiration, nor do I want to try to push a more timid player to RP just to get a mechanical advantage.

Then again, its so easy to ignore, it hasn't been an issue. Even the whiny types give up eventually.

 

[Superking]

I use gold coins to indicate inspiration. Some house rules I have incorporated are:

1.)Each player gets an inspiration coin to give to another player when they add fun, play to bonds/flaws or otherwise improve the fun factor at the table. They cannot use the coin themselves, must give it to someone else.

2.) No one can have more than one inspiration coin to use. i.e. No stockpiling.

3.) Alternatively, they could use their coin for disadvantage on the DM. Initially, I discouraged this but the table was in favor of it. So it stands.

 

[Will Doyle]

I can never remember everyone's bonds, flaws and ideals; especially in one-shot or public games. I think this is actually a slight problem with the system: remembering three things for each player is a lot to keep track of. 9 times out of 10 I just give it out for being awesome - figuring out plot points, acting appropriate to the setting, making the table laugh or cheer.

 

[77IM]

I use the honor system: I tell my players to just take inspiration whenever they feel they've earned it.

They usually forget about it, too. ;}