D&D (2024) Inspiration From Nat 20 Will Bog Down The Game

[dave2008]

I like the idea of gaining inspiration on a nat 1 instead. Gaining it on a nat 20 feels like "win more".

I like "win more." I mean, who really doesn't like win more? I don't think I ever think: "I should really win less!"

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I do the math based on whoever is best at the skill. My players almost always try to have every test done by the person with the biggest bonus. My Table Tracker lists every skill every PC is proficient (or Expert) in, so I know their approximate bonuses.

wow, okay thanks

 

[Bill Zebub]

I set the DC based on how hard it feels. As the characters improve the players try harder and harder things.

 

[Flamestrike]

I think it should be generated on a natural 1.

Compensation prizes are always nice, and its a good way to help out a player who is just rolling crap (and we we've all been there).

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yep. You just convinced me.

I think inspiration is a cool game design idea, but I also liked it being fundamentally semi-optional and a matter of DM discretion. And the bad news is that while the inspiration on nat20s rule is clearly easily ignoreable, the playtest also encourages players to make race and feat choices that secure more of it for them (and give every player who just wants to play a human because they are a human inspiration every morning). Doubtlessly it will be embedded in various spells and class features before all is done. Thus it won't be an ignoreable rule without taking something away from players in fundamentally unbalanced ways.

So while I can imagine "nat20" inspiration being demoted to optional rule status, inspiration in general is probably going to be pretty deeply embedded in this system unless they make a major change from what seems to be the direction they plan to take it.

Inspiration is being crowbarred into the game by WotC in 6e, because the designers liked it and it wasn't used enough in 5e's original configuration. Inflating it's use like this in the playtest makes this clear to me.

 

[Micah Sweet]

No, it means that I'll acknowledge that the meal is not for me, without advocating that the restaurant remove it from their menu entirely and thus deny it to those diners who do enjoy it.

What does that even mean? It's feedback. If you don't like something, are you just supposed to not say anything when they ask you how you felt about it?

 

[Micah Sweet]

Six months from now, one of these posts will read: “I keep forgetting that my Fighter can now do all these superhuman, epic things that would turn Wizards green with envy if only I could remember to use them. So I guess these new rules suck.”

You're assuming a lot for the 6e fighter. I'd love for you to be right.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Inspiration is being crowbarred into the game by WotC in 6e, because the designers liked it and it wasn't used enough in 5e's original configuration. Inflating it's use like this in the playtest makes this clear to me.

I guess one person’s crowbar is another person’s sprinkling of confectioner’s sugar. Some of us have always liked the idea of Inspiration, just not how it was implemented.

 

[Clint_L]

I think WotC's attempts to tinker with nat 20s and nat 1s are coming from a desire to codify what is already happening at the table: players and DMs are treating those rolls as extra-special, even when RAW don't say they need to.

If your table is anything like mine, when a critical success or failure happens you find ways to make it really cool in the story, often in very impactful ways. And I think that is great. We don't need the new inspiration rule because we are already coming up with way more story-centric ways to recognize those moments.

So I think all WotC needs to do is add in a bit of writing really emphasizing that those rolls are really useful moments to spice up the story, and encourage DMs to use their imagination. That's what's fun. Stop trying to standardize something that works really well as is. Leave it alone.

 

[Kai Lord]

I actually really like tying Inspiration to natural 20's to reflect that extra confidence that can accompany such a resounding success because it makes it an objective occurrence rather than relying on the DM to arbitrarily hand it out based on role-playing. The existing method has resulted in our current player group getting pretty much zero awards of Inspiration after three years of regular play.

Part of the reason I believe is that our group is pretty seasoned and is always playing in-character/adhering to our backgrounds, etc. So what is the DM to do? Hand out Inspiration every five minutes? So I think his response has been to go the other way and basically hand out nothing because he's so used to our style of play that very little surprises or impresses him, so to speak.

So tying Inspiration to a static game mechanic means that it will actually come up in play (which I'm thankful for) while not occurring too often since nat 20's don't occur that frequently.