TaranTheWanderer
Legend
A couple Inspiration mechanics. I see it used differently at different tables: in one game we don't use it at all, in another the DM gives it out like candy and, in a 3rd, we get it so unreliably that players tend to just horde it and/or forget about it.
1. I thought, to make it a bit more consistent, it could be attached to dice rolls.
I'm a big fan of giving it out for interesting rp or ideas the players come up with but I also hand it out when horrible stuff happens - like karma. So, to that end, I was thinking that giving it out when a character is on the receiving end of a crit would be a nice, neutral way of doing it.
Like the dreaded 'crit-fails' that punish PCs that roll the dice more often, handing out inspiration for getting hit by a crit will 'reward' PCs that take risks and put themselves out there. So, while maybe the Melee fighter is getting more inspiration than the archer, the fighter is taking more hits for the team.
2. I've also seen spending inspiration vary from table to table: one table, spending Inspiration gives you the typical advantage to a roll. At another table, it's used more like Fate Points where you can declare things on the scene or create story-based advantages.
To tie it to dice rolls, allowing them to turn hits into critical hits. Or, conversely, instead of granting disadvantage to an enemy, turn an enemy crit into a regular hit. Obviously, they'd give up receiving an Inspiration for receiving a crit and have to spend one instead. This is kind of the karma I like. Admittedly, turning a crit into a regular hit is almost exactly the same as making your opponent roll disadvantage...and, probably, having them roll disadvantage is probably a better choice since you can turn a crit into a miss. The difference is one is done before the roll and the other is done after the roll. So you have to choose.
Thoughts on each point?
Edit: example:
1. I thought, to make it a bit more consistent, it could be attached to dice rolls.
I'm a big fan of giving it out for interesting rp or ideas the players come up with but I also hand it out when horrible stuff happens - like karma. So, to that end, I was thinking that giving it out when a character is on the receiving end of a crit would be a nice, neutral way of doing it.
Like the dreaded 'crit-fails' that punish PCs that roll the dice more often, handing out inspiration for getting hit by a crit will 'reward' PCs that take risks and put themselves out there. So, while maybe the Melee fighter is getting more inspiration than the archer, the fighter is taking more hits for the team.
2. I've also seen spending inspiration vary from table to table: one table, spending Inspiration gives you the typical advantage to a roll. At another table, it's used more like Fate Points where you can declare things on the scene or create story-based advantages.
To tie it to dice rolls, allowing them to turn hits into critical hits. Or, conversely, instead of granting disadvantage to an enemy, turn an enemy crit into a regular hit. Obviously, they'd give up receiving an Inspiration for receiving a crit and have to spend one instead. This is kind of the karma I like. Admittedly, turning a crit into a regular hit is almost exactly the same as making your opponent roll disadvantage...and, probably, having them roll disadvantage is probably a better choice since you can turn a crit into a miss. The difference is one is done before the roll and the other is done after the roll. So you have to choose.
Thoughts on each point?
Edit: example:
- Bob has 1 inspiration at the start of combat. He gets attacked by an orc. The orc critically hits, doing double damage. Bob gets an Inspiration. He now has 2.
- Next round, Bob really wants to hit the orc. If he spends an inspiration now, he gets advantage. Instead, he risks a regular attack. The attack hits so Bob decides to turn that hit into a critical hit. Bob has one inspiration left.
- -The orc attacks Bob again. Bob is pretty hurt so he can spend his inspiration to have the attack be rolled at disadvantage. Since bob has a high AC, he doesn't bother. Unfortunately the Orc's player is having really lucky rolls and rolls another crit. Bob can choose to turn that crit into a regular hit by spending his inspiration or he can take the double damage and get another inspiration. He's almost dead so he spends the inspiration instead to turn it into a regular hit and now bob has 0 inspiration.
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