D&D 5E (2014) Inspiration - Stealing from other games

[evileeyore]

Not necessarily a problem, just a fallout effect -- folks whose style is quiet and conservative won't be getting much from that pile.

Which is why I hate those type of rewards.

I prefer the FATE style for reward points.

 

[Li Shenron]

Having a group nomination works pretty well, but it tends to reward bigger, showier displays, and emphasizes funny over interesting. Not necessarily a problem, just a fallout effect -- folks whose style is quiet and conservative won't be getting much from that pile.

Which is why I hate those type of rewards.

I agree, it sounds like a nightmare. Not to mention the problem with players who put up bad showy displays because they don't realize how bad they are at that. Should the DM rather reward the result or the effort?

I think the best way to go, is really restrict inspiration to those occasions when the player makes the character act accordingly to his/her narrative (e.g. flaws, bonds etc.) and that results in a significant suboptimal choice or negative consequence.

This is completely unrelated to players being "shy" or "funny". It is related to essentially a playstyle i.e. what the player values most between playing in-character vs playing "efficiently"

When the player figures out that if her PC acts strongly in-character there'll be a negative consequence, but decides to accept that, inspiration works as a compensation. But another player can opt for making the most "efficient" choice, which is already its own reward.

Essentially this allows the system to avoid encouraging one playstyle over the other, so it's a win-win situation IMHO.

 

[Tormyr]

I do like that the basic rules only allow 1 inspiration point at a time. I think this may keep players more engaged on the roleplay side. They gain a point and then spend a point. Wash, rinse, repeat.