D&D 5E The Bard's Combat Inspiration is Messed Up

[Will Doyle]

I hate all instances of "before the result is announced", so I always let players use these powers after the event if necessary.

 

[Staffan]

I hate all instances of "before the result is announced", so I always let players use these powers after the event if necessary.

I half-agree. Before-result works perfectly fine when the player making the choice whether to spend a resource is the same player who rolls the dice. Eberron Action Points work like that - you roll your Will save, see that you got a 17, and decide to spend an AP to add 1d6 to the result. Then you tell the DM the final result, and he lets you know if you succeeded or not.

Doing the same on the DM's roll... that doesn't really work so well, because now the DM both has to show you the roll (I generally don't have any problem rolling in the open, but many DMs disagree) and wait for your decision.

 

[Hussar]

I have to admit, my fighter's ability to grant disadvantage on attacks is a little frustrating sometimes. I'll hold off to protect someone from a nasty attack, only to have the first roll miss anyway.

Not a big deal, but, it is sometimes a bit discouraging to waste an effort on something that was going to miss anyway, only to see other attacks, that I could have blocked, succeed.

 

[Scorpio616]

I don't like attack roll interference abilities at all since it slows down my rolls for my hordes, but I just roll in front of the players and stay quiet for a second letting the player decide whether or not to use the ability. Its very annoying since I have to give the PCs a chance to Disadvantage the attack before the roll (Fighter), a chance to Subtract from the roll (bard) before determining the hit, a chance to Shield boost AC after the hit (Sorcerer), and a chance to Reduce damage after the damage roll, but before the final damage (Bard).

 

[TarionzCousin]

I half-agree.

I like this response; it keeps them guessing!

It reminds me of a friend's question in college "Are you part dumb?"

 

[DracoSuave]

"I rolled a 16, does that hit?" "I use Combat Inspiration.... my AC is.... 17. No it does not." "Ok."

Let the players manage their own stats.

 

[miniaturehoarder]

"I rolled a 16, does that hit?" "I use Combat Inspiration.... my AC is.... 17. No it does not." "Ok."

Let the players manage their own stats.

The Bard ability affects the raw roll, not the modified roll which determines the hit or miss. Being able to know if it is an assured hit is a significantly stronger ability.

DM: "The Gnoll's attack die shows a 12, are you affecting it bard?"

 

[billd91]

"I rolled a 16, does that hit?" "I use Combat Inspiration.... my AC is.... 17. No it does not." "Ok."

Let the players manage their own stats.

With powers like this, I do the same. I generally roll my NPC's attack and announce the total I get and leave it to the players to respond with "Ouch" or "You got me". At that point, I then consider the result announced. Numbers do not make the announcement - declaring "hit" or "miss" is the point of no return.

 

[Jester David]

I have to admit, my fighter's ability to grant disadvantage on attacks is a little frustrating sometimes. I'll hold off to protect someone from a nasty attack, only to have the first roll miss anyway.

Not a big deal, but, it is sometimes a bit discouraging to waste an effort on something that was going to miss anyway, only to see other attacks, that I could have blocked, succeed.

That's my problem with bardic inspiration as well. You use this bonus and half the time you succeed without it and 1/4 of the time the roll is too low for it to matter. The mechanic might only have an impact a very small amount of the time.

Adding the whole "modify rolls that you can see" thing just makes an irritating mechanic weird. I read that and immediately thought of my giant gaming table and wondered "what if the bard is far away from the die?"

 

[DracoSuave]

The Bard ability affects the raw roll, not the modified roll which determines the hit or miss. Being able to know if it is an assured hit is a significantly stronger ability.

DM: "The Gnoll's attack die shows a 12, are you affecting it bard?"

Totals of dice results and modifiers are referred to as rolls many times during the game. Nothing about this ability suggests any sort of exception. Disclaimer: Rules at your table may vary, of course.

There's no gain to hiding this information tho. If you know the value of the die roll came up 10, but suddenly you find out he hit you with an attack roll of 16, it doesn't take a lot of math skill to determine the bonus is +6. After that, you now know what their total attack roll is when they attack anyways--nothing has actually been concealed from you at the end of the day.

Some people do enjoy the discovery of 16-10=+6, but some of us got over it with an overdose of math flash cards.

That's my problem with bardic inspiration as well. You use this bonus and half the time you succeed without it and 1/4 of the time the roll is too low for it to matter. The mechanic might only have an impact a very small amount of the time.

Adding the whole "modify rolls that you can see" thing just makes an irritating mechanic weird. I read that and immediately thought of my giant gaming table and wondered "what if the bard is far away from the die?"

It adds tension and strategy, actually. Do you only use it when you get hit by 1, or do you spend it as desperation maneuvers when you can actually whiff the inspiration? You should know the total going in.