iserith
Magic Wordsmith
I hated Inspiration in the early days of D&D 5e. You could probably dig up some tweets of mine that show that. It was 16 to 20 characteristics for me to track as DM and I already had enough to do like manage villains and monsters, drink Irish whiskey, and smack talk the players. I also wasn't a fan of the impetus for players to fish for Inspiration by playing to the DM who, if they were anything like me, didn't notice because again 16 to 20 characteristics is a bit much even when you're not on your fourth Jameson. As well, it felt too much like a gift a magnanimous DM would hand out whenever he or she took pity on the players who were singing so loyally for their supper. It felt gross and generally wasn't something the players could count on as a consistent resource.
I've noticed in a lot of games I've joined over the last couple years (and in a lot of forum posts and tweets) that Inspiration under-utilized or not used at all. As noted above, I can certainly understand why. Others use bonus XP or other rewards when players play to established characterization. But of all the methods I've seen, the one that works best in my experience and addresses my own concerns about Inspiration is one I've posted here on the forums: Players claim Inspiration.
In an in-person game, have the players write down their characters' personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws on separate index cards. Whenever a player feels he or she has adequately portrayed his or her character's personality trait, ideal, bond, or flaw during play, the player holds up the index card for all to see. (Some sort of theatrical flourish is optional.) The player has now claimed Inspiration and marks it on his or her character sheet. The index card is set aside - it can't be used again this session, but the other personal characteristics can be claimed for Inspiration, once each, for a total of 4 Inspiration per session. If you're in Roll20, it's similarly easy as you can just output your personal characteristic to chat, mark your Inspiration, and move on.
Now, this method assumes the players are operating in good faith and making a real effort to claim Inspiration only when it's appropriate. They're also not asking the DM for permission - that just slows things down and gets in the way. Everyone at the table will know if the player did a good job and will no doubt recognize it with an "Ooh," "Ahh," or "Nice..." Sometimes it'll be a bit of a stretch or cheesy. That's okay, too, if it's funny and it just serves to underscore the really good ones the players claim. In my experience that just encourages the players to try harder.
So that method takes care of the DM tracking anything. It takes the DM out of playing the role of the benevolent deity handing out boons. It can be counted on by players as a fairly consistent resource to the extent they can find a way to play to their characteristics during the session. And by limiting it to one Inspiration per characteristic, it incentivizes the players to portray the character's trait, ideal, bond, and flaw instead of just one or two of them (or none) which makes for more well-rounded and varied portrayals.
Why bother with Inspiration at all? People tend to do what they're incentivized to do. If you've always wanted your players to really get into it a bit more in portraying their characters, you can certainly do worse than use Inspiration in your games. Rolling two dice and taking the better result when you really need it is also a pretty clutch resource which should be attractive to those players at your table that really care about success. Even players who are already good about portraying their characters anyway would surely appreciate some recognition for it. There's also something magical about a player chiming in with a few great lines then throwing down the character's trait or flaw to claim Inspiration for being awesome in that moment. There's never a session of my game that doesn't have a good number of these instances peppered throughout. I highly encourage you to start using this mechanic and see how it impacts the quality of your game.
How do you use Inspiration in your games? Do you use a method similar to mine? What do your players have to do to earn it? What's the coolest example of what a player did to earn it in your game? If you don't use Inspiration, why don't you?
I've noticed in a lot of games I've joined over the last couple years (and in a lot of forum posts and tweets) that Inspiration under-utilized or not used at all. As noted above, I can certainly understand why. Others use bonus XP or other rewards when players play to established characterization. But of all the methods I've seen, the one that works best in my experience and addresses my own concerns about Inspiration is one I've posted here on the forums: Players claim Inspiration.
In an in-person game, have the players write down their characters' personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws on separate index cards. Whenever a player feels he or she has adequately portrayed his or her character's personality trait, ideal, bond, or flaw during play, the player holds up the index card for all to see. (Some sort of theatrical flourish is optional.) The player has now claimed Inspiration and marks it on his or her character sheet. The index card is set aside - it can't be used again this session, but the other personal characteristics can be claimed for Inspiration, once each, for a total of 4 Inspiration per session. If you're in Roll20, it's similarly easy as you can just output your personal characteristic to chat, mark your Inspiration, and move on.
Now, this method assumes the players are operating in good faith and making a real effort to claim Inspiration only when it's appropriate. They're also not asking the DM for permission - that just slows things down and gets in the way. Everyone at the table will know if the player did a good job and will no doubt recognize it with an "Ooh," "Ahh," or "Nice..." Sometimes it'll be a bit of a stretch or cheesy. That's okay, too, if it's funny and it just serves to underscore the really good ones the players claim. In my experience that just encourages the players to try harder.
So that method takes care of the DM tracking anything. It takes the DM out of playing the role of the benevolent deity handing out boons. It can be counted on by players as a fairly consistent resource to the extent they can find a way to play to their characteristics during the session. And by limiting it to one Inspiration per characteristic, it incentivizes the players to portray the character's trait, ideal, bond, and flaw instead of just one or two of them (or none) which makes for more well-rounded and varied portrayals.
Why bother with Inspiration at all? People tend to do what they're incentivized to do. If you've always wanted your players to really get into it a bit more in portraying their characters, you can certainly do worse than use Inspiration in your games. Rolling two dice and taking the better result when you really need it is also a pretty clutch resource which should be attractive to those players at your table that really care about success. Even players who are already good about portraying their characters anyway would surely appreciate some recognition for it. There's also something magical about a player chiming in with a few great lines then throwing down the character's trait or flaw to claim Inspiration for being awesome in that moment. There's never a session of my game that doesn't have a good number of these instances peppered throughout. I highly encourage you to start using this mechanic and see how it impacts the quality of your game.
How do you use Inspiration in your games? Do you use a method similar to mine? What do your players have to do to earn it? What's the coolest example of what a player did to earn it in your game? If you don't use Inspiration, why don't you?
