D&D 5E The Case for Inspiration

[cmad1977]

Use it all the time.

 

[pogre]

Every player in our game starts with a marker to give another PC inspiration. Generally, when a player does something cool or role plays well one or two players throw their markers at her and she claims an inspiration point to use later. No DM hassle and it adds to the game.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Proficiencies do matter. Inspiration gives you advantage on an ability check, not an auto-success.

From levels 1-4, proficiencies only affect 1/10 rolls. Once you hit 17th level, they're affecting as many as 3/10!

Unless the DM is denying non-proficient rolls, auto-succeeding proficient rolls, routinely using passive scores or otherwise deviating from the 'roll and add modifiers' scheme (all things which will affect inspiration usage as well), then proficiencies are very low impact, with the exception of characters who get significant skill use boosts.

 

[iserith]

From levels 1-4, proficiencies only affect 1/10 rolls. Once you hit 17th level, they're affecting as many as 3/10!

Unless the DM is denying non-proficient rolls, auto-succeeding proficient rolls, routinely using passive scores or otherwise deviating from the 'roll and add modifiers' scheme (all things which will affect inspiration usage as well), then proficiencies are very low impact, with the exception of characters who get significant skill use boosts.

I don't know what you're referring to. That hasn't been my experience.

 

[Coroc]

A superb use for Inspiration, although it requires all rolls in the open and no fudging DM is to use it for others e.g.:

- A fellow Player misses a crucial save, make him reroll

- Make the DM reroll a critical attack which downs your fellow or a save which prevents the death of the villain.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

From levels 1-4, proficiencies only affect 1/10 rolls. Once you hit 17th level, they're affecting as many as 3/10!

That's not how probability works.

 

[Saeviomagy]

That's not how probability works.

Yeah, it is. +2 to your rolls actually only makes a difference to your success/failure against a static DC 2 times out of every 20 rolls (on average, naturally). The 2 times that it makes the difference between meeting the DC and not meeting the DC. Every other time, it was irrelevant. A bystander would not be able to tell whether or not you had that bonus.

That's different to how it affects your success chance - you need to know the DC, and your original bonus for that. But if I'm just rolling a d20 and trying to equal a 10, then a +2 bonus will only change the outcome 2 rolls out of every 20 (assuming a DC that originally requires a roll).

 

[Li Shenron]

I am still not sold on Inspiration.

For me the problem is not that it depends on the DM (and I would argue that it still does even with this self-claimed variant), bu rather these:

- it grants advantage, which is statistically powerful but also boring: there's already many sources of advantage in the game, if you grant inspiration too frequently then you get advantage more often than not, if you grant it scarcely then the benefit is underwhelming

- it's too easy to roleplay with some personality traits. A player could come up with a trait like "I absolutely delight in combat", what are you then going to do, grant inspiration once per encounter? If players know that it's only a matter of roleplay to earn advantage, it can become devastately annoying... think of what a PC with the Entertainer background and trait "I get bitter if I'm not the center of attention." can do to your game! And that is the same whether you grant inspiration easily (the player will use advantage immediately and try again all the time) or only on really good roleplay (the player will still try all the time in hope of scoring)

The phenomenon is not dissimilar to granting XP for roleplay. It can get very annoying quickly.

The only situation when IMO it really works well is when you grant inspiration as a reward for roleplaying the trait or flaw in a way that actually leads to paying a price. For example, a PC gives away her treasure to the poor, or lets a prisoner escape out of pity, or loses temper and starts a fight they should not. But it must be clear that the player is aware she is making a wrong decision tactically, and does so because it is believed it would be very much in-character. That to me is a good way to use inspiration, since it's a trade-off between a more convenient decision and a compensation, for the sake of the story.

 

[Coroc]

[MENTION=1465]Li Shenron[/MENTION] #48 Of course you do not grant Inspiration for every time some combat delighted PC enters a combat. The most common reason to grant inspiration is when a player finds some unexpected genius or comical solution to an obstacle (which might be combat, riddle, social encounter whatever). In my games a Player can have only one inspiration at a time. To spend it in anything else than a life or death Situation is a total waste!

It is for those situations when e.g. you or a nother PC failed his 3rd death save, or the examples i gave above in#45 and for that it is a very nice tool and it is one of the things i love about 5E (along with BA). It certainly is not intended that you get Advantage for a single unimportant attack in an unimportant combat Encounter. The good Thing about it is that you can influence any d20 roll (not just to hit rolls). It is liek a divine Intervention powerwise, so do not give it to often to the Players or it loses ist Magic.

 

[CapnZapp]

Yeah, it is. +2 to your rolls actually only makes a difference to your success/failure against a static DC 2 times out of every 20 rolls (on average, naturally). The 2 times that it makes the difference between meeting the DC and not meeting the DC. Every other time, it was irrelevant. A bystander would not be able to tell whether or not you had that bonus.

That's different to how it affects your success chance - you need to know the DC, and your original bonus for that. But if I'm just rolling a d20 and trying to equal a 10, then a +2 bonus will only change the outcome 2 rolls out of every 20 (assuming a DC that originally requires a roll).

Why are you telling us this as if "only change the outcome 2 rolls out of every 20" wasn't identical to a +2 bonus?

Starting proficiency increase you success rate by 10 percentage units. No more, but certainly no less.