mips42
Adventurer
Here is the thing, yes the examples I gave can all be accomplished using improvised actions. That is all well and good. The issue however with improvised actions is that they usually require your action to perform them. This means that you normally cannot also make an attack in the same round as you attempt one.
This stunt system allows you to perform these awesome stunts as a bonus action. This means you can perform the stunt and still get your bonus action. These stunts also should be more likely to succeed if not automatically succeed. These stunts are limited by your inspiration points meaning you probably won't even get one every encounter.
So yes, you can perform lots of these stunts by improvising. That isn't the point here. The point is that when you spend an inspiration point to perform a stunt, your stunt should just work and still give you an opportunity to take your action.
I understand your point. In my opinion, you are being too literal with the term 'action'. To take a simple example (from my own play experience with 4e, which had no rules for improvised actions either), consider the following:
A character passes by a doorway and hears two NPC's discussing the buying and selling of slaves. Now this PC's family was sold into slavery to pay off a family debt, so this is kind of a 'hot button' for them. The player said 'my character yells "YOU DON'T SELL PEOPLE!" Runs into the room, jumps up on the table that I see there, then leaps onto the pair, trying to attack them or knock them prone.'
To me, this is playing your PC for better or worse. Using 5e rules and my idea of how it works, I tell the player that I'll give them an inspiration point (if they don't have one already), allow the player to use part of their movement for the run to the table, ask for a Athletics or Dex check to jump on the table, then, after conferring with the player and determing it's more of a rage than an 'attack', have them make a grapple roll to land on the NPC's. I make sure the player knows that there are two places where this can go horribly wrong and, if they want to go through with it, roll and go. If they choose to use inspiration on either of the two rolls to gain Advantage, that's fine.
In the system you propose (as I understand it) you would grant inspiration, allow for partial movement, then automatically succeed on the *jumping on on the table and tackling* stunt (if the player used their Inspiration).
Neither is 'right' or 'wrong', just different ideas on how to use the system. All I'm saying is, in my opinion, you don't need to add complexity or another mechanism to deal with these situations. You already have Inspiration and Advantage/Disadvantage.
However, to repeat: If you want to give Advantage (or Inspiration, or a +1 or whatever) because it's cool? Go for it. Want to give Disadvantage because conditions seem to warrant it? Do it. If you want to add a pool of luck points that the characters (and monsters) can use to shape things to their advantage, do it.
The 'rules' are a starting point, not the ending point.
If you want to allow players to use inspiration to 'auto-succeed' on a stunt, do it. Just make sure your players understand what you're doing, how to use it and, if it gets abused, you'll take it away and find other ways to say 'yes' when they try to do things.
In the end, it doesn't really matter what the rules are, as long as all the participants agree to them and have fun. (Added emphasis mine).
Oh, and BTW, I sincerely hope you have a great time playing. I get to have my first session this Sunday and I'm seriously looking forward to it.
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