# How Would You Make Inspiration More Used?



## I'm A Banana (Aug 20, 2022)

One of the things they seem to be gunning for in the playtest is adding more ways to gain Inspiration. According to the interview on YouTube, they are looking for "a way to feed people inspiration through the system itself" and generally encourage gaining it and *using* it. Rolling 20's and being Human are ways to get it in the playtest. 

I'm interested in getting some ideas on how to deliver and encourage the use of Inspiration. How would you like to see Inspiration given, and how would you think of encouraging people to use it? What's your take on how the playtest is doing it so far?

For me, I'm OK with a nat 20 giving you Inspiration. The Human racial trait is a little wonkier. One of the things I like about Inspiration is that it is not something you can *build* for, it is something you have to *play *for, and I would prefer that to be the case going forward, too. 

Some ideas that have worked pretty well in my games:

*Inspiration Gained from your Conflicts*. 
I've had games set up giving every character one of the Seven Deadly Sins, and whenever you succumbed to your Sin, you got Inspiration. I had a Planescape game where Inspiration was awarded by doing things in line with your philosophy that you otherwise wouldn't do (when an Athar member refused healing from a cleric of a god, for instance). I've had games inspired by screenwriting that separate a character's Wants from Needs, and those characters got Inspiration when they gave into their Wants. In another game, each PC was linked to an enemy group (ie, this wizard is set against the barbarians that hated magic), and they got inspiration by mentioning something that they did that would attract that enemy group (ie, the wizard crafted a magic item). 

In all of these situations, Inspiration was something the players controlled their own access to, by making specific decisions to pursue it that had to do with the kind of challenges they faced. I think one of the most useful ways was using it as an incentive to make "bad" character choices that would still drive the action forward. It was a nice way to incentivize playing a little sub-optimally at the _game_ to enhance the _story_.

What if we make that more explicitly part of the bargain? Something as simple as a list of flaws and associated actions: if you have this flaw and do this action, you get Inspiration. Like:

*Arrogant*: You gain Inspiration when you refuse to listen to the rest of the party.
*Greedy*: You gain Inspiration when you increase the number of gold pieces you have.
*Unlucky*: You gain Inspiration when you roll a 1.
*Vow of Silence*: You gain Inspiration whenever 24 hours pass without you speaking.
*Inspiration Gained from your Party's Bonds*
I had a game where we played characters who knew each other growing up. The DM gave us inspiration for various acts of friendship and camaraderie. Like:

When you roll a crit, you can give the bonus damage to an ally you consider your Friend. If you do so, get Inspiration.
When an ally you consider your Rival drops to 0 hit points, you can use your reaction to tell them to keep standing. If you do so, they get Inspiration.
When you spend at least 1 day of downtime with an ally you consider your Love Interest, you each get Inspiration.
*Spend Inspiration on Cool Stuff*
Advantage is nice, but it's not really distinct - there's a lot of things that give it. But I've been part of some games that have some special ways to spend Inspiration rather than advantage. That Planescape game had you spend Inspiration to power faction abilities. The game with the Seven Deadly Sins also had Seven Heavenly Virtues that were associated with effects you could gain by spending Inspiration. And in kind of an inversion of the human in the playtest, I've seen Inspiration used with extra race abilities, magic items, spells, or feats. Some ideas here that were fun include:

*Inspiration as an optional spell component*: Spend inspiration when you cast a spell and someone automatically fails their save.
*Spend Inspiration to Twist Fate*: Rather than advantage, you just tell the DM to twist fate to your advantage. Maybe the guard you're sneaking past needs to take a bathroom break _right then_, or maybe the sun gets in the eyes of an attacker (giving them disadvantage).
*Spend Inspiration to Deny an Opportunity Attack*: I can run away and you can stop me. POCKET SAND i mean INSPIRATION.
What are your best Inspiration ideas? I'd like to be...Inspired.


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## D1Tremere (Aug 20, 2022)

I've been considering dropping the inspiration mechanic for the story point mechanic used in the Essence 20 system (GI Joe/Transformers/Power Rangers).


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## overgeeked (Aug 20, 2022)

Two simple changes and the inspiration would flow like water. Remove the cap on inspiration (currently a binary, yes/no) and let players spend inspiration after a d20 roll (currently have to declare an inspiration spend before rolling). 

That's it. 

Generate inspiration however you want. Spend it to do whatever other things. Use it to fuel creative spellcasting. Bring in gaining inspiration after rolling a nat 20. Let players shuffle inspiration around. That's all fine. But if you want players to spend it rather than hoard it, it needs to be something they can stockpile and it needs to be something that gives them a tangible benefit. 

Inspiration sucks when you roll two successes, it feels like you wasted it. Likewise with two failures. But spending it after the roll...makes players feel like they have a literal second chance, which they do. Sure, it's neat to roll two dice at once, but if players can only have one inspiration at a time and they feel like it's wasted inspiration, players are going to hoard it.


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## I'm A Banana (Aug 20, 2022)

overgeeked said:


> Sure, it's neat to roll two dice at once, but if players can only have one inspiration at a time and they feel like it's wasted inspiration, players are going to hoard it.



The idea to spend after a roll is a pretty good one. I definitely prefer the "only one at a time" mechanic, since hoarding and purging are really swingy.


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## Aldarc (Aug 20, 2022)

I would switch things around, so you get Inspiration on a Natural 1. 

You auto-failed but hey there’s now a bright side: you have Inspiration for later.


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## W'rkncacnter (Aug 20, 2022)

overgeeked said:


> Two simple changes and the inspiration would flow like water. Remove the cap on inspiration (currently a binary, yes/no) and let players spend inspiration after a d20 roll (currently have to declare an inspiration spend before rolling).
> 
> That's it.
> 
> ...



...brother?


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## Charlaquin (Aug 20, 2022)

I’ve said this before and I’ll probably say it again. Making inspiration more common and not reliant on the DM to remember your traits and judge your roleplaying of them is a worthwhile goal. Making the main way of gaining inspiration random is not a good way to try and achieve it. Inspiration should be tied to something you choose to do, rather than just random chance. So, humans gaining Inspiration after a long rest? Great. Musicians being able to give their allies Inspiration by playing music? Great. Gaining Inspiration on a nat20? Not so great, in my opinion.

Personally, I would like to see Personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws continue to be a thing. But make it so the player can claim Inspiration once per trait per session instead of having to wait for the DM to give it to them.


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## J.Quondam (Aug 20, 2022)

I rather like the notion of making inspiration derived from both random _and_ non-random sources.

Giving BIFTs a mechanical purpose by having players claim a point is a great idea, imo, and encourages players to really pay attention to those character qualities. At the same time, I also like the idea to tie it to Nat 20, or Nat 1 as a "consolation prize." (Or even stranger: just choose a number at character creation and that's your "Lucky Number", so PC gets Inspiration for rolling a "Nat 7" or whatever?) And there's certainly a place for the original Inspiration-as-award, of course.

So why not all of them? Some random, some earned, some awarded? Cap Inspiration at, say 3 points in-hand at any one time (or whatever), and cap earning to one point from each source per long rest (or whatever). That sets a baseline number that all PCs can access everyday, while there's also a little day-to-day random variation as some PCs get a lucky extra one every now and then. The exact number in-hand and nature and number of sources could be tuned to the style of each table.

edit: Oh, and make using more interesting.  Tweaking dice rolls isn't terribly inspirational.


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## payn (Aug 20, 2022)

I'm A Banana said:


> *Arrogant*: You gain Inspiration when you refuse to listen to the rest of the party.
> *Greedy*: You gain Inspiration when you increase the number of gold pieces you have.
> *Unlucky*: You gain Inspiration when you roll a 1.
> *Vow of Silence*: You gain Inspiration whenever 24 hours pass without you speaking.



I like where you are going with this. However, _arrogant_ sounds very problematic to the party dynamic. Some groups deal with the conflict well, and others just descend on each other.  


I'm A Banana said:


> *Inspiration Gained from your Party's Bonds*
> I had a game where we played characters who knew each other growing up. The DM gave us inspiration for various acts of friendship and camaraderie. Like:
> 
> When you roll a crit, you can give the bonus damage to an ally you consider your Friend. If you do so, get Inspiration.
> ...



I like the social piece way more than the combat stuff. I think inspiration mechanics could have a lot of design room in the other pillars of the game!


I'm A Banana said:


> *Spend Inspiration on Cool Stuff*
> 
> *Inspiration as an optional spell component*: Spend inspiration when you cast a spell and someone automatically fails their save.
> *Spend Inspiration to Twist Fate*: Rather than advantage, you just tell the DM to twist fate to your advantage. Maybe the guard you're sneaking past needs to take a bathroom break _right then_, or maybe the sun gets in the eyes of an attacker (giving them disadvantage).
> *Spend Inspiration to Deny an Opportunity Attack*: I can run away and you can stop me. POCKET SAND i mean INSPIRATION.



I think you might find some push back on auto succeed stuff. I do like engaging the players, and asking them to assist in the narrative, but I also like the game boundaries to be defined. 

My ideas?
I could see something like spending inspiration for advice or clues on how to solve puzzles/riddles, get through a maze, find water or shelter in harsh environments etc..

Spend inspiration find a guild, church, order contact to assist in social situations. 

I am sure I can think of more but I need to stew on it. I like where you are going though.


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## overgeeked (Aug 20, 2022)

payn said:


> I like where you are going with this. However, _arrogant_ sounds very problematic to the party dynamic. Some groups deal with the conflict well, and others just descend on each other.
> 
> I like the social piece way more than the combat stuff. I think inspiration mechanics could have a lot of design room in the other pillars of the game!
> 
> ...



The more they make inspiration like Fate points the better.


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## payn (Aug 20, 2022)

overgeeked said:


> The more they make inspiration like Fate points the better.



I suppose that is certainly one opinion. I don't necessarily think its needs to be a D&D staple though.


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## the Jester (Aug 20, 2022)

I guess I'm in the vast minority in that all the 5e games I have run or played in see inspiration used a lot. I think typically we see it happen multiple times per session. Probably like six.

Anyway, I like the idea of promoting more use of inspiration. I don't like the playtest's "roll a 20, gain inspiration" AT ALL. That's.... no. If anything, I'd grant inspiration on a natural 1. 

So here's what I would do to get more inspiration flowing in groups that don't tend to use it. First, I'd have more explicit guidelines on awarding it. For example, I might say that you should grant a player inspiration:

When the player roleplays their character in a way that is true to the character's established personality, but contrary to their interests (for example, an honest character who admits the party is trying to infiltrate a castle to the guards).
When the character completes a quest, accomplishes a goal, or fulfills a personal mission that doesn't involve danger and thus isn't worth xp.
When the player "lubricates the game" (i.e. makes it run smoother- perhaps by bringing snacks, giving another player a ride, taking notes, being the party treasurer, mapping, etc).
When the player makes a piece of art, an in character document such as a journal entry or poem,  etc.

The other thing I'd do (and I do do, in my own games) is have more stuff that ties in to inspiration: spells and magic items that let you use it in different ways, subclasses that modify how it works for you, feats that interact with it, etc. 

The combination of explicit guidance and multiple in game prods that modify it would probably push a lot more groups into remembering about it.


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## MarkB (Aug 20, 2022)

I'm hoping, and expecting, to see more ways to both gain and spend inspiration integrated into the classes. A few possibilities:

Switch out Bardic Inspiration in favour of just granting regular Inspiration.
Double down on this with Bards, give them extra ways of gaining, spending and passing on Inspiration - like, their Inspiration Range is doubled to 19-20, or they can spend their Inspiration as a reaction to let an ally re-roll a failed test.
Barbarians gain Inspiration when they rage if they don't have it, and can spend it to maintain their rage if they would otherwise have to drop it. Killing a foe grants them Inspiration.
Spending Inspiration can be substituted for a Ki point, sorcery point or superiority die if the character has expended all of theirs.
Spellcasters gain Inspiration if an opponent rolls a natural 1 on a saving throw they impose.
Fighters gain Inspiration if an attacker rolls a natural 1 on an attack against them.
I'm trying to think of a good option for rogues, but in most circumstances their best use of Inspiration is to gain advantage or negate disadvantage in order to sneak attack, and anything else feels like it would take away from that.


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## payn (Aug 20, 2022)

the Jester said:


> I guess I'm in the vast minority in that all the 5e games I have run or played in see inspiration used a lot. I think typically we see it happen multiple times per session. Probably like six.
> 
> Anyway, I like the idea of promoting more use of inspiration. I don't like the playtest's "roll a 20, gain inspiration" AT ALL. That's.... no. If anything, I'd grant inspiration on a natural 1.
> 
> ...



I think that is the rub, some groups do this naturally, and others need system assistance. The vague triggers can be arbitrary and seen as "mother may I" type play. I like the inspiration on 20 roll because its a rare, but tangible trigger. I also like getting inspiration on a 1 roll too.


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## I'm A Banana (Aug 20, 2022)

One thing I like about the direction 1D&D is going in is that it is putting it more in the hands of the player, rather than relying on the DM to award. I don't like making it part of your "build," (no race/class/feats should inherently grant it, I think) but I love the idea of having a player say "I do this to get Inspiration."

It is _so easy_ to forget this on the DMs side. I like it when the player provokes it.

That's part of why playing to flaws and sins and beliefs works so well.  The player basically is like "I am doing this thing to get Inspiration. Gimmie." YES! Give them a button they can press to get it.

"I am a human" or "I have this feat" or "I have this class feature" or "I rolled a 20" aren't super engaging or active buttons. 

"I had a moment of weakness and gave into my RAGE" is a much juicier button. 

I also like how the idea of "Inspiration on a nat 1" mirrors the "Inspiration for flaws" idea in that it's something you get for _not_ being optimal. For putting character or chance ahead of success. For doing something that makes the game better but makes you "weak." That's a nice vibe.


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## overgeeked (Aug 20, 2022)

payn said:


> I think that is the rub, some groups do this naturally, and others need system assistance. The vague triggers can be arbitrary and seen as "mother may I" type play. I like the inspiration on 20 roll because its a rare, but tangible trigger. I also like getting inspiration on a 1 roll too.



To be fair, a lot of players seem to think that anything more involved than shouting a skill and throwing a die and just winning is labeled "mother may I" style play. They're clearly wrong so it's not an "argument" that's worth taking seriously.


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## payn (Aug 20, 2022)

overgeeked said:


> To be fair, a lot of players seem to think that anything more involved than shouting a skill and throwing a die and just winning is labeled "mother may I" style play. They're clearly wrong so it's not an "argument" that's worth taking seriously.



Thats not fair at all, then again, you don't really care obviously with this posting. That is fine, but designers don't have the luxury of telling folks to go screw themselves because they don't like their playstyle.


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## overgeeked (Aug 20, 2022)

payn said:


> Thats not fair at all, then again, you don't really care obviously with this posting. That is fine, but designers don't have the luxury of telling folks to go screw themselves because they don't like their playstyle.



Sigh. Okay. How do you define mother may I style play? Because near as I can tell, with almost 40 years playing RPGs, the referee's main job is to act as interface to the world for the players...which regularly includes telling the players what their characters can and cannot do. It's only an incredibly negative and adversarial reading of this interaction that can possibly result in calling it "mother may I," i.e. a player who cannot stand being told no actually being told no.


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## Sir Brennen (Aug 20, 2022)

It sounds like people are talking about making Inspiration similar to Bennies in Savage Worlds. In that system, you have Hindrances (Honest, Blood-thirsty, One Eye, etc.). Taking them gives you initially more points to build your initial character. Then having them come up in play earns you Bennies. I rule they actually have to cause you an issue in game for it to be worth a reward, though. If you're Gluttonous, just saying "I scarf down a whole roasted chicken" isn't Benny worthy if it's at the camp site with your PC friends who are used to your habits. But if you do it at a fancy dinner in front of the count you just met and are going to negotiating a favor with, well that's a different story.

I think some consideration should be given to how much of a boost it would be to give Inspiration to players more frequently and allow them to accumulate more than one (equal to proficiency bonus maybe?) Savage Worlds, the odds are often against the PCs when they're trying to make a roll, but Bennies help off-set that. Chances of success in 5E are generally more in the player's favor, so what would frequent Inspiration do to the game balance in that case?

As far as getting players to *use *Inspiration, we pretty much play it as it allows a re-roll. Because people usually forget to declare they want Advantage beforehand, being conditioned to just grab the dice and roll when they hear "Give me a Saving Throw" or "Make your Attack Roll". However, it is only a re-roll, not Advantage, so it's a little bit of a nerf.

If one were allowed to have more than one Inspiration at a time, perhaps some uses of it might cost more? 1 point allows a re-roll. 2 points allow a re-roll with Advantage. Damage could be re-rolled at a cost equal to 1/2 the dice being re-rolled (round up).


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## edosan (Aug 20, 2022)

I love the thought behind inspiration, stealing from Fate or Savage Worlds the idea that you can gain a future mechanical advantage by role playing to your weaknesses but in practice it’s just another thing I have to keep track of (assuming the players bothered to make up interesting bonds or traits). Also since you only get one precious inspiration point, my players tend to hoard then forget them. I think if we could make inspiration more player-driven it might solve those problems.

For me, the first easy fix is to do what most tables do as a house rule anyway - let inspiration be a re-roll instead of rolling with advantage. It’s always a letdown when you spend your one inspiration point to roll a seventeen and a sixteen.

The YouTuber DM Scotty had a thing called “luck dice” - a pool of D6s that he would give out as a variety of things, from role playing to failing a skill check and some other stuff I can’t remember right now - and I’m thinking about using that next time instead of inspiration because that seems like it wouldn’t be prone to hoarding like one point of inspiration tends to be, plus it feels more fun to give out a lot of little rewards as opposed to the occasional big one.


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## payn (Aug 20, 2022)

One thing that gamers might be at odds with is the idea of playing to faults and failures. D&D is power fantasy for a lot of folks and being rewarded for losing seems strange. I mean, in narrative game its how you earn XP, its how you are lead to play the game. In D&D thats through combat, exploration, and social pillars. Applications of your feats and skills are how you play your character, not by role playing their BIFTs. So, I would consider both the 20 and 1 rolls should net inspiration to encourage playing up both success and failure for the players. This encourages both the heroic nature of D&D, but also allows personality lowlights to also have a place in the game.


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## South by Southwest (Aug 20, 2022)

As a house rule, I let my players hoard their Inspiration Dice indefinitely, and then at any point in the game they can spend five such dice to level up, but only once in between the normal milestone leveling. I can attest this has led to players paying scrupulous attention to their Inspiration Dice.


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## Hriston (Aug 20, 2022)

My best idea, as a DM, for encouraging use of inspiration, is to present situations to the players in which playing to their personal characteristics (TIBFs) will result in a complication and to award inspiration when they do so. Then, when a player spends their inspiration, to refocus the situation on their characteristics as quickly as possible to provide a steady flow of inspiration.


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## Weiley31 (Aug 20, 2022)

I mean, the way I house rule it is that Inspiration can be used to give the PC Advantage, an enemy Disadvantage, or using it as a 1D6 roll add-on. _But then, I also allow PCs to store up to 3 inspiration. shrugs_


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## Bill Zebub (Aug 20, 2022)

In some campaigns I let it be spent after the roll.  Players remember to use it then.


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## MatthewJHanson (Aug 20, 2022)

overgeeked said:


> Two simple changes and the inspiration would flow like water. Remove the cap on inspiration (currently a binary, yes/no) and let players spend inspiration after a d20 roll (currently have to declare an inspiration spend before rolling).



These are both house rules we already have. Plus your inspiration resets to 1 at the start of each session, so you need to use it or lose it.


Aldarc said:


> I would switch things around, so you get Inspiration on a Natural 1.



Another house rule we have.

I also let players decide if they are roleplaying their background to earn it. If they think so, they can go ahead and give themselves inspiration, it's not up to me.


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## Sir Brennen (Aug 20, 2022)

Bill Zebub said:


> In some campaigns I let it be spent after the roll.  Players remember to use it then.



Yeah, failing a roll is a better prompt to remember you have Inspiration (or a helpful fellow player/GM mentioning it at that point), which is why we play it that way.


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## CubicsRube (Aug 21, 2022)

I'm not running d&d currently, but i have thought of what house rules i'd make.

A big one would be that a character can once per session use one of their BIFTs to gain advantage on a roll that relates to it. Each BIFT can be used once. So that's up to 5 advantages per session. The onus is on the player to remind us. "I'm claiming advantage on thus CHA check as my bond with my elder statesman grandmother has made me extra charming".


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## CubicsRube (Aug 21, 2022)

Aldarc said:


> I would switch things around, so you get Inspiration on a Natural 1.
> 
> You auto-failed but hey there’s now a bright side: you have Inspiration for later.



I'm a fan of reverse spiral mechanics, they can encourage some tense situations. I'd also add in that another party member can gain inspiration if an ally goes down in a fight.

On uses, another thought I had would be to expend an inspiration to deal max damage. I could see that getting some use.


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## payn (Aug 21, 2022)

CubicsRube said:


> I'm not running d&d currently, but i have thought of what house rules i'd make.
> 
> A big one would be that a character can once per session use one of their BIFTs to gain advantage on a roll that relates to it. Each BIFT can be used once. So that's up to 5 advantages per session. The onus is on the player to remind us. "I'm claiming advantage on thus CHA check as my bond with my elder statesman grandmother has made me extra charming".



I like this at first glance, problem is it seems a bit repetitive. I mean, if you want your game and characters to feel like something out of episodic television, this actually works really well. It can potentially turn characters into caricatures, which is going to be a taste thing on it being good or not.


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## CubicsRube (Aug 21, 2022)

payn said:


> I like this at first glance, problem is it seems a bit repetitive. I mean, if you want your game and characters to feel like something out of episodic television, this actually works really well. It can potentially turn characters into caricatures, which is going to be a taste thing on it being good or not.



Yes it does get repetitive. But in the other hand, that repetition drives those core elements of the character home to the other players. I would expect that after a few times it would become "i'm claiming advantage cause of the grandma thing". Some other players might remember them as the "grandma paladin" or whatever.

I'd have to test it out and see how it worked in the real.


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## payn (Aug 21, 2022)

CubicsRube said:


> Yes it does get repetitive. But in the other hand, that repetition drives those core elements of the character home to the other players. I would expect that after a few times it would become "i'm claiming advantage cause of the grandma thing". Some other players might remember them as the "grandma paladin" or whatever.
> 
> I'd have to test it out and see how it worked in the real.



Yeap, I was the only one in my Rise of Tiamat game to play up to their BIFTs. Eventually, they just called my Sorc the "book guy" because he belonged to a guild that collected old tomes for safe keeping. On one hand, it was nice they would ask about "any books here for the book guy" but on the other it was super specific and became annoying...

I dont mind the BIFT idea, but I certainly would balk at adding stuff to backgrounds and ancestry to play with the inspiration system.


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## Azzy (Aug 21, 2022)

I think getting players to use Inspiration will be easier now. Since it now goes away with a long rest, there's no real choice to hold on to it for long.


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## Lakesidefantasy (Aug 21, 2022)

I like the idea of gaining inspiration on a natural 1, but narratively it's a strange way to be inspired. How about this instead: we gain inspiration when our opponents roll a natural 1.


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## Ruin Explorer (Aug 21, 2022)

Just let it be used for re-rolls. I guarantee you it'll be used absolutely constantly. Every mechanism D&D (or any other game) has ever had which let you spend points for re-rolls got insane usage that way. Note that in the 5E-based Baldur's Gate 3, that's precisely how its used.


Azzy said:


> I think getting players to use Inspiration will be easier now. Since it now goes away with a long rest, there's no real choice to hold on to it for long.



I don't buy it. I've never seen mechanisms like that, in any game, have that effect. What happens instead is that players just annoyed when they have to lose it, and gradually over time care about the resource less and less. It's bad design.


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## cbwjm (Aug 21, 2022)

I don't really use inspiration, generally forget to hand it out as a DM and I don't really worry about bonds and flaws etc for my characters when I play. However, I have thought about maybe having a pool of d20s in a bag equal to the number of players that they can draw from, half of these dice will be doom dice, if you draw one, then that one gets to be used by the DM in the future.

I do like the idea of other uses for inspiration as well, a minor scene edit or retcon seems like a good idea. Maybe allow a player to say they have some specific equipment or, as in the opening post, the guard needs to go at just the right time.


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## cbwjm (Aug 21, 2022)

Lakesidefantasy said:


> I like the idea of gaining inspiration on a natural 1, but narratively it's a strange way to be inspired. How about this instead: we gain inspiration when our opponents roll a natural 1.



I watched the movie Bullet Train the other day, I think the main character was gaining inspiration on a 1 the way his luck worked.


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## Lakesidefantasy (Aug 21, 2022)

I hate to throw a wet towel on the "Just use Inspiration as a reroll" idea, but it doesn't work.







cbwjm said:


> I watched the movie Bullet Train the other day, I think the main character was gaining inspiration on a 1 the way his luck worked.



Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying there aren't umpteen plus one ways of justifying the idea. Just that it would require me to deal with a rule that says my character is somehow inspired by failure, and I don't want to do that.


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## pnewman (Aug 22, 2022)

Under the new system players will never want to use passive checks for anything unless they already have Inspiration. The DM will have to deal with players who want to make separate Investigation checks of every five foot square of the entire dungeon, or maybe even the entire wilderness, because the player is spamming for Inspiration.
Oh, sure they could "just say no" but then the next player will try to do it, and hten there will be an encounter and someone will spend Inspiration and the whole cycle of "Try to Spam as many rolls as needed until I get Inspiration" will repeat.

Then, the next morning, everyone but the human will need Inspiration and it will be all "I would like to make a check to see how well I prepare breakfast, I am proficient with Cooks Tools." and "While that preperation is going on Thror and Averala are going to play craps, we would both like to make skill checks to see how well we play."


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## W'rkncacnter (Aug 22, 2022)

Lakesidefantasy said:


> I hate to throw a wet towel on the "Just use Inspiration as a reroll" idea, but it doesn't work.



what part of it doesn't work, exactly?


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## I'm A Banana (Aug 22, 2022)

payn said:


> I think that is the rub, some groups do this naturally, and others need system assistance. The vague triggers can be arbitrary and seen as "mother may I" type play. I like the inspiration on 20 roll because its a rare, but tangible trigger. I also like getting inspiration on a 1 roll too.



I do think this is a really interesting distinction between Inspiration as it is and the direction they're taking Inspiration in. Right now, DM's *give* Inspiration, and they give it in a kind of vague and nebulous way, like a little cookie for "good RP" whatever that is. And then it's easy to forget or not use because who KNOWS when that'll happen again. It definitely doesn't feel like something I control, as a player.

Giving the players a more active hand in *generating* inspiration is a great idea.

I think what I don't like is linking it to builds or to luck. The thing I want players to do is not to fish for 20's to get 1/day advantage. I want them to *engage with their characters and the world*. I don't want to replace bardic inspiration with Inspiration.

I am more OK with them _spending_ Inspiration being part of builds or a way to tweak luck. Give Bards a unique way to spend Inspiration on their allies.

But keep Bards _earning_ Inspiration by leaning into their character flaws and world elements.

Like, maybe Bards have a class feature called *True Artist* and if the bard creates a new composition in the world, they get Inspiration. And then maybe they can spend it to gain a bonus use of Bardic Inspiration. I would like my bard characters to make songs. That is DOPE.


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## Stalker0 (Aug 22, 2022)

I think inspiration should be a reroll, not advantage. It works better for players who forget about it when they roll (my players do ALL the time), and it stacks with the numerous sources of advantage already in the game.


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## cbwjm (Aug 22, 2022)

Stalker0 said:


> I think inspiration should be a reroll, not advantage. It works better for players who forget about it when they roll (my players do ALL the time), and it stacks with the numerous sources of advantage already in the game.



The few times we've used it, I think we allowed the reroll, as advantage if that made things work out better for the player (say for sneak attack). The amount of times players would forget, I figured it was worth letting them retcon it.


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## CubicsRube (Aug 22, 2022)

Stalker0 said:


> I think inspiration should be a reroll, not advantage. It works better for players who forget about it when they roll (my players do ALL the time), and it stacks with the numerous sources of advantage already in the game.



In the games I play that's been the houserule for ages.


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## Lakesidefantasy (Aug 22, 2022)

ReadyButNot said:


> what part of it doesn't work, exactly?



Um, the rerolling part. Sorry, just a little joke. 

The part that doesn't work is the sense that giving Players* a Reroll option (versus Advantage) when using inspiration will encourage them to use it more often. This doesn't work because that is already what people* do. The idea that people know, understand, and practice the rule that Inspiration is used as Advantage on a roll is just false in my experience. So, trying to solve the problem by giving us something we already "in fact" have does not and will not work.

My footnote may sound hyperbolic but it's not. I think most people just assume that Advantage and Rerolling are equivalent**. Or better yet, we don't assume anything, we just play without thinking about it.

I think Inspiration is great even though I don't see it used very often. It can encourage us to get in touch with our Characters' softer sides. However, it only works if we use it; which is dependent on the Dungeon Master remembering to give it out, and then, on top of that, it's dependent on the Players remembering to use it***. Because of this, it is essentially an optional rule that works for some Tables and not for others. Which is fine. It's not an integral part of the game and I hope it stays that way.

Maybe there should be a moratorium on the use of inspiration. Maybe 10 minutes, or an hour. Or better yet, maybe there should be one Inspiration point and it gets passed on to the next Inspired Player even if the current Player hasn't used it yet. You snooze, you lose****.


* Me and my Players/people to be more precise (and every other Player/person I've played with at conventions).
** They're not, and I understand that.
*** It's frustrating when you remember to give a Player Inspiration but they can't accept it because they already have Inspiration from the last time you remembered to give it out.
**** Hmm .


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## Retreater (Aug 22, 2022)

The game is too easy, so players don't need to use Inspiration. It's easy to make saving throws and to hit on attack rolls. You succeed like 75% of the time. 
And if you miss an attack, it's not like the creatures do enough damage where there's ever any danger anyway. You'll get them next time. And if they do end up knocking you out, you have 3-4 other party members who can heal you.


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## Lakesidefantasy (Aug 22, 2022)

You know Retreater, you got a point. If everything we do is awesome, then what do we need with awesome points?


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## I'm A Banana (Aug 23, 2022)

Lakesidefantasy said:


> You know Retreater, you got a point. If everything we do is awesome, then what do we need with awesome points?



One of the cool things that Inspiration can do is to give you awesome points for choosing to _not_ being awesome. 

If you give in to your basest instincts or you choose a more difficult path to adhere to your beliefs, Inspiration can help offset the problems that come out of that.


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## Benjamin Olson (Aug 26, 2022)

I was surprised that WotC stuck with one inspiration at a time. That seemed like the rule for when it was a new idea and they were worried it might be overpowered. One would think 8 years of it not being overpowered, or particularly powerful at all, would have made them willing to live a little more.

But, I figure it's still about a 50% chance that it ends up being that you can store inspiration equal to your proficiency bonus. WotC these days is always on the lookout for something else to tie to proficiency bonus.


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## W'rkncacnter (Aug 26, 2022)

Benjamin Olson said:


> But, I figure it's still about a 50% chance that it ends up being that you can store inspiration equal to your proficiency bonus. WotC these days is always on the lookout for something else to tie to proficiency bonus.



that'd be too much. i think half (perhaps rounded up) would be fine, but your full prof bonus would just be excessive. you don't need _6_ free instances of advantage a long rest.

edit: of course, we'll see if wotc cares about that...


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## Vael (Aug 26, 2022)

I like letting players use inspiration as a reroll rather than beforehand. That's how Baldur's Gate 3 does it, and I do like it that way.

I also don't mind allowing PCs to use Inspiration as something like a Fate Point declaration or even as a "Help me out DM" ... within reason.


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## Bill Zebub (Aug 28, 2022)

What l’d really love to see is for each class to have an iconic ability powered by Inspiration. For example, Rogues could spend inspiration to end the restrained condition.


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## Horwath (Sep 20, 2022)

gain inspiration when you get critted.


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## Gorck (Sep 20, 2022)

Since I first started playing 5e and stumbled across Inspiration in the PHB, I immediately wrote it off as meta-gamey and nothing I wanted to use in my campaigns. Especially the part about players rewarding each other with Inspiration or donating their own Inspiration to another player. And to this day I still haven’t used it. It hasn’t even crossed my mind, to be honest. But since 1DD seems to be forcing us to use this mechanic, I’m pondering how I’ll need to tweak for my games. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

Nobody likes when they have an opponent down to a handful of HP left and then roll a Nat 20. It’s a waste when your bare minimum damage would finish off the enemy, but you now get to roll double damage. Whoop-dee-doo!  I think I’ll change it so that, when you roll a Nat 20 on an attack roll, you can forego the double damage to gain Inspiration instead. You can then use that Inspiration in the future to turn a normal hit into a critical hit. I might also allow players to accumulate multiple Inspirations. I don’t know, this just popped in my head while reading this thread, so I’ll have to give it a bit more thought.

On a side note, I don’t get the push for earning Inspiration on a Nat 1. I would think people would be more inspired by overwhelming success than by abject failure. If anything, rebounding after abject failure wouldn’t be Inspiration, it would be Determination. Another idea just came to me: If DMs are worried about their players hoarding Inspiration, they can always change it so that a Nat 20 grants Inspiration, but a Nat 1 takes Inspiration away. That would certainly incentivize players to “use them before they lose them.”


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## payn (Sep 20, 2022)

Gorck said:


> On a side note, I don’t get the push for earning Inspiration on a Nat 1. I would think people would be more inspired by overwhelming success than by abject failure. If anything, rebounding after abject failure wouldn’t be Inspiration, it would be Determination. Another idea just came to me: If DMs are worried about their players hoarding Inspiration, they can always change it so that a Nat 20 grants Inspiration, but a Nat 1 takes Inspiration away. That would certainly incentivize players to “use them before they lose them.”



I think this is a popular element from many non-D&D rpgs. Some of them reward XP and other bennies if you play into faults and stay true to characters and play out difficult situations.


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## Wyckedemus (Sep 22, 2022)

My group has evolved to use it as a reroll, because a bad roll is a easier trigger to remember than thinking ahead of time. But I'm not sure if I like how those situations work when you already have advantage or disadvantage, roll poorly, then get to use a reroll on top of that.

How about this?
1. If you don't already have Advantage on a d20 Test, you may spend your Inspiration before rolling to get Advantage to the roll (cancelling Disadvantage instead, if it exists).
2. If you don't have Advantage or Disadvantage when you fail a d20 Test, you may reroll one d20 (this is not Advantage).
3. If you already have Advantage on a d20 Test, you cannot spend Inspiration on the roll.


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## Malmuria (Sep 22, 2022)

Charlaquin said:


> Personally, I would like to see Personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws continue to be a thing. But make it so the player can claim Inspiration once per trait per session instead of having to wait for the DM to give it to them.




What if you got one experience point for playing your personality, ideals, bonds, flaws each session, for a possible total of 4xp per session.  Maybe you need  20 xp to level up, and achieving a group goal could net additional xp. That could _could_ be defeating monsters, but it also might be stealing a treasure, exploring a location, uncovering ancient lore, etc.


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## UngeheuerLich (Sep 22, 2022)

I like the human inspiration thing. Really fitting.

I also like them to be lost when lying down for a long rest. Makes you go on if you have them. 

I also like musician to give inspiration during a short rest, so you are also inspired to go on. 

However I'd like them to be a reroll and I'd like them to stack a bit. Either being able to have two at a time or even prof bonus. Every mechanic that make you go on and counterbalances attrition is something I like. (Don't take me wrong and think I don't like attrition as a mechanic. I just like it while your ressources go down, you get different bonuses so you have to really consider if you go on or not.)


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## Bill Zebub (Sep 22, 2022)

I keep seeing more and more posts saying that it's used to re-roll as a house rule.  I really hope WotC pays attention and changes the official rule.

The only problem I see is that it kind of steps on Lucky's toes.  I guess I'd rather see Lucky get re-written.


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## Laurefindel (Sep 22, 2022)

I'm A Banana said:


> One of the things they seem to be gunning for in the playtest is adding more ways to gain Inspiration. According to the interview on YouTube, they are looking for "a way to feed people inspiration through the system itself" and generally encourage gaining it and *using* it. Rolling 20's and being Human are ways to get it in the playtest.
> 
> I'm interested in getting some ideas on how to deliver and encourage the use of Inspiration. How would you like to see Inspiration given, and how would you think of encouraging people to use it? What's your take on how the playtest is doing it so far?
> 
> ...



Some good ideas

While I’m not sure how to gain inspiration and what to use it for, I know what I DON’T want, and that is to justify being a jerk.

A player acting like a jerk to their DM and/or fellow player because « that’s how their character should act » is bad enough. I don’t need a mechanical reason to incite jerkness on top.


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## Lojaan (Sep 23, 2022)

I would detangle inspiration from advantage. Advantage is near over used as it is. 

I would say inspiration means you can get, give or force a reroll. Any dice. Any time. You can use it yourself, give it to someone else, or force the DM to reroll.


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## Bill Zebub (Sep 23, 2022)

Lojaan said:


> I would detangle inspiration from advantage. Advantage is near over used as it is.
> 
> I would say inspiration means you can get, give or force a reroll. Any dice. Any time. You can use it yourself, give it to someone else, or force the DM to reroll.




I'll add (again) that I would love to see each class get one signature ability that is powered by Inspiration.


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## Clint_L (Sep 27, 2022)

Lojaan said:


> I would detangle inspiration from advantage. Advantage is near over used as it is.
> 
> I would say inspiration means you can get, give or force a reroll. Any dice. Any time. You can use it yourself, give it to someone else, or force the DM to reroll.



I would really object to anything that gets in the way of critical successes and failures as I think those are essential to the story and often generate the most excitement. This sounds like giving everyone "Lucky" all the time, which is a feat I already detest.


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## Puddles (Sep 27, 2022)

After letting it sit with me for a few days, I think I can say I don’t like the introduction of a natural 20 gaining inspiration.

 I do think it will result in inspiration getting used more, but I think “how do we get inspiration to be used more?” is actually a flawed premise to begin with.

For me, Inspiration had a very specific role of being a tool that allowed the DM to encourage the sort of behaviour they wanted to see. It was Pavlov’s Bell. Players do something you like, ring the bell, give them inspiration. 

Moving Inspiration to something that is granted outside of the DM’s discretion removes that role, or erodes it. It reduces it to a little buff that is now dealt at random. 

I liked the current iteration. I awarded it for anything the players did that was exceptionally cool or played into their bonds, ideals, flaws. I also used it to award it at the start of each session to the player who recapped the last. 

I understand the overwhelming consensus is it needs to be changed, so if that’s the case I would push back on simply trying to get it “used” more, and instead ask, “if Inspiration is a tool for the DM to encourage the behaviour they want, is there something more compelling than just giving advantage?”


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## payn (Sep 27, 2022)

Puddles said:


> After letting it sit with me for a few days, I think I can say I don’t like the introduction of a natural 20 gaining inspiration.
> 
> I do think it will result in inspiration getting used more, but I think “how do we get inspiration to be used more?” is actually a flawed premise to begin with.
> 
> For me, Inspiration had a very specific role of being a tool that allowed the DM to encourage the sort of behaviour they wanted to see. It was Pavlov’s Bell. Players do something you like, ring the bell, give them inspiration.



I have been cross with a few folks on this subject over the years. I find the GM leading the players by the nose to be anathema to role playing. It's the main reason I use milestone instead of awarding XP. I want the players to engage the narrative and setting how they see fit, and not by how the GM desires it. I understand the game part of the RPG and how a singular purpose might facilitate play, but I want to explore beyond such boundaries when I play. 


Puddles said:


> Moving Inspiration to something that is granted outside of the DM’s discretion removes that role, or erodes it. It reduces it to a little buff that is now dealt at random.



Sounds like a feature from my perspective. On more thing off the GMs plate and onto the ruleset. 


Puddles said:


> I liked the current iteration. I awarded it for anything the players did that was exceptionally cool or played into their bonds, ideals, flaws. I also used it to award it at the start of each session to the player who recapped the last.
> 
> I understand the overwhelming consensus is it needs to be changed, so if that’s the case I would push back on simply trying to get it “used” more, and instead ask, “if Inspiration is a tool for the DM to encourage the behaviour they want, is there something more compelling than just giving advantage?”



Again, I think this is a bad precedent telling GMs they should use carrots and sticks on their players to drive desired outcomes. I think genre conventions and organic play should drive how the players behave. YMMV. Either way, I think the mechanic is pretty easy to ignore for folks who dont like it or see the value, so its not too impactful overall.


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## Puddles (Sep 27, 2022)

payn said:


> I have been cross with a few folks on this subject over the years. I find the GM leading the players by the nose to be anathema to role playing. It's the main reason I use milestone instead of awarding XP. I want the players to engage the narrative and setting how they see fit, and not by how the GM desires it. I understand the game part of the RPG and how a singular purpose might facilitate play, but I want to explore beyond such boundaries when I play.
> 
> Sounds like a feature from my perspective. On more thing off the GMs plate and onto the ruleset.
> 
> Again, I think this is a bad precedent telling GMs they should use carrots and sticks on their players to drive desired outcomes. I think genre conventions and organic play should drive how the players behave. YMMV. Either way, I think the mechanic is pretty easy to ignore for folks who dont like it or see the value, so its not too impactful overall.



Interesting counter points to think on. I do think you are attaching too much to what I meant when I said shaping player’s behaviour. The things I want are very broad and align with ‘for the good of the game’. Stuff like: doing things that are cool, behaving in ways that align with your bond, ideals and flaws, resolving parts of your backstory, helping to make the world feel real, making sacrifices for the good of the party, playing in the spirit of the game, etc.  It’s meant to be all carrots, no sticks.


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## payn (Sep 27, 2022)

Puddles said:


> Interesting counter points to think on. I do think you are attaching too much to what I meant when I said shaping player’s behaviour. The things I want are very broad and align with ‘for the good of the game’. Stuff like: doing things that are cool, behaving in ways that align with your bond, ideals and flaws, resolving parts of your backstory, helping to make the world feel real, making sacrifices for the good of the party, playing in the spirit of the game, etc.  It’s meant to be all carrots, no sticks.



I figured as much. Certain players I have found in practice, only pursue carrots. Anything that doesn't give a carrot, is not worth doing. The more tangible that idea is, the more one note their character and play becomes. I wholeheartedly want to promote heroic play and cool sway, I just dont want repetition that sometimes comes with these mechanics.


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## Puddles (Sep 27, 2022)

payn said:


> I figured as much. Certain players I have found in practice, only pursue carrots. Anything that doesn't give a carrot, is not worth doing. The more tangible that idea is, the more one note their character and play becomes. I wholeheartedly want to promote heroic play and cool sway, I just dont want repetition that sometimes comes with these mechanics.



Maybe you could try giving said player inspiration when they do something that isn’t so one note?


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## payn (Sep 27, 2022)

Puddles said:


> Maybe you could try giving said player inspiration when they do something that isn’t so one note?



Right? I guess I dont want them to think about performing for_ me_, and just playing their character for_ them_.


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## Lojaan (Sep 28, 2022)

Clint_L said:


> I would really object to anything that gets in the way of critical successes and failures as I think those are essential to the story and often generate the most excitement. This sounds like giving everyone "Lucky" all the time, which is a feat I already detest.



I kinda agree with you. If I implemented this it would have to be in tandem with a system that made inspiration difficult to get so you are looking at maybe only one player having it at any time.

I was going for more impact, but you correctly pointed out that unless that is paired with greater rarity then you can lose some of the excitement that makes the game fun.


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## Blue (Sep 28, 2022)

I have Inspiration used all the time.  One hosue rule, and bit of social expctations.

House rule:  Inspiration can grant a reroll, instead of Advantage.

Results: Whenever you have something bad happen, you reach for it.  It's not a "oh I should have used it".  Makes players remember they have it.

Expectations change:  Players can nominate another player for inspiration to the DM.

Results:  It's no longer the DM trying to juggle everything and reememeber ~25 traits and such for the whole party.  So it gets remembered to be handed out much more often.

We've been using these minor changes for years across several groups and they make Inspiration a regular and important part of play.  No need to anything heavy mechanically.


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## clearstream (Sep 29, 2022)

I'm A Banana said:


> One of the things they seem to be gunning for in the playtest is adding more ways to gain Inspiration. According to the interview on YouTube, they are looking for "a way to feed people inspiration through the system itself" and generally encourage gaining it and *using* it. Rolling 20's and being Human are ways to get it in the playtest.
> 
> I'm interested in getting some ideas on how to deliver and encourage the use of Inspiration. How would you like to see Inspiration given, and how would you think of encouraging people to use it? What's your take on how the playtest is doing it so far?
> 
> ...



Replace XP with inspiration.

*Once a character has spent a given number of inspiration points, they level up.*

It's in conflict with game direction like the human racial trait, so that would need adjusting.


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## AnotherGuy (Sep 29, 2022)

clearstream said:


> Replace XP with inspiration.
> 
> *Once a character has spent a given number of inspiration points, they level up.*



I like this idea.
Especially if the only way for them to earn inspiration is through their Bonds Ideals and Flaws.


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## rules.mechanic (Sep 29, 2022)

Blue said:


> I have Inspiration used all the time.  One hosue rule, and bit of social expctations.
> 
> House rule:  Inspiration can grant a reroll, instead of Advantage.
> 
> ...



Inspiration grants a reroll. And you can take a level of exhaustion to gain inspiration (esp with the new 10 levels of cumulative exhaustion)


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## clearstream (Sep 29, 2022)

AnotherGuy said:


> Especially if the only way for them to earn inspiration is through their Bonds Ideals and Flaws.



Exactly! It puts TIBFs central to the game. Inspiration (heh) coming obviously from examples such as Torchbearer.


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## AnotherGuy (Sep 30, 2022)

rules.mechanic said:


> Inspiration grants a reroll. And you can take a level of exhaustion to gain inspiration (esp with the new 10 levels of cumulative exhaustion)



Are you referring to Level Up or your own homebrewed 10 level exhaustion track.


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## rules.mechanic (Sep 30, 2022)

AnotherGuy said:


> Are you referring to Level Up or your own homebrewed 10 level exhaustion track.



The 10 level exhaustion track is the one in this latest One D&D UA (although exhaustion levels above 5 are pretty tough going!), although it's similar to what Horwath has championed for a while and to what I've used in my own homebrew. I liked Blue's comment about Inspiration being used more if it was a reroll rather than advantage. And to build on that, I think it would be great to make use of the new exhaustion track to buy Inspiration with an exhaustion level (which then approximates our own homebrew rules for over-exertion that we call Heroic Exertion).


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## edosan (Sep 30, 2022)

I like the “trade exhaustion for inspiration” and I might have to try it out…

So here’s what I’ve started using in my new campaign and my players seem to like it - instead of traditional inspiration I’m using what I call Hero Dice which is my riff on DM Scotty’s Luck Dice.

Everyone got two Hero Dice at the start of the campaign which come from a massive pool of six siders I keep in the center of the table. A player can roll a Hero Die (or multiple) to give them that much of a bonus to pretty much any situation in which they roll dice: attack, damage, skill checks. (You can also give another player dice to roll) Once that die is rolled it’s gone and it goes back in the bowl. If you roll a Nat 1, you can’t spend dice to get out of a crit fail - more on that in a second.

You can earn more dice either by doing something amusing or cool (I have a player that makes a drawing based on the night’s events so she always earns one for that) or also by rolling a Nat 1 on a D20 roll. I wanted to base it on BIFTs but in practice that’s a lot more stuff I have to keep track of (and some of my players didn't flesh out their BIFTs as much as I’d like).

Anyway, it’s a work in progress and they seem to enjoy the new rules. They actually remember to use the dice and don’t hoard them and forget them like they did with inspiration.


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## Bill Zebub (Sep 30, 2022)

edosan said:


> (I have a player that makes a drawing based on the night’s events so she always earns one for that)




I was in a game with a player…a professional illustrator…who did that. The next day we would all receive ~5ish comics summarizing the previous day’s session. It was one of the coolest RPG things I’ve ever experienced.


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## rules.mechanic (Sep 30, 2022)

edosan said:


> They actually remember to use the dice and don’t hoard them and forget them like they did with inspiration.



This is a big plus and I've also seen people get given out an Inspiration d20 in the same way. Your Hero Dice is similar to the Hero Points option in the DMG so should work well (we have a variant, Heroic Effort, which uses your Hit Dice instead). I wonder how much of a playtest we'll get for the interesting optional rules that go into the 6e DMG?


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## dmgorgon (Oct 4, 2022)

Inspiration can be delivered once into the toilet and flushed without a whimper.


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