I would like some help with combining Inspiration and the optional DMG Hero Points & Plot Points. What I DO NOT want is this thread to turn into a debate about if I should or should not combine these optional rules. Let’s just agree if you want to add your thoughts that you accept that I am going to combine them and looking for the best way to achieve that.
We play a lot of FATE and I think combining these three DnD rules will give a very similar effect as FATE points. Also, while I could use all 3 separate rules I would prefer to combine them so there isn't 3 different resources to be tracked for each player.
For those that don't know FATE and FATE Points here is a extremely brief over view:
Fate points are one of your most important resources in Fate—they’re a measure of how much influence you have to make the story go in your character’s favor.
You can spend fate points to invoke an aspect, to declare a story detail, or to activate certain powerful stunts.
You earn fate points by accepting a compel on one of your aspects.
Archon007 wrote:
I think one of the first things you need to do when house ruling is ask yourself how the idea serves your goals of play. Sometimes, I love a game mechanic and want to use it in another game. (LotR Monopoly has the one ring move around the board on a one-in-six chance and the game ends when the ring hits Mt Doom - Boardwalk. Now I use a penny in every other monopoly game I play and end the game when it hits the final property. It keeps my monopoly games around 1 hr instead of 1 week). But sometimes the fit is bad & doesn't serve my goals. Lots of stuff I love about Dungeon Wolrd simply doesn't work in D&D.
Once you've asked yourself what your goals are, and what this idea actually gets for you, then you're in a position to say whether or not the idea is good. The only thing I can advise against is putting your love for the mechanic ahead of your goals of play. This isn't to talk you out of using what seems to be a perfectly good idea - it's to ask you to check your house rule against a larger agenda to see if there are any conflicts. Figure out what it would look like in play and if that's how you want your game.
As for me, I dont care for added complexities generally unless I'm getting something really good out of it. So I would tend to use something closer to what Iserith suggests above. And if you were me, you'd have a bag of dice (Orange or some color nobody uses) that represent the Fate or Destiny dice and you'd manually hand them out from time to time (random grab bag style maybe). And they'd go back in the bag after use.
For me, inspiration is working well to encourage players to play to their ideals, bonds, traits and flaws.
If I were to use hero points, I'd stipulate that they could only be used for the most difficult tasks to defy odds. When I mentioned using hero points to my group, some of them voiced concern that it would make the "game" too easy. That's why I'd limit the use. I suppose, the DM could give out hero points like inspiration to encourage players to play heroically.
Overall though, I'm wary about adding too much complexity and awards that the DM has to keep in his mind during play. I may toy with letting the players decide when another gains a hero point.
Thanks for the advice.
As far as what I am trying to accomplish is to give the players a mechanic to allow them to succeed at something that they couldn't accomplish as is or a way to avoid certain doom if they have a bad roll or two. For example the Fighter who has no profiency in a skill, Arcana for example, being able to (once in a while) use the skill and not be a total bust at it or have another player say "don't do that I'm trained in that skill"
That is one nice thing about FATE, a player who is not very good at something can "tap" an Aspect and spend a FATE point and become pretty good at a skill they don't normally have training in.
This is what I went with:
Inspiration
Inspiration is a rule the Dungeon Master can use to reward you for playing your character in a way that’s true to his or her personality traits, ideal, bond, and flaw. By using inspiration, you can draw on your personality trait of compassion for the downtrodden to give you an edge in negotiating with the Beggar Prince. Or inspiration can let you call on your bond to the defense of your home village to push past the effect of a spell that has been laid on you.
Gaining Inspiration
At the start of each play session you will receive 1 Inspiration, you are a hero after all. Your DM can choose to give you inspiration for a variety of reasons. Typically, DMs award it when you play out your personality traits, give in to the drawbacks presented by a flaw or bond, and otherwise portray your character in a compelling way. Your DM will tell you how you can earn inspiration in the game. However, you may never have more than 3 inspiration at anyone time.
Using Inspiration
A player can spend an Inspiration point whenever he or she makes an attack roll, saving throw (including Death Save), or ability check gaining one of the following benefits:
- Advantage: before rolling you can spend an inspiration point to gain advantage on your roll.
- Heroic Effort: after rolling, but before the outcome of the roll is determined, you can spend an inspiration point to roll a d6 and add it to the d20, possibly turning a failed roll into a success.
A player can only spend 1 inspiration point per d20 roll.
Additionally, if you have inspiration, you can reward another player for good roleplaying, clever thinking, or simply doing something exciting in the game. When another player character does something that really contributes to the story in a fun and interesting way, you can give up your inspiration to give that character inspiration.
Looks good. IMO the re-roll is sufficient w/o the d6, but I see what you're at.
You can also cap inspiration by level with the proficiency value. In other words, you can have 2 at level 1 and 6 at level 20. But 3 is also fine.
bawylie wrote:
Having one effect before the roll and one after the roll is a bit more complicated than I'd go for. I'd just keep the Fate trifecta of 'reroll,' 'add a static bonus,' and 'declare a story detail' (even though I really don't like 'declare a story detail' in Fate - I houseruled it to 'declare an aspect without taking an action'). So if I were doing it, a player could spend a hero point to:
- Gain advantage (as normal for inspiration).
- Add your proficiency bonus to the roll (even if you're already proficient - for balance purposes, I'd say you can't do this if you already have double proficiency). This is what I wish the standard hero point rules said anyway, because I'm not a fan of random bonuses.
- Use plot point option 1 - just stressing that the player should propose something a bit more grand than "I declare there's a convenient chain right here for my swashbuckler to swing on," or at least tack something onto it like "and in the process, it opens the door to the lich's experimental subjects' cage".
While 'spend a point to not die' is a good idea, I think these three options can pretty well cover it (especially using a point to declare "the giant spider's poison doesn't kill me - it wants to drag me back to its den to eat at its leisure").
I think, rather than starting with more points at higher levels, everyone should start with 1 point and have a maximum that increases whenever their proficiency bonus does - you still want to encourage people to do things to earn them. I wouldn't worry too much about compelling flaws - playing them out should be the players' responsibility, and they should keep you appraised of when they think they've earned a point.
EDIT: That's what I get for taking my time to compose my thoughts, someone gets the drop on me :P Main point of this was to suggest using prof bonus instead of 1d6, though, so not a total loss 
Archon007 wrote:
ChrisTheS wrote:
Archon007 wrote:
I'm not sure why you'd have any at starting out, or from leveling. Just start with none.
If they are for roleplaying and you haven't started roleplaying, why would you have any?
Maybe have a cap on how many you can horde (so as to reduce hording) and increase that cap at certain levels, if you want.
But otherwise, why start with any? They want 'em - get roleplaying!
(side note: Though I don't think the fate method is all that great - a compel is basically 'get on the tracks of my plot')
Noon wrote:
Not to mention that dangling 'be awesome' points in front of someone who's just not that good at roleplaying (or who happens to be tired from a week of wrangling hyperactive toddlers and who just wants to let off some steam making chimera chow mein) is not so much a way to make them suddenly be better at it as it is a way to make them resentful of you for making them work.