Hi folks,
One thing I've found so far is that, while I like the idea of personality traits and inspiration, it doesn't quite work as well as I'd like in actual play. For one thing, I struggle to remember everyone's traits. For another, I struggle to keep a look out for instances where players have played to their characters' traits in a way deserving of inspiration.
The personality traits remind me a lot of aspects from FATE, so I've been thinking that maybe one way to get the PCs' traits to come up more in play is to actually treat them like aspects.
That is, instead of awarding inspiration as an on/off thing (either you have it or you don't), each PC would have a modest pool of Inspiration Points. The player would be able to spend these points to gain advantage on a roll by "invoking" one of their traits - that is, coming up with a justification as to how a particular trait applies to a given action. On the flip side, the DM can offer the player more points by "compelling" a trait in a way that complicates matters. A player can only refuse a compel by paying an inspiration point instead of gaining a new one.
I've already been sort of doing this, so why not go whole hog?
The only thing I'm not entirely sure about is how large the pool of points should be. In a typical FATE game, you get a set amount of Fate Points to spend on building your character. The remainder is your "refresh", which you can use during play. This pool generally refreshes at the start of each session.
Anyone got any thoughts on the matter?
Cheers,
Jonathan
Go with 5 points per session, since you normally have two personality traits, one ideal, one bond and one flaw. It should be possible to trigger each of them once per session, even though you have to be more careful about what kind of traits are chosen by the players.
That could work. Thanks!
Note that a D&D character is not going to rely on inspiration to the same extent that a Fate character relies on fate points, so there's less incentive to accept a compel.
I recall (although I don't remember from where) a 'no FP' variant whereby you get a free invocation of each aspect per session, but once used, you have to 'reload' it by accepting a compel on it before you can use that particular aspect again. Something like that might be more appropriate in this case.
ChrisTheS wrote:
What ARE their character traits?
"I sleep with all my possessions cuddled in my lap" is going to be hard to compel, or it won't do anything in particular.
And do you really want children to be in the room for "My language is as foul as an oytugh nest"? ( 
)
For one adventure, when stuck at a difficult decision (while scouting ahead, try to be a solo-star hero, or go back for help), I pulled out Erevyn's personality trait "I ran the Original Marathon. Getting information into the hands of those who know how to make use of it, can be a matter of life and death." I read this aloud and went back for the rest of my party. The DM gave me an inspiration point.
I have also changed my own personality traits, based on how I played the character. For instance, Erevyn's "I am horribly awkward in social situations" became "I say bluntly what others only hint at. I am a terrible negotiator or diplomat" after an incident that was supposed to be a negotiation where I said, "He -point at Sleeping Minotaur- scared me. You don't scare me." to the Minotaur's sidekick.
Go ahead - compel me to be a terrible negotiator (but we might sabotage the plot as a result.)
BRJN wrote:
pukunui wrote:
ChrisTheS wrote:
Best course would probably be just to remind them about it, and keep reminding them at least 2-3 times a session. Or, if you've got the time, actually play Fate instead of D&D for a while to get them into the habit of using non-purely-mechanical options to influence the game world.
ChrisTheS wrote:
Then I'd just change the inspiration rules a bit to allow for more options, and give everyone a cheat sheet so they remember. A few possibilities off the top of my head (I'd pick 2-3 in addition to advantage on a roll):
- Take an extra bonus action or reaction.
- Introduce a helpful plot twist.
- Recover one use of a per-rest ability.
- Add +1d6 to a check (after you know the result).
- Reroll damage.
- Use a feat you don't have for one action.
Hmm. I kind of like that idea, but part of me feels like that might add unnecessary complication to the game. I like the simplicity of the inspiration mechanic just providing advantage and nothing else. I'd just like for it to come up more ~ particularly in a way that incentivizes the players to really get into roleplaying their character according to their chosen traits.