Inspiration Revamped - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 abs1nth Apr 05, 2015 15:46:33	Inspiration isn't a particularly good mechanic: Players tend to hoard inspiration which means DMs can't award more, which means they stop thinking about giving that person inspiration even after they will have spent it. It's a mechanic that's entirely based on the whims and attention of the DM, requiring him/her to keep track of all the PCs bonds, flaws, personality traits (and whether they already have inspiration or not). It's an extrinsic reward which has negative psychological consequences: You are rewarded for roleplaying by getting advantage-on-demand, two completely unrelated things. Extrinsic rewards can kill intrinsic motivation, I also feel gross whenever I give out inspiration. Variant #1: After a long rest, the PC's inspiration count resets to 2. A player can use inspiration on a roll when he/she can explain how the action he/she is taking is an important part of the identity of his/her character. The DM should be liberal with allowing the use of inspiration. If the player made the effort and it makes some sense, say yes. If the player expresses a new side to his/her character, make sure it gets added to his/her character sheet (or becomes relevant in play). The DM can award extra inspiration for good/entertaining roleplaying. A player describing their attack in a compelling way could also award inspiration. How is this better? It's primarily in the hands of the players. They have an active and pretty reliable mechanic to engage with to gain benefits from roleplaying their character. It naturally fleshes out a character's personality by requiring players to explain the motivations behind their actions. No headache and less burden for the DM. He/She can give out inspiration anytime, even if he/she forgets, the system still works. The reset after long rest means unused inspiration is wasted which incentivizes them to spend it. Because they have 2+ inspiration, they can spend it more freely - less hoarding. When the DM awards inspiration, it's an endogenous reward: You are rewarded for roleplaying with a resource that benefits you if you roleplay. I also changed inspiration from giving advantage to +1d6 because I wanted it to stack with advantage and also wanted to make it a bit less powerful but that's just my personal preference. Variant #2: At the end of every long rest, ask your players how they have played to their traits, ideals, bonds, flaws during the last 24 hours. Every player that can make a decent case is awarded inspiration. How is this better? As players can only have 1 inspiration at a time, there is incentive to spend it until the next long rest. It's a more reliable and fairer way to gain inspiration. DM can focus on running the game without worrying about inspiration.
#2 Macv12 Apr 05, 2015 17:02:55	I like this. (Particularly the 1d6 part; advantage is the reward for everything.) The thing I was thinking of doing, but haven't had a chance yet, is to put advantage in the hands of the other players. The idea being that they listen to each other, they reward the party efforts by way of letting other players shine, and they work to build the story they want to build, rather than the DM blessing their roleplaying from on high. I haven't thought of a way to limit this though, or ensure that each player has equal access to the pool. (Do you give each player one Inspiration to give away? What if three players give each other inspiration and the fourth player is out in the cold? Do you give them a table pool?) My plan was basically to not have the DM really give out inspiration, but instead any player at the table can say "that was worth inspiration right there," and essentially "nominate" a player to get it. That way the DM isn't giving out gold stars to good boys and girls who roleplay well, but rather the players high-five each other with moar dice. This system seems more elegant though. Obviously the number of dice would depend on how much rolling goes on per unit of time. If you're empowering the DM to refresh the pool, it seems like 2, or even 1 point would be enough per day. Or maybe 1 per short/long rest?
#3 abs1nth Apr 05, 2015 18:17:11	Macv12 wrote:
#4 pauln6 Apr 06, 2015 2:04:48	Thousand suns used a mechanic called Narrative Authority whereby if you spend one of your points (luck points? I forget now) in a way that directly relates to something thematic for your character, you get to decide in which way your actions affect the story. I also play a game called Other Worlds that also uses a more collaborative style (players chat about and decide on the effects of success and failure with GM's final approval). In many ways that's far more satisfying than the bonus to the dice roll and you'll be surprised how self-limiting most players can be.
#5 kalil Apr 06, 2015 3:19:08	In my humble experience the inspiration mechanic is simply not used. I have played at maybe 10 different online tables. Number of times the DM has awarded inspiration = 0. Luckily the game works regardless.
#6 pukunui Apr 06, 2015 3:19:25	5e's personality traits remind me of aspects in FATE. I've been toying with the idea of making them function like them too. So instead of Inspiration being an on/off thing, you'd get a pool of points that you could spend by invoking your traits (eg. Explaining how a trait is relevant) to gain advantage. Conversely, the DM can compel your traits to add related complications to a scene. If you accept, you get another point. You have to spend a point in order to refuse though. The only question is how many points to use as a baseline.
#7 abs1nth Apr 12, 2015 4:50:41	I've added a second variant rule for inspiration that is inspired by the sort of after session questions that Dungeon World uses (don't know if they were the first to use them).
#8 TheNovaLord Apr 12, 2015 13:15:00	How can you hoard if you only able to have it once? Or have we be doing it wrong?
#9 abs1nth Apr 12, 2015 13:25:13	TheNovaLord wrote:
#10 Noon Apr 12, 2015 21:35:41	It's an extrinsic reward which has negative psychological consequences: You are rewarded for roleplaying by getting advantage-on-demand, two completely unrelated things. Extrinsic rewards can kill intrinsic motivation, I also feel gross whenever I give out inspiration.
#11 cowleymen Apr 12, 2015 22:09:31	I dont really see the base inspiration rules as being a RP based reward spent only on combat. I think a simplier way would to either say inspiration cant be used in combat, or have inspiration for non-combat and regular combat. You could reward combat inspiration when ever some one take an action that reflects the characters flaws, bonds, ect. That way you can give out inspiration to be used for what it was rewarded for.
#12 transcendantviewer Apr 13, 2015 1:45:25	Personally, I think there's no problem with the Inspiration system, especially if you're playing with a bunch of fair players that are actually able to award it to each other without trying to power-game. I know a DM that never awards Inspiration to any of his players, and instead leaves it to the other players to decide if the player in question is being true to their character. I sat in on a few of his games and even played at his table and I can honestly say that it works as-is. As for if it's explicitely used in combat or not; I can also attest to the opposite. I saw it used in combat and out of combat. Granted, the out of combat usage was less often, it's irrefutable it happened. It all depends on circumstances. I even ended up using Inspiration to gain Advantage on an Insight check to determine of someone was lying to my character. And I prefer combat-oriented classes like Fighters and Barbarians.
#13 abs1nth Apr 13, 2015 4:14:06	Noon wrote:
#14 Noon Apr 13, 2015 4:08:28	And if you gave them books as a reward for eating sweets, they would stop eating sweets IF they were into the books. It just shows what they are actually into. Someone who wants to roleplay isn't just 'getting advantage on demand', they are roleplaying. And if they do just want advantage on demand, then this isn't going to change that. Maybe a conversation - and I don't mean a 'and this conversation will make you play the right way' sort of conversation - it's one where you might find they just don't share an interest in the same thing.
#15 abs1nth Apr 13, 2015 4:24:20	There's not much point in arguing against conclusive research. That's not what the studies showed. The kids were actually into reading books but not after they were given extrinsic rewards for it. Applied to 5e, if your players actually enjoy roleplaying and you give them inspiration for it, you are causing them to enjoy it less for the fun of it and more for the reward.
#16 transcendantviewer Apr 13, 2015 4:56:10	abs1nth wrote:

Post/Author/DateTime

Post

abs1nth

Apr 05, 2015 15:46:33

Inspiration isn't a particularly good mechanic:

Players tend to hoard inspiration which means DMs can't award more, which means they stop thinking about giving that person inspiration even after they will have spent it.
It's a mechanic that's entirely based on the whims and attention of the DM, requiring him/her to keep track of all the PCs bonds, flaws, personality traits (and whether they already have inspiration or not).
It's an extrinsic reward which has negative psychological consequences: You are rewarded for roleplaying by getting advantage-on-demand, two completely unrelated things. Extrinsic rewards can kill intrinsic motivation, I also feel gross whenever I give out inspiration.

Variant #1:

After a long rest, the PC's inspiration count resets to 2. A player can use inspiration on a roll when he/she can explain how the action he/she is taking is an important part of the identity of his/her character.

The DM should be liberal with allowing the use of inspiration. If the player made the effort and it makes some sense, say yes. If the player expresses a new side to his/her character, make sure it gets added to his/her character sheet (or becomes relevant in play).

The DM can award extra inspiration for good/entertaining roleplaying. A player describing their attack in a compelling way could also award inspiration.

How is this better?

It's primarily in the hands of the players. They have an active and pretty reliable mechanic to engage with to gain benefits from roleplaying their character.
It naturally fleshes out a character's personality by requiring players to explain the motivations behind their actions.
No headache and less burden for the DM. He/She can give out inspiration anytime, even if he/she forgets, the system still works.
The reset after long rest means unused inspiration is wasted which incentivizes them to spend it. Because they have 2+ inspiration, they can spend it more freely - less hoarding.
When the DM awards inspiration, it's an endogenous reward: You are rewarded for roleplaying with a resource that benefits you if you roleplay.

I also changed inspiration from giving advantage to +1d6 because I wanted it to stack with advantage and also wanted to make it a bit less powerful but that's just my personal preference.

Variant #2:

At the end of every long rest, ask your players how they have played to their traits, ideals, bonds, flaws during the last 24 hours. Every player that can make a decent case is awarded inspiration.

How is this better?

As players can only have 1 inspiration at a time, there is incentive to spend it until the next long rest.
It's a more reliable and fairer way to gain inspiration.
DM can focus on running the game without worrying about inspiration.

Macv12

Apr 05, 2015 17:02:55

I like this. (Particularly the 1d6 part; advantage is the reward for everything.)

The thing I was thinking of doing, but haven't had a chance yet, is to put advantage in the hands of the other players. The idea being that they listen to each other, they reward the party efforts by way of letting other players shine, and they work to build the story they want to build, rather than the DM blessing their roleplaying from on high. I haven't thought of a way to limit this though, or ensure that each player has equal access to the pool. (Do you give each player one Inspiration to give away? What if three players give each other inspiration and the fourth player is out in the cold? Do you give them a table pool?)

My plan was basically to not have the DM really give out inspiration, but instead any player at the table can say "that was worth inspiration right there," and essentially "nominate" a player to get it. That way the DM isn't giving out gold stars to good boys and girls who roleplay well, but rather the players high-five each other with moar dice.

This system seems more elegant though. Obviously the number of dice would depend on how much rolling goes on per unit of time. If you're empowering the DM to refresh the pool, it seems like 2, or even 1 point would be enough per day. Or maybe 1 per short/long rest?

abs1nth

Apr 05, 2015 18:17:11

Macv12 wrote:

pauln6

Apr 06, 2015 2:04:48

Thousand suns used a mechanic called Narrative Authority whereby if you spend one of your points (luck points? I forget now) in a way that directly relates to something thematic for your character, you get to decide in which way your actions affect the story. I also play a game called Other Worlds that also uses a more collaborative style (players chat about and decide on the effects of success and failure with GM's final approval). In many ways that's far more satisfying than the bonus to the dice roll and you'll be surprised how self-limiting most players can be.

kalil

Apr 06, 2015 3:19:08

In my humble experience the inspiration mechanic is simply not used. I have played at maybe 10 different online tables. Number of times the DM has awarded inspiration = 0. Luckily the game works regardless.

pukunui

Apr 06, 2015 3:19:25

5e's personality traits remind me of aspects in FATE. I've been toying with the idea of making them function like them too. So instead of Inspiration being an on/off thing, you'd get a pool of points that you could spend by invoking your traits (eg. Explaining how a trait is relevant) to gain advantage. Conversely, the DM can compel your traits to add related complications to a scene. If you accept, you get another point. You have to spend a point in order to refuse though. The only question is how many points to use as a baseline.

abs1nth

Apr 12, 2015 4:50:41

I've added a second variant rule for inspiration that is inspired by the sort of after session questions that Dungeon World uses (don't know if they were the first to use them).

TheNovaLord

Apr 12, 2015 13:15:00

How can you hoard if you only able to have it once?

Or have we be doing it wrong?

abs1nth

Apr 12, 2015 13:25:13

TheNovaLord wrote:

#10

Noon

Apr 12, 2015 21:35:41

It's an extrinsic reward which has negative psychological consequences: You are rewarded for roleplaying by getting advantage-on-demand, two completely unrelated things. Extrinsic rewards can kill intrinsic motivation, I also feel gross whenever I give out inspiration.

#11

cowleymen

Apr 12, 2015 22:09:31

I dont really see the base inspiration rules as being a RP based reward spent only on combat. I think a simplier way would to either say inspiration cant be used in combat, or have inspiration for non-combat and regular combat.

You could reward combat inspiration when ever some one take an action that reflects the characters flaws, bonds, ect. That way you can give out inspiration to be used for what it was rewarded for.

#12

transcendantviewer

Apr 13, 2015 1:45:25

Personally, I think there's no problem with the Inspiration system, especially if you're playing with a bunch of fair players that are actually able to award it to each other without trying to power-game. I know a DM that never awards Inspiration to any of his players, and instead leaves it to the other players to decide if the player in question is being true to their character. I sat in on a few of his games and even played at his table and I can honestly say that it works as-is. As for if it's explicitely used in combat or not; I can also attest to the opposite. I saw it used in combat and out of combat. Granted, the out of combat usage was less often, it's irrefutable it happened. It all depends on circumstances. I even ended up using Inspiration to gain Advantage on an Insight check to determine of someone was lying to my character. And I prefer combat-oriented classes like Fighters and Barbarians.

#13

abs1nth

Apr 13, 2015 4:14:06

Noon wrote:

#14

Noon

Apr 13, 2015 4:08:28

And if you gave them books as a reward for eating sweets, they would stop eating sweets IF they were into the books.

It just shows what they are actually into.

Someone who wants to roleplay isn't just 'getting advantage on demand', they are roleplaying.

And if they do just want advantage on demand, then this isn't going to change that. Maybe a conversation - and I don't mean a 'and this conversation will make you play the right way' sort of conversation - it's one where you might find they just don't share an interest in the same thing.

#15

abs1nth

Apr 13, 2015 4:24:20

There's not much point in arguing against conclusive research. That's not what the studies showed. The kids were actually into reading books but not after they were given extrinsic rewards for it.

Applied to 5e, if your players actually enjoy roleplaying and you give them inspiration for it, you are causing them to enjoy it less for the fun of it and more for the reward.

#16

transcendantviewer

Apr 13, 2015 4:56:10

abs1nth wrote: