iserith
Magic Wordsmith
Inspiration fails to be even a half-baked mechanic that has been easily forgotten, if ever remembered, at every table of 5e I have ever played.
You should play at my table then - it's a huge part of the play experience.
Inspiration fails to be even a half-baked mechanic that has been easily forgotten, if ever remembered, at every table of 5e I have ever played.
I give it out maybe once a session on average - for cool stuff, or (very rarely happens) when a player points out they are RPing a trait/bond/flaw. 95% of the time I give it out for cool roleplay without reference to what their character sheet says.
The big problem with the system IME is that I as DM do not have your TPFs memorised, so unless
you tell me, I won't know.
I'm just chalking it up to a "fiddly bit that doesn't really matter" (similar to diagonal measuring in 3.x).
No, thank you. I'm not interested in buying snake oil.You should play at my table then - it's a huge part of the play experience.
If that's the sole concession, but it's also a tiny bit that's easily ignored, then I'd think that says something significant. Namely, that the designers aren't willing to pay more than lip service to that whole design philosophy, because they don't think it's important to this game. I'm sure that many people agree with them.See, I'm not comfortable with thinking of it that way because it's D&D 5E's SOLE CONCESSION to the massive Storygame/Rules-Lite/Story-First movement that has been growing and growing and growing in the decade since 4th Edition came out, DungeonWorld, ApocalypseWorld, FATE et al. Whether it's working as intended or not, it's not a fiddly bit. It's kind of a big deal. Because without this one concession to modern trends in RPG design...the entire design philosophy of D&D 5E seems to come from the same exact mindset they had in the year 2000 when 3rd Edition launched. Personally, I am less bothered by this than some others would be, but on some level I do want the hobby and the craft of game design to progress.
No, thank you. I'm not interested in buying snake oil.
Anyway, personally, here is what I think I'm going to do (I have yet to actually get behind the screen for a game of 5E but that's another story). I think if it's an ongoing campaign with PCs I expect to know about and care about, I will most likely give out around 2d6 (I'm not actually going to roll dice, I just mean between two and twelve with a strong tendency to be close to seven) to Players each game session.
If I have a table of strangers for a one-shot, I'm going to say, right up front, something like: "There are like eight of you and I can't memorize your characters' Personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws in the time we have available to us. Please tell me if you think you're roleplaying your character's Personality Traits, Ideals, and Flaws exceptionally well, and if I agree, I'll award you with Inspiration."
Bonds, incidentally, is the odd one out. I'm not sure I'd award Inspiration for it because having a Bond and invoking that Bond will be its own reward (and the only downside is that you might have to go on an adventure for your Bond in return which is really not a downside at all since as a D&D player you're there to go on adventures in the first place).
No, thank you. I'm not interested in buying snake oil.
Pleasantly surprised (slightly amazed) with how this thread blew up. No time to reply to everything but I will TRY to come back and read more individual responses, since it seems like "how" people use Inspiration is just as important as "how often".
If we're discussing a table full of randos at a convention, having that stuff memorized totally isn't part of your job as a DM. In a long term campaign with consistent players? I'd argue that memorizing at least one important ideal/bond/flaw for each of your PCs IS part of your job as a DM.