Inspiration in DnD Explained
Dungeons & Dragons is a roleplaying game at its core, but sometimes this aspect of the game doesn’t come too easy to new players. It can feel strange and awkward, especially if you don’t have any previous experience with tabletop RPGs. That’s why a handy dandy little game mechanic called Inspiration was invented – to encourage players to get out of their shells and win a little reward at the same time.
If you want to learn more about Inspiration in DnD 5e, join me as we delve deep into the ins and outs of this game mechanic!
What is Inspiration in DnD 5e?
Let me explain this to you in the shortest and simplest way possible – Inspiration is positive reinforcement for players. If you take the time to get to know your character, truly embody them, and play them true to their personality, bonds, ideals, and flaws, you get a little treat/ head pat from the DM in the form of an Inspiration point. This doesn’t mean you have to do funny voices or come in full LARP gear
What Does Inspiration Do?
Okay, so you’ve finished your Oscar-worthy performance in which you’ve invited an entire village to fight with you against the evil tyrannic lord, and got the nugget of Inspiration – now what? Well, the good news is that you’re done with the hard part. The bad news is that you can’t get more Inspiration before you spend this one point – it’s not stackable and you can’t stockpile it for later.
There are so many ways Inspiration can help you in DnD 5e – you can use it to gain an advantage on a saving throw, attack roll or ability check. Also, you can act as a Greek mythology muse and dole some Inspiration out to the other players too. You can reward them for their roleplay efforts, but also for clever thinking, problem-solving skills, or anything else you see fit! It doesn’t even have to be that serious – you can give them Inspiration for simply making a super funny joke too. Just remember, that you are giving them your Inspiration, so you will be giving it up.
<!– wp:image {“align”:”center”,”sizeSlug”:”full”} –>
<!– /wp:image –>
When to Give Inspiration
DMs can be pretty divided when it comes to awarding inspiration. Some love to use it and feel it’s an effective way to make the game more enjoyable for everyone while others think it’s an outdated mechanic and forget it even exists during the campaign. You can choose which camp you belong to, but I’m typically in the lenient/generous DM camp because I want my group to feel that their efforts, no matter how small, are appreciated!
If you want to incorporate Inspiration into your campaign then there’s the question of how often you want to use it. The Dungeon Master’s Guide suggests you should aim to award Inspiration to each character once per session. This might be a great guideline when you’re just starting out to use this game mechanic so nobody feels left out, but I don’t think you should always strictly stick to it. It can be a bit hard to use it often enough to not be overlooked, but also not too frequently so it still feels like a reward. But over time, I believe you’ll find the rate that works perfectly for you and your players!
Now I’m going to give you a few examples of when I would personally grant players an Inspiration point. So disclaimer: These are my opinion and you don’t have to agree with me at all – different strokes for different folks and all that jazz.
Example 1: In one of our recent campaigns, a player in my DnD group played a paladin with an acolyte background who has recently left his temple to pursue an adventurer’s life. Even though he chose to leave his former life behind, when there was a chance to recover an ancient relic – he jumped at it (almost losing his own life in the process). Since he stayed true to his bond even when it was inconvenient and risked the well-being of his beloved character, he was awarded some well-deserved Inspiration.
Example 2: I believe that the easiest way to get Inspiration is to show your character’s flaws. It’s easy to play a perfect can-do-no-wrong Mr. Knight in Shining Armor, but truly bringing a character to life means making an imperfect and nuanced person. For example, a friend of mine played a bard charlatan character who we’ll call Charlotte. Yes, Charlotte the Charlatan.
Well, Charlotte was getting by as a scammer and pickpocket until she was recruited to be a scout in an adventurer’s party. Even though she became friends with the party and stopped her scamming ways for the time being, once the party got their big payout, Charlotte the Charlatan stole everything and spent it before the other party members even noticed. Her biggest character flaw was that she was just too greedy for her own good!
Example 3: This happens very often in my own DnD group – our DM makes a big effort to explain everything in excruciating detail, and usually slips in some important information that will be useful in the future too. But, sometimes, we just aren’t that focused, don’t write things down, or simply forget them because too much time has passed in the meantime. Well, if somebody saves the group by remembering some key information, they would get awarded inspiration. When that happened, all of us would start being super attentive. I mean, who wouldn’t like some Inspiration?
