Variant Rule for D&D 5e: Inspiration

The 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons is, for many people, the best edition of D&D to date. Similar to previous editions, the various systems that make up the rules are separate enough that creating house rules is fairly painless, with the possibility for unforeseen ramifications kept to a minimum. The Dungeon Master's Guide is, in many ways, an enormous collection of house rules, ready to be used or ignored to meet the needs of each play group. These house rules go by the name of "Variant Rules" in the DMG.

While a great system, 5e is not without its shortcomings. One common complaint is that despite Inspiration being a good mechanic, the rules for actually gaining Inspiration are far too vague for players to feel that they can reliably recoup it once they spend it. This leads to players simply sitting on their Inspiration until they're at risk of death, and the rules for gaining Inspiration slowly fade into the background, forgotten. And lets be honest - requiring the DM to remember 4-5 facts about every PC, and notice when the players manifest those facts at the table is piling way too much work on an already tough job.

If you're interested in a larger discussion about Inspiration, I'll direct you to the real designers of this variant rule, Adam Koebel and Steven Lumpkin.

The focus with this rule is to remove the work burden from the DM, and to provide the players with a reliable avenue for gaining Inspiration. Without further ado, here is the rule:

Variant Rule: Inspiration

This variant rule replaces the other methods of gaining Inspiration.

Once per long rest (or once per play session, whichever is shorter), one player can play out a short, 1-2 minute scene that reveals more about their character to the other players. The scene can be a flashback to their past, something that happened at the same time as other events in the adventure, or something happening right now. It can involve any number of other PCs and NPCs, including zero. The player controlling this scene gains Inspiration.

After the scene, 1 (in games with 2-4 PCs) or 2 (in games with 5+ PCs) other players may ask the scene’s main character for more information. These players also gain Inspiration (even if their characters weren’t involved in the scene at all), and one of them must play out the next scene (after the minimum of one long rest). The player controlling the current scene can answer these questions however they wish.

Comments

  1. Anonymous9 February 2016 at 16:33

    I love this idea! It would greatly help me with getting some of my players to open up and help create that immersive environment.

    ReplyDelete

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