Full disclosure: my original push to redesign Inspiration came from an incredible video by Matt Colville. If you compare his thoughts to this post, you’ll see a combination of elements he proposed as well as a few of my own.

Many TTRPG systems of late, like Fate Core, have built-in reward mechanics GMs can use to motivate players, even the most self-conscious ones, to add their own flair to the narrative of the game. In Dungeons&Dragons 5e, this is supposed to be the Inspiration mechanic. If we look at page 125 of the Player’s Handbook, it states:

Inspiration is a rule the Dungeon Master can use to reward you for playing your character in a way that’s true to his or her personality traits, ideal, bond, and flaw. By using inspiration, you can draw on your personality trait of compassion for the downtrodden to give you an edge in negotiating with the Beggar Prince. Or inspiration can let you call on your bond to the defense of your home village to push past the effect of a spell that has been laid on you.

This sounds pretty exciting so far, right? When a player uses their character traits to enrich the game, I can give them Inspiration to use for their benefit in a plethora of scenarios. However, when we actually look at what Inspiration does:

If you have inspiration, you can expend it when you make an attack roll, saving throw, or ability check. Spending your inspiration gives you advantage on that roll.

[…] When another player does something that really contributes to the story in a fun and interesting way, you can give up your inspiration to give that character inspiration.

So…your Inspiration options are:

1. Gain advantage on an attack, saving throw, or ability check roll.

   OR

2. Give up your Inspiration so another player can gain advantage on an attack, saving throw, or ability check roll.

When you consider advantage on ability check rolls are basically granted by DM fiat anyway, Inspiration currently only provides a substantial benefit to attack and saving throw rolls. Even then, you can still fail a roll made with advantage. So, you’re using a precious resource (as you can only hold a single Inspiration at a given time) for the potential to change virtually nothing. Using their examples above, you could use your inspiration to sympathize with the Beggar Prince, creatively connecting your character’s empathy for the unfortunate to influence the Prince, and for it to mean…nothing. Quite frankly, that sucks for both the narrative and gameplay. I honestly believe it’s realizations like this that make Inspiration such a take-it-or-leave-it mechanic when it has the potential to bring your games to the next level.

“So, Guru,” you ask, “how do we fix Inspiration in a way that makes me or my players give a damn?”

I’m glad you asked, imaginary conversationalist I needed for this bit.

The Fixes

As I mentioned above, the biggest problem with Inspiration is the lack of weight it adds to any situation in which you want to use it. Inspiration needs to feel important so when the DM rewards it, players feel empowered. And as we all know, anything that empowers one player will be coveted by all players.

To provide that much-needed weight, let’s first add some benefits guaranteed to work. For example, what if we could use inspiration to turn a normal confirmed attack into a critical hit? Here, the attack is going to harm the target; all we’re doing is giving it some extra firepower.

For our spellcaster friends, how about we allow the effects of a successfully cast spell act as if they were cast one level higher than normal? E.g., you originally cast Fireball at 3rd level (roll 8d6), and use inspiration to treat it as if it were cast at 4th level (instead roll 9d6). Once again, all we’re doing is empowering an already-guaranteed result.

What if a battle is going poorer for the players than they anticipated (a common enough occurrence), and they don’t want to use their only remaining healing potions until the inevitable boss fight lingering up ahead? Simple, let them use Inspiration to heal! In this case, I recommend something easy to manage, yet strong enough to justify a rare resource like inspiration. I currently find that allowing players to roll 2 Hit Dice + their Constitution modifier (as if they were healing from a short rest) is a great solution. The important distinction, however, is that healing this way does not count against their current HD total. If the Barbarian only had one available HD left and wanted to use this perk, she should still have that one HD left for later on.

Can we update Inspiration for anything outside of combat? Of course we can. Taking some cues from Brian Foster’s use of Fate chips in his Undeadwood mini-series, why don’t we let players use their Inspiration to pull back the curtain a bit and ask the DM for advice on how to proceed? Using inspiration this way should somehow make sense in the narrative, but I find it’s a great way for players to stay keyed into the story instead of getting distracted by the latest shiny thing.

Finally, what would happen if players tried to pool their Inspiration together for some greater effect? I call this the “Player fiat” effect. If a majority of players (three is usually a good enough number) wish to change the current circumstances (e.g., a fellow player survives a mortal blow, they pull an “I know a guy”, etc.), why not let them use their Inspiration to do so? This use can be temperamental, and I suggest having a discussion with your players about the do’s and do not’s of this mechanic before putting it into practice. This shouldn’t be treated like an early game Wish spell.

Conclusion

We discussed a lot of great ideas, so let’s condense them into an easily referenced bullet list!

You may use your Inspiration to perform the following:

1. Gain Advantage on any one Attack Roll, Saving Throw, or Ability Check (as usual)
2. Roll 2 Hit Die + Con Modifier to Restore HP. This does not use any HD in your reserves, and may be used even if you have 0 HD remaining. You may choose which HD to use if you’re multi-classed.
3. Turn a Normal Hit in to a Critical. The attack must have been confirmed to hit prior to using inspiration this way.
4. The effects of a cast spell go up by one level. The spell must successfully be cast prior to using inspiration this way.
5. Ask the DM for a Progression Clue. How your character would go about gaining this “eureka” moment must make sense in the narrative.
6. “I reject your reality and substitute it with my own!” AKA Player Fiat (Requires 3 Inspiration) With your combined efforts, events play out differently. Perhaps a PC/NPC does not suffer a mortal blow, or you know just whom to call upon in this situation. This will be the most “situational” use, and will be limited to DM discretion. You don’t get to pop it off like a Wish spell.

I can confirm I’ve already been using these rules with my current group to resounding success. Not only are they finding more clever ways to get me to grant Inspiration, but they’re trying to find new uses for that Inspiration that may someday expand upon the list I’ve presented here. With just some minor tweaks, Inspiration has become a mainstay mechanic and not a useless afterthought.

But, what are your thoughts? What are some ways we can improve what’s been provided here? Or, do you have other ideas for what Inspiration could be used for?

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