So the Basic PDF mentions Inspiration.

This is a sort of combination plot hook and character incentive/reward/trigger mechanic.

The basis is that the DM rewards an inspiration point for RPing one of your traints/flaws/ etc.

You can then spend it later to gain an advantage. The wording though is a little vague/contradictory on wether you can use it at any time, or only when pertaining to a trait/etc. But when used. Grants an advantage to an attack, save or other roll.

These points cannot be stockpiled.

You can though give your inspiration to someone else if you think they RPed well.

Odd that it is not part of the playtest. I assume there is more rules for how it works in the Starter?

Overall this reminds me of how older editions of D&D gave the DM options to reward EXP for good role playing. Palladium Games does this as well and the Next Playtest packet also had a section about granting EXP for good RP. Except here its granting a boost that can be used later.

I think it is an interesting idea and has the potential to either work well at a table, or degrade into grandstanding to gain it.

Personally Id view the point as what its called. Inspiration. The character did something well and felt uplifted for it. Later they recalled that moment and got a little surge.

The trading of the point is a little odd at first. But I think it can be viewed as recounting to the other character that inspiring moment and it has the same effect on that other person. Kind of like in some movies, comics, or stories where someone recounts a highpoint and later it somehow triggers an idea that works.

I think played that way it feels more logical in use. Otherwise it would feel a little odd to me in play and I would not be so keen to use it.

Anyone else have views on how theyd handle it for their table?

Aside from the inevitable "Well I hate it and Im not using it!" quips. I agree it feels too gamey and could disrupt even. But I believe there are ways to view and play it that fit.

Yeah, the one thing that isn't clear is whether you are supposed to spend your inspiration point in the same scene/situation in which you role played in a way that earned it, or if you can save it for later. I'm tempted to do the latter, just so I don't have to police the whole thing.

... it sounds almost exactly like Fate points, except that with Fate you're supposed to integrate the expenditure of the point into what's happening.

Since it can't be stockpiled I see no issue and since another player can gift hers away that takes the pressure off the introverts and playing up to the DM. And it'd be easy to cap if there was obvious grandstanding.

I think it's a bad idea. You don't reward roleplaying, because roleplaying *is* the reward. However, if instead you give advantage to anyone who comes up with an inspired idea, that would work.

Quote from: talysman;766236I think it's a bad idea. You don't reward roleplaying, because roleplaying *is* the reward. However, if instead you give advantage to anyone who comes up with an inspired idea, that would work.

Advantage is obvious and mostly basic tactics. Inspiration is actually for real playing to your personality and flaws which will likely give you disadvantage. And it's strategic thinking ie. a really good idea or roleplaying as you seem to define it.

What?  It gets your panties in a bunch that a player gets 1 floating roll good for multiple situations until she uses it? Hell just give them a renewable action or fate point if it bothers your sensibilities so much.

I'll give you advantage if you roleplay to my standard....fuck you and your dog. What makes this different and important is that it's not completely under DM control but the table's control. And completely optional in any case so just shut up ok?

Quote from: robiswrong;766214... it sounds almost exactly like Fate points, except that with Fate you're supposed to integrate the expenditure of the point into what's happening.

Yes, thats how I plan to play and GM it. Play the point and narrate now that experience that gaine me the somehow inspired this clever idea or bolstered my spirits enough to get that advantage.

Quote from: talysman;766236I think it's a bad idea. You don't reward roleplaying, because roleplaying *is* the reward. However, if instead you give advantage to anyone who comes up with an inspired idea, that would work.

Its the carrot on the stick approach. It has the potential to coax players to actually participate a little more. And like some other elements in Next, it is aimed more at the player new to RPing rather than the veteran. But it allows the veteran to help others if they so desire.

And yeah. Getting it for neet plans and such is another way to play it.

I think we will be seeing quite a few interpretations and approaches over time to how to apply it. If at all. Like the encounter construction rules Mearls laid out yesterday. Its value or even use depends on the players.

Quote from: talysman;766236I think it's a bad idea. You don't reward roleplaying, because roleplaying *is* the reward. However, if instead you give advantage to anyone who comes up with an inspired idea, that would work.

Someone was saying on another thread thread they basically viewed this as selling role play to those people who see D&D more about mechanical optimisation than actually playing a role.

The worst game I was ever in was a 3.5 game, and it included the teenage GM asking me not to talk in character as it freaked him out... by underpinning role play with at least a sliver of mechanical reward, hopefully that experience will never happen to another gamer.

ow... Probably would have fainted from shock if hed ever seen a LARP or someone showed up in costume. aheh.

I think Mearls and whomever made a good decision when they placed the limiter on just one inspiration.

Quote from: jadrax;766305...
The worst game I was ever in was a 3.5 game, and it included the teenage GM asking me not to talk in character as it freaked him out... by underpinning role play with at least a sliver of mechanical reward, hopefully that experience will never happen to another gamer.

I had a similar experience, though I was GMing.  One of the players had never even conceived of the idea that roleplaying meant acting in character.  To him it was all "he/she/they say(s)..." and afterward he took me aside and told me he wasn't comfortable with the way we gamed as it was nothing like how he had gamed before and it kind of embarrassed him.  And this wasn't a new gamer, he was in his 30s and I had been playing wargames with this guy for years and we had talked about rpgs he had played on many occasions before he finally showed up for a game with me.  Apparently no one he gamed with had "acted in character" ever before.  We just went back to wargames after that.

That ends up being a preference thing.

I know some players who use second person all the time. But my local group tends to switch depending on the situation.

Combat it might be "Samas swings his sword at the blink dog." but with interaction it switches to "I walk up to the tavern keeper and say..." or even switching modes depending on the situation. For us trying to force a mode would be more immersion breaking than as is. Things flow rather than being forced. Like ammo tracking, etc.

Different play at different tables as usual.

Quote from: Omega;766256And like some other elements in Next, it is aimed more at the player new to RPing rather than the veteran.

Bad aim, I think: It's the veterans who've flushed themselves down the abstraction-crunching
drain who demand this. Newbs have no reason to expect it.

It seems most likely to reinforce the bad attitude they'll pick up from said old hands anyway.

Quote from: Phillip;766324Bad aim, I think: It's the veterans who've flushed themselves down the abstraction-crunching
drain who demand this. Newbs have no reason to expect it.

It seems most likely to reinforce the bad attitude they'll pick up from said old hands anyway.

Possible but I know that it would have helped me immensely when I started out because they were all veterans and I had no obvious handle to hold on to while I learned to walk.

Quote from: Marleycat;766339Possible but I know that it would have helped me immensely when I started out because they were all veterans and I had no obvious handle to hold on to while I learned to walk.

I feel pretty confident in saying that for most people, keeping things straightforwardly similar to what they already know is the best course. What they already know is that in real life, acting out personal eccentricities does not tend to improve technical performance unless there is in fact some sort of cause and effect relationship.

One does not exhibit one's character -- especially aspects regarded as flaws -- in order to get a benefit handout from a magic vending machine that miraculously grants success in unrelated endeavors!

One acts in character because it is one's character. In a game of let's pretend, one chooses a given persona because it is fun!

If it's not fun, if it's like being required to eat brussels sprouts  in order to get something else, then WTF would you want to force it on your friends in a social engagement the whole point of which is entertainment?!