This post is not about giving inspiration, it is more about wondering how to ensure that the player uses the point of inspiration during the campaign/session? I do enjoy giving out inspiration however I do not like going out more than one point at a time. (I have read some threads where DM's let inspiration "stack" for multiple uses)
How do you as a DM, make sure the player uses the inspiration so that you can give them additional points later?
I've never done it - but I've heard it suggested ( by TheAngryDM ) that you give out physical tokens ( as Houligansuggested ), and then take it back, revoking it, at the end of the gaming session, or maybe at the end of the following session - doing so loudly and pointedly, "Oh hey, you had this potential advantage, but I guess you wastedit!".
Not sure I like that suggestion - but it's one I've heard.
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Making a production out of it is probably unneccessary. I would probably go for a gentle reminder at the start "make sure if you have inspiration to use it before the end of the session"
I agree that inspiration points should not be saved up and stacked and stored for future use. I've always thought of inspiration as a very short term benefit. It'll wear off if it's not used soon. I generally feel that there are two options:
1. From the player perspective: the player who earns a point of inspiration must use it before the end of the next session or it's gone.
2. From the character perspective: the character who earns inspiration must use it before the end of their next long rest or it's gone.
Sure, there is an argument to be made that inspiration could be a sort of "karma" that we build up over time, but I worry that that would simply encourage players to focus more on earning points and min-maxing their points rather than just focusing on the plot and the RP. Besides, inspiration isn't candy. It's not a gold star that you give to whomever scores highest on a test. I prefer to think of inspiration as like a Bronze Star of role playing. It's valuable BECAUSE it's so rare and so hard to earn. It's not something that I would want given out every session. It's reserved for only those few-and-far-between moments of extraordinary role playing where the player and the character both grow beyond their previous boundaries.
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Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
I treat inspiration as milestones. Recently my group freed an ancient golden dragon from her chains. She blessed them with three inspiration points to use whenever they want. I don't give out inspiration any other time than a milestone. So they know it's very limited and rare to have.
But every DM should use it as how they want.
If players forget that they have inspiration I'm not going to remind them. That is on them. They have to remember that stuff. I know they can use it but if they don't remember it's not my fault. I'm not going to remind them about it.
I hand out inspiration in the form of a metal coin (Campaign Coins that I picked up a few of at GenCon a year or so back). Makes a nice thump when tossed (gently) across the table and gives the player something physical to remember that they've got an inspiration point to use. I'm fairly free with handing them out - a good idea (maybe one I'd not thought of, or one that I'm really pleased the players came up with), an in-character quip or clever turn of phrase, an out of character comment that the rest of the table enjoys, etc. No more than one at a time though - you've either done something to earn inspiration or you haven't - they don't stack. But I'd say that the majority of the time at least one party member has inspiration to spend.
In terms of using them though I'll permit holding them to the next session until a rest point occurs (usually a long rest - they don't tend to bother with short rests much), mainly because each regular session we get to meet up can be fairly short (only around 3 hours) and is normally fortnightly just because of everybody's schedule. I've not seen any abuse from this, maybe because I don't allow them to stack up, and there's normally at least one floating around the party at any time they usually get used, though the players do tend to save them up for a key roll they feel they have to succeed on. Given the relative frequency I hand them out at for good play at the table they could probably afford to use them a little more frequently to acheive suitably heroic activity and still earn them back again for a key roll, but that's up to the players :)
I think I found the trick. I got me some inspiration tokens that I will give each player and collect any unused tokens at the end of each session. Thanks all for the suggestions.
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Hello fellow DM's
This post is not about giving inspiration, it is more about wondering how to ensure that the player uses the point of inspiration during the campaign/session? I do enjoy giving out inspiration however I do not like going out more than one point at a time. (I have read some threads where DM's let inspiration "stack" for multiple uses)
How do you as a DM, make sure the player uses the inspiration so that you can give them additional points later?
For an in-person game, a physical token works well, like a large novelty coin.
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I've never done it - but I've heard it suggested ( by TheAngryDM ) that you give out physical tokens ( as Houligan suggested ), and then take it back, revoking it, at the end of the gaming session, or maybe at the end of the following session - doing so loudly and pointedly, "Oh hey, you had this potential advantage, but I guess you wasted it!".
Not sure I like that suggestion - but it's one I've heard.
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Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Making a production out of it is probably unneccessary. I would probably go for a gentle reminder at the start "make sure if you have inspiration to use it before the end of the session"
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I agree that inspiration points should not be saved up and stacked and stored for future use. I've always thought of inspiration as a very short term benefit. It'll wear off if it's not used soon. I generally feel that there are two options:
1. From the player perspective: the player who earns a point of inspiration must use it before the end of the next session or it's gone.
2. From the character perspective: the character who earns inspiration must use it before the end of their next long rest or it's gone.
Sure, there is an argument to be made that inspiration could be a sort of "karma" that we build up over time, but I worry that that would simply encourage players to focus more on earning points and min-maxing their points rather than just focusing on the plot and the RP. Besides, inspiration isn't candy. It's not a gold star that you give to whomever scores highest on a test. I prefer to think of inspiration as like a Bronze Star of role playing. It's valuable BECAUSE it's so rare and so hard to earn. It's not something that I would want given out every session. It's reserved for only those few-and-far-between moments of extraordinary role playing where the player and the character both grow beyond their previous boundaries.
Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
Anzio Faro. Lvl 5 Prot. Aasimar Light Cleric.
I treat inspiration as milestones. Recently my group freed an ancient golden dragon from her chains. She blessed them with three inspiration points to use whenever they want. I don't give out inspiration any other time than a milestone. So they know it's very limited and rare to have.
But every DM should use it as how they want.
If players forget that they have inspiration I'm not going to remind them. That is on them. They have to remember that stuff. I know they can use it but if they don't remember it's not my fault. I'm not going to remind them about it.
I hand out inspiration in the form of a metal coin (Campaign Coins that I picked up a few of at GenCon a year or so back). Makes a nice thump when tossed (gently) across the table and gives the player something physical to remember that they've got an inspiration point to use. I'm fairly free with handing them out - a good idea (maybe one I'd not thought of, or one that I'm really pleased the players came up with), an in-character quip or clever turn of phrase, an out of character comment that the rest of the table enjoys, etc. No more than one at a time though - you've either done something to earn inspiration or you haven't - they don't stack. But I'd say that the majority of the time at least one party member has inspiration to spend.
In terms of using them though I'll permit holding them to the next session until a rest point occurs (usually a long rest - they don't tend to bother with short rests much), mainly because each regular session we get to meet up can be fairly short (only around 3 hours) and is normally fortnightly just because of everybody's schedule. I've not seen any abuse from this, maybe because I don't allow them to stack up, and there's normally at least one floating around the party at any time they usually get used, though the players do tend to save them up for a key roll they feel they have to succeed on. Given the relative frequency I hand them out at for good play at the table they could probably afford to use them a little more frequently to acheive suitably heroic activity and still earn them back again for a key roll, but that's up to the players :)
I think I found the trick. I got me some inspiration tokens that I will give each player and collect any unused tokens at the end of each session. Thanks all for the suggestions.