Dungeon Master Assistance

In the second Unearthed Arcana playtest document for the upcoming new rulebooks scheduled for 2024 they re-defined the Inspiration rules. I have some issues with the new version.

These are my thoughts on the latest play test version of INSPIRATION.

Currently the Player’s Handbook says “you can give up your inspiration to give [another] character inspiration.” (PHB p.125)  They left this out of the new proposed rules. Perhaps they think it is no longer needed because the players will be getting it much more often. I think it should be included.

The first playtest document was called “Unearthed Arcana 2022 Character Origins”. This new one is called “Unearthed Arcana 2022 Expert Classes”. Here are the differences in the versions in regard to Inspiration.

1) They renamed it, now calling it “Heroic Inspiration”. Evidently they are calling it “Heroic Inspiration” to differentiate it from “Bardic Inspiration” or “Cunning Inspiration”, both also defined in this new document. This is consistent with many other minor wording changes to make the rules more consistent. This is good.

2) You can roll your d20 before deciding whether or not to use your Inspiration. I think this is a good change. It is how I have been doing inspiration for years.

3) They previously had you loosing inspiration at the start of a long rest. They have removed that. I have no problem with that change.

4) They previously had you getting inspiration when you rolled a 20 for a d20 Test. I liked that. They changed it to rolling a 1 instead. This is the one I have a problem with. Here’s why I disagree with the way it is currently presented:

Let’s say I don’t have inspiration and I roll a 1 on my d20 Test. I receive inspiration. I use it re-roll my d20. If I do this every time, I will always just re-roll any time I roll a 1. This would be the same as making it a rule that you get to re-roll whenever you roll a 1. I don’t like it.

Let’s say I do have inspiration. I roll a 1 on my d20 Test. I would receive inspiration, but I already have it, so I give it to another player. I then use the one I have to re-roll my d20. If 2 the players agree to do this every time, they will always just re-roll any time they roll a 1.

They need to be careful if they intend to fix this. If they try to fix it by adding “You don’t receive Heroic Inspiration until the end of your turn.”  Or “You can’t use Heroic Inspiration on the same turn that you receive it.”  Or something similar. That might fix it.

But, what if they add back the ability for one player to give another their inspiration? I like it when someone rolls a 1 and another player gives them their inspiration so they can re-roll. If you can’t use your inspiration on the same turn you receive it that could never happen.

I think the best way to fix this is to change it back to receiving inspiration on a roll of 20 instead of a roll of 1. Then allow players to give their inspiration to another player. I understand trying to make a critical fail not sting so bad, but not at the expense of removing the player’s ability to give their inspiration to someone when they need it.

What do you think?