Question about factotum's inspiration points

[cosmonuts]

From a PbP game:


I may be mistaken, but I didn't think a factotum's inspiration refreshed only during encounters. As I understand, since the notion of a time dedicated to an encounter is very mutable, factotums get their inspiration points out of battle. Hence, to cap this ridiculousness, they can use cunning knowledge only once per day per skill, and abilities like cunning insight without a non-inspiration cap are applicable only in combat, where a factotum's inspiration may tick down due to usage.

Anyone know the specific RAW? I mean, trivially, [the player] can just "encounter" a CR 1/100 lamppost as he walks and refresh his inspiration points.

So am I wrong?

[Slipperychicken]

Well, you are mistaken. Outside combat, it takes one minute (five minutes, actually) to refresh per-encounter abilities. I'll see if I can pull up the rules text soon.


EDIT: Mike Mearls, the lead developer of Dungeonscape, says we should assume inspiration points are regained after 5 minutes of rest (http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?187655-Dungeonscape-Answers/page9&p=3339749&viewfull=1#post3339749). He says in a sage article that IP are also recovered at the end of an encounter (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ask/20070409a).

[Rubik]

So am I wrong?No, you're pretty much right, in that a factotum's inspiration points refresh any time he encounters anything new and significant -- so far as the last "encounter" has ended. Meeting a new person, or a trap, or a new room, or a fight all count as encounters, but only if they're significant. A mere lamppost probably won't count as an encounter unless it's significant in some way. I guess the factotum could check it for traps or something, but unless it actually is trapped (or it's a creature, or there's something else significant about it), it probably wouldn't refresh them.


Well, you are mistaken. Outside combat, it takes one minute to refresh per-encounter abilities. I'll see if I can pull up the rules text soon.That's defined in the ToB, but anything significant can be a new encounter, according to Core.

[cosmonuts]

Well, my fear is that one of my players, a factotum, seems to think that inspiration points are only received at the start of a battle, so he needs to battle to refresh them.

I think this isn't right, and that by RAW there should be a refresh mechanic out of battle.

I mean, that's how I've been playing factotum...

[Slipperychicken]

Well, my fear is that one of my players, a factotum, seems to think that inspiration points are only received at the start of a battle, so he needs to battle to refresh them.

I think this isn't right, and that by RAW there should be a refresh mechanic out of battle.

I mean, that's how I've been playing factotum...

Just in case you missed it:



EDIT: Mike Mearls, the lead developer of Dungeonscape, says we should assume inspiration points are regained after 5 minutes of rest (http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?187655-Dungeonscape-Answers/page9&p=3339749&viewfull=1#post3339749). He says in a sage article that IP are also recovered at the end of an encounter (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ask/20070409a).

[cosmonuts]

Thanks, I'm very grateful for the link.

I get all anxious when something isn't RAW.

[Slipperychicken]

Thanks, I'm very grateful for the link.

I get all anxious when something isn't RAW.

Yeah, I used to get like that too. It helps when you think of the rules as a series of documents written by fallible human beings, and not take it as gospel.

It's like if you find a weird sentence in an instructions manual, ask the writer about it (for example, a TV dinner says to put it in the microwave for 900 minutes, when that would obviously start a fire and melt the plastic container), then he/she admits a mistake and lets you know how s/he intended it. You don't slavishly try to adhere to the original (poorly-written) text and put your TV dinner in the microwave for 900 minutes, because that's crazy: you take the author's revision and work with that instead.

[Flickerdart]

If you encounter any abuse of this 5-minute refresh cycle, there's a rule I've implemented in some of my games (when necessary) that has helped mitigate that - per-encounter abilities refresh at the end of an encounter only. So you can go ahead and use that Martial Study: Mountain Hammer to break the door to the castle, but you can't spam it ad absurdum to break down every door (unless you have a refresh mechanism, but then you deserve it). This helps reinforce the notion that the terrain between encounters isn't just set pieces, but part of the challenge.

[Zweisteine]

I always object to the use of "encounter" as a recharge unit, or any sort of unit of time. What is an encounter? You might use all your points in a conversation with a farmer, to get information, but would it be a proper "encounter" that you can get points back from?

My DM rules that "per encounter" is "per minute," which is generally accurate unless the encounters go on for an unusually long time.

Having a per-minute or per-5-minute reset is good, and helps keep the factotum fully effective when it comes to bigger, long-lasting "encounters."