Pink Tealights and Inspiration

[Bjarkmundur]

We use small pink tealights as our inspiration tokens. This is our first time using the inspiration mechanic, and I've made some small tweaks to it.
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A player starts each session with one inspiration tokens, and can have up to two unused Inspiration tokens at any given time. Inspiration can be used in one of three different ways:


Healing Surge: You can use one Inspiration token to restore your vigor. You regain 2d4+2 Hit Points.


Reroll: You can use one Inspiration token to reroll one d20, but you must use the second result.


Make a narrative declaration: You can use one Inspiration token to either add or remove details regarding the current narrative, within reason.


I hand these out along with a complement to create positive reinforcement and encourage my players to be creative and interact with the setting. Anything I see as having a good effect on the overall enjoyment of the group, I award with an inspiration.

We were talking about this after the session and appearantly it was a hit. My players loved the mechanic, especially the 'narrative declaration' part! One of my players used it to change the narrative so that he and one of the NPCs were childhood friends and well acquainted.


I was joking about even having considered awarding an inspiration for how un-murder hobo-y my players were. My Barbarian thought this was especially funny, and later that night he sent me this xD

https://i.imgflip.com/39ixxe.jpg (https://imgflip.com/i/39ixxe)

[Mjolnirbear]

To be clear: the healing surge does not cost an action? Can they heal if they can't take actions?

Also: what level are your players? A healing potion's worth of healing isn't much, but this doesn't cost a hit die either. I'm wondering if using proficiency might be a better scaling option.

Lastly... Can you give me another example of the third use? I'm feeling particularly dopey today. Is it basically the "plot twist" idea? Is it useable in combat?

[Bjarkmundur]

To be clear: the healing surge does not cost an action? Can they heal if they can't take actions?

It doesn't cost an action, and I haven't encountered that problem yet, sir.


Also: what level are your players? A healing potion's worth of healing isn't much, but this doesn't cost a hit die either. I'm wondering if using proficiency might be a better scaling option.

We are level 2 as of the start of next session. For the first session I used 'you can use a single hit dice' but it felt to limited. I also thought 'equal to your level'. It's a balancing act I'll continue to monitor.


Lastly... Can you give me another example of the third use? I'm feeling particularly dopey today. Is it basically the "plot twist" idea? Is it useable in combat?

It's adds small facts to the current scene, but has limited effect on past events. For example we were fighting a troll and my player asked "Is there a torch on the wall that burns hot enough to damage the troll?" I said maybe. He then gave me one token and said "There IS a torch on the wall that burns hot enough to damage the troll".

I specify that it cannot change past events so a player cannot say "Ah, I bribed this guard to let us past him earlier".

This really enhances the 'cooperative storytelling' part. Also, I'm not that good at improv, and I have a bad habit of saying no to the players if it makes my job as a DM easier. This is one of the methods I employ to rid myself of that habit. Using this, it's as much me narrating a story to my players as it is them narrating a story to me. I love every part of it.

When I first started DMing a I saw myself as a host, the organizer of that evening's entertainment. This lead to extreme performance anxiety and I quit DnD for almost 10 years.
Since then I have learned a DM is a player too, and the session is as much for his enjoyment as it is for the other players. My enjoyment comes from running modules, and seeing the players bring the world around them to life. This gives them more freedom to do so. They are not limited to how I visualize the world, they can materialise what they imagine with the use of a Pink Tealight.

I also want to draw your attention to the last two words of that mechanic 'within reason'. My player wanted to shoot five arrows at once from his bow. This I could not allow. Besides, allowing it would not encourage any positive behaviour from my players.