Inspiration (D&D) and Obligation (FFG)

Caution! This is a long post (almost 5400 words) and I don’t have any fancy art to break up the text monotony – sorry! But still, please read this if you want to know why I love the Obligation mechanic and don’t love the Inspiration mechanic.

TL;DR I do not use the Inspiration mechanic in the 5e D&D rules, so I tell you why and give some alternatives to the rules-as-written version of Inspiration. I have replaced this with Obligation in my 5e game. Obligation is a mechanic from the Star Wars Edge of the Empire RPG published by Fantasy Flight Games. I tell you how it works in EotE and then I tell you how I use it in 5e, including what I have to change to make it work. Along the way I make the case for why Obligation is a better system than Inspiration for encouraging role-playing and including PC backstories in the current campaign.

I have to admit, when the 5e D&D Player’s Handbook was released, I was really excited about the way backgrounds were worked into character creation. I especially liked the concept of bonds, flaws, and ideals, and thought it was interesting that the designers chose to provide a specific mechanical benefit to a player who role-played these aspects of their PC. When designers write a rule that provides a specific mechanical framework meant to enhance or encourage a certain type of behavior, that is a clear sign that the designers want their game to be played with a specific focus. In this case the rules tell us that the designers think clever role-play and using backstory elements to inform character actions is an important part of the game.

It is easy, after all, to put in a ton of great advice about role-playing, story-telling, and weaving PC backstories into the game in the Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide. Most editions of D&D have that advice somewhere easily obtainable in one or more core books. However, if you do not create specific mechanics that bolster that aspect of your game, some (possibly large) percentage of your player base are NOT going to play that way and some of them will go so far as to claim that your game is not suited to role-playing at all (reference player reaction to 4e D&D). I don’t want to digress too much, so here is my point: I applaud the 5e designers who placed this mechanic into D&D – it was bold and unexpected, and it showed that, while focusing on the parts of D&D that appeal to the traditional and historic ideals of the game, they also wanted to add modern story-telling and role-playing perspectives to the game rules. So… what am I talking about?

Inspiration

The specific mechanical benefit I am talking about is called Inspiration and it has straightforward rules: A DM can choose to award inspiration to a player when they role-play their PC’s character traits, bonds, flaws, or ideals in a compelling way. A player can only have 1 point of Inspiration at a time, and a player can choose to donate their inspiration to another player to reward said player for “good role-playing, clever thinking, or simply doing something exciting in the game.” A player can spend their Inspiration point to gain advantage on an attack roll, saving throw, or ability check. This is all laid out in the 5e D&D Player’s Handbook on page 125 and there is a longer entry in the Dungeon Master’s Guide on pages 240-241.

The Inspiration mechanic is not without controversy. I remember multiple people decrying the idea of Inspiration as ‘forcing’ a narrative, story-game type of role-playing ideal onto traditional D&D. I personally think this complaint is silly. In fact, Inspiration is an optional rule. The wording in the PHB states, “Inspiration is a rule the Dungeon Master can use…” Can use, not “must use.” Can use, not “needs to use.” Can use, not “is required to use.” So it is, at its heart, optional. Note that, in the DMG on page 241, the discussion on awarding Inspiration includes 3 paragraphs explaining that it is okay to choose NOT to use this mechanic.

I know several people who choose NOT to use it. I know several people who do not use it because they simply forget. I know several people who have created house-rules around Inspiration because it didn’t work for them and their group as written.

Inspiration House-Rule Examples:

1. At the start of each session a chip or special d20 (one for each player) is placed in the middle of the table. Players are the ones who can grab an Inspiration point chip or d20 and award it to another player whenever they want, as long as that player doesn’t already have one. This variant, with only players awarding Inspiration, is discussed in the DMG.
2. Each player gets a point of Inspiration at the beginning of every session and they can use it whenever they want. They don’t earn it, per se, they just get one automatically. Other players can also give their point to someone else if they feel it warranted, as long as the player doesn’t already have one.
3. Give each player Inspiration at the beginning of each session, and they can spend the point after the roll, but before the result has been stated. They can also use the Inspiration point to give the DM disadvantage on a roll. (idea courtesy of @nexum7)
4. Players must ask for inspiration from the DM and as long as they make a good case, the DM says yes. This can even take place right before a roll, not just after a great idea was played out, but as the player is proposing the great idea.
5. Have two Inspiration points for each player on the table at the beginning of the session. This pool can be used by any player during the session and the points aren’t replenished, or are only replenished upon completion of a long rest (i.e. they aren’t earned during the session as rewards). One point out of the pool can be used to gain advantage on a check, just like normal. Spending 3 points can gain you an automatic success. But using 3 points means that there are far fewer points left in the pool, so you have choices to make. (idea courtesy of @architectbloke)
6. Forget Bonds, Flaws, and Ideals – use the D&D alignment system and have the DM offer Inspiration as a reward for not giving in to temptation, or, conversely, for trying to purposefully act against a “bad” alignment. This allows for the reward of getting an Inspiration point to use, but also reinforces the standard D&D tropes inherent in the alignment system. (idea courtesy of @thedicemechanic)

So What’s the Problem?

I have been DMing games for decades and Inspiration was something new to D&D for me. I’ve played other games that put heavier emphasis on role-playing than D&D traditionally has. Among them are FATE system games (e.g. Disapora, Spirit of the Century, & Dresden Files), Powered by the Apocalypse Games (Apocalypse World, Dungeon World, Monster of the Week, & Night Witches), Mouse Guard, Dogs in the Vineyard, and multiple other games. In other words, I am no stranger to games with a large role-playing focus. And I am no stranger to mechanisms for rewarding players for good ideas and good character play.

When I first started playing and DMing, I got used to awarding extra XP as a direct reward for good role-playing or clever ideas, but that practice fell to the wayside in 3e and 4e D&D. In those editions each PC was expected to advance at the same rate and the advancement tables required each class to earn the same amount of XP to move from one level to the next. This was not true in previous editions of the game, so awarding extra XP was worth something – in 3e and beyond, it no longer made sense to do so since the assumption was that all PCs are the same level. 5e also puts all classes on the same advancement table (see page 15 of the PHB) and so suffers from the same issue. The designers of 5e wanted to incorporate a reward for good role-playing into the rules and I give them credit for that. Presumably the reason for adding inspiration is to encourage good role-playing, reward the generation of clever ideas, and create a mechanism that directly connects the PC’s chosen background to role-playing in-game. Kudos to the WotC design team for doing this!

This is a large digression, and I am mostly off topic, but I want you understand the context for my unhappiness with Inspiration. I’m not simply saying it is a bad rule or trying to crap all over something other people love. If you can make it work for your group that’s awesome! For some reason, I just couldn’t remember to use Inspiration in my 5e game. I tried various different tricks and methods to help myself remember, and eventually I did start using it on a regular basis. But it fell really flat for me and my group. We eventually went back to ignoring it during the game. And that brings me to the point of this article… Why I like the Obligation mechanic from FFG’s Edge of the Empire Star Wars RPG, and how I use it in my 5e game instead of Inspiration.

What is the Obligation mechanic?

At the beginning of character creation for Edge of the Empire, each PC chooses (or randomly determines) an obligation. Each obligation has a rating (usually between 5 and 15), and each PC can choose to take on more obligation at character creation. They will either get another, different, obligation, or will increase the current one to a higher rating. This would benefit the PC in one of two ways: either 1) more points to spend on characteristics, skills, and talents during PC creation, or 2) more money (credits) to spend on gear during PC creation. It is mandatory that each PC has an obligation, no exceptions. Page 40 of the core rulebook provides guidelines on how high the rating of an individual’s obligation should be based on the size of the party.

Examples of Obligations:

1. Debt: Literal money owed to someone or some organization.
2. Blackmail: Someone discovered a PC’s secret and is gaining from using that knowledge.
3. Oath: The PC has sworn an oath that dictates their thoughts and actions. This is a personal undertaking which has mental and emotional consequences for not upholding a personal ideal.
4. Favor: The PC owes someone big time (non monetary) for a favor that was done for the PC in the past.
5. Dutybound: The PC has a deep sense of duty that they feel compelled to fulfill. This duty is to an existing organization, rather than an internal belief system (like oath above), and there is a legal or other binding agreement that holds the PC to this duty.
6. Criminal: The PC has a criminal record or has been accused of a crime. This could be a false accusation or the PC could be guilty of committing the crime.
7. Betrayal: Either the PC betrayed someone or was betrayed by someone important to them.
8. Obsession: The PC has an unhealthy obsession that tends to interfere with their life. This obsession could be with a celebrity, a political movement, cultural icon, or region of the world. This is not a physical addiction such as with drugs which falls under the addiction obligation (see below).
9. Family: The PC’s deep ties to their family often requires attention.
10. Addiction: This can be a mental or physical addiction that the PC spends a lot of time feeding.
11. Responsibility: This PC feels a strong sense of accountability or relationship to a person, place, or thing, not including a family member (which would fall under 9 above).
12. Bounty: The PC has a price on their head for some reason. This could be in the form of a legal warrant, criminal contract, or collection agency.

There 12 obligations above are the ones from the Edge of the Empire core rulebook (page 39). There are many more possible obligations, especially if you tailor them to your campaign. Before the PC even chooses their species or career they know that they have an obligation to someone or something in the universe, and they work out the details of that with the GM before the first session. So when the items in the list above say “the PC owes someone” that ‘someone’ is determined before the game and is a discussion between the player(s) and the GM. The obligation has to fit the player’s conception of the sort of PC they are playing and, basically, everyone at the table has to agree that these things are important and will be used in the game. Because it is possible to have an obligation that applies to the whole group, these things are discussed before the start of the campaign or session.

During prep for each session, the GM lists the obligations of each PC in the group in order from largest rating to smallest rating and puts that in a table. So, for example, let’s say PC 1 has favor as an obligation with a rating of 5, PC 2 has family as an obligation with a rating of 10, PC 3 has blackmail as an obligation with a rating of 10, and PC 4 has oath as an obligation with a rating of 10. The party can also have a group obligation – let’s say they still owe money on their ship – that’s debt and let’s make it a rating 10 obligation (they still owe 50,000 credits – that’s a big debt so gets a 10 rating). So the table created by the GM will look like this:

This would be the starting obligation table for the group, but since obligations can be settled (in whole or in part) during game sessions, this chart may change throughout the course of the campaign. During prep before each session the GM rolls percentile dice (d100) and if the result falls in the range of any of the obligations on the table, then the group’s obligation has been triggered. All PCs in the group are affected by this outcome, but one specific PC has their obligation triggered in a way that will have more impact for that PC in the next session. If the d100 result triggers obligation AND the GM rolled doubles, then the effects of the obligation are amplified.

What Effect Does Triggering Obligation Have?

Obligation has multiple effects:

1. Mechanical Effects: In Edge of the Empire, PCs have what’s called a strain threshold. This number is based on the PC’s characteristics and it represents the amount of mental strain the PC can handle. The first mechanical effect of triggering obligation is that each PC in the group reduces their strain threshold by 1 for the next session. The PC whose individual obligation is triggered reduces their strain threshold by 2! Strain thresholds range from 10-15 in a starting PC, so losing 2 of these during a session can be a big deal mechanically speaking – it is literally easier for this PC to become exhausted and mentally wrecked to the point of passing out or collapsing into a ball of nerves this session. If the GM rolled doubles these effects also double, so each PC would lose 2, but the individual whose obligation was triggered would lose 4 off of their strain threshold. This is a mechanical effect meant to indicate just how stressful it is to owe this obligation.
2. Narrative Effects: Losing 2 from your strain threshold reflects a major change in your stress level. In this case, the PC who is suffering this effect should be exhibiting behaviors that indicate their increased stress. This is a cue to role-play becoming irritated more easily, or not making decisions quickly (or perhaps too quickly), or maybe the stress of the obligation has a PC feeling paranoid. All of these are valid role-playing responses to having your obligation triggered. Because the GM and player(s) discussed each obligation during character creation, this is a perfect opportunity to role-play a different attitude than you had before and see if the other PC’s notice!
3. Story Effects: This is mostly up to the GM – the core rulebook points out that if an obligation is triggered during a critical point or pivotal scene in the campaign, it is okay to have no direct story effect of the obligation trigger right now. However, if you are not at that place, it is appropriate for the triggered obligation to affect the session. In that case the obligation trigger causes stress to the PCs and little else changes in terms of story. But perhaps an NPC shows up because of the trigger! Maybe that person is a bounty hunter looking for one of the PCs? Or maybe a debt collector shows up because a PC didn’t transmit their payment on time? Or maybe the ship gets searched by Imperial Security and they find the stash of drugs the PC with the addiction obligation had hidden away from everyone? Or maybe a family member with an emergency contacts one of the PCs and causes them to convince the group to change plans and fly to the rescue? Maybe the mentor to whom one of the PCs owes a big favor is now calling in that favor? There are so many opportunities here, and it can have a huge affect on the course of a session – and not just one session, maybe two or three or the entire rest of the campaign! This is why I recommend the obligation check be performed as part of the GM’s prep and not at the beginning of the session itself.
4. Reputation Effects: It is an option for the GM to use the total combined obligation of the party as an indicator of their reputation as a party. That is, if the group has a high amount of obligation it may be easier for them to get an audience with a criminal syndicate contact or gain access to a local black market, but not as easy to get in to see the local politician whose permission the group needs for something important. On the other hand, the group with a relatively low obligation total might have no trouble at all getting the proper permits and permissions from local government officials, but won’t be able to find a piece of equipment that isn’t readily available from legitimate sources, and/or the local black market operatives may shut the group out of any deals for fear that the group is working with law enforcement to entrap the contact. Since the amount of obligation fluctuates throughout the campaign, this reputation effect has a give-and-take element to it that could affect the ability of the party to reach goals and obtain information or equipment they need.
5. Resource Effects: Obligation is a powerful resource in the game. Starting obligation can be settled and, through the course of events during the campaign, new obligations can be gained. Life is hard for the PCs in the Edge of the Empire universe and they often cannot afford to obtain things they want either because of a lack of funds, lack of reputation, or due to the desired item being rare and protected by its current owner. The GM is instructed to the present opportunities to the players to increase their obligation at various points throughout the campaign. This should be a difficult choice because any advantage gained is offset by the drawbacks of owing someone obligation. Obligation settlement and creation should have an ebb and flow – every single trip to the store probably should not result in a PC taking on more obligation, but once in a while the party should have a really good opportunity to increase their obligation. This isn’t the case of a player picking some items off of a menu and adding obligation every time they want something new – it is meant to rely on story arcs and the give-and-take of character actions and NPC reactions and interactions. In other words, obligation as a resource depends on the story and is built right into the rules of the game.

So obligation is a big deal in Edge of the Empire. How big of a deal? As big a deal as the GM and group wants to make it – but the core book makes it explicit that this is a big part of the game and is part of how to drive the story in Edge of the Empire. It is expected that the GM will use obligation to entice PCs, place PCs in dangerous situations, bring NPCs into the setting who can influence the PCs, and just generally challenge the PCs in a personal way connected to the PCs themselves rather than some generic even that may or may not be interesting to the players.

How do I use this in my D&D Game?

Step 1: Determine the Obligations of the PCs

It turns out that the bonds (and some flaws) in the Backgrounds section of the Player’s Handbook (pages 127-141) make for the start of a great set of options for PC obligations in D&D. For some backgrounds the personality traits and ideals can also be used to craft an obligation, but the majority of them do not match very well. In almost all cases it takes a bit of massaging to make these items into a set of possible obligations. Or you could create a list of obligations based on the adventure you are about to run, or based on the themes you want in your campaign, or simply based on the classes and races of the PCs your players have created.

To be honest, all of the Edge of the Empire core obligations listed above could be used in D&D. However, let’s make a quick list of possibilities that are more tailored to a high fantasy world like one your D&D PCs live in:

1. Party: The PC has an obligation to keep the party safe, healthy, and busy. This PC feels an obligation to serve as a mediator between the party and outside individuals, including patrons, noble families, merchants, and factions.
2. Zealotry or Fervor: The PC has a powerful internal drive to act based on spiritual beliefs, religious doctrine, a life philosophy, or cultural ideal. This means that the PC cannot resist behaving in ways that support and reinforce their world view. This PC probably has someone with resources who urges the PC to continue supporting and encouraging belief in the ideal.
3. Sponsorship: The PC has been sponsored by a current member of a relevant faction who has provided relevant resources and information to the PC. This resource allocation is often intended to speed the completion of a specific task, such as breaking new trails, mapping an unknown or dangerous region, or trading with an unfriendly or hostile group.
4. Noble Cause: The PC is convinced it is their destiny to perform great deeds for a noble cause, such as… end the war, banish all evil in the region, or perhaps banish demons from this plane.
5. Find Something Important: This might be an ancient artifact that will bring prosperity to their homeland, a sacred tome that contains spiritual guidance for their temple, something that was stolen from their kingdom during the last orc raid, a storied artifact that will bring honor back to their clan, the rest of the PC’s scattered family, or even finding a new place to build a sustainable clan hold.
6. Renown: This PC wants to be known across the land so that they can bring honor to their family name, redeem themselves for a prior bad act, or just to impress the Queen.
7. Indentured Servant: The PC has been indentured to someone else and they have not yet fulfilled their obligation either via time or money.
8. Repay a Debt: The PC owes money to someone and strives to repay it.
9. Philanderer: The PC has no shortage of scorned lovers in their past. This obligation’s consequences may include a child the PC is suspected of fathering, or the parent of a jilted former lover.
10. Notoriety: The PC is well known and seems to be recognized wherever the group goes.
11. Hiding Out: The PC doesn’t want to be found by someone from their past.
12. Exiled: The PC was exiled from their homeland or clan and they are not allowed to return to that region.
13. Life Debt: The PC’s life was saved by someone in the past and they live their life to become strong enough to eventually repay the deed.
14. Slay the Beast that Killed a Loved One: A respected and beloved relative or friend was killed by a particular creature or type of creature. The PC is unable to resist hunting down this type of creature if they hear or see evidence that there are creatures in the area. This could something rare, like a green dragon, or something relatively common, like kobolds. It could also be a particular clan of orcs, or a specific individual.
15. Collateral Damage: In the pursuit of a past task, the PC was careless and accidentally destroyed a prized possession of a major underground figure or killed someone important or let someone important die rather than helping them. This figure or their family holds the PC responsible for this loss.

There are so many more I can think of! Just about anything that a PC puts into their backstory can be turned into an obligation. Here are some more off the top of my head… The PC wants to get revenge on those that dirtied their name, earn freedom for an innocent person, sustain or regain a noble family relationship, revenge the death of a loved one, create a pact with a powerful entity, create a school of arcane magic, seduce the most beautiful person in the world, teach followers about the divine, teach followers about the arcane, protect the lore of the temple, regain the PC’s soul which was sold to a devil, break a pact with a powerful entity, rebuild the ruins of the PC’s homeland, or bring knowledge of the PC’s ancient race back into the modern material plane.

There is just so much available material around. Feel free to use tropes, archetypes, cliches, and anything else that appeals to you and your players. Making this list and having your players choose an obligation (or roll one randomly) for their PCs is the first thing you should do.

Step 2: Assign Ratings

Now that you have your list, you will need to assign a rating to each of the PC’s obligations. For a party of 4 PCs I recommend a rating of 10 for each obligation. For a smaller party, add 5 more to the rating of each PC and for a larger party subtract 5 from each PC’s rating. This will give you a total obligation score between 40 and 50 for the party, meaning that obligation will be triggered roughly 40-50% of the time. Remember, you will be rolling d100 during prep to find out if the party’s obligation is triggered for that session. The higher the total obligation of the party, the more likely it will be triggered each session.

Step 3: Allow PCs to Increase Their Obligation Rating

Each PC has the option to increase their Obligation rating by 5 in order to gain something the PC wants. This is ultimately up to the DM, but what is bought with this increase could be just about anything – possibly powerful, possibly non-tangible, possibly not very powerful – it really depends on how you want to set up your game. Some examples: a +1 increase to one attribute (powerful!), an expensive or magical piece of equipment, a starting feat, a toolkit, access to a new known spell, proficiency in an extra skill, or a non-tangible benefit such as free room and board at the local inn. You want this to be beneficial enough that it entices the players, but not so beneficial that they all take it because it is no-brainer increase in absolute power (unless you want that to happen). How the players interpret this sort of thing depends on them (and how you run your games).

Step 4: Create an Obligation Chart to use During Session Prep

Once you have the ratings of the obligations for each PC, you can put them in order from largest to smallest, just as described earlier. Then you will roll a d100 during session prep and determine if the group’s obligation was triggered and which individual is affected the most. Then you get to figure out how you are going to challenge or stress that PC this session. Will an important or dangerous NPC show up? Will the PC get a letter from a family member? Will a debt collector come calling? All of that is up to you!

This is the part that makes me love the obligation mechanic so much! You are literally prepping each session with the PC’s backgrounds and backstories in mind and they are well aware that their past will catch up to them and become part of the game sooner or later. But wait – didn’t I forget something? There’s no Strain in D&D!

What about the Mechanical Effects?

Earlier in this post I outlined the effects of triggering obligation in an Edge of the Empire Game. Even though this is D&D, most of those effects will be the same. That is, narrative effects, story effects, reputation effects, and resource effects can be virtually the same as I described earlier in this post. But the mechanical effects will differ because D&D has no such thing as strain threshold.

There are several options for mechanical effects in D&D. Remember that each PC will suffer the effects of triggered obligation, though the individual whose obligation is specifically affected will suffer worse consequences than the others in the party. Also remember that rolling doubles for the obligation check causes even more severe consequences.

This is where the advantage/disadvantage mechanic in 5e comes into play and makes the game very flexible. When obligation is triggered, each PC now has disadvantage on all ability/skill checks for which they are not proficient. The individual whose obligation was specifically triggered has disadvantage on all ability/skill checks, even ones in which they have proficiency.

If the DM rolls doubles during the obligation check, each PC has disadvantage on all ability/skill checks, even ones in which they have proficiency, and the individual whose obligation was triggered also has disadvantage on all saving throws.

This mechanical consequence is active throughout the entire session. A long rest does not remove this disadvantage, but it can be negated for an individual roll by situational advantage, based on the adv/disadv rules as written (i.e. advantage and disadvantage cancel each other out). Once that roll is done, and advantage has gone away, the obligation disadvantage comes back. Settling a portion of the obligation by dealing with an NPC, paying a portion of a debt, or resolving a specific obligation-based scene or event, can remove the disadvantage for the rest of the session, at the DM’s discretion.

That’s how I do it in my 5e game. You are free to adjust and change it based on your group and your personal preferences. If you feel disadvantage on ability checks and saves is too harsh, then remove the doubles = more severe effect part of the system. 5e has lots of small levers and cogs built in that could be used as consequences for triggering Obligation. I picked the (IMHO) easiest to implement and track (adv/disadv), but there are other consequences you could choose to apply… You could apply levels of exhaustion to the party. You could reduce the amount of healing the PCs are subject to during a rest. You could cause all concentration checks to be performed with disadvantage. You could add a failed death save to the affected individual. You could reduce all passive checks by 2. You could decrease the affected PC’s AC by 2 since they are distracted and preoccupied this session.

In fact, you could remove any purely mechanical effects and this system would still work as long as you roll an obligation check during your session prep. Remember – you will still have 1) the narrative effects in which the PCs are stressed out and perhaps behaving oddly, 2) the story effects in which an NPC might be introduced or an event could occur that relates to the obligations of a PC, 3) the reputation effects in which the party’s ability to be trusted, meet new contacts, and purchase goods may be affected by their obligations, and 4) the resource effects which could determine whether or not the party has access to important equipment, information, or factions. The whole point of this is to encourage role-playing by adding background integration into not only character generation, but also throughout your gaming sessions.

This was a very long post – thank you so much for reading this whole thing (if you made it this far!). Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Until next time, I wish you good gaming!

~DMSamuel