Discover how heroic inspiration in the 2024 Players Handbook improves 2014 inspiration, including new ways to gain it!
Willian Murai – The Wizard of the Coast – The Hero of Goma Fada (Promotion)
Inspiring mechanics
For many players, the inspiration for the 2014 player handbook sounded great in theory, but in reality it was one of those mechanics that has been forgotten. The character, awarded by a dungeon master for powerful roleplay or heroic acts, got an advantage in the role, but it could only be held once at a time and had a somewhat vague reward system that many tables had a hard time remembering it.
With a 2024 revision of the Player's Handbook, Wizards of the Coast attempted to address these issues by overhauling the system into heroic inspiration, creating more flexible and mechanically related features designed to facilitate use at the table. Let's break down changes and what they mean for your game.
What was the inspiration for the 2014 rules?
In the original player handbook (2014), inspiration was a DM control mechanic intended to reward players by role-playing character personality traits, ideals, bonds and flaws. If a player gets inspired, they can spend it on attack rolls, saving throws, or ability checks to gain an advantage. The players were unable to stockpile any inspiration. If they already have it, they lost by using it or getting someone else.
How heroic inspiration for 2024 works
The most important change is that heroic inspiration now allows re-rolls in the D20 test. This is not something that players need to decide before rolling, but now you can use heroic inspiration after seeing the results of roles you don't like.
As stated in the free rules for D&D:
If you (the player's character) have heroic inspiration, you can consume it to reroll the die immediately after rolling it and you need to use a new roll.
If you're getting heroic inspiration but already have it, it's lost unless you give it to the missing player character.
This means it can be used for everything from attack rolls to damage rolls. The inspiration for the bard is death, a wild magic surge, a death saving throw, and everything in between.
Another major change is how heroic inspiration is awarded. Dungeon Masters can still grant it as a reward for roleplay, but the new rules introduce more specific ways for players to get it.
Class Features: Certain subclasses, such as the 2024 champion fighter, get consistent heroic inspiration. For example, the Champion's Level 10 Heroic Warrior feature allows you to start your turn with heroic inspiration if you don't have it yet. Play Humans: Human species get heroic inspiration when they take long rest. Take the feat of a musician: This feat allows the character to give heroic inspiration to others during a short or long rest. Fortress: After a short rest in the workshop, you can get heroic inspiration.
Why these changes are important
The biggest advantage of heroic inspiration over the old inspiration system is the frequency of use. Players are more likely to use it, as they can certainly get heroic inspiration, and in short, they become a better mechanic.
Moreover, the oldest methods only allowed us to gain advantage in certain attacks, ability checks, or slow savings. This means that I had to decide to use inspiration before rolling the D20. Now, re-rolling the dice means you know you use your heroic inspiration when it matters.
For DMS, this revision simplifies bookkeeping. Heroic Inspiration features a built-in game loop that ensures players interact, rather than tracking down those who need to get inspiration for good role-playing (a subjective decision that is often overlooked). That being said, it's still good to track it as a reasonable reward.
How is inspiration acquired?
The Dungeon Master Guide (2024) outlined several ways to inspire.
You can also use heroic inspiration to reward roleplay, immersiveness in the game and heroism. It is used to encourage actions you want to see in the game, such as acting on personality, taking risks, thinking strategically, working closely, and accepting ratios of a particular genre.
My only complaint with this system is that if you already have it, you can't receive heroic inspiration from DMs. For example, if you are human and are awake with heroic inspiration, you may not get any more if you play an impressive role-playing of the first thing in the morning because you didn't spend your heroic inspiration.
Fortunately, under the rules of 2024, you can give heroic inspiration to other characters who lack it, so that it's not completely wasted.
Improved inspiration?
The change in heroic inspiration is absolutely improving. The 2014 inspiration system had great intentions, but its rare use and limited benefits made it unstable to implement. The heroic inspiration for 2024 takes a player-friendly approach and ensures that it is a relevant part of gameplay and a new resource that can be used consistently.
