How to get Inspiration flowing while leading your 5E table

By Lemon Baardsen

Getting the flow of Inspiration going both ways can make DMing more fun and fulfilling. Inspiration cycling out and in, granting it to players and the players using it to gain Advantage, can make for a more energized table with players who bring their all to the game. We took a look at improving outflow last time, now let’s take on the challenge of improving inflow.

There is little I find more frustrating as a DM than seeing Inspiration go unspent. Watching players failing checks but forgetting they have Inspiration or clinging on to it as if it were a scarce resource gets me down. Being excited by a player making a bold choice, getting deep into their character, doing something generous for someone else at the table, or even giving the table a great laugh and not being able to give Inspiration because they haven’t used what was previously given is even worse. Inflow can feel as though it’s out of your hands, the players are the ones who decide to use it - not you, but you can create an environment in which players start seeing Inspiration as a resource they can comfortably spend.

Some of the methods for getting your players to spend their Inspiration, or improving inflow, will look familiar as they are the flip side of those improving outflow. Physical tokens, talking up Inspiration, and giving Inspiration early all have a role to play in inflow as well as outflow.