Heroic Inspiration: commit to the reroll
Heroic Inspiration can reroll any die immediately after it is rolled. The new result is mandatory, so the decision carries a real possibility of a worse roll.
Use it at the table
- Decide immediately after rolling the die whether to spend Heroic Inspiration.
- Reroll that die and use the new result.
- If you gain Inspiration while already holding it, give it to a player character who lacks it or lose the newly gained benefit.
Make the call
A player spends Heroic Inspiration to reroll a damage die showing 5. The reroll shows 2. Which result must be used?
The ruling
2, because the new roll must be used.
The rule explicitly requires the new roll. It says any die, so this use is not confined to a d20 test, but it does not offer a choice between the old and new results. Decide whether the possible improvement is worth replacing the current roll before spending the resource.
Watch for this mistake
This is a reroll, not Advantage. Do not apply the procedure for keeping the higher of two d20s, and do not accumulate multiple held Inspirations by default.
Ask the table
Are you willing to replace this result with whatever the new roll produces?
The source rule
SRD 5.2.1, page 183. Read the official PDF.
If you (a player character) have Heroic Inspiration, you can expend it to reroll any die immediately after rolling it, and you must use the new roll. If you gain Heroic Inspiration but already have it, it’s lost unless you give it to a player character who lacks it.
Source and reuse
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
The explanation, example and table prompt are Table Ready adaptations; source text has been reflowed. This guide and its printable card are available under the same CC BY 4.0 license. Independent reference; no official affiliation. These rules are optional for our system-neutral adventures.