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Dungeons & Dragons’ Insight skill is commonly used only to determine the truth of NPC dialogue, but it’s capable of revealing so much more.
Often treated as a simple polygraph test, the actual nuances of Dungeons & Dragons‘ Insight skill revolve more around discernible behaviors and habits which a character can observe than simply a binary true or false spectrum. The conclusions players draw from these observations are up to them, but Insight itself doesn’t necessarily need to indicate the veracity of anything perceived.
The simplification of Insight’s interpretation is fairly understandable — players need some reliable method of discovering whether an NPC is deceiving them without needing to use a spell slot or brute force to draw the truth from someone every time. However, this sacrifices the intricacies of Insight, removing some of the most interesting aspects of the skill, reducing player agency and leading to players knowing less about the NPCs they’re dealing with.
How Insight Is Typically Used in D&D
When most players ask to make an Insight check, they’re looking for a simple fact: Are they being lied to? In many players’ minds, it’s an outcome based skill that can be answered with a yes or no. While this information is undeniably valuable, it is merely the broadest aspect of Insight. Few players think to ask for Insight checks specifically for body language or understanding the motivation of their adversary, which are well within the boundaries of this skill.
As a Dungeon Master, it can be tempting to use Insight so broadly. It allows them to impart important information to players and can help guide them in their decision making, but it ultimately takes away a great deal of player autonomy. By telling them that a statement from an NPC is simply true or false, it strips the players of their chance to use their role-playing to its greatest effect or make their own conclusions about an NPC’s true nature.
Another trap this truncated understanding of Insight can lead to is players making assumptions based on how they roll. If a player suspects they are being lied to and rolls a low Insight check, anything the DM says may be seen as suspect. Claiming that the player believes the NPC, whether they are actually lying or telling the truth, will likely be seen as a lie by a suspicious player.
How D&D Players Can Better Use Insight Checks
Insight has some things in common with skills like Perception or Investigation in that all three can have a spectrum of successes based on the roll, which differs some skills that revolve almost purely on success or failure. Though a Dungeon Master might give a narrative flair to something like a Performance skill check when describing whether it succeeded or failed, those still end up being the two possible outcomes of that skill check.
Insight, on the other hand, can scale. Characters can get progressively more nuanced information about an NPC’s behavior with better rolls and make their own determinations based on those observations. Describing an NPC as nervous or fidgety might be an indication they’re lying, or that they’re a naturally nervous character. Better rolls might help the player interpret whether this behavior seems abnormal or not.
Returning to a broader interpretation of Insight gives the players a chance to decide for themselves what these behaviors might mean, allowing them to react in a manner they believe is best suited for the situation. This gives players more agency, which should always be the goal of a good DM, while also offering a great opportunity to flesh out the NPCs.
Additionally, some Dungeon Masters even incorporate this skill into combat. Because Insight allows for observations about body language and mentality, some D&D tables include a house rule players can use Insight as a bonus action to deduce weaknesses, strengths or possible abilities an adversary may have. This adds an additional dimension to the skill, incentivizing martial players to use the skill it in creative ways.
Though Insight can (and should to some degree) be used to indicate if players are being lied to, the skill has far more applications than are often attributed to it. By using the more descriptive aspects of Insight, Dungeon Masters and players will find themselves far more intrigued and immersed by the game.
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