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When I am a Dungeon Master, I historically avoided heavy use of chance during my tabletop roleplaying sessions. I preferred was for narrative flow and session development to be guided by deliberate decisions instead of the roll of a die. However, I decided to alter my method, and I'm very pleased with the outcome.

The Spark: Seeing an Improvised Tool

An influential streamed game showcases a DM who regularly calls for "luck rolls" from the players. The process entails picking a type of die and defining possible results tied to the roll. This is at its core no different from using a pre-generated chart, these are devised in the moment when a player's action lacks a clear resolution.

I opted to test this method at my own table, mostly because it looked novel and presented a change from my normal practice. The outcome were eye-opening, prompting me to reflect on the perennial tension between preparation and spontaneity in a D&D campaign.

A Memorable Session Moment

In a recent session, my party had concluded a city-wide battle. Afterwards, a player asked about two key NPCs—a sibling duo—had made it. Rather than choosing an outcome, I let the dice decide. I asked the player to roll a d20. The stakes were: on a 1-4, both died; on a 5-9, a single one would die; a high roll, they both lived.

The die came up a 4. This resulted in a profoundly moving sequence where the characters came upon the corpses of their companions, forever clasped together in their final moments. The cleric conducted last rites, which was especially meaningful due to previous character interactions. As a parting reward, I chose that the NPCs' bodies were strangely transformed, revealing a magical Prayer Bead. By chance, the bead's magical effect was precisely what the party required to resolve another pressing situation. It's impossible to orchestrate these kinds of serendipitous coincidences.

Sharpening On-the-Spot Skills

This incident caused me to question if randomization and thinking on your feet are in fact the beating heart of tabletop RPGs. While you are a meticulously planning DM, your ability to adapt need exercise. Players reliably find joy in upending the most detailed narratives. Therefore, a skilled DM needs to be able to pivot effectively and invent details on the fly.

Using luck rolls is a excellent way to train these talents without going completely outside your comfort zone. The trick is to apply them for minor circumstances that have a limited impact on the session's primary direction. For instance, I wouldn't use it to establish if the main villain is a secret enemy. Instead, I might use it to determine if the PCs reach a location just in time to see a key action unfolds.

Strengthening Player Agency

Luck rolls also helps keep players engaged and foster the feeling that the game world is alive, evolving according to their decisions immediately. It reduces the feeling that they are merely pawns in a pre-written story, thereby enhancing the collaborative foundation of storytelling.

This philosophy has historically been embedded in the core of D&D. Early editions were reliant on random tables, which fit a game focused on dungeon crawling. While current D&D often focuses on plot-driven play, leading many DMs to feel they need exhaustive notes, it's not necessarily the required method.

Achieving the Right Balance

There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing your prep. But, it's also fine no issue with letting go and letting the whim of chance to determine certain outcomes in place of you. Control is a big aspect of a DM's job. We require it to manage the world, yet we can be reluctant to release it, in situations where doing so might improve the game.

The core advice is this: Don't be afraid of relinquishing a bit of control. Embrace a little chance for minor details. The result could discover that the unexpected outcome is significantly more powerful than anything you might have scripted on your own.