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In my role as a DM, I historically avoided significant use of luck during my tabletop roleplaying sessions. I tended was for the plot and session development to be determined by character actions as opposed to pure luck. However, I decided to alter my method, and I'm truly happy with the result.

The Spark: Observing an Improvised Tool

A well-known actual-play show utilizes a DM who regularly calls for "chance rolls" from the players. This involves selecting a specific dice and outlining potential outcomes based on the number. This is essentially no different from consulting a random table, these are created in the moment when a player's action lacks a predetermined outcome.

I decided to try this method at my own session, mainly because it appeared interesting and offered a departure from my standard routine. The experience were fantastic, prompting me to reconsider the perennial dynamic between pre-determination and randomization in a roleplaying game.

A Powerful In-Game Example

During one session, my group had survived a massive fight. When the dust settled, a cleric character inquired after two beloved NPCs—a sibling duo—had lived. Rather than deciding myself, I let the dice decide. I asked the player to make a twenty-sided die roll. The stakes were: a low roll, both were killed; a middling roll, a single one would die; on a 10+, they made it.

The player rolled a 4. This led to a profoundly moving scene where the party found the remains of their companions, forever united in death. The group conducted a ceremony, which was especially significant due to prior roleplaying. In a concluding gesture, I chose that the forms were strangely restored, showing a spell-storing object. I rolled for, the bead's magical effect was precisely what the group lacked to resolve another critical situation. It's impossible to script these kinds of perfect moments.

Improving On-the-Spot Skills

This experience led me to ponder if randomization and making it up are in fact the core of tabletop RPGs. While you are a detail-oriented DM, your skill to pivot may atrophy. Groups reliably find joy in derailing the most detailed plots. Therefore, a good DM needs to be able to pivot effectively and invent details in the moment.

Employing similar mechanics is a excellent way to practice these skills without straying too much outside your usual style. The trick is to deploy them for minor situations that won't drastically alter the campaign's main plot. As an example, I wouldn't use it to establish if the main villain is a traitor. Instead, I might use it to figure out whether the party arrive right after a major incident occurs.

Enhancing Shared Narrative

Luck rolls also serves to make players feel invested and cultivate the impression that the adventure is dynamic, shaping according to their choices as they play. It combats the feeling that they are merely pawns in a pre-written script, thereby enhancing the collaborative nature of storytelling.

This philosophy has historically been part of the core of D&D. The game's roots were enamored with encounter generators, which fit a game focused on dungeon crawling. Even though current D&D tends to focuses on story and character, leading many DMs to feel they require detailed plans, that may not be the best approach.

Achieving the Sweet Spot

There is absolutely no issue with thorough preparation. Yet, equally valid nothing wrong with relinquishing control and letting the dice to decide some things instead of you. Authority is a major aspect of a DM's role. We need it to run the game, yet we frequently find it hard to release it, at times when doing so might improve the game.

The core advice is this: Don't be afraid of temporarily losing the reins. Try a little randomness for smaller story elements. It may discover that the unexpected outcome is infinitely more memorable than anything you would have pre-written on your own.