🔗 Share this article

When I am a game master, I traditionally avoided heavy use of luck during my tabletop roleplaying adventures. I preferred was for story direction and what happened in a game to be shaped by deliberate decisions instead of random chance. Recently, I opted to change my approach, and I'm very happy with the result.

The Spark: Watching a Custom Mechanic

A well-known podcast utilizes a DM who frequently asks for "fate rolls" from the adventurers. The process entails selecting a polyhedral and defining possible results contingent on the result. This is fundamentally no unlike using a pre-generated chart, these get invented on the spot when a character's decision doesn't have a obvious conclusion.

I opted to test this approach at my own session, mainly because it seemed engaging and provided a departure from my standard routine. The results were fantastic, prompting me to reflect on the perennial tension between planning and randomization in a D&D campaign.

An Emotional In-Game Example

At a session, my party had just emerged from a city-wide battle. Later, a cleric character inquired after two key NPCs—a sibling duo—had made it. In place of deciding myself, I asked for a roll. I asked the player to roll a d20. The possible results were: a low roll, both died; a middling roll, a single one succumbed; a high roll, they made it.

The die came up a 4. This resulted in a profoundly moving scene where the adventurers came upon the corpses of their companions, still clasped together in death. The group conducted funeral rites, which was uniquely meaningful due to previous character interactions. As a final reward, I chose that the remains were strangely restored, revealing a spell-storing object. By chance, the bead's magical effect was precisely what the party required to resolve another pressing story problem. One just script these kinds of magical coincidences.

Sharpening DM Agility

This event caused me to question if improvisation and thinking on your feet are in fact the core of D&D. While you are a prep-heavy DM, your ability to adapt need exercise. Groups frequently find joy in upending the most detailed plans. Therefore, a effective DM needs to be able to think quickly and invent details on the fly.

Employing on-the-spot randomization is a great way to develop these talents without going completely outside your usual style. The key is to deploy them for minor decisions that won't drastically alter the session's primary direction. As an example, I would avoid using it to decide if the main villain is a traitor. But, I might use it to determine whether the party enter a room moments before a major incident occurs.

Strengthening Player Agency

Luck rolls also works to keep players engaged and create the feeling that the adventure is alive, shaping according to their decisions immediately. It combats the perception that they are merely actors in a DM's sole script, thereby bolstering the collaborative aspect of roleplaying.

Randomization has historically been embedded in the game's DNA. Original D&D were filled with encounter generators, which fit a playstyle focused on dungeon crawling. Although current D&D often emphasizes story and character, leading many DMs to feel they need exhaustive notes, that may not be the required method.

Finding the Healthy Equilibrium

It is perfectly nothing wrong with being prepared. Yet, there is also nothing wrong with letting go and allowing the whim of chance to guide minor details instead of you. Direction is a major part of a DM's job. We need it to manage the world, yet we often struggle to release it, even when doing so could be beneficial.

The core recommendation is this: Have no fear of temporarily losing control. Embrace a little improvisation for minor outcomes. You might just find that the surprising result is significantly more memorable than anything you might have scripted in advance.