🔗 Share this article

In my role as a Dungeon Master, I traditionally avoided extensive use of luck during my D&D games. My preference was for the plot and what happened in a game to be guided by player choice as opposed to pure luck. However, I opted to alter my method, and I'm incredibly pleased with the outcome.

The Catalyst: Watching an Improvised Tool

A well-known streamed game utilizes a DM who regularly calls for "chance rolls" from the participants. He does this by choosing a type of die and defining potential outcomes based on the number. While it's at its core no unlike consulting a random table, these get invented on the spot when a course of events doesn't have a clear outcome.

I opted to test this technique at my own table, primarily because it appeared novel and offered a change from my standard routine. The results were remarkable, prompting me to think deeply about the often-debated dynamic between preparation and randomization in a tabletop session.

An Emotional Story Beat

At a session, my players had survived a massive battle. When the dust settled, a cleric character asked about two key NPCs—a brother and sister—had lived. Instead of deciding myself, I let the dice decide. I instructed the player to roll a d20. The possible results were: a low roll, both would perish; a middling roll, a single one succumbed; a high roll, they both lived.

Fate decreed a 4. This triggered a deeply moving sequence where the characters came upon the corpses of their companions, forever holding hands in their final moments. The group performed last rites, which was especially meaningful due to prior story developments. As a parting reward, I decided that the forms were strangely transformed, containing a magical Prayer Bead. I rolled for, the bead's contained spell was perfectly what the group needed to address another pressing story problem. You simply orchestrate this type of perfect story beats.

Improving Your Improvisation

This incident caused me to question if chance and making it up are truly the beating heart of tabletop RPGs. While you are a detail-oriented DM, your ability to adapt need exercise. Players often find joy in ignoring the most detailed plots. Therefore, a skilled DM must be able to adapt swiftly and fabricate content in the moment.

Utilizing similar mechanics is a fantastic way to develop these skills without venturing too far outside your preparation. The key is to deploy them for low-stakes circumstances that have a limited impact on the campaign's main plot. As an example, I wouldn't use it to decide if the central plot figure is a secret enemy. But, I would consider using it to decide if the party enter a room just in time to see a critical event takes place.

Enhancing Collaborative Storytelling

Luck rolls also serves to keep players engaged and cultivate the feeling that the adventure is dynamic, shaping according to their choices immediately. It combats the perception that they are merely characters in a rigidly planned narrative, thereby bolstering the cooperative nature of roleplaying.

Randomization has always been integral to the original design. Early editions were filled with encounter generators, which made sense for a game focused on exploration. While contemporary D&D tends to emphasizes narrative and role-play, leading many DMs to feel they need exhaustive notes, this isn't always the only path.

Achieving the Right Balance

There is absolutely no problem with thorough preparation. But, it's also fine nothing wrong with stepping back and letting the whim of chance to decide some things in place of you. Control is a significant aspect of a DM's job. We need it to manage the world, yet we often struggle to cede it, in situations where doing so could be beneficial.

A piece of advice is this: Have no fear of letting go of the reins. Embrace a little improvisation for smaller story elements. You might just find that the unexpected outcome is significantly more memorable than anything you might have pre-written by yourself.