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When I am a DM, I usually avoided significant use of chance during my tabletop roleplaying games. My preference was for the plot and session development to be shaped by character actions instead of pure luck. Recently, I chose to change my approach, and I'm truly pleased with the outcome.

The Inspiration: Seeing an Improvised Tool

An influential podcast utilizes a DM who frequently requests "chance rolls" from the adventurers. The process entails picking a polyhedral and defining possible results tied to the roll. While it's essentially no unlike using a random table, these are created in the moment when a player's action has no predetermined conclusion.

I chose to experiment with this approach at my own table, mainly because it seemed interesting and presented a change from my normal practice. The experience were eye-opening, prompting me to reconsider the often-debated dynamic between pre-determination and improvisation in a D&D campaign.

A Memorable Story Beat

At a session, my group had concluded a city-wide conflict. When the dust settled, a player asked about two key NPCs—a brother and sister—had survived. Rather than deciding myself, I handed it over to chance. I told the player to roll a d20. The stakes were: on a 1-4, both died; a middling roll, only one succumbed; on a 10+, they both lived.

Fate decreed a 4. This triggered a deeply moving sequence where the party found the corpses of their friends, still united in death. The cleric performed last rites, which was especially significant due to prior roleplaying. In a concluding gesture, I improvised that the forms were suddenly restored, showing a magical Prayer Bead. I rolled for, the bead's magical effect was perfectly what the party needed to solve another critical situation. You simply script these kinds of serendipitous moments.

Improving On-the-Spot Skills

This incident made me wonder if improvisation and thinking on your feet are actually the core of D&D. Although you are a prep-heavy DM, your skill to pivot can rust. Groups reliably excel at derailing the best constructed plans. Therefore, a skilled DM needs to be able to think quickly and invent content on the fly.

Employing luck rolls is a excellent way to develop these abilities without straying too much outside your preparation. The strategy is to deploy them for minor situations that don't fundamentally change the session's primary direction. As an example, I would not employ it to establish if the king's advisor is a secret enemy. But, I could use it to determine if the party enter a room moments before a critical event takes place.

Empowering Player Agency

Spontaneous randomization also works to make players feel invested and foster the sensation that the adventure is responsive, progressing according to their actions in real-time. It reduces the perception that they are merely characters in a pre-written script, thereby bolstering the shared nature of roleplaying.

Randomization has historically been part of the original design. Early editions were enamored with random tables, which fit a game focused on treasure hunting. Although current D&D tends to focuses on plot-driven play, leading many DMs to feel they require detailed plans, it's not necessarily the required method.

Achieving the Healthy Equilibrium

Absolutely no problem with being prepared. But, equally valid no issue with relinquishing control and allowing the rolls to determine certain outcomes rather than you. Control is a big factor in a DM's responsibilities. We need it to run the game, yet we often struggle to release it, even when doing so could be beneficial.

My final recommendation is this: Have no fear of relinquishing a bit of the reins. Embrace a little improvisation for minor details. It may find that the unexpected outcome is infinitely more powerful than anything you could have pre-written in advance.