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When I am a DM, I traditionally steered clear of significant use of chance during my Dungeons & Dragons adventures. I tended was for story direction and session development to be shaped by deliberate decisions as opposed to the roll of a die. However, I opted to alter my method, and I'm incredibly happy with the result.

The Spark: Watching an Improvised Tool

A popular actual-play show features a DM who regularly calls for "fate rolls" from the players. He does this by picking a polyhedral and assigning consequences tied to the result. It's essentially no different from using a pre-generated chart, these are created on the spot when a player's action doesn't have a predetermined conclusion.

I opted to test this method at my own session, mainly because it seemed novel and presented a change from my normal practice. The outcome were fantastic, prompting me to reconsider the ongoing tension between planning and randomization in a tabletop session.

A Memorable Story Beat

During one session, my party had just emerged from a massive battle. Later, a cleric character wondered if two key NPCs—a sibling duo—had survived. In place of deciding myself, I let the dice decide. I told the player to make a twenty-sided die roll. The stakes were: on a 1-4, both would perish; a middling roll, a single one would die; on a 10+, they both lived.

Fate decreed a 4. This led to a deeply poignant moment where the characters came upon the corpses of their companions, still united in death. The cleric performed a ceremony, which was especially significant due to previous story developments. As a final gesture, I decided that the NPCs' bodies were suddenly transformed, containing a magical Prayer Bead. By chance, the item's contained spell was perfectly what the party required to resolve another major story problem. It's impossible to plan these kinds of serendipitous story beats.

Improving On-the-Spot Skills

This event made me wonder if randomization and thinking on your feet are in fact the beating heart of this game. Although you are a meticulously planning DM, your ability to adapt may atrophy. Players reliably take delight in ignoring the best constructed plots. Therefore, a good DM must be able to pivot effectively and invent content on the fly.

Utilizing luck rolls is a excellent way to train these skills without straying too much outside your preparation. The key is to apply them for minor situations that won't drastically alter the session's primary direction. To illustrate, I would not employ it to determine if the main villain is a secret enemy. But, I could use it to determine if the party enter a room just in time to see a key action takes place.

Empowering Shared Narrative

This technique also serves to make players feel invested and foster the impression that the game world is responsive, evolving in reaction to their decisions as they play. It combats the feeling that they are merely characters in a pre-written script, thereby enhancing the cooperative aspect of the game.

This approach has long been integral to the game's DNA. The game's roots were reliant on encounter generators, which made sense for a playstyle focused on treasure hunting. Even though modern D&D often prioritizes plot-driven play, leading many DMs to feel they need exhaustive notes, this isn't always the required method.

Finding the Right Balance

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being prepared. But, there is also no problem with letting go and letting the whim of chance to guide minor details in place of you. Authority is a big part of a DM's job. We use it to facilitate play, yet we can be reluctant to give some up, at times when doing so can lead to great moments.

My final recommendation is this: Do not fear of temporarily losing your plan. Embrace a little randomness for inconsequential outcomes. The result could find that the organic story beat is infinitely more powerful than anything you might have pre-written by yourself.