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When I am a DM, I usually shied away from significant use of chance during my Dungeons & Dragons adventures. I tended was for the plot and session development to be shaped by character actions rather than pure luck. However, I chose to alter my method, and I'm incredibly glad I did.

The Catalyst: Watching 'Luck Rolls'

A well-known streamed game showcases a DM who frequently asks for "chance rolls" from the players. This involves selecting a polyhedral and outlining possible results tied to the result. It's essentially no different from using a pre-generated chart, these get invented on the spot when a character's decision has no clear conclusion.

I decided to try this approach at my own session, mainly because it looked engaging and offered a break from my usual habits. The outcome were eye-opening, prompting me to reconsider the ongoing tension between preparation and randomization in a D&D campaign.

A Memorable Session Moment

At a session, my players had just emerged from a city-wide conflict. Afterwards, a cleric character wondered if two key NPCs—a brother and sister—had lived. Rather than choosing an outcome, I handed it over to chance. I asked the player to roll a d20. I defined the outcomes as: a low roll, both would perish; on a 5-9, only one succumbed; a high roll, they survived.

The player rolled a 4. This led to a deeply moving moment where the party came upon the remains of their companions, forever holding hands in their final moments. The party conducted funeral rites, which was especially meaningful due to previous roleplaying. As a final touch, I chose that the remains were miraculously restored, showing a spell-storing object. By chance, the item's contained spell was exactly what the party required to resolve another pressing quest obstacle. One just script such magical moments.

Honing Your Improvisation

This experience led me to ponder if improvisation and making it up are in fact the core of this game. Although you are a prep-heavy DM, your ability to adapt need exercise. Players reliably take delight in derailing the most carefully laid plots. Therefore, a effective DM needs to be able to adapt swiftly and invent details on the fly.

Using similar mechanics is a excellent way to practice these skills without going completely outside your usual style. The key is to deploy them for small-scale decisions that don't fundamentally change the session's primary direction. For instance, I would avoid using it to determine if the king's advisor is a traitor. But, I could use it to figure out if the characters reach a location right after a key action occurs.

Enhancing Player Agency

Spontaneous randomization also works to keep players engaged and cultivate the impression that the game world is dynamic, shaping based on their choices as they play. It combats the perception that they are merely actors in a rigidly planned script, thereby bolstering the cooperative foundation of roleplaying.

This philosophy has historically been part of the game's DNA. Original D&D were enamored with charts, which made sense for a game focused on exploration. Although contemporary D&D frequently focuses on plot-driven play, leading many DMs to feel they must prep extensively, it's not necessarily the required method.

Achieving the Sweet Spot

Absolutely nothing wrong with being prepared. But, it's also fine no problem with letting go and permitting the rolls to determine certain outcomes rather than you. Control is a big part of a DM's responsibilities. We need it to manage the world, yet we frequently find it hard to cede it, even when doing so could be beneficial.

A piece of suggestion is this: Do not fear of temporarily losing your plan. Embrace a little chance for inconsequential story elements. The result could discover that the organic story beat is far more powerful than anything you might have planned on your own.