🔗 Share this article

As a Dungeon Master, I usually avoided significant use of chance during my tabletop roleplaying adventures. I tended was for the plot and session development to be determined by character actions rather than random chance. Recently, I opted to change my approach, and I'm incredibly glad I did.

The Catalyst: Watching an Improvised Tool

A well-known actual-play show utilizes a DM who frequently asks for "luck rolls" from the adventurers. This involves picking a polyhedral and defining possible results tied to the roll. It's essentially no distinct from rolling on a pre-generated chart, these are devised spontaneously when a character's decision doesn't have a predetermined resolution.

I decided to try this method at my own session, mainly because it seemed novel and offered a departure from my usual habits. The results were remarkable, prompting me to reflect on the often-debated balance between preparation and randomization in a tabletop session.

A Powerful Story Beat

In a recent session, my group had concluded a massive fight. Afterwards, a player wondered if two key NPCs—a sibling duo—had made it. In place of choosing an outcome, I let the dice decide. I asked the player to make a twenty-sided die roll. I defined the outcomes as: on a 1-4, both died; on a 5-9, only one succumbed; a high roll, they survived.

The player rolled a 4. This triggered a incredibly emotional scene where the party came upon the bodies of their allies, still holding hands in death. The party performed funeral rites, which was uniquely meaningful due to previous roleplaying. As a parting gesture, I improvised that the remains were suddenly transformed, containing a magical Prayer Bead. I randomized, the item's magical effect was precisely what the group lacked to address another major quest obstacle. You simply script such magical coincidences.

Improving Your Improvisation

This incident led me to ponder if chance and spontaneity are in fact the core of this game. While you are a prep-heavy DM, your skill to pivot may atrophy. Adventurers often excel at upending the most detailed narratives. Therefore, a good DM must be able to pivot effectively and fabricate details on the fly.

Utilizing similar mechanics is a excellent way to develop these abilities without venturing too far outside your preparation. The trick is to deploy them for low-stakes situations that won't drastically alter the session's primary direction. To illustrate, I wouldn't use it to establish if the king's advisor is a secret enemy. Instead, I could use it to figure out whether the party enter a room right after a major incident unfolds.

Strengthening Collaborative Storytelling

Luck rolls also helps make players feel invested and create the feeling that the story is responsive, shaping based on their actions in real-time. It reduces the perception that they are merely actors in a DM's sole script, thereby strengthening the cooperative foundation of storytelling.

This philosophy has always been part of the original design. The game's roots were enamored with encounter generators, which fit a game focused on dungeon crawling. Although contemporary D&D often prioritizes narrative and role-play, leading many DMs to feel they must prep extensively, this isn't always the only path.

Striking the Right Balance

There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing your prep. However, it's also fine no problem with relinquishing control and letting the whim of chance to guide minor details in place of you. Authority is a significant part of a DM's job. We use it to run the game, yet we often struggle to cede it, even when doing so can lead to great moments.

The core recommendation is this: Do not fear of letting go of your plan. Try a little randomness for smaller story elements. The result could discover that the organic story beat is infinitely more memorable than anything you could have planned in advance.