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In my role as a DM, I traditionally shied away from significant use of luck during my D&D games. I preferred was for story direction and what happened in a game to be determined by player choice as opposed to pure luck. However, I decided to try something different, and I'm truly happy with the result.

The Spark: Watching an Improvised Tool

A popular actual-play show utilizes a DM who regularly asks for "chance rolls" from the participants. He does this by choosing a type of die and defining potential outcomes contingent on the result. This is fundamentally no distinct from consulting a pre-generated chart, these get invented spontaneously when a player's action lacks a clear resolution.

I chose to experiment with this method at my own table, mainly because it looked engaging and provided a change from my usual habits. The outcome were eye-opening, prompting me to think deeply about the perennial tension between preparation and randomization in a D&D campaign.

A Memorable In-Game Example

At a session, my group had just emerged from a city-wide conflict. Later, a cleric character asked about two key NPCs—a pair—had survived. Rather than picking a fate, I handed it over to chance. I instructed the player to roll a d20. The possible results were: on a 1-4, both would perish; on a 5-9, only one would die; on a 10+, they made it.

Fate decreed a 4. This resulted in a deeply emotional sequence where the party found the corpses of their allies, forever clasped together in their final moments. The party held last rites, which was uniquely meaningful due to earlier roleplaying. In a concluding reward, I improvised that the remains were strangely transformed, showing a magical Prayer Bead. I randomized, the item's magical effect was perfectly what the group needed to solve another pressing story problem. You simply script these kinds of magical coincidences.

Honing On-the-Spot Skills

This incident led me to ponder if improvisation and spontaneity are actually the core of D&D. Even if you are a meticulously planning DM, your improvisation muscles need exercise. Groups often take delight in ignoring the most carefully laid plots. Therefore, a skilled DM must be able to think quickly and invent content in real-time.

Employing luck rolls is a fantastic way to train these skills without going completely outside your usual style. The strategy is to use them for minor circumstances that won't drastically alter the overarching story. To illustrate, I wouldn't use it to decide if the king's advisor is a secret enemy. But, I could use it to decide whether the PCs enter a room just in time to see a major incident unfolds.

Strengthening Collaborative Storytelling

This technique also serves to maintain tension and create the feeling that the adventure is alive, shaping based on their choices immediately. It prevents the sense that they are merely pawns in a pre-written script, thereby strengthening the shared foundation of the game.

This philosophy has always been part of the core of D&D. Early editions were enamored with charts, which made sense for a game focused on treasure hunting. While contemporary D&D often emphasizes story and character, leading many DMs to feel they require detailed plans, this isn't always the required method.

Striking the Sweet Spot

Absolutely no issue with thorough preparation. Yet, there is also nothing wrong with letting go and permitting the whim of chance to determine certain outcomes rather than you. Direction is a significant aspect of a DM's job. We use it to run the game, yet we frequently find it hard to cede it, at times when doing so might improve the game.

A piece of recommendation is this: Have no fear of relinquishing a bit of control. Experiment with a little improvisation for minor details. It may create that the unexpected outcome is significantly more memorable than anything you would have planned in advance.