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As a DM, I historically avoided extensive use of chance during my tabletop roleplaying adventures. I preferred was for the plot and session development to be shaped by character actions rather than the roll of a die. However, I opted to change my approach, and I'm incredibly glad I did.

The Spark: Watching an Improvised Tool

A popular actual-play show features a DM who regularly asks for "fate rolls" from the players. This involves selecting a specific dice and outlining consequences contingent on the roll. It's essentially no different from using a pre-generated chart, these are devised on the spot when a character's decision has no obvious resolution.

I chose to experiment with this approach at my own table, mostly because it looked engaging and offered a departure from my standard routine. The results were eye-opening, prompting me to reconsider the ongoing tension between planning and spontaneity in a tabletop session.

A Powerful Session Moment

In a recent session, my party had just emerged from a city-wide conflict. When the dust settled, a cleric character asked about two beloved NPCs—a pair—had survived. Rather than picking a fate, I let the dice decide. I asked the player to roll a d20. The possible results were: on a 1-4, both would perish; on a 5-9, a single one succumbed; a high roll, they both lived.

The player rolled a 4. This resulted in a deeply emotional sequence where the party came upon the corpses of their companions, forever united in death. The party performed a ceremony, which was uniquely significant due to prior story developments. As a parting reward, I chose that the remains were miraculously restored, showing a magical Prayer Bead. By chance, the bead's magical effect was perfectly what the group lacked to solve another pressing situation. It's impossible to plan such magical coincidences.

Sharpening DM Agility

This incident caused me to question if randomization and spontaneity are actually the beating heart of D&D. Even if you are a detail-oriented DM, your skill to pivot may atrophy. Adventurers frequently find joy in upending the most carefully laid narratives. Therefore, a good DM has to be able to think quickly and invent content on the fly.

Using on-the-spot randomization is a fantastic way to develop these abilities without going completely outside your comfort zone. The trick is to apply them for small-scale circumstances that have a limited impact on the overarching story. To illustrate, I wouldn't use it to decide if the king's advisor is a traitor. Instead, I would consider using it to figure out if the party enter a room right after a major incident takes place.

Empowering Shared Narrative

Spontaneous randomization also helps maintain tension and create the impression that the story is responsive, evolving according to their decisions immediately. It reduces the feeling that they are merely pawns in a DM's sole story, thereby enhancing the collaborative nature of storytelling.

This philosophy has always been part of the original design. The game's roots were filled with encounter generators, which suited a game focused on dungeon crawling. Although contemporary D&D tends to focuses on plot-driven play, leading many DMs to feel they require detailed plans, this isn't always the required method.

Achieving the Right Balance

Absolutely no issue with doing your prep. However, it's also fine no issue with relinquishing control and permitting the dice to decide some things in place of you. Control is a big aspect of a DM's job. We use it to manage the world, yet we can be reluctant to release it, at times when doing so can lead to great moments.

The core advice is this: Don't be afraid of temporarily losing control. Experiment with a little randomness for smaller story elements. It may discover that the unexpected outcome is significantly more rewarding than anything you would have scripted in advance.