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As a game master, I historically steered clear of heavy use of chance during my tabletop roleplaying games. I preferred was for story direction and what happened in a game to be guided by character actions instead of the roll of a die. However, I opted to try something different, and I'm very glad I did.

The Inspiration: Seeing a Custom Mechanic

A well-known streamed game features a DM who regularly calls for "fate rolls" from the adventurers. This involves choosing a type of die and defining consequences based on the roll. While it's essentially no different from rolling on a pre-generated chart, these are created spontaneously when a course of events lacks a clear resolution.

I chose to experiment with this approach at my own table, mainly because it looked interesting and presented a departure from my normal practice. The results were eye-opening, prompting me to reflect on the ongoing tension between pre-determination and improvisation in a roleplaying game.

A Memorable Session Moment

During one session, my players had concluded a large-scale conflict. Afterwards, a player inquired after two friendly NPCs—a sibling duo—had survived. Instead of deciding myself, I handed it over to chance. I instructed the player to roll a d20. I defined the outcomes as: a low roll, both would perish; on a 5-9, a single one succumbed; a high roll, they both lived.

Fate decreed a 4. This triggered a incredibly emotional scene where the adventurers found the bodies of their allies, still united in death. The party conducted a ceremony, which was uniquely meaningful due to prior roleplaying. As a final touch, I improvised that the NPCs' bodies were suddenly restored, containing a magical Prayer Bead. I randomized, the bead's magical effect was perfectly what the party lacked to resolve another pressing situation. You simply orchestrate these kinds of perfect story beats.

Improving On-the-Spot Skills

This incident led me to ponder if improvisation and making it up are truly the beating heart of D&D. Although you are a detail-oriented DM, your ability to adapt need exercise. Adventurers often take delight in upending the best constructed plans. Therefore, a skilled DM has to be able to think quickly and invent scenarios in the moment.

Utilizing similar mechanics is a fantastic way to develop these skills without going completely outside your comfort zone. The trick is to use them for minor circumstances that have a limited impact on the campaign's main plot. To illustrate, I would not employ it to decide if the main villain is a traitor. However, I would consider using it to decide whether the party enter a room just in time to see a major incident occurs.

Strengthening Shared Narrative

This technique also works to maintain tension and cultivate the feeling that the game world is alive, evolving based on their choices as they play. It combats the feeling that they are merely characters in a rigidly planned story, thereby bolstering the shared nature of the game.

Randomization has long been part of the original design. The game's roots were enamored with charts, which suited a playstyle focused on treasure hunting. While modern D&D often emphasizes plot-driven play, leading many DMs to feel they need exhaustive notes, that may not be the required method.

Achieving the Right Balance

Absolutely no issue with being prepared. However, it's also fine no issue with stepping back and permitting the rolls to determine certain outcomes in place of you. Authority is a major factor in a DM's job. We use it to manage the world, yet we often struggle to cede it, even when doing so could be beneficial.

A piece of recommendation is this: Have no fear of temporarily losing your plan. Try a little improvisation for minor outcomes. It may discover that the unexpected outcome is far more memorable than anything you could have planned by yourself.