People like rolling dice, but why do randomized results make for compelling stories? Games have been using randomizers for thousands of years, and roleplaying games (in their modern form) have used them since their inception. How do unpredictability, risk, and (un)fairness enhance the telling of a story? How have games experiment with randomizers other than dice, or with doing away with randomizers entirely? What makes some kinds of randomness good and other kinds bad? How can RPGs use mechanics to promote fun with randomness?
