When I hear “luck,” I tend to think reality bending.

The fine line in fantasy TTRPGs between superpowers and regular characters is magic. Reality bending is basically magic. If we were talking about a superhero game it’s a power. If it’s fantasy, then it’s just another part of magic. If it was horror, we’d be making a call to the SCP Foundation, our friends at Arkham (No, not the Batman one)  or Miskatonic University. (*Hey, the Des Moines Remote Viewing Society does not take reality benders lightly.)

How do we define luck in a fantasy TTRPG mechanically? Is it a bonus to Attack or Skill rolls? Is it a bonus die of inspiration awarded by the GM? Is it Advantage on a roll? (Rolling a second die for the attack/skill and taking the highest result.) Is it a normal die roll with a fail forward clause attached? If the lucky outcome is a foregone conclusion, why roll at all?

Let’s talk meta mechanics for a moment.

Shadowdark RPG has Luck Tokens which are awarded normally for clever gameplay, cunning remarks, inspiring speeches, etc. They can be used to reroll one die roll, but the second roll stands regardless.

The longer I use this, the more I don’t love it. I rolled an 8, spent my Luck Token. Now I have a 3 instead. Welp looks bad for the home team now.

Luck plays a random part in Dungeon Crawl Classics. In that game, it’s an actual attribute. This attribute immediately takes on one circumstance in which it is applied from birth. The Luck attribute can move up or down and gets used in a variety of ways. It’s far more complicated than necessary but random as is expected of DCC RPG.

Finally, let’s look at how Dungeons & Dragons 5E does it. In that game they’re called Inspiration points. More often than not, players and DMs forget to use them or even award them. They’re a bit more abundant in 5E than some other games. I would speculate this is just another part of the superhero-at-low-level aspect of the game. In the coming new/not-new edition of D&D, use and award of Inspiration Points will become mandatory.

For now, looking at the 5E rules, an Inspiration Point may be used to gain Advantage on a die roll. So, roll two dice and take the higher outcome. It’s a reward for “good” roleplaying and can be handed off from one player to another much the same way Luck works in Shadowdark only handed out like candy.

In a lot of cases Luck, Inspiration, Bones, or whatever they’re called are awarded by the Game Master for things that happen in game or in character. In those regards it’s supposed to encourage wild “Huzzah!” moments where a character says something clever or jumps the proverbial shark. I think it can lead to a lot of players trying to one up each other or hog the spotlight if taken too seriously. On the other hand, the mechanic might be overlooked entirely.

Old School Essentials has a slightly different approach.

The Old School Essentials Advanced Referee’s Tome lists a magic item called the Luckstone. This handy little trinket just gives a flat bonus. As magic items go, I see this as one of the coolest things a character can find. We could call it a 4 Leaf Clover or Lucky Coin. The effects remain the same.

I like luck being a flat +1 or 5% bonus because it’s consistent.

Yes, other games have the Luckstone as well. It’s actually a fairly well-used magic item. It makes me wonder why more systems don’t just make luck or inspiration a flat bonus. I mean, if you think about it, good luck is just a reduction for the chance of a random failure result in TTRPGs. Sometimes a 2 is better than a 1 on a d20 roll. In OSE, 5% can be the difference between finding a deadly trap or not until the middle to higher levels. I’d rather take my chances with a seemingly puny bonus on a random roll than a reroll and re-fail.

A couple of possible new luck mechanics.

Professor DungeonMaster added a rather slick mechanic to his game, Deathbringer. In this game, you have a number of d6s equal to your level at the start of the game. You add 1d6 to your d20 rolls to simulate skill, luck, or feats. I would love it if more games would add this type of mechanic. Deathbringer on DTRPG.

Another possibility, instead of leaving the whole thing to chance would be to borrow a bit of the Cypher System way of doing things. Instead of rolling against the odds, maybe we burn Luck points, etc and just accomplish whatever we were trying to do without a die roll. Technically luck could be represented by the absence of negative outcomes. OR keep the random outcomes to include “No, But” or “Yes, And”  types of answers.

I’ll say the same thing I usually say at times like this.

You should always do what’s best for you and your group. Everyone has bad dice days and good dice days. (*I’m notorious for this.) Sometimes a little something extra is needed to push things forward for a character when the player’s dice a big letdown. I think that’s okay. Others’ mileages may vary.

Thank you for stopping by today. I appreciate you. Embrace the things that bring you the most joy.