Corvid Grin

Blank canvases are a trap. They sit there, daring you to make the first move, waiting for some perfect, fully-formed idea to land. But perfection is a lie. Creativity isn’t about control—it’s about finding the story in the chaos. And for me, the best way to do that is to let chance take the first step.

I have always been drawn to chance-based creativity. Whether it’s designing art, building games, or rolling dice in a tabletop RPG, randomness is a tool I use to break free from expectation. The best stories—the ones that hit hardest—are the ones that don’t go as planned.

Dice, Google Sheets, and the Art of Letting Go

I take a lot of inspiration from John Cage, the avant-garde composer who let the I-Ching decide his musical choices. He believed in removing ego from the process, letting chance shape the outcome.

I don’t use the I-Ching—I use Google Sheets.

Cage had hexagrams. I have =RANDBETWEEN(1,666).

It might not be as mystical, but it’s just as powerful. I use random number generators for everything:

• Creating patterns for woodworking projects—letting chance dictate the cuts and colors.
• Generating mechanics for game design—starting with random results and building systems around them.
• Making creative decisions in art—flipping a coin, rolling dice, and following wherever it leads.

And of course, I roll dice to tell stories. TTRPGs are the purest form of chance-driven creativity—a structured space where random rolls force you to improvise, adapt, and shape something unexpected. Some of my best characters, my best moments at the table, came from the bones landing in a way I never planned.

I play D&D, Mörk Borg, Troika—whatever gets my mind firing. Because nothing beats the feeling of watching a story unfold beyond your control, being both participant and audience in your own creation.

Why Work With Chance?

Because randomness forces creativity.

• It kills creative blocks—there’s no such thing as a blank canvas when you let the dice decide the first step.
• It forces improvisation—you don’t get stuck chasing some perfect, impossible vision. You react, adapt, and create.
• It brings unexpected results—introducing ideas you’d never consider on your own.

Let the Chaos Shape the Story

Whether I’m building a cutting board, sketching an illustration, or crafting a game, I always leave space for chance. The best designs often start as random patterns that I refine into something intentional. My favorite game mechanics begin as random outputs that evolve into something playable. And every time I roll a natural one at the table, I know I’m about to experience a story I never saw coming.

That’s why I embrace chance processes—because the best things in life aren’t planned. They emerge, like a story unfolding, like a nat 20 landing exactly when you need it.

So roll the dice, embrace the chaos, and see where the story takes you.