Luck and It's Role

Many GMs feel constricted by the role luck will play in their RPG. Oftentimes, players will sacrifice everything for an incredible Luck because there's no reason not to. Their exceptional luck will counteract their other low attributes. However, for non-dice players, a Luck attribute is one of the only ways to determine something. Furthermore, some things are appropriate for a luck attribute: random encounters, chances of survival, etc. Thus, this article is some advice on how to moderate luck.

1. Use luck for close calls. Obviously, if I have a sniper rifle to your head and am going to press the trigger and the damage should kill you 5 times over, luck is NOT going to save you from death at the moment. But, if you as a GM are not entirely sure if a shot is going to hit or if it is going to be a critical, factor in the Luck attribute.
2. Use luck in life-or-death situations. If someone has a high Luck attribute and the only way for them to live is for them to take a lucky shot through a wall, let them have it. Of course, if someone has bad Luck, you have to think about that for a little more. It's tempting as a GM to just say "life sucks, too bad", but remember that the point of an RPG is fun. If you've been railroading them to this juncture for whatever reason, and then put them into a position where their bad Luck will kill them, that is just as bad as forcing the scientist in the party to be the one who competes in the Lift-a-thon to save the party from hunger. But, if they've made several obvious mistakes, you should tell them what those mistakes were and remind them that they got a tradeoff by ignoring that Luck attribute, whatever it was.
3. Use luck only in reasonably random events. This is an attempt to encapsulate points #1 and #2. A simple example. If a mage summons a single meteor upon you, Luck won't save you. But if a mage summons a meteor shower that will strike randomly, Luck should make you get hit less often.
4. Let luck be a little variable. No one in life is lucky all the time. People who survive lightning bolts once still get unlucky in gambling. There was a couple that was saved from certain death on the Lusitania by their rings linking together magically... and then they ride on the Hindenburg. Someone with low Luck will often run into bandits, but sometimes their bad Luck should save them from the Mad Cow encounter. Someone with high Luck will often run into good random encounters, but sometimes they will run into a bad High Luck encounter. Thus, fairness is preserved.
5. Gambling. Gambling is a perfect area to use luck. Someone who has a high Luck is likely to win more often in gambling. However, someone with a high Intelligence or high Gambling counts can win using card counting, and someone with a high Dexterity or thieving skills can put in tricked decks.
6. Make random encounters reasonable and emphasize different skills. I went a little overboard with this on my Rifts campaign. First of all, regardless of Luck, don't make random encounters a dime a dozen. A portal here or there and a dropped magic weapon here and there is not bad, and it rewards the player for his choosing the Luck attribute instead of more powers, skills, or attributes. But having portals open everywhere the person goes or having magic weapons dropped everywhere not only imbalances the game, but cheapens the worth of such rewards. Second, balance the types. Have some where you encounter POTENTIAL party members, have some where you go to a different dimension, have some weapons, but be sure to also have some conventional encounters. Finally, make sure the encounters emphasize more skills than just luck. There should never be an encounter in which someone just finds an unlocked, huge army Depot bristling with weapons with no guards. Regardless of luck, you won't find that in real life. Oh sure, allow an Army depot, but have there be some catch. The door is locked by an electronic lock (meaning the character must have electronics), there are soldiers USING some of the weapons guarding the base(emphasizing combat skills or stealth, something or someone is also raiding the base (raiders, aliens, etc., emphasizing diplomacy or combat), etc. Think about why such an Army depot would just be left there. Is this a post-apocalyptic world? In that case, why? That way, the character must avoid greed and must grab as many weapons as possible before radiation fries him. Just because you're lucky doesn't mean people will automatically like you. So what if you meet a potential party member, but he's Tyriel the archangel and you're Dark Fred? This will help remind people that the route they are taking will have limitations, and that not everyone will like them. In the end, make the random encounters suitable, fairly minor rewards, but don't kill your game with them.
7. Have luck be a limited attribute. The luck attribute is the only attribute I feel should be limited. There should never be someone so likely they are effectively invulnerable. Luck should just balance certain things in your favor.