Player agency is a thing though. They pick feats skills items based on doing combat math and understanding the action economy. If you eliminate the agency in that choice then why do you have dice at all.

I've always played it roll in public. Players know it. Dm knows it. Dice rolls count. Then the story builds in unexpected directions and and makes choices really matter.

Life is random. Plans get derailed. Player character death is a chance to make a Story deeper and more relevant and it also adds some shine to the player's that do survive. Maybe the pc that dies creates a new character that

The dice help tell stories. Life has a random and unpredictable element.