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torakfade
2010-01-09, 08:28 AM
Hello all,

I need your suggestions for a role-playing game (possibly in the fantasy / sci-fi genre, nothing too "realistic") that can be played by few people.

I love RPG's but most of my buddies loathe them as kiddie games and whatnot... I only have a few friends that'd like to play, and even then it's very, very difficult to get them all round the table.

Is there any game that can be enjoyed by just 1 or 2 players + DM?

jmbrown
2010-01-09, 08:34 AM
Dread (http://dreadthegame.wordpress.com/about-dread-the-game/) or Dogs in the Vineyard (http://www.lumpley.com/dogsources.html).

rollfrenzy
2010-01-09, 08:37 AM
Actually you can play just about any game with a couple of people. I have had some very good one-on-one session in d20 and several other games. A great game for one or two is Chaosium's version of Call of Cthulu. It is very easy to learn and adaptable to about anything. Especially fun is an x-files style game, which works great with two players and a GM.

torakfade
2010-01-09, 08:57 AM
A great game for one or two is Chaosium's version of Call of Cthulu. It is very easy to learn and adaptable to about anything. Especially fun is an x-files style game, which works great with two players and a GM.

I have a bit of experience under my belt as DM on d100 CoC, but I think it's too easy to permanently lose one character either by madness or injury... while in a group of 5, one dead guy can be replaced while the action goes on, a TPK would "ruin" a session I think.

I know I may always use meatshield NPC's or something, but I was thinking more about lower-risk games, fast to prepare and without too many complicated rules.

Jimp
2010-01-09, 09:28 AM
I've often ran games for just 2 buddies of mine and several solo games. System doesn't really matter as long as you adjust combat for the player(s). I used D&D 3.5e, 2e, GURPS and D20 Modern/Future without any modifications or difficulties.

bosssmiley
2010-01-09, 10:03 AM
Hello all,

I need your suggestions for a role-playing game (possibly in the fantasy / sci-fi genre, nothing too "realistic") that can be played by few people.

Most RPGs can be played as a head-to-head game (1 player, 1 GM) game. Stuff with rich worlds and losts of assumed PC-NPC interaction and/or social conflict (Pendragon, oWoD, Ars Magica, Fading Suns, etc.) are good for this.

Tunnels and Trolls is famous for its solo mode.


I love RPG's but most of my buddies loathe them as kiddie games and whatnot... I only have a few friends that'd like to play, and even then it's very, very difficult to get them all round the table.

Find new friends, pref. ones who respect your investment in the hobby. :smallwink:

Satyr
2010-01-09, 10:16 AM
There are many games that work well with small groups. There are few that do not make so much fun, esecially those which are laid out for groups that include clear character roles.
I think it would also be helpful if you take a game were it is easy to create versatile and adaptable characters and encourage your players to diversify, and not specialise, which is usually easier with skill-based systems. It may also be helpful when the overall competence of the characters is sufficient to achieve some successes only with the duo of them.

My first ideas for a specific two player one GM game would be a detective story / investigation game. The second idea I had was a superhero game with one "face hero" who earns most of the publicity and a sidekick who does most of the actual heroing work. A third idea would be a small star freighter with one pilot and one technician, who may or may be not a wookie.

torakfade
2010-01-09, 10:21 AM
^^^ that's interesting... what are some good skill-based systems, apart frome the already mentioned Call of Cthulhu?


Most RPGs can be played as a head-to-head game (1 player, 1 GM) game. Stuff with rich worlds and losts of assumed PC-NPC interaction and/or social conflict (Pendragon, oWoD, Ars Magica, Fading Suns, etc.) are good for this.

Tunnels and Trolls is famous for its solo mode.

Find new friends, pref. ones who respect your investment in the hobby. :smallwink:

That's why I want to start playing even if I only have a small group... once, and if, they get involved maybe someone else will want to join after hearing about it (and maybe someone will want to DM too so I can play once in a while :smallbiggrin: ). That worked out well with my old CoC group, but then it got broken by distance, DM burnout on my part and girlfriends.

I don't even know about most of those you mentioned... I have lots of reading to do :smallsmile:

BTW, I got my hands on a copy of Song of Ice and Fire roleplaying... seen that I and a couple of friends are big fans of the books, maybe that could be a good motivator. What do you think?

IonDragon
2010-01-09, 10:32 AM
Of these Dogs in the Vineyard is the only one I have played, and I didn't really like it for one extremely counter intuitive reason: There were not enough rules. The group had several photo copied paper pamphlets and that was the entirety of the rule system. East to learn, easy to teach BUT I like something a little more robust. Also, the entire session took place in town, and there was exactly 0 combat. I don't even know how combat is handled... If your group would be interested in this, I highly recommend it.

If you're looking for something RPG-like then Zombies!! is always good for some laughs. There's no GM, and the rules are also simple, but it's more of a board game than an RPG. I suggest it because the the zombies it come with have been an indispensable asset to my D&D group.

Satyr
2010-01-09, 11:19 AM
^^^ that's interesting... what are some good skill-based systems, apart frome the already mentioned Call of Cthulhu?

There are way too many to list them all, but good ones include Gurps, Unisystem (which includes games like All Flesh Must Be Eaten, the free Witchcraft or the over the top spectacular Armageddon), the original World of Darkness and West End Games D6 line. Of these games, Unisystem is the most similar to D&D. If you like a superhero game, Mutants and Masterminds may also be a good choice, it is somewhat inbetween a skil-based and a level-based system.
If you want to go for the cheap option: Try Witchcraft, which can be downloaded for free (even though the according website is down at the moment). If you look for a more fantasy approach you could take the excellent Unisystem Midnight Satyr Edition (http://www.unifans.org/index.php?action=tpmod;dl=get107) which is also free and include a detailed write-up of the Midnight D20 setting by Fantasy Flight Games. Combine both, check the sources for Midnight, have a great game for basically free.


BTW, I got my hands on a copy of Song of Ice and Fire roleplaying... seen that I and a couple of friends are big fans of the books, maybe that could be a good motivator. What do you think?

Personally, I think this game is a mockery and meant as a direct insult for the people who actually liked the novels. It is basically a mediocre to average game in itself, but as a take on the source material it is one enormous failure. But if you all like the books, take the setting, and exchange the rules for something that actually tries to capture the moot of the novels.

snoopy13a
2010-01-09, 11:19 AM
Another possibility is a MMORPG.

While I think they are inferior to a quality table top RPG, finding a good table top group isn't always easy. Plus, even good table top groups usually cannot meet more than once a week. A MMORPG can be played every day.

Reinboom
2010-01-09, 11:50 AM
Of these Dogs in the Vineyard is the only one I have played, and I didn't really like it for one extremely counter intuitive reason: There were not enough rules. The group had several photo copied paper pamphlets and that was the entirety of the rule system. East to learn, easy to teach BUT I like something a little more robust. Also, the entire session took place in town, and there was exactly 0 combat. I don't even know how combat is handled... If your group would be interested in this, I highly recommend it.
Combat is handled exactly like everything else. With the open-hand poker like dice mechanic being used with everything. (I can't think of any other way to describe its rolls...)


If you're looking for something RPG-like then Zombies!! is always good for some laughs. There's no GM, and the rules are also simple, but it's more of a board game than an RPG. I suggest it because the the zombies it come with have been an indispensable asset to my D&D group.

I also second this, but for slightly different reasons. It's a great gateway game to lure others in with. :smallwink:

edit:
Oh, and the zombies are indispensable.

AshDesert
2010-01-09, 12:56 PM
I'd like to suggest a game that I recently found out about, FUDGE (http://www.fudgerpg.com/fudge.html), for a couple of reasons. First, it's free (very good reason). Second, it's extremely simple and easy to learn, yet you can still make it pretty complex with lots of skills/attributes and trading skills. Third, the GM can set up EVERYTHING about a game (including what kind and how many attributes there are), and it's pretty simple to set it up for just 1-2 players.

torakfade
2010-01-09, 01:42 PM
Thank you all for the suggestions, I have bookmarked a lot of things and will check everything out, hoping to further my roleplaying plans! Muahaha!

About Song of Ice and Fire,


Personally, I think this game is a mockery and meant as a direct insult for the people who actually liked the novels. It is basically a mediocre to average game in itself, but as a take on the source material it is one enormous failure. But if you all like the books, take the setting, and exchange the rules for something that actually tries to capture the moot of the novels.

I just had a cursory look at the books, and the dice pool mechanic / house creation looked intriguing.. and most of all, quite linear and user-friendly. I also hear there was another rpg about Westeros, namely Game of Thrones, which I think is based on D&D3.0 ... but the biggest defect in D&D 3.0/3.5 is that it's way, waaaay too complicated for beginners, with too many modifiers, classes, exceptions, definitions, mechanics. Even being quite familiar with the whole system (mainly from idle reading and videogames, I admit) I wouldn't feel comfortable DMing in that system.

jmbrown
2010-01-09, 03:14 PM
Of these Dogs in the Vineyard is the only one I have played, and I didn't really like it for one extremely counter intuitive reason: There were not enough rules. The group had several photo copied paper pamphlets and that was the entirety of the rule system. East to learn, easy to teach BUT I like something a little more robust. Also, the entire session took place in town, and there was exactly 0 combat. I don't even know how combat is handled... If your group would be interested in this, I highly recommend it.

It sounds like you didn't have the entire system which is more than 100 pages long and not what I would call a "pamphlet."

Shardan
2010-01-10, 05:48 AM
If you wand spy type games, Spycraft is pretty good for a small group (2 or 3). I don't see how Star Wars can't work with with a 3 man crew.
Alot of the WoD games would work given their RP over Combat stylings.. especially mage

loopy
2010-01-10, 05:55 AM
I'm currently playing in a 4E campaign with my half-orc Barbarian and a DMPC Cleric. Not only is it the most entertaining campaign I've been in so far, between the two of us we are taking down enemies far above our encounter level.

IonDragon
2010-01-10, 08:04 AM
It sounds like you didn't have the entire system which is more than 100 pages long and not what I would call a "pamphlet."

As I said, it wasn't my cup of tea and I only played one session. The GM may have made the pamphlets himself for the group as a table reference. Thank you for the correction, in this case it may be worth looking into again if I find an interested group.

Rahva
2010-01-10, 08:06 AM
Try Nobilis.
It's very simple, diceless, and can easily be run for 1 or 2 players. In fact it's probably better that way.
Plus, the setting is really interesting.

Gnaeus
2010-01-10, 08:16 AM
For games that are like RPGs but aren't, Arkham Horror is a lot of fun.

3.5 D&D with Gestalt rules works well.

lesser_minion
2010-01-10, 09:04 AM
I've done fine running 3rd edition for only two players.


I kept a fairly small stable of NPC allies somewhere in the background, and made sure that the players did their own thing, and so far it's worked fairly well.

It does lead to enormous combats, but that's one of the things my players actually like (it's annoying when I'm trying to hint that there is a little more to the invasion than it seems and they still don't get it when said hint is applied with slightly less subtlety than a thermonuclear device)

onthetown
2010-01-10, 09:35 AM
My DM and I are doing a solo campaign in D&D right now, with only the occasional guest. We have lots of characters to make up for it, but if your players are inexperienced then I wouldn't ask them to play more than one character at a time.

So, D&D works. You should be able to calculate how much they can handle pretty quickly since the group is so small.

Edit: The edition is 3.5/Pathfinder.

Kiero
2010-01-10, 11:58 AM
I'd like to suggest a game that I recently found out about, FUDGE (http://www.fudgerpg.com/fudge.html), for a couple of reasons. First, it's free (very good reason). Second, it's extremely simple and easy to learn, yet you can still make it pretty complex with lots of skills/attributes and trading skills. Third, the GM can set up EVERYTHING about a game (including what kind and how many attributes there are), and it's pretty simple to set it up for just 1-2 players.

I'd go with a hack of FATE, personally, easy to rustle something up to suit from the SRD of either Spirit of the Century or Diaspora.

Two players is your regular buddy-movie/cop partners dynamic, that can work. Solo not so much in my experience.