1 DM and 1 Player: Gaming with Limited Numbers

[DabblerWizard]

A friend and I have decided to play d&d 4e together, with just the two of us. We would be intermittently switching roles as DM/player, trying out various race / class combos, testing skill challenges, running dungeon crawls, sharing story ideas, coming up with one-shots, and the like.

We're both competent DMs (and friends from college) looking to have a fun time despite few regular gamers in our area.

Does anyone in the forum have experience with this kind of 1 on 1 setup? Any advice or experiences you want to share would be most helpful.

[Zovc]

Be careful with female NPCs, things might get weird.

[Danin]

I've done it, it works. In ours the person DMing had a character too and fights were done with visible rolls, and we each took command of some of the monsters. Did our best to try and kill each other while working together to kill the monsters at the same time. Good times.

I wouldn't treat it like a regular gaming night though. More like something you both do for fun when hanging out. Regular gaming nights require a level of commitment that I don't think jives well with the relaxed nature of small (1 - 2 player) groups.

[Swordgleam]

I don't know about more complex games, but a friend and I once killed some time on a stopped train playing Toon and switching back and forth every scenario - which was about every half hour (the fact that this lasted multiple half-hour increments tells you how much trains in Ireland suck).

I'd do something similar, running session-long one-shots instead of trying to do any kind of campaign.

[DabblerWizard]

...
I'd do something similar, running session-long one-shots instead of trying to do any kind of campaign.

That makes sense. One shots would also allow us to more frequently switch roles as DM/Player.

However, I was thinking that an intrigue / story-heavy adventure with few battles might not be as taxing or challenging, even for 1:1. What do you think?



I've done it, it works. In ours the person DMing had a character too and fights were done with visible rolls, and we each took command of some of the monsters. Did our best to try and kill each other while working together to kill the monsters at the same time. Good times.

I wouldn't treat it like a regular gaming night though. More like something you both do for fun when hanging out. Regular gaming nights require a level of commitment that I don't think jives well with the relaxed nature of small (1 - 2 player) groups.

Time wise, I'm not sure how long we'd be meeting. I don't anticipate things to last as long, or be as serious as my campaigns can be.



Be careful with female NPCs, things might get weird.

I have a feeling this won't be an issue. One time, playing a slick bard, this particular friend of mine did try to "get a prostitute" in a small tavern by asking openly if anyone was into that sort of thing...

I told him that the only person to raise their hand was one old lady who --- and from there people were laughing.

[Swordgleam]

That makes sense. One shots would also allow us to more frequently switch roles as DM/Player.

However, I was thinking that an intrigue / story-heavy adventure with few battles might not be as taxing or challenging, even for 1:1. What do you think?


I think having to keep track of a plotline and figure out contingencies and whatnot is a whole lot harder than flipping open the MM, grabbing a mini or bottlecap, and rolling with it. Intrigue requires prep no matter what, even if you're a fantastic improviser. Battles do not.

[LibraryOgre]

While less so in 4e, a single-player game is what the Rogue was designed for. Housebreaking. Stealing valuable item X, using your skills all out, going for the quick kill on unsuspecting guards.

[Hendel]

I am running a 3.5 game that started out at first level with me as DM and three active players and one player who would come and go. They each had a character and I had a few NPC's that they could run or that a new or visiting player could easily run. At about 6th level we lost most of the players except for myself and one player. We decided to press on and the PC's stayed in town and would adventure from time to time as the players showed up to play.

The lone player took Leadership and got a cohort (a much needed cleric) and the PC, an NPC, and the cohort have made it to 30th level (I allowed the cohort cleric to become a PC and a new cohort showed up but got stuck at 17th level as the player did not want to take Epic Leadership. That cohort, a bard, has since retired to write stories about the PC).

I run the NPC but the player gives suggestions as to what he wants him to do. If I need to make a decision, I do it without relying on knowledge of the bad guys as much as possible. It seems to work and we have fun. We play about once a week and it works great because we only have two schedules to work around. I would not want this to be my only game but it is as fun and fulfilling as any other game.

[Choco]

Houserule some Gestalt rules for 4e, and let the player play 2 gestalt characters. That should give the versatility to do just about everything that needs doing.