My girlfriend and I just rolled up our first characters and can't wait to get started but we are looking to get some practice in first.
Would anyone know of a way to play just the two of us, (I would try and run the session and play my character) and if there is any modules or one shots that are suitable for this?
I personally don't know of any modules that are specific for (basically) one player (in this situation one of you is basically the DM and the other the lone "player"). However there might be some you can find to fit your needs with a simple Google search.
On the other hand, you could play one of the beginners modules, like the Lost Mines of Phandelver (which I think was free on DND Beyond for a time, might still be) and simply scale down some of the encounters since you will not have a very full party. To scale them down, and since you are just "practicing", simply remove a few of the suggested monsters for battles, and don't be too much of a stickler for HP and whatnot, until you are both more familiar with the system, abilities, etc.
The Essentials Kit (which includes Dragon of Icespire Peak) does a relatively good job of scaling encounters. It'll tell you "There are 2 plus X number of Orcs per player character", so it's easy to follow. Due to the habit of putting "2+ X per character" rather than "Y per character", it's still significantly more difficult for smaller groups.
What my wife and I do is I have a permanent NPC in the party which has PC stats...but only does fighting and helps with hints and things. She has her PC (which is the main character of the show) and then a secondary character that only exists to provide buffs, extra skills, etc. It works out pretty well for us.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
What my wife and I do is I have a permanent NPC in the party which has PC stats...but only does fighting and helps with hints and things. She has her PC (which is the main character of the show) and then a secondary character that only exists to provide buffs, extra skills, etc. It works out pretty well for us.
Precisely how we do things as well. It gives the "main" PC someone to interact with and if the player is comfortable controlling 2 characters (totally understandable if your girlfriend is not interested in this) then a 3 character party can be fairly well "rounded" in terms of roles/skills/abilities.
First time DM planning on running Lost Mine of Phandelver next week for the missus. My idea so far is to have a NPC with a sidekick statblock from Tasha's Rulebook tagging along as to not outshine her PC, while also scaling back the encounters by half. So if the module calls for 8 goblins, I'll only run 4. I'll also assign some of the various NPC's in the town with sidekick stats so they could potentially be asked/ employed to run parts of the journey with the party, with more NPC's joining the more the encounters would get dialed back to recommended levels.
Another thing you could try is both play, and go through a solo campaign like Wolves of Langston that doesn't need a DM. Solo Campaigns work a bit like a Choose Your Own Adventure game novel. You may have to bump up the difficulty to account for two of you though, though you can mitigate that by having one of you run a weaker character, like a sidekick or pet.
First time DM planning on running Lost Mine of Phandelver next week for the missus. My idea so far is to have a NPC with a sidekick statblock from Tasha's Rulebook tagging along as to not outshine her PC, while also scaling back the encounters by half. So if the module calls for 8 goblins, I'll only run 4. I'll also assign some of the various NPC's in the town with sidekick stats so they could potentially be asked/ employed to run parts of the journey with the party, with more NPC's joining the more the encounters would get dialed back to recommended levels.
Any further advice would be welcomed!
I think for 1 PC and a sidekick cutting the # of monsters in 1/2 is going to potentially be challenging, especially at 1st and 2nd level when characters are extra-squishy. The adventure was designed for 4 PCs. I think in your example I would be inclined to go more for 3 goblins if 8 had originally been written in. You can see how it goes and adjust up or down a bit as you get a feel for the adventure's progression.
First time DM planning on running Lost Mine of Phandelver next week for the missus. My idea so far is to have a NPC with a sidekick statblock from Tasha's Rulebook tagging along as to not outshine her PC, while also scaling back the encounters by half. So if the module calls for 8 goblins, I'll only run 4. I'll also assign some of the various NPC's in the town with sidekick stats so they could potentially be asked/ employed to run parts of the journey with the party, with more NPC's joining the more the encounters would get dialed back to recommended levels.
Any further advice would be welcomed!
I think for 1 PC and a sidekick cutting the # of monsters in 1/2 is going to potentially be challenging, especially at 1st and 2nd level when characters are extra-squishy. The adventure was designed for 4 PCs. I think in your example I would be inclined to go more for 3 goblins if 8 had originally been written in. You can see how it goes and adjust up or down a bit as you get a feel for the adventure's progression.
Noted! Another thing I'm thinking of doing is distributing the 4 goblins in waves, if she handles 2 without an issue I'll send in the 2nd batch. If the first 2 crit and she rolls bad for example, I'll leave it at that or only have a lone goblin in the 2nd wave.
There's always been a sort of one or one, or duet or duel style to D&D across editions, sometimes with actual product support, but mostly maintained by community tips etc. Matt Coleville is a popular, and very prolific, source. I personally find Seth Skorkowski a little more accessible, especially for new players, plus he has this cool gimmick where he'll illustrate concepts via little skit scenes where he plays different characters. Anyway here's his vid on one on one play styles.
My own personal rec, especially if you're both learning. Take turns as player and DM, building two different stories as you figure it out.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Whatever you do, don't do what I did with my girlfriend at the time. She was intimidated at the thought of controlling more than one character, so I very stupidly gave her two companion NPCs that I controlled. I should have only given her one at most and rebalanced encounters to match. She grew bored during the long sections where I was controlling almost everyone on the battle map. Even though we are not together anymore, I still regret that because everyone deserves to have a stellar first experience with D&D.
So please, no more than ONE supporting NPC and only control that one if your partner really doesn't want to. Don't burden your mind with a lifetime of regret, as I do now.
Contrary to what others have said in this thread, I would strongly advise against being both the dungeon master as well as a player in the same game, at the same time, especially given that you two just rolled up your first characters ever. This experience does not reflect actual gameplay and can be a weird way to start your first session. This experience can be weird for your girlfriend as well.
I don’t think there is a need to practice D&D in advance because every group that you play with is different. But if you really want to prepare for your first game, I would suggest spending some time understanding your character sheet. Some stuff that I've seen new players struggle with (in no particular order):
Which dice each of your weapons use.
The range of your weapons (some weapons can be used both in melee and ranged).
Which modifier do you apply and to which actions.
What spells do you have prepared and what each spell does.
How much movement your character has.
Can your character see in the dark. If so, how far.
What is a skill check.
Which skills is your character proficient in.
Which languages your character speaks.
What is your hit dice for short rest HP recovery.
What your character recovers in a short rest.
Does your character have any racial traits/subclass traits. What do they do and how do you use them.
Which spells, racial trait, and subclass feature uses an action and which uses a bonus action.
I have some role playing exercises/questions that are less about the mechanics of the game and more about flushing out your character, if you are interested.
Whatever you do, don't do what I did with my girlfriend at the time. She was intimidated at the thought of controlling more than one character, so I very stupidly gave her two companion NPCs that I controlled. I should have only given her one at most and rebalanced encounters to match. She grew bored during the long sections where I was controlling almost everyone on the battle map. Even though we are not together anymore, I still regret that because everyone deserves to have a stellar first experience with D&D.
So please, no more than ONE supporting NPC and only control that one if your partner really doesn't want to. Don't burden your mind with a lifetime of regret, as I do now.
We never really had that problem. If I ended up with lots of monsters to run, then I'd hand over my NPC over to my wife. I'd definitely have the player be preferred for the PC/NPC side (my wife had her character, I had mine, then she definitely would have the the third party character, and she'd probably control temporary NPC allies), but it worked out fine. In a normal fight, she'd be going more often this way than with a normal party - this way, she'd be taking 2/6 turns versus 1/8 (assuming a 2v1 fight).
So long as the group doesn't get swamped with NPCs, which is a good rule anyway, it should be ok.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
That would have been a better way of doing it than what I did, which was to control the companion NPCs and the monsters during the fight in an attempt to spare her the intimidation. I can still see the stifled yawns whenever I think of the goblin cave in Lost Mines of Phandelver... :'(
Ah ok, I can see that. Hopefully she'll give it another go one day when the memory's faded a bit!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hello all,
My girlfriend and I just rolled up our first characters and can't wait to get started but we are looking to get some practice in first.
Would anyone know of a way to play just the two of us, (I would try and run the session and play my character) and if there is any modules or one shots that are suitable for this?
Many thanks,
Ben and T
I personally don't know of any modules that are specific for (basically) one player (in this situation one of you is basically the DM and the other the lone "player"). However there might be some you can find to fit your needs with a simple Google search.
On the other hand, you could play one of the beginners modules, like the Lost Mines of Phandelver (which I think was free on DND Beyond for a time, might still be) and simply scale down some of the encounters since you will not have a very full party. To scale them down, and since you are just "practicing", simply remove a few of the suggested monsters for battles, and don't be too much of a stickler for HP and whatnot, until you are both more familiar with the system, abilities, etc.
Hello Ben and T
I am a big fan of playing DnD in a "duet" setting with my own significant other. Here are some resources for you:
A website targeted at duet play: https://dndduet.com/
Matt Colville is a popular RPG advice-giver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoJMNkgEqKA
Hope that helps and welcome to the world of Dungeons and Dragons.
Thank you very much for the resources!
We will check them out
The Essentials Kit (which includes Dragon of Icespire Peak) does a relatively good job of scaling encounters. It'll tell you "There are 2 plus X number of Orcs per player character", so it's easy to follow. Due to the habit of putting "2+ X per character" rather than "Y per character", it's still significantly more difficult for smaller groups.
What my wife and I do is I have a permanent NPC in the party which has PC stats...but only does fighting and helps with hints and things. She has her PC (which is the main character of the show) and then a secondary character that only exists to provide buffs, extra skills, etc. It works out pretty well for us.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Precisely how we do things as well. It gives the "main" PC someone to interact with and if the player is comfortable controlling 2 characters (totally understandable if your girlfriend is not interested in this) then a 3 character party can be fairly well "rounded" in terms of roles/skills/abilities.
Following thread.
First time DM planning on running Lost Mine of Phandelver next week for the missus. My idea so far is to have a NPC with a sidekick statblock from Tasha's Rulebook tagging along as to not outshine her PC, while also scaling back the encounters by half. So if the module calls for 8 goblins, I'll only run 4. I'll also assign some of the various NPC's in the town with sidekick stats so they could potentially be asked/ employed to run parts of the journey with the party, with more NPC's joining the more the encounters would get dialed back to recommended levels.
Any further advice would be welcomed!
Free Content: [Basic Rules],
[Phandelver],[Frozen Sick],[Acquisitions Inc.],[Vecna Dossier],[Radiant Citadel], [Spelljammer],[Dragonlance], [Prisoner 13],[Minecraft],[Star Forge], [Baldur’s Gate], [Lightning Keep], [Stormwreck Isle], [Pinebrook], [Caverns of Tsojcanth], [The Lost Horn], [Elemental Evil].Free Dice: [Frostmaiden],
[Flourishing], [Sanguine],[Themberchaud], [Baldur's Gate 3], [Lego].An NPC Sidekick is a great idea.
Another thing you could try is both play, and go through a solo campaign like Wolves of Langston that doesn't need a DM. Solo Campaigns work a bit like a Choose Your Own Adventure game novel. You may have to bump up the difficulty to account for two of you though, though you can mitigate that by having one of you run a weaker character, like a sidekick or pet.
I think for 1 PC and a sidekick cutting the # of monsters in 1/2 is going to potentially be challenging, especially at 1st and 2nd level when characters are extra-squishy. The adventure was designed for 4 PCs. I think in your example I would be inclined to go more for 3 goblins if 8 had originally been written in. You can see how it goes and adjust up or down a bit as you get a feel for the adventure's progression.
Noted! Another thing I'm thinking of doing is distributing the 4 goblins in waves, if she handles 2 without an issue I'll send in the 2nd batch. If the first 2 crit and she rolls bad for example, I'll leave it at that or only have a lone goblin in the 2nd wave.
Free Content: [Basic Rules],
[Phandelver],[Frozen Sick],[Acquisitions Inc.],[Vecna Dossier],[Radiant Citadel], [Spelljammer],[Dragonlance], [Prisoner 13],[Minecraft],[Star Forge], [Baldur’s Gate], [Lightning Keep], [Stormwreck Isle], [Pinebrook], [Caverns of Tsojcanth], [The Lost Horn], [Elemental Evil].Free Dice: [Frostmaiden],
[Flourishing], [Sanguine],[Themberchaud], [Baldur's Gate 3], [Lego].There's always been a sort of one or one, or duet or duel style to D&D across editions, sometimes with actual product support, but mostly maintained by community tips etc. Matt Coleville is a popular, and very prolific, source. I personally find Seth Skorkowski a little more accessible, especially for new players, plus he has this cool gimmick where he'll illustrate concepts via little skit scenes where he plays different characters. Anyway here's his vid on one on one play styles.
My own personal rec, especially if you're both learning. Take turns as player and DM, building two different stories as you figure it out.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Whatever you do, don't do what I did with my girlfriend at the time. She was intimidated at the thought of controlling more than one character, so I very stupidly gave her two companion NPCs that I controlled. I should have only given her one at most and rebalanced encounters to match. She grew bored during the long sections where I was controlling almost everyone on the battle map. Even though we are not together anymore, I still regret that because everyone deserves to have a stellar first experience with D&D.
So please, no more than ONE supporting NPC and only control that one if your partner really doesn't want to. Don't burden your mind with a lifetime of regret, as I do now.
DM mostly, Player occasionally | Session 0 form | He/Him/They/Them
EXTENDED SIGNATURE!
Doctor/Published Scholar/Science and Healthcare Advocate/Critter/Trekkie/Gandalf with a Glock
Try DDB free: Free Rules (2024), premade PCs, adventures, one shots, encounters, SC, homebrew, more
Answers: physical books, purchases, and subbing.
Check out my life-changing
Hi Ben & T!
Welcome to Dungeons and Dragons!
Contrary to what others have said in this thread, I would strongly advise against being both the dungeon master as well as a player in the same game, at the same time, especially given that you two just rolled up your first characters ever. This experience does not reflect actual gameplay and can be a weird way to start your first session. This experience can be weird for your girlfriend as well.
I don’t think there is a need to practice D&D in advance because every group that you play with is different. But if you really want to prepare for your first game, I would suggest spending some time understanding your character sheet. Some stuff that I've seen new players struggle with (in no particular order):
I have some role playing exercises/questions that are less about the mechanics of the game and more about flushing out your character, if you are interested.
We never really had that problem. If I ended up with lots of monsters to run, then I'd hand over my NPC over to my wife. I'd definitely have the player be preferred for the PC/NPC side (my wife had her character, I had mine, then she definitely would have the the third party character, and she'd probably control temporary NPC allies), but it worked out fine. In a normal fight, she'd be going more often this way than with a normal party - this way, she'd be taking 2/6 turns versus 1/8 (assuming a 2v1 fight).
So long as the group doesn't get swamped with NPCs, which is a good rule anyway, it should be ok.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
That would have been a better way of doing it than what I did, which was to control the companion NPCs and the monsters during the fight in an attempt to spare her the intimidation. I can still see the stifled yawns whenever I think of the goblin cave in Lost Mines of Phandelver... :'(
DM mostly, Player occasionally | Session 0 form | He/Him/They/Them
EXTENDED SIGNATURE!
Doctor/Published Scholar/Science and Healthcare Advocate/Critter/Trekkie/Gandalf with a Glock
Try DDB free: Free Rules (2024), premade PCs, adventures, one shots, encounters, SC, homebrew, more
Answers: physical books, purchases, and subbing.
Check out my life-changing
Ah ok, I can see that. Hopefully she'll give it another go one day when the memory's faded a bit!
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.