🪚 Where did you get that incredible DM SCREEN? 📖 Where can I get the ADVENTURE you ran? 🔮 Why does my cat sometimes utter DARK PROPHECIES in a human voice? Check the video description! ⬆ (And let me know if you find the answer to that last one...)
I think you might have an accidental warlock pact with your cat and he's your demonic patron whispering cryptic advice to your deep subconscious 😂 "gib me treats human and you shall have luck in your future"
I have ran these types of games on multiple occasions. They can be just as fun as a full party. I prefer a full party obviously, but if all but one of my players is gone that gives me the out to flesh out one characters' backstory. One occasion was in a world of mine featuring branching timelines. This caused a branching in the timeline that ended up saving the party Endgame style.
In answer to your third question, Ginny; H.P. Lovecraft in his essay on "cats vs dogs" observed that cats are aristocrats by nature. In magic-filled settings, most aristocrats dabble in the arcane arts because it's practical to have multiple forms of hard and soft powerful at your disposal. If I were you, though, I'd check your missing belongings for crystal balls and other fortune-telling apparatus before your precious kitten sees something that breaks her tiny, curious mind and she starts turning to darker arts. Maybe ask Nimwyn for help?
When you live in small town. You role up few characters have a party. If you ran one on one you became very serious to what you can attack or enter act with npc.
I've been running a campaign for about 3 - 4 years for my wife. Just me and her. I love that. There are some NPCs that join the group, others eventually leave because they have already achieved their objectives. Not every party needs to stay together forever and this becomes easier when we only have one player. The only thing I recommend keeping in mind is: your player is the protagonist of this story, make him feel that way.
My wife is one of my players in a larger group, but we’ll often have little spin-off duet sessions, too. We really enjoy them. She’s now writing a book based on her character, and whenever she’s unsure about how a scene should play out (especially battle scenes) we’ll run it and improv it together.
We recently lost an NPC in our own campaign...He was the estranged son of a dwarf woman in a village and we were able to reunite mother & son plus a new step-dad who isn't able to have his own children and is excited at taking him under his wing to teach him some top tier smithing.
I had a zero session "duet" with each of my players before our first group session. It was meant to give each player a separate scenario on how they got aboard a ship that was heading from my Southern Continent to my Northern Continent. Each player boarded the ship at a separate town. We started the group session as the ship left the final Southern Port and headed across the sea... 😁
I've played in two campaigns that did this, and I loved it! I may have had the basic concept of my personality from Session Zero, but getting a little moment of narrative spotlight as my first actions really helps me find my voice, my desires, my own personal quest that connects together with the larger narrative. Plus then, I get to watch every other character's solo scene. Regardless if my character is supposed to have canonically known them for years, or if we're all meeting for the first time after this, the vignette gives me a ton to brainstorm upon! It does require the right type of player, though -- the type who will be engaged with watching for most of Session One, and who understand the narrative value in watching the other players' scenes. But any time I find myself in a game where Session Zero only gave me a few top-level tropes on each character, and then the GM hits us with "okay you leave the tavern, where does the party go", it does make me miss this style of Session One opening. Having to improv my character for the first time, AND improv being IC well familiar with characters who OOC I know barely anything about, always feels awkward no matter how many times I've done it!
WE'RE BACK! The first duet campaign I ever watched was the one Matt Mercer did with Colbert. There is definitely a different vibe when you have just one player. The adventure can be so much more... "cozy" if that makes sense. Almost D&D on Lo-Fi mode. Not that it can't be intense, it can. But it's certainly an opportunity for a more subtle form of play, if that's what you want.
My first time DM'ing was one on one. The boy I was babysitting (who was 8 at that time) heared I would be playing D&D that night and asked what that was. So did at bit of improv D&D with him, starting with a small guided meditation (close your eyes, your camping in a forest, etc), then I told him a wolf was about to attack and asked what he would like to do, helping him to improvise a weapon etc. No dice that first time, but he loved it! Next time I was babysitting he wanted to play again, so I introduced dice and some statts. Now, 3 years later, his little sister and some of his friends are involved to. We only do group D&D now, but that one on one beginning really helped him learn because all my attention was on helping him.
I saw this video right before my fiance came home from a real bad day at work. He nearly cried when he saw everything I managed to set up, and we had a total blast! It turned around his night and now he's going to bed happy again, and I am too. Thank you for the suggestion, one idea made a huge difference :)
I'm liking this as a vehicle for first-time DM's to practise the basics. It's ALSO a potent reminder to all of us to remember to engage in those short inter-party RP sessions to take some of the pressure off our DM's and give them some breathing space. (I'm glad you didn't need to make a roll for Husbandly Tolerance!)
Not as a first time DM, but I did start a duet campaign with my wife as a way to learn a game system I was interested in without the pressure of learning it and teaching it to a whole group.
I feel like while in some ways this could be a good intro for a new dm, but as someone that's ran both group games and duet games, i can say the pressure Ginny was talking about is no joke. I'd often find myself procrastinating running duet games because of how rough that pressure can be, so it'd probably depend on who the new dm is.
Agreed! My first time DMing was by playing a duet one shot with my sister-in-law. It was her first time playing d&d too, so it felt like a nice way for us both to learn. Now I'm running a two player campaign of Dragon of Icespire Peak for her and my partner. It is quite intense but I just assumed that was because I'm an anxious person! Still, I'm tempted to try my first homebrew campaign by playing a duet game with my mum. I feel like improvising off one person's crazy antics would be easier than dealing with a whole group of chaotic minds!
my friend and i have been playing “duet” dnd for three years now. It’s very homebrew with our own world, storyline, etc. I play my own character as well as Dming, so i get to play along, plus be a gentle guiding hand for the story, plus we get to play off each other and we have hilarious moments. It works well with my friend playing a half-orc barbarian while I play a high-charisma homebrew-race warlock
I think letting the player be able to suggest ideas for the story is actually a great way to do duet campaigns. It harkens back to just doing role-play (co-op) writing.
@@cub-square Unfortunately i’m not the best with remembering companion characters. Whenever I’m narrating/playing important NPCS my character takes a back seat. In our game my friend had a pet mini-dragon that we often forget about as well 😅 my best advice might just be to write reminder notes to help you remember your important companion characters
@@NerdyZanoth yeah i’m also a big time writing roleplayer, i have a longtime rping buddy and we’ve been going for years. One difference I see between the two is with the writing rp you are co-authoring a story, so both parties normally know what’s coming and any twists aren’t big surprises (but still fun). With my dnd game we’re exploring this land and uncovering the true history, as well as making our own journey with the story. My player can lead it however she wants (and has… we burned down a town once) and i roll with her choices too. I do think she enjoys having a greater story to uncover along the way, though.
My friend and I recently started, but we have basically the same set up. My character is a half-orc artificer, and hers is a tabaxi bard. We make a lot of Shrek jokes.
I shout from the rooftops about one-on-one D&D as much as possible! I ran Dragon of Icespire Peak for my sister and it was THE MOST FUN! I gave her a permanent sidekick and a suite of hirelings in town that she could draw on when she anticipated needing a particular skill set. It's also so satisfying to tailor the game to one character's goals and interests. They get to be the main character! And I can reward tons of magic items because that just lets me take the threat level up a notch. I hope more people try playing one-on-one!
Definitely going to try a duet campaign with my partner. She's always been the most engaged at the table, and she gets frustrated that others at the table aren't taking things as serious. Seems like a no brainer. (also everyone... We need to watch this video as much as possible so Ginny has to include Josh in more videos to please the algorithm)
That's one of the things I enjoy most about one-on-one play: I can focus on a single player and run the game to cater to their playstyle instead of having to bounce among different players with different needs. So no reaching the climax of an intense, emotional arc just to have the group goofball kill the mood with a dumb joke. (No hate on the group goofballs! They're awesome! They just ... sometimes ... have a poor sense of timing :-)
Aw I did this for my grandma when she told me she wished she could do magic irl and I explained what D&D was. It was great since I could gently guide her through the rules one on one (it took her a while to realise that the only thing she controlled was her character 😂) Plus it was my first time DMing so it was a gentle entry for me too! She loved it! We ended up playing 2 more sessions; one with my brother and then one with my whole family during covid 😂
My wife and I have played duet D&D for years now and we love it. It is super intimidating at first, but I found your improv skills will skyrocket after just a few sessions. I found playing in your own homebrew world a lot faster because you can always make stuff up on the fly. But duet sessions can bring so many benefits. Want to test a new spell? Slip it into a duet session. New class or subclass? Duet session. Weird story idea? Duet session! Great stuff, Ginny! And here is hoping Josh enjoys duet-DMing as much as he did playing!
I really like the idea of doing a session 0.5 with new players for a campaign. Especially if you do so with a player you haven't run a game with before, to get a feeling for how they play. Also that GM screen?! What an absolute unit! I want one
Isn't it gorgeous?! It's a custom screen from Talon & Claw (with several contributions from other crafters - all detailed and linked in the video description!)
I did a Duet with my then roommate while we both had Covid, some things you need to know. A Healer sidekick and/or healing potions is a must. An encounter with a Ratfolk Shroud left the PC with 5 strength and 3 hps. Overpowering the PC is a good thing at the start, an uncommon magic item at 2nd lvl is a help. Good luck Josh
I love 1x1 sessions! When my party made it to a really big city, I had them "decide" to split up to explore it. They all focused on what was relevant for them, and really got in touch with their characters in both a RP and mechanical sense. They were so excited to reconvene and tell each other what they found in the city, and what adventures they got up to. Would HIGHLY recommend.
I recall seeing at my local game shop a father DMing for his young son in a duet session. Even without knowing any of the details, it was plain to see and hear the kid's unfettered enthusiasm. I imagine the dad had to put in a little extra work to make it happen, but i have zero doubts that many precious memories were forged that day. Serious family goals for sure, and mad respect to DM Dad. A real inspiration.
I have been playing duet style games with my girlfriend 3-5 times a week, for years. Here is a few things I have learned: - Use sidekicks like Ginny suggests, but also make sure the PC is the one with the best charisma, otherwise the DM will be RPing with themselves when the guard needs persuading, and that is awkward. - Give the player higher stats. That will allow them to do more of the stuff. Give out rewards like extra skill profiences and stat increases. Suddenly they will be the one to kick the door down, and to charm the guard. (and they actually won't be that more powerful in combat, high charisma fighters just have slightly better saves than low charisma fighters.) - Make the story about the PC. Built the world and story around their character. eg. If they are a cleric, their god's nemesis is the big bad. If they are a fighter who wants to be the best there ever was, the world is full of tournaments where they can prove themself. Etc. When DMing for a group, I ask them to built characters that fit my world. When DMing for one player, I ask what is the story you want to tell, who is your character, and then I construct the plot and world. - Know your player, and then give them what they want. Power players get to use all the broken stuff they normally don't get to use so they don't outshine the others. Someone who likes managing a small army gets to do that etc. There is often things you want to try, but can't in a group game because it takes time/spotlight from the other players. Now is the Time!
Thank you for giving me a name for this. My daughter is already far older than I was when I first picked up my dice, and she wants to give it a shot. I had found some one shots, and was going to try to adapt them for "duet" play. now though, I know its called that, and have found troves of internet information on it, and can accurately create an adventure for her. Thanks Ginny!
Ran several duet games with my late first wife; most sessions were played out on long road trips. We carried dice in the car, but only for skill checks--these games were 100% role play, no combat or XP awards, and leveling up was more of an abstract. When I DMed, I used these sessions to help develop the setting and NPCs that could be of use in the future.
I've been running a duet campaign with my best friend/roommate now for the past...3 to 4 years now I think? Its been an absolute blast and I feel like I've learned so much about the things I enjoy doing as a DM, and learning how to balance encounters and adjusting as needed. Even my friend has been enjoying looking into homebrew, fleshing out their character, and really getting into the world and character creation. Like you had mentioned, we started with the Essentials Kit. *Dragon of Icespire Peak.* What a good adventure to run, truly. Even after we where done they kept asking "What's next..?!" So we kept on going! Along with her character, we brought over 4 of the sidekicks from DoIP, and an NPCs from their character's backstory. Even now at the later levels they've taken on a second PC character who will go on to be their Baldur's Gate 3 character! Here's the order of adventures/modules I've ran for our adventure thus far, and where we are now! Dragon of Icespire Peak (1-6) Storm Lord's Wrath (7-9) Sleeping Dragon's Wake (9-11) Divine Contention (11-12) Kryptgarden Ascendant (13-15) Giants of the Star Forge (16) Those That Came Before (17-18) Trust and Understanding (19-20) CURRENT! I hope more people try this out. It's a great way to spend time with someone you love hanging out with, and easy to pick up whenever the two of you don't have much going on (or if a friend cancels their campaign last minute that day lol).
1 on 1 D&D was a thing during 1st ed. My first exposure to D&D was the module Blade of Vengeance for the Expert D&D. The player played a level 7 'elf' (which was a class back then).
Agreed. In the first few editions "Solo Sessions" as they were called were super common. Especially since you brought the same character to different tables, people would level up between actual campaigns through solo sessions.
Having done a LOT of one on one roleplaying, there's more points for me to add; A) Pokemon - Just because there is one player doesn't mean there has to be only one character. The player can maintain a party of however big they are comfortable with, giving a similar feeling to playing something like old Dragon Quest games in combat, then controlling the character that is "them" outside of combat. B) Main Character - With only one PC, they are the main character, unlike having a party that is an ensemble cast. You're not tying their backstory into the story, the backstory IS the story. Ginny remarked about how much more the DM is the direct interaction, but it's even more than that. C) Drive - Repeating the above, the PC is the one directing things. There isn't a party for you to bounce ideas off of, there aren't other people who can pick up the slack on what choices to make when you're struggling with choices. The PC has to also put in a lot more work, they also don't get times to sit back and breathe while someone else takes the limelight. D) Relationship - When you do this with someone you are close with and comfortable with, you'll know a lot more about what you can and can't do, but also what you both want and both want to avoid.
I've been playing duet TTRPGs with my wife for a few years now, but we don't DM for each other; we use Mythic and randomize everything, and we've gotten some really fun, complex plots out of thin air! Mythic is awesome as a GM tool as well. You can secretly ask Mythic about something you haven't thought of and then you end up surprising yourself along with the players.
The best DMing i ever did was a duet one shot. We made her character together, and i didnt write a thing other than to decide the setting until after her character was made with a backstory and a goal. Then the entire adventure was written around her. Of course, i completely subverted what she was expecting in the first hour, turning the antagonist from her backstory into her companion. We played for eight hours. The conclusion was epic and im quite proud she cried at the end as she decided to sacrifice the character. Ill never forget it, it was like a work of art i made for an audience of one and no one will ever know it but us. I also later did exactly what Ginny suggested at the end- I started a campaign of four characters with each of them having a one on one session leading to the party's meeting. This was a cool idea, and while I was pleased with some of it, I'm not sure I would recommend it. The biggest issue is that they essentially each needed to be railroaded so that I could in fact get the party together on that 5th session. The other issue was that while it created some awesome hooks and development of the characters backstories, once the party was together, they could not all pursue all those hooks at once. What I found as the campaign went on was that the separate plot lines were being forced to converge or be put on pause, which was not tonally consistent with the weight they were each given in the opening. It was a great challenge and very interesting though
The timing is INSANE, i just played my first one on one game last night with a friend that I usually DM for. It was a one shot and he started the whole thing off with a pack of loansharks kidnapping me and telling me to pull from the deck of many or lose a hand (some sick game they played with gamblers that owe money). I pulled a card that instantly made me 9th level... they let me go after.
Running one shots with all the individual characters is a great way to get to know them and introduce backstory in a way they'll want to pursue. Once I ran something similar, where the intro one-shots all led to the characters escaping into a casino airship. There, by chance, they all independently wanted to gamble...so they all started the group campaign at the same table, telling each other how they bested the authorities. Made everyone get really into character during interactions because they already had experience as them!
I love the idea of using duet dnd for session 0 games. You're right that it lets people get more comfortable as their characters and actually have some fun experiences to talk about!
I DM all of my games to a single player for years now, because everything is so much more personal and connected to the player. Also makes it easy for schedules. More people should give a try.
I’ve been running something recently with “split sessions” Basically I take a small group of my main dnd for a character specific event or challenge. Also since my people are pretty broken, I don’t worry about as much as combat It’s a good way to get more into a character
@GinnyDi I currently play a duet with my wife. We are playing the Phandelver and Below mod and we both find it very fun! I completely agree that being the DM for this, my brain does need catch up time, but that is also part of the fun, because I get to test her and see what reactions and decisions she makes. I appreciate you covering this topic as it is very relatable to us. Thank you so much Ginny!
I remember when I first got into Role Play games. I'd gone from Magic the Gathering when it first came out to a friend inviting me to play in a Vampire Larp, but one of the guys in the barracks offered to play a game of completely made up homebrew game that started off being roughly based on Independence Day, but ran into a bunch of gaming tropes that I had never experienced before. Later on I learned of other systems with book formats and D&D, but I'll never forget being in that one on one scenario, drinking Surge and eating Mini Tacos. The good times. :)
Fun fact, that idea of beginning a campaign with duet sessions for each player? In the games i often run/play, that's kinda what session zeroes ended up as, we actually go out of our way to specify if a session 0 is going to be what the dnd community as a whole thinks of it as. We got the idea from various tv shows that do a trailer for each major character.
My wife and I started playing one-on-one D&D during 2020 lockdown. We also used modules from D&D Duet. (Highly recommended them!) It grew into a 3+ year long campaign that we just finished in December.
Random question, can you recommend some virtual tabletops to use to play DnD? I am a new player and I am desperately looking for a website for me and my friends to use
D&D Beyond can really help with building characters and managing your abilities. If you're playing online you might want to check out roll20 for battle maps. Otherwise I'm pretty analogue!
Oh I love duet dnd!!! I ran a festival/Christmas (called Maker-Mas lol) for a friend’s birthday that lasted pretty much allll day-except for when we took food and cake breaks for her birthday. It was honestly exhausting to DM but her joy throughout it all was totally worth it. It was a little bit of everything: puzzles, a treasure hunt, a bit of combat. Her side kick through the session was her wizard love interest npc so it was a perfect team up :)
I’m so glad I was turned onto this video, and your channel. I’ve been role-playing for nearly 40 years, in fact I think it’s more like 42 years now… But I’ve not played much DND. But in that time, the vast majority of my role-playing has been one on one. My friend and I played star frontiers, Marvel superheroes, James Bond 007, And Ghostbusters for years as one on one. I’m so thankful to you for putting the comment in your video about being brought to a standstill, because in those one on one games, I rarely ran them for that very reason. I thought it meant I just sucked at being a game master, because my friend would throw things at me and I would have no idea how to Respond and I would get overwhelmed and make drastic decisions that weren’t fun for either of us. Since 2008, I’ve been gaming online with a group, and I’ve gotten over that and realized that it was more a lack of confidence on my part than anything else, but now you’ve added a whole new dimension to my thinking of that time in my life. It makes so much more sense now. It’s true. In a group, you have a chance to take stock of things while the other players are discussing the situation and what-not. I’m still a big proponent for one on one games. I’ve learned a lot since those stressful experiences as a kid. I’ve never tried running D&D that way… but I’ve never tried running D&D at all. My friend and I did play D&D once or twice one on one, with him running it, back in the day when “old-school” wasn’t. I must say, we had a blast. In order to finish the module, though, my character wound up being down to half a hit point. Yes, we knew we were stretching Things… But we were having so much fun, we didn’t care. And that kind of fun’s the whole point! Please excuse any type of graphical errors. I’ve been dictating, and I was editing, but I finally decided it was more important to send this comment and move on with my day then spend too much time editing. So I hope if there are any mistakes, the ideas shine through anyway.
I recently started a homebrew campaign as my first ever long term campaign, (ran a few 3-5 shots before) and ran a "prologue session" with each individual player. CANNOT RECCOMMEND THIS ENOUGH!! It was a lot of their first times playing, so it gave them a chance to be introduced to the basic rules of D&D, combat and RP. It gave me as the DM the insight into what their character is like, what abilities they have, and what their goals are. One thing in common with all of them, was that none of them came prepared with a voice they wanted their character to have. This was a great opportunity. Each session we played through a significant moment in the character's backstory, that occurred, and left off with the character heading towards the tavern that session 1 started in. Each character had a really good idea of what they were doing before they entered session one, because they actually played it out. Tips for running your own: -Have both a significant RP encounter and a combat encounter -Ask thought provoking questions. Ex. "How is [PC] feeling in this moment?" "What is [PC] thinking about right now?" The more you can flesh out the character in RP in the prologue sessions, the better session 1 is! Skips the awkward tavern start where everyone isn't quite comfortable with their characters yet, so not much RP happens. My players jumped right into RP for the first hour, with myself not having to do much at all! Happy DM'ing!
8:45 that's actually exactly what i did the first time me and my friends played. i have a bad anxiety and it was my first time playing with them, so i suggested that we could do their background stories first individually, just so they could become more familiar with the concept of dnd (they were new), roleplay and their own character and then, eventually, in their background story they reached a certain city where all of them met up, continuing their journey! :)
I love the idea of doing a "backstory duet" with each player before the campaign proper. I recently read up on Exalted (haven't gotten to play it yet, though), and apparently it's already something people do there, running specifically through the parts of the backstory that lead up to the point where the character Exalts in the first place.
playing 1 on 1 with each of your players, and roleplaying a point in their backstory was what I did before I started my big campaign that is still going on today. It really helped my players get into their characters head and helped when we actually decided to play all together.
Your last point of a solo session with a player is something I've been doing for a while. I called it session zero. It allows the player to practice their character and briefly edit something they don't feel it works. The idea behind it was to give them immediate understanding of local geography of the area and a beginning to an independent quest. For some characters I've even given them oppotunity to gain additional basic items. Rolling with it, it's been a massive success and my players seem to love it. Glad to know I'm not the only one implementing this concept
I DM’d my first session with my immediate family around Christmas time, it was a fun first experience for my sisters and parents! Though I am guilty of having my brain shut down a dozen times during the handful of hours, since most of them haven’t done any sort of RPGs before (as far as I know). But despite that, they said they’d like to do it again sometime. Seeing this video made me wonder if I should try a duet style with everyone at separate occasions. I don’t know if my brain is up to the challenge, but that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna try my hardest!
Ginny, we love all of your DM tips videos and it would be a bliss if one day you showed us how you prep - I don't mind heavy detail. Taking a specific session as an example and showing how you use these papers would be awesome! ❤
the algorythm blessed me with this video right as my SO took an interest in my D&D hobby and i had bought the essential set for us to play together. i am actually excited because it feels like a simple, non scheduling drama way to play since we see each other all the time anyways
practicing with the players in your campaign before it starts and using significant parts of their backstory is a fantastic idea. I'm absolutely doing this at the start of my next campaign. Love it.
Hell yeah, duet d&d sounds cute. I tend to call it origin sessions where the player goes through events that are from their backstory, so when they gather with others they can share it as we players would when telling others about their last session. It's great for immersion and helping a player find their characters "voice" and values.
Literally my only game of D&D so far was DMing a duet, so it's great to know that the feeling of not having time to think straight is less in a group game. It actually was basically a prequel to the group campaign, I'm now seriously considering doing it for all my players!
my group has had a couple solo sessions and its usually like a way to 1. have just a fun side mission where your character can shine and 2. helps strengthen aspects of your characters personality. I got a solo session with my dm in about an hour and i haven't had one yet so im exited
I have actually played duet-style D&D before and I love it! Definitely takes way more prep on my end, but I think some of my favorite roleplay moments have occurred when it was just me and one player at the table. It'a really refreshing when two people can set the tone and the pace of a session all by themselves. I'd love to see Josh take a crack at it, if he was willing to for content of course!
My wife and I have played a bit of duet DND and also have started a little bit of duet Cairn (the more narrative focus of the latter allows us to sidestep some of the issues with action economy in DND). With the increased pressure, it cuts both ways - the player is also making ALL the party decisions and doesn’t get a chance to sit back. Our duet games are usually more like 1.5 hours because it’s so much more taxing on both player and DM and the game moves a lot faster. When the player is stuck and is having brain fade, it can be a good idea to lean on skill checks to move the narrative forward (ensuring that a pass gives them the information they need, and even a fail will have the story “fail forward”) and cut the player some slack. Also, if there is a sidekick NPC, allowing them skill checks to know important narrative info so the player isn’t the only one doing all the lifting
I was just running a PF2 game with my SO. Hearing that you also had full "hang on brain needs to catch up" moments made me feel a whole lot better about the need I felt for breaks (it was my first experience GMing)
I reconize me so much in this video ! I DM for my two sisters and it's pretty much the same thing than having just one player. We're all newbies and it's really demanding but it's really fun ! it's just hard to balance the game for them ahah
Another great thing about D&D duets, and this is especially interesting when playing with, like it was said in the video, close friends, family or your significant other, is the fact that, humanly, can you name another activity you do with someone else and for 4 hours straight, YOU are their exclusive point of focus, and THEY are your exclusive point of focus? I do feel like this is really a great opportunity for some shared quality time over a common passion. Also, the fact that you have only one player means EVERYTHING that happens at the table relates to their character, everything is interesting, and you can take more time describing stuff that you feel will interest your player. I mean, if you spend 30% of the time doing descriptions or giving away information about the world (like through knowledge skills) with a group of 6 players, each player gets about 11% of your time one average to answer his questions or resolve his actions. In a duet, you spend 50% of the time doing the same and your only player still gets more time to resolve its actions etc... It is also easier to develop characters relationships with NPCs they like (AND NPCs they hate by the way!). As a heavy homebrew DM, you can also use duets sessions to test new rules, mechanics, feats, spells etc... And their balance. The merits are legions. In my experience, one of the most important flaw is that players that are used to being part of an active group might struggle with the fact that they are now the sole responsible person for the decisions, and it can with some players actually slow them down in decision making, because when you are part of a group of 6 and your group makes a mistake, you can dilute some of the responsability of the mistake, but not when you are the sole player, and it can sometimes paralyse the player, even more so if the player is usually undecisive as a general rule in his life. Even with "sidekicks" the game can sometimes feel lonely to some people, because brainstorming with people over what we should do next is something that some players actually love. In the end, this is just another tool in a DMs toolkit!
This can be a great way for new DM's, introducing a new player, trying a new game, or making the best of it when all but 1 person in a game drops off per various life events.
Once, when scheduling got in the way of an ongoing campaign, I separated all the party members and then did individual duet sessions with each player, in which their ultimate objective was to find and reunite the party - it was great, and the players had a fun time recounting all of their individual adventures in character together afterward. I also had a DM who once had us play out individual adventures from each character's backstory. We each took turns playing our character, but the other players piloted NPCs or enemy combatants in the session. It was so much fun, and definitely something I want to run for my own players in the future. And welcome back, mermaid hair! You've been missed!
It's so funny this was posted when it was. I just started implementing duet dnd with my online group for them to go on shopping sessions, talk 1-on-1 with NPCs they care about, and play out the origins of their backup characters without requiring the entire party being present for the session only to wait an hour or more to actually play, themselves. So far it's been a very positive experience! I'm limiting it to about an hour or two for such sessions because I run them on the days we dont have our weekly game scheduled for, and play them as casually and off-the-cuff as sitting down to play some video games with my friends after a long day of work
I never thought of one on one sessions as duets, but they've always been as side quest to a main game... but for restarting my main game that has been on hiatus since COVID started, I was already planning on running one shots with both old and new characters, so I guess I'm ahead of the curve! 😂
I absolutely love doing solo sessions, as a player or a DM. There is just something about the amount of focus you can give someone and their character. We use them as intro sessions as mentioned, but also when somebody missed some sessions or went on a sidequest or whatever.
I love that idea of running a duet with each person before going into the multiplayer campaign. Absolutely wonderful way to lead up to it for both you and the players.
I love running solo campaigns for my husband and my bestie. They are exhausting but so much more flexible. And you can tailor it SO much to what that player loves and enjoys most without worrying about other players' experiences suffering or balancing "screentime"
Thank you so much for this, Ginny Di! My husband and I have played duet D&D for many years, and we really love this mode! During the COVID lockdown we played the Dungeons of the Mad Mage (5e version). We took turns being the DM - he ran the odd-numbered levels and I ran the even-numbered ones. We each played the other person's PC as a sidekick when it was our turn to be playing. It's one of the funnest things we've ever done together. He played a ranger (Gloomstalker) and I played a bard (College of Lore). We slowed down for the last few levels, spreading them out over time so we could adequately prepare. We have two more levels left to play now, and it's extremely scary-good! Keeping secrets from each other about the levels we were running was the hardest part.
You nailed it! I have been DMing solo d&d sessions for 37 years and do these 90% of the time. They are a lot of work, but I believe they can also be the most rewarding. They also are better suited to using the "rule of cool" as there are no other players to get upset or overshadowed and that leads to some awesome moments! Have fun with this new style, it's addicting!
Some of the best role playing sessions I have ever been involved with were one on one. You can even do player/player sessions for those long camp conversations and turn in notes to the DM afterwards (with DM approval of course). It gives players an opportunity to role play long scenes that may exclude or bore the rest of the table.
Ginny I love this idea! For me going off the concept you had mentioned of running a duet with each player before a new game starts, I ran something I called 0.5 sessions. These were sessions where I grabbed 1-3 of my players for a short game before actual session 1 as a way for players to figure out, voice, play style, role, personality while interacting with other players and NPCs, and so much more! On top of it all, my players understood how their character got from their backstory to the rest of the party then, whether they start in a tavern, on a battle field, or anywhere else.
I have been doing duet dnd sessions with players, going thru backstory moments on the weeks multiple people can't show up for whatever reason. It really helps flesh out their character as well as rewarding them for showing up
I absolutely love the idea of using duet D&D session with each individual player. That sounds like an incredible idea before a session 0 with the whole group!
wanted to say a 1on 1 D&D campaign that i played for years is still the best gaming I've ever done in over 40 years of gaming. Also, your blue hair is WOW INTENSE awesome !!!! thanks for the video.
I love the idea of using this as pre-campaign for players. helps the player get used to their character and helps the dm learn about the player's character as well.
I've been running one on one RPG for years. it's.. honestly the best experience possible for this stuff. the level of depth with the character you can do it out of this world.
I've played one on one D&D with my wife and friend in another country (on VTT). Side kicks are key, but I love how much I (as the DM) can really focus on making the adventure something the other player is looking for. I would totally recommend it
My friend is developing a brand new RPG system and while testing he started with a “duet” session with each player before we played our first game together and it was very helpful to set up ways to connect all our characters so the “team up” didn’t feel forced. He got to take events from each duet and set them up for the next player so they involved a location or NPC or whatever from someone else’s.
Can confirm, the one-on-one games before a group game are really fun. I had a DM do that for us and it was really helpful for figuring out how my Tabaxi Storm Sorcerer circus performer [more Cirque du Solei than traditional circus with animals] interacted with important people in his backstory. His mother was retiring from the road and it was his first performance alone. He gave a beautiful tribute to wish her well using magic. It was really emotional.
One of my most rewarding roleplaying experiences was a one on one star wars campaign using the savage worlds framework. We frequently switched the DMing role. And we generally have a fairly collaborative playstyle anyway. Considering we were both playing a jedi knight and her padawan, making it a duet felt like a natural choice. It generally fostered a very close relationship between the two and enabled us to do plots that would have been hard to include other characters with more diverse classes in. We both levelled our chraracters up as usual, using our own as a quasi-npc while DMing. Playing it as a one on one just requires holding back your character with the problem solving a little while you're Dming. But on the other hand, they become the natural vessel for hints when your player gets stuck on something.
8:37 - this is exactly what I’ve been doing to prepare my players for our new campaign and integrate their characters into my homebrew world, and I wish this video had been available to me before I started. It’s been going great so far, but you’re right - duet D&D is a lot of pressure!
Loved the video. I learned to DM during covid with my partner seeing as we couldnt hang out with friends. We tried Dragon of Icepire Peak, and she made a Warlock, searching for a way to bring back his mother who gave her life giving birth to him, and looking in Phandalin to learn more about magic and his own powers (he wasnt aware of his pact, nor that it was cause of his mother). It was an intense, emotional but beautifull experience. He had a small heart, and at first didn't like his npc partner 'a girl', but tailoring it towards the characters' insecurity and also a simmilair motivation of growing with magic, they quickly bonded and even fell in love. Every session felt as an episode of a beautifull drama serie with a laugh and a tear, and because it was 1 on 1, the character bonding was much much more intense. We didn't conclude the campaign, got stuck somewhere and i felt the pressure/insecurity of overperforming.
I did this before! It was really fun, certainly more demanding because if you need a second the players can’t just chat amongst themselves but I also found there was so much less distraction and so much more focus on the game, which I really liked. Also I love Ginny’s idea of doing a one on one game with each player when starting a new campaign, I bet it can really make each person’s characters feel more real and connected to the world for both the dm and the player. 😊
This is really interesting and the whole "3 sessions of material for 3 hours of play" thing sent me on a kind of theorizing tangent. The idea of the "Thread Pull Trigger", and what it means for play. A thread pull trigger is some detail that sparks a player to interrogate or investigate this detail, pulling the thread. And not just your basic follow up questions or clarifications, but REALLY pull on that thread. The meme version would be the random NPC you just made up on the spot as just an "extra" to fill out a scene who immediately becomes the sole fascination of some or all the players. But part of the phenomenon is that even if others jump in, it's usually one or two players that get the ball rolling. And these moments are great! This is not a bad thing! Some of the best RPG stories are based on them. But they are TIME important. And as you add more players, the odds that ONE of them will hit a thread pull trigger gets higher and higher, while with a duet game it's only ever one player. In my younger days, my game group would often have 7+ players in the game and we'd routinely make it to 3 scenes MAX with an 8 hour play session. And with a duet I could easily see not having one of these 20 minute diversions/tangents for multiple scenes and just have to hit your beats and move on to the next scene. Oh, and the reason these are different than just RP moments is that they tend to be more like "footnote" material than "narrative" material. It's not the "searching the murder scene for clues" or "interrogating the bandit leader" type stuff, planned moments of the story. It's taking a wiki-walk IN GAME. And these specific kinds of diversions are great for GMs because they tend to be lower importance. Either it's pre-made world building that you can infodump or it's entirely inconsequential so you can just MAKE SHIT UP. Doing the narrative scenes means you are deploying and concealing specific, game central data. With these, you either have the answer or the answer doesn't ultimately matter.
My favorite personal example of one of these was: Party is infiltrating the mansion of a SUPER evil douche (Bond villain type guy) under the pretense of a journalist and entourage. They know EVERYONE here is party to some nasty, malicious cabal under the Bond Villains command. But then I introduced the living plant druid, who was supposed to be more of the "amoral, not immoral" eco-terrorist type and one player was just INSTANTLY focused on them and needed their ENTIRE backstory. Of which I had written basically zilch. But they kept talking to them and wanting details, but it wasn't really PLOT relevant so I just winged it and by the end I had given them the most bizarre and hysterical backstory. Their "Super Villain Origin Story" moment was when, entirely by random chance, they meditated SO HARD they accidentally made contact with the SENTIENCE OF THE SUN. And so on top of accidentally mind melding with an eldritch entity partially cooking their brain, they also got to view Eberron FROM their perspective and with their understanding. And from the Sun's point of view, the excesses of civilization is like your dog having a bad case of fleas. You beautiful, sweet little friend suddenly has these hordes of tiny jackasses making a mess of everything and slowly hurting your little boy. And so ever since that moment, this druid has had this zealous hatred for cities and empires and the thoughtless cruelty of the ruling class. Which is why he aligned with the Bond villain: he didn't actually agree with the villain or think they were any BETTER than the other pretentious jerks, but the Bond villain was willing to fund/supply the druid's crusade against the most grotesque exploiters of nature that didn't happen to be under Bond villain's protection. And this was ALL just made up on the spot. They were supposed to be a piece of color background and a player on the board to make going out into the woods dicey.
I just ran 5 of these duet sessions for my group of 5 players and we all had a blast! I had them play through 2 months of their downtime after having completed their first major arc in the campaign.
When I jumped in to an ongoing campaign this year, we actually had a 1 on 1 session with the DM on accident beforehand (wasn't planned, other things just happened). Having that session to intro my character into the dungeon the others were just entering was SO COOL and made the initial introduction RP so much more fluent, since I knew EXACTLY why I'm there and what state of mind my character was in after having just barely escaped an encounter alive. It was amazing, totally recommend doing that with your players!
I've never done duet D&D before and I really appreciate your tips on how to prepare for it. Now a tip for you on something that I have done in my games before is this: When I've needed to look up something in my notes or review materials before a big scene I have several "Useful Tips for Players" that I have taped to clothes pin that I clip to my DM screen and use them like a loading screen on a game. The first time that I used this the players thought it was hilarious, but they've actually started appreciating some of the tips that I've shared with this.
I ran a single player game years ago for one of my friends who was keen to join our group, basiclly we developed thier backstory and helped them get an overview of the rules, I was a lot of fun and I'd encourage others to give it a go when introducing new players to an existing group so they know what's going with the world/region on as soon as they join. Anyway, great video, I really enjoyed it and hope you do more stuff like this.
I’ve done a few 1-on-1 D&D sessions for players when their characters get split up from the party, or for supplemental lore material. It’s always very fun and any “awkwardness” usually disappears pretty quickly.
I personally found that having a duet session with every player before session 1 has been incredibly helpful; especially if you're trying out a new system and you're not yet familiar with the mechanics. The players get to do a test run of their character and you as a Dm get to have a pretty good idea of who your party's member are and what they can do before the game even start
I've done this exact thing for friends of mine. In one campaign, I even did one on one dnd, roleplaying significant moments in their backstories. It definitely can be fun and I enjoy dming for friends with this all the time
Yeah, I ran a duet game a few years ago and I totally agree. I burned through material so fast and I constantly had to pause and think about things that I didn't need to do DMing a normal game. Great advice and good insights!
I have exclusively played 1 to 1 for so e years now. Really like it. Definitely allows deeper roleplay as you just follow the one PC and their story at their pace.
![Eminem - Fuel (feat. JID) [Official Lyric Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/t5H_CewqpKA/mqdefault.jpg)
🪚 Where did you get that incredible DM SCREEN?
📖 Where can I get the ADVENTURE you ran?
🔮 Why does my cat sometimes utter DARK PROPHECIES in a human voice?
Check the video description! ⬆ (And let me know if you find the answer to that last one...)
I think you might have an accidental warlock pact with your cat and he's your demonic patron whispering cryptic advice to your deep subconscious 😂 "gib me treats human and you shall have luck in your future"
I have ran these types of games on multiple occasions. They can be just as fun as a full party. I prefer a full party obviously, but if all but one of my players is gone that gives me the out to flesh out one characters' backstory. One occasion was in a world of mine featuring branching timelines. This caused a branching in the timeline that ended up saving the party Endgame style.
In answer to your third question, Ginny; H.P. Lovecraft in his essay on "cats vs dogs" observed that cats are aristocrats by nature. In magic-filled settings, most aristocrats dabble in the arcane arts because it's practical to have multiple forms of hard and soft powerful at your disposal.
If I were you, though, I'd check your missing belongings for crystal balls and other fortune-telling apparatus before your precious kitten sees something that breaks her tiny, curious mind and she starts turning to darker arts. Maybe ask Nimwyn for help?
When you live in small town. You role up few characters have a party. If you ran one on one you became very serious to what you can attack or enter act with npc.
I've been running a campaign for about 3 - 4 years for my wife. Just me and her. I love that. There are some NPCs that join the group, others eventually leave because they have already achieved their objectives. Not every party needs to stay together forever and this becomes easier when we only have one player. The only thing I recommend keeping in mind is: your player is the protagonist of this story, make him feel that way.
This is exactly how I started DMing over the last two years.
My wife is one of my players in a larger group, but we’ll often have little spin-off duet sessions, too. We really enjoy them. She’s now writing a book based on her character, and whenever she’s unsure about how a scene should play out (especially battle scenes) we’ll run it and improv it together.
fair play to you, seems like a very fun way to spend time with your wife actually.
We recently lost an NPC in our own campaign...He was the estranged son of a dwarf woman in a village and we were able to reunite mother & son plus a new step-dad who isn't able to have his own children and is excited at taking him under his wing to teach him some top tier smithing.
@@mathmusicandlooks GRRRRRRRR Martin could use this advice. He might actually get something done.
omg PLEASE get Josh to follow through on DMing for you instead, I would LOVE to see a flyover of how that goes
I'll do my best! He's only DMed one game before, but he did a great job - he's a real natural!
Already waiting hopefully for the video about it 🤩
@@GinnyDi i would love to see a "what can go wrong" with a untalented one
Leaving a comment to hopefully get him to DM 😂
He's probably really great, but maybe it's just anxiety over not measuring up to the uber-DM @GinnyDi
I had a zero session "duet" with each of my players before our first group session.
It was meant to give each player a separate scenario on how they got aboard a ship that was heading from my Southern Continent to my Northern Continent.
Each player boarded the ship at a separate town.
We started the group session as the ship left the final Southern Port and headed across the sea... 😁
That's so cool - I love that it gave everybody a little context leading up to that first session!
Really cool
Very ‘Mike Lee’ method acting
I've played in two campaigns that did this, and I loved it! I may have had the basic concept of my personality from Session Zero, but getting a little moment of narrative spotlight as my first actions really helps me find my voice, my desires, my own personal quest that connects together with the larger narrative.
Plus then, I get to watch every other character's solo scene. Regardless if my character is supposed to have canonically known them for years, or if we're all meeting for the first time after this, the vignette gives me a ton to brainstorm upon! It does require the right type of player, though -- the type who will be engaged with watching for most of Session One, and who understand the narrative value in watching the other players' scenes.
But any time I find myself in a game where Session Zero only gave me a few top-level tropes on each character, and then the GM hits us with "okay you leave the tavern, where does the party go", it does make me miss this style of Session One opening. Having to improv my character for the first time, AND improv being IC well familiar with characters who OOC I know barely anything about, always feels awkward no matter how many times I've done it!
One-on-one prologues like this are one of my favorite ways to begin a new campaign
WE'RE BACK!
The first duet campaign I ever watched was the one Matt Mercer did with Colbert. There is definitely a different vibe when you have just one player. The adventure can be so much more... "cozy" if that makes sense. Almost D&D on Lo-Fi mode. Not that it can't be intense, it can. But it's certainly an opportunity for a more subtle form of play, if that's what you want.
yeah it February glad Ginny's back
My first time DM'ing was one on one. The boy I was babysitting (who was 8 at that time) heared I would be playing D&D that night and asked what that was. So did at bit of improv D&D with him, starting with a small guided meditation (close your eyes, your camping in a forest, etc), then I told him a wolf was about to attack and asked what he would like to do, helping him to improvise a weapon etc. No dice that first time, but he loved it! Next time I was babysitting he wanted to play again, so I introduced dice and some statts. Now, 3 years later, his little sister and some of his friends are involved to. We only do group D&D now, but that one on one beginning really helped him learn because all my attention was on helping him.
I saw this video right before my fiance came home from a real bad day at work. He nearly cried when he saw everything I managed to set up, and we had a total blast! It turned around his night and now he's going to bed happy again, and I am too. Thank you for the suggestion, one idea made a huge difference :)
I'm liking this as a vehicle for first-time DM's to practise the basics. It's ALSO a potent reminder to all of us to remember to engage in those short inter-party RP sessions to take some of the pressure off our DM's and give them some breathing space.
(I'm glad you didn't need to make a roll for Husbandly Tolerance!)
thankfully Josh has high Constitution 😂
Not as a first time DM, but I did start a duet campaign with my wife as a way to learn a game system I was interested in without the pressure of learning it and teaching it to a whole group.
I feel like while in some ways this could be a good intro for a new dm, but as someone that's ran both group games and duet games, i can say the pressure Ginny was talking about is no joke. I'd often find myself procrastinating running duet games because of how rough that pressure can be, so it'd probably depend on who the new dm is.
Agreed! My first time DMing was by playing a duet one shot with my sister-in-law. It was her first time playing d&d too, so it felt like a nice way for us both to learn. Now I'm running a two player campaign of Dragon of Icespire Peak for her and my partner. It is quite intense but I just assumed that was because I'm an anxious person! Still, I'm tempted to try my first homebrew campaign by playing a duet game with my mum. I feel like improvising off one person's crazy antics would be easier than dealing with a whole group of chaotic minds!
my friend and i have been playing “duet” dnd for three years now. It’s very homebrew with our own world, storyline, etc. I play my own character as well as Dming, so i get to play along, plus be a gentle guiding hand for the story, plus we get to play off each other and we have hilarious moments. It works well with my friend playing a half-orc barbarian while I play a high-charisma homebrew-race warlock
I did same with my friend. She's a natural roleplayer and we had a lot of fun. Any tip how to manage two players and two important companyon npcs?
I think letting the player be able to suggest ideas for the story is actually a great way to do duet campaigns. It harkens back to just doing role-play (co-op) writing.
@@cub-square Unfortunately i’m not the best with remembering companion characters. Whenever I’m narrating/playing important NPCS my character takes a back seat. In our game my friend had a pet mini-dragon that we often forget about as well 😅 my best advice might just be to write reminder notes to help you remember your important companion characters
@@NerdyZanoth yeah i’m also a big time writing roleplayer, i have a longtime rping buddy and we’ve been going for years. One difference I see between the two is with the writing rp you are co-authoring a story, so both parties normally know what’s coming and any twists aren’t big surprises (but still fun). With my dnd game we’re exploring this land and uncovering the true history, as well as making our own journey with the story. My player can lead it however she wants (and has… we burned down a town once) and i roll with her choices too. I do think she enjoys having a greater story to uncover along the way, though.
My friend and I recently started, but we have basically the same set up. My character is a half-orc artificer, and hers is a tabaxi bard.
We make a lot of Shrek jokes.
I shout from the rooftops about one-on-one D&D as much as possible! I ran Dragon of Icespire Peak for my sister and it was THE MOST FUN! I gave her a permanent sidekick and a suite of hirelings in town that she could draw on when she anticipated needing a particular skill set. It's also so satisfying to tailor the game to one character's goals and interests. They get to be the main character! And I can reward tons of magic items because that just lets me take the threat level up a notch. I hope more people try playing one-on-one!
I ran this for my nephew one on one and he loved it.
Definitely going to try a duet campaign with my partner. She's always been the most engaged at the table, and she gets frustrated that others at the table aren't taking things as serious. Seems like a no brainer. (also everyone... We need to watch this video as much as possible so Ginny has to include Josh in more videos to please the algorithm)
shh, you wouldn't want me to find out about your secret campaign to turn this into the Josh channel! 😂
That's one of the things I enjoy most about one-on-one play: I can focus on a single player and run the game to cater to their playstyle instead of having to bounce among different players with different needs. So no reaching the climax of an intense, emotional arc just to have the group goofball kill the mood with a dumb joke. (No hate on the group goofballs! They're awesome! They just ... sometimes ... have a poor sense of timing :-)
Aw I did this for my grandma when she told me she wished she could do magic irl and I explained what D&D was.
It was great since I could gently guide her through the rules one on one (it took her a while to realise that the only thing she controlled was her character 😂) Plus it was my first time DMing so it was a gentle entry for me too!
She loved it! We ended up playing 2 more sessions; one with my brother and then one with my whole family during covid 😂
My wife and I have played duet D&D for years now and we love it. It is super intimidating at first, but I found your improv skills will skyrocket after just a few sessions. I found playing in your own homebrew world a lot faster because you can always make stuff up on the fly. But duet sessions can bring so many benefits. Want to test a new spell? Slip it into a duet session. New class or subclass? Duet session. Weird story idea? Duet session!
Great stuff, Ginny! And here is hoping Josh enjoys duet-DMing as much as he did playing!
I DID know that you could DM a single person in D&D! Matt Mercer's one shot with Stephen Colbert was so wholesome!
!?! I did not know that was a thing!
@@theactorsdungeon3898 check it out! I believe it wad in 2019? There was a sequel of sorts in 2022
I really like the idea of doing a session 0.5 with new players for a campaign. Especially if you do so with a player you haven't run a game with before, to get a feeling for how they play.
Also that GM screen?! What an absolute unit! I want one
Isn't it gorgeous?! It's a custom screen from Talon & Claw (with several contributions from other crafters - all detailed and linked in the video description!)
It works great for this purpose. Well tested.
“My biggest concern is definitely that I will accidentally kill him” Dam, Ginny gettin serious with the special effects 😂
When my DM solo DMed for me he would give me respawn points Video game style lol.
I did a Duet with my then roommate while we both had Covid, some things you need to know.
A Healer sidekick and/or healing potions is a must. An encounter with a Ratfolk Shroud left the PC with 5 strength and 3 hps.
Overpowering the PC is a good thing at the start, an uncommon magic item at 2nd lvl is a help.
Good luck Josh
I love 1x1 sessions! When my party made it to a really big city, I had them "decide" to split up to explore it. They all focused on what was relevant for them, and really got in touch with their characters in both a RP and mechanical sense. They were so excited to reconvene and tell each other what they found in the city, and what adventures they got up to. Would HIGHLY recommend.
I recall seeing at my local game shop a father DMing for his young son in a duet session. Even without knowing any of the details, it was plain to see and hear the kid's unfettered enthusiasm. I imagine the dad had to put in a little extra work to make it happen, but i have zero doubts that many precious memories were forged that day. Serious family goals for sure, and mad respect to DM Dad. A real inspiration.
I have been playing duet style games with my girlfriend 3-5 times a week, for years. Here is a few things I have learned:
- Use sidekicks like Ginny suggests, but also make sure the PC is the one with the best charisma, otherwise the DM will be RPing with themselves when the guard needs persuading, and that is awkward.
- Give the player higher stats. That will allow them to do more of the stuff. Give out rewards like extra skill profiences and stat increases. Suddenly they will be the one to kick the door down, and to charm the guard. (and they actually won't be that more powerful in combat, high charisma fighters just have slightly better saves than low charisma fighters.)
- Make the story about the PC. Built the world and story around their character. eg. If they are a cleric, their god's nemesis is the big bad. If they are a fighter who wants to be the best there ever was, the world is full of tournaments where they can prove themself. Etc. When DMing for a group, I ask them to built characters that fit my world. When DMing for one player, I ask what is the story you want to tell, who is your character, and then I construct the plot and world.
- Know your player, and then give them what they want. Power players get to use all the broken stuff they normally don't get to use so they don't outshine the others. Someone who likes managing a small army gets to do that etc. There is often things you want to try, but can't in a group game because it takes time/spotlight from the other players. Now is the Time!
Thank you for giving me a name for this. My daughter is already far older than I was when I first picked up my dice, and she wants to give it a shot. I had found some one shots, and was going to try to adapt them for "duet" play. now though, I know its called that, and have found troves of internet information on it, and can accurately create an adventure for her. Thanks Ginny!
I usually call them "Solo Sessions", they were fairly common in earlier editions. ^^ Duet does sound a lot more social and fun though.
Husband and wife duet DnD. This is simply delightful!
Ran several duet games with my late first wife; most sessions were played out on long road trips. We carried dice in the car, but only for skill checks--these games were 100% role play, no combat or XP awards, and leveling up was more of an abstract. When I DMed, I used these sessions to help develop the setting and NPCs that could be of use in the future.
I've been running a duet campaign with my best friend/roommate now for the past...3 to 4 years now I think? Its been an absolute blast and I feel like I've learned so much about the things I enjoy doing as a DM, and learning how to balance encounters and adjusting as needed. Even my friend has been enjoying looking into homebrew, fleshing out their character, and really getting into the world and character creation.
Like you had mentioned, we started with the Essentials Kit. *Dragon of Icespire Peak.* What a good adventure to run, truly. Even after we where done they kept asking "What's next..?!" So we kept on going!
Along with her character, we brought over 4 of the sidekicks from DoIP, and an NPCs from their character's backstory. Even now at the later levels they've taken on a second PC character who will go on to be their Baldur's Gate 3 character!
Here's the order of adventures/modules I've ran for our adventure thus far, and where we are now!
Dragon of Icespire Peak (1-6)
Storm Lord's Wrath (7-9)
Sleeping Dragon's Wake (9-11)
Divine Contention (11-12)
Kryptgarden Ascendant (13-15)
Giants of the Star Forge (16)
Those That Came Before (17-18)
Trust and Understanding (19-20) CURRENT!
I hope more people try this out. It's a great way to spend time with someone you love hanging out with, and easy to pick up whenever the two of you don't have much going on (or if a friend cancels their campaign last minute that day lol).
1 on 1 D&D was a thing during 1st ed. My first exposure to D&D was the module Blade of Vengeance for the Expert D&D. The player played a level 7 'elf' (which was a class back then).
Agreed. In the first few editions "Solo Sessions" as they were called were super common. Especially since you brought the same character to different tables, people would level up between actual campaigns through solo sessions.
The player can play more than one character, the game originally started with the idea that you'd be playing multiple characters.
Having done a LOT of one on one roleplaying, there's more points for me to add;
A) Pokemon - Just because there is one player doesn't mean there has to be only one character. The player can maintain a party of however big they are comfortable with, giving a similar feeling to playing something like old Dragon Quest games in combat, then controlling the character that is "them" outside of combat.
B) Main Character - With only one PC, they are the main character, unlike having a party that is an ensemble cast. You're not tying their backstory into the story, the backstory IS the story. Ginny remarked about how much more the DM is the direct interaction, but it's even more than that.
C) Drive - Repeating the above, the PC is the one directing things. There isn't a party for you to bounce ideas off of, there aren't other people who can pick up the slack on what choices to make when you're struggling with choices. The PC has to also put in a lot more work, they also don't get times to sit back and breathe while someone else takes the limelight.
D) Relationship - When you do this with someone you are close with and comfortable with, you'll know a lot more about what you can and can't do, but also what you both want and both want to avoid.
I've been playing duet TTRPGs with my wife for a few years now, but we don't DM for each other; we use Mythic and randomize everything, and we've gotten some really fun, complex plots out of thin air! Mythic is awesome as a GM tool as well. You can secretly ask Mythic about something you haven't thought of and then you end up surprising yourself along with the players.
What is this "mythic" you speak of?
The best DMing i ever did was a duet one shot. We made her character together, and i didnt write a thing other than to decide the setting until after her character was made with a backstory and a goal. Then the entire adventure was written around her. Of course, i completely subverted what she was expecting in the first hour, turning the antagonist from her backstory into her companion. We played for eight hours. The conclusion was epic and im quite proud she cried at the end as she decided to sacrifice the character. Ill never forget it, it was like a work of art i made for an audience of one and no one will ever know it but us. I also later did exactly what Ginny suggested at the end- I started a campaign of four characters with each of them having a one on one session leading to the party's meeting. This was a cool idea, and while I was pleased with some of it, I'm not sure I would recommend it. The biggest issue is that they essentially each needed to be railroaded so that I could in fact get the party together on that 5th session. The other issue was that while it created some awesome hooks and development of the characters backstories, once the party was together, they could not all pursue all those hooks at once. What I found as the campaign went on was that the separate plot lines were being forced to converge or be put on pause, which was not tonally consistent with the weight they were each given in the opening. It was a great challenge and very interesting though
The timing is INSANE, i just played my first one on one game last night with a friend that I usually DM for.
It was a one shot and he started the whole thing off with a pack of loansharks kidnapping me and telling me to pull from the deck of many or lose a hand (some sick game they played with gamblers that owe money). I pulled a card that instantly made me 9th level... they let me go after.
Nice! 😂
Running one shots with all the individual characters is a great way to get to know them and introduce backstory in a way they'll want to pursue. Once I ran something similar, where the intro one-shots all led to the characters escaping into a casino airship. There, by chance, they all independently wanted to gamble...so they all started the group campaign at the same table, telling each other how they bested the authorities. Made everyone get really into character during interactions because they already had experience as them!
I love the idea of using duet dnd for session 0 games. You're right that it lets people get more comfortable as their characters and actually have some fun experiences to talk about!
I DM all of my games to a single player for years now, because everything is so much more personal and connected to the player. Also makes it easy for schedules. More people should give a try.
blue hair is back.
i am glad to hear your take. I have a small group (two players) and while i like it, i feel exhausted at two hours with no breaks.
Love duet D&D! I’ve had some great sessions with only 1 player 🤘🏼 Thank you for bringing more attention to this Ginny!
This is actually my main way to play! I've played more duet DnD than traditional party DnD, and I love the fast pace and the sidekick mechanics😁
I’ve been running something recently with “split sessions”
Basically I take a small group of my main dnd for a character specific event or challenge.
Also since my people are pretty broken, I don’t worry about as much as combat
It’s a good way to get more into a character
3:55 IT'S A MINI GINNY!!! 🤏
Mini Di
@GinnyDi I currently play a duet with my wife. We are playing the Phandelver and Below mod and we both find it very fun! I completely agree that being the DM for this, my brain does need catch up time, but that is also part of the fun, because I get to test her and see what reactions and decisions she makes. I appreciate you covering this topic as it is very relatable to us. Thank you so much Ginny!
I remember when I first got into Role Play games. I'd gone from Magic the Gathering when it first came out to a friend inviting me to play in a Vampire Larp, but one of the guys in the barracks offered to play a game of completely made up homebrew game that started off being roughly based on Independence Day, but ran into a bunch of gaming tropes that I had never experienced before. Later on I learned of other systems with book formats and D&D, but I'll never forget being in that one on one scenario, drinking Surge and eating Mini Tacos. The good times. :)
Fun fact, that idea of beginning a campaign with duet sessions for each player? In the games i often run/play, that's kinda what session zeroes ended up as, we actually go out of our way to specify if a session 0 is going to be what the dnd community as a whole thinks of it as. We got the idea from various tv shows that do a trailer for each major character.
My wife and I started playing one-on-one D&D during 2020 lockdown. We also used modules from D&D Duet. (Highly recommended them!) It grew into a 3+ year long campaign that we just finished in December.
Random question, can you recommend some virtual tabletops to use to play DnD? I am a new player and I am desperately looking for a website for me and my friends to use
D&D Beyond can really help with building characters and managing your abilities.
If you're playing online you might want to check out roll20 for battle maps. Otherwise I'm pretty analogue!
@@GinnyDi thank you so much! Your dnd video help a lot 👏
Oh I love duet dnd!!! I ran a festival/Christmas (called Maker-Mas lol) for a friend’s birthday that lasted pretty much allll day-except for when we took food and cake breaks for her birthday. It was honestly exhausting to DM but her joy throughout it all was totally worth it. It was a little bit of everything: puzzles, a treasure hunt, a bit of combat. Her side kick through the session was her wizard love interest npc so it was a perfect team up :)
I’m so glad I was turned onto this video, and your channel. I’ve been role-playing for nearly 40 years, in fact I think it’s more like 42 years now… But I’ve not played much DND. But in that time, the vast majority of my role-playing has been one on one. My friend and I played star frontiers, Marvel superheroes, James Bond 007, And Ghostbusters for years as one on one. I’m so thankful to you for putting the comment in your video about being brought to a standstill, because in those one on one games, I rarely ran them for that very reason. I thought it meant I just sucked at being a game master, because my friend would throw things at me and I would have no idea how to Respond and I would get overwhelmed and make drastic decisions that weren’t fun for either of us. Since 2008, I’ve been gaming online with a group, and I’ve gotten over that and realized that it was more a lack of confidence on my part than anything else, but now you’ve added a whole new dimension to my thinking of that time in my life. It makes so much more sense now. It’s true. In a group, you have a chance to take stock of things while the other players are discussing the situation and what-not. I’m still a big proponent for one on one games. I’ve learned a lot since those stressful experiences as a kid. I’ve never tried running D&D that way… but I’ve never tried running D&D at all. My friend and I did play D&D once or twice one on one, with him running it, back in the day when “old-school” wasn’t. I must say, we had a blast. In order to finish the module, though, my character wound up being down to half a hit point. Yes, we knew we were stretching Things… But we were having so much fun, we didn’t care. And that kind of fun’s the whole point!
Please excuse any type of graphical errors. I’ve been dictating, and I was editing, but I finally decided it was more important to send this comment and move on with my day then spend too much time editing. So I hope if there are any mistakes, the ideas shine through anyway.
Great timing. I literally started planning a Duet Adventure yesterday.
I recently started a homebrew campaign as my first ever long term campaign, (ran a few 3-5 shots before) and ran a "prologue session" with each individual player. CANNOT RECCOMMEND THIS ENOUGH!! It was a lot of their first times playing, so it gave them a chance to be introduced to the basic rules of D&D, combat and RP. It gave me as the DM the insight into what their character is like, what abilities they have, and what their goals are. One thing in common with all of them, was that none of them came prepared with a voice they wanted their character to have. This was a great opportunity. Each session we played through a significant moment in the character's backstory, that occurred, and left off with the character heading towards the tavern that session 1 started in. Each character had a really good idea of what they were doing before they entered session one, because they actually played it out.
Tips for running your own:
-Have both a significant RP encounter and a combat encounter
-Ask thought provoking questions. Ex. "How is [PC] feeling in this moment?" "What is [PC] thinking about right now?"
The more you can flesh out the character in RP in the prologue sessions, the better session 1 is! Skips the awkward tavern start where everyone isn't quite comfortable with their characters yet, so not much RP happens. My players jumped right into RP for the first hour, with myself not having to do much at all!
Happy DM'ing!
8:45
that's actually exactly what i did the first time me and my friends played. i have a bad anxiety and it was my first time playing with them, so i suggested that we could do their background stories first individually, just so they could become more familiar with the concept of dnd (they were new), roleplay and their own character
and then, eventually, in their background story they reached a certain city where all of them met up, continuing their journey! :)
I love the idea of doing a "backstory duet" with each player before the campaign proper. I recently read up on Exalted (haven't gotten to play it yet, though), and apparently it's already something people do there, running specifically through the parts of the backstory that lead up to the point where the character Exalts in the first place.
playing 1 on 1 with each of your players, and roleplaying a point in their backstory was what I did before I started my big campaign that is still going on today. It really helped my players get into their characters head and helped when we actually decided to play all together.
Your last point of a solo session with a player is something I've been doing for a while. I called it session zero. It allows the player to practice their character and briefly edit something they don't feel it works. The idea behind it was to give them immediate understanding of local geography of the area and a beginning to an independent quest. For some characters I've even given them oppotunity to gain additional basic items. Rolling with it, it's been a massive success and my players seem to love it. Glad to know I'm not the only one implementing this concept
I DM’d my first session with my immediate family around Christmas time, it was a fun first experience for my sisters and parents! Though I am guilty of having my brain shut down a dozen times during the handful of hours, since most of them haven’t done any sort of RPGs before (as far as I know). But despite that, they said they’d like to do it again sometime. Seeing this video made me wonder if I should try a duet style with everyone at separate occasions. I don’t know if my brain is up to the challenge, but that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna try my hardest!
Ginny, we love all of your DM tips videos and it would be a bliss if one day you showed us how you prep - I don't mind heavy detail. Taking a specific session as an example and showing how you use these papers would be awesome! ❤
the algorythm blessed me with this video right as my SO took an interest in my D&D hobby and i had bought the essential set for us to play together. i am actually excited because it feels like a simple, non scheduling drama way to play since we see each other all the time anyways
practicing with the players in your campaign before it starts and using significant parts of their backstory is a fantastic idea. I'm absolutely doing this at the start of my next campaign. Love it.
Hell yeah, duet d&d sounds cute.
I tend to call it origin sessions where the player goes through events that are from their backstory, so when they gather with others they can share it as we players would when telling others about their last session. It's great for immersion and helping a player find their characters "voice" and values.
Literally my only game of D&D so far was DMing a duet, so it's great to know that the feeling of not having time to think straight is less in a group game.
It actually was basically a prequel to the group campaign, I'm now seriously considering doing it for all my players!
my group has had a couple solo sessions and its usually like a way to 1. have just a fun side mission where your character can shine and 2. helps strengthen aspects of your characters personality. I got a solo session with my dm in about an hour and i haven't had one yet so im exited
I have actually played duet-style D&D before and I love it! Definitely takes way more prep on my end, but I think some of my favorite roleplay moments have occurred when it was just me and one player at the table. It'a really refreshing when two people can set the tone and the pace of a session all by themselves.
I'd love to see Josh take a crack at it, if he was willing to for content of course!
My wife and I have played a bit of duet DND and also have started a little bit of duet Cairn (the more narrative focus of the latter allows us to sidestep some of the issues with action economy in DND).
With the increased pressure, it cuts both ways - the player is also making ALL the party decisions and doesn’t get a chance to sit back. Our duet games are usually more like 1.5 hours because it’s so much more taxing on both player and DM and the game moves a lot faster.
When the player is stuck and is having brain fade, it can be a good idea to lean on skill checks to move the narrative forward (ensuring that a pass gives them the information they need, and even a fail will have the story “fail forward”) and cut the player some slack. Also, if there is a sidekick NPC, allowing them skill checks to know important narrative info so the player isn’t the only one doing all the lifting
I was just running a PF2 game with my SO. Hearing that you also had full "hang on brain needs to catch up" moments made me feel a whole lot better about the need I felt for breaks (it was my first experience GMing)
I reconize me so much in this video ! I DM for my two sisters and it's pretty much the same thing than having just one player. We're all newbies and it's really demanding but it's really fun ! it's just hard to balance the game for them ahah
I’m so glad you took time off and it’s great to have you back!
Another great thing about D&D duets, and this is especially interesting when playing with, like it was said in the video, close friends, family or your significant other, is the fact that, humanly, can you name another activity you do with someone else and for 4 hours straight, YOU are their exclusive point of focus, and THEY are your exclusive point of focus? I do feel like this is really a great opportunity for some shared quality time over a common passion.
Also, the fact that you have only one player means EVERYTHING that happens at the table relates to their character, everything is interesting, and you can take more time describing stuff that you feel will interest your player. I mean, if you spend 30% of the time doing descriptions or giving away information about the world (like through knowledge skills) with a group of 6 players, each player gets about 11% of your time one average to answer his questions or resolve his actions. In a duet, you spend 50% of the time doing the same and your only player still gets more time to resolve its actions etc... It is also easier to develop characters relationships with NPCs they like (AND NPCs they hate by the way!). As a heavy homebrew DM, you can also use duets sessions to test new rules, mechanics, feats, spells etc... And their balance. The merits are legions.
In my experience, one of the most important flaw is that players that are used to being part of an active group might struggle with the fact that they are now the sole responsible person for the decisions, and it can with some players actually slow them down in decision making, because when you are part of a group of 6 and your group makes a mistake, you can dilute some of the responsability of the mistake, but not when you are the sole player, and it can sometimes paralyse the player, even more so if the player is usually undecisive as a general rule in his life. Even with "sidekicks" the game can sometimes feel lonely to some people, because brainstorming with people over what we should do next is something that some players actually love.
In the end, this is just another tool in a DMs toolkit!
This can be a great way for new DM's, introducing a new player, trying a new game, or making the best of it when all but 1 person in a game drops off per various life events.
Once, when scheduling got in the way of an ongoing campaign, I separated all the party members and then did individual duet sessions with each player, in which their ultimate objective was to find and reunite the party - it was great, and the players had a fun time recounting all of their individual adventures in character together afterward.
I also had a DM who once had us play out individual adventures from each character's backstory. We each took turns playing our character, but the other players piloted NPCs or enemy combatants in the session. It was so much fun, and definitely something I want to run for my own players in the future.
And welcome back, mermaid hair! You've been missed!
We played a lot …A LOT of D&D like this on the playground and the school bus back in the 80’s. It’s good to see one on one play come full circle.
It's so funny this was posted when it was. I just started implementing duet dnd with my online group for them to go on shopping sessions, talk 1-on-1 with NPCs they care about, and play out the origins of their backup characters without requiring the entire party being present for the session only to wait an hour or more to actually play, themselves. So far it's been a very positive experience! I'm limiting it to about an hour or two for such sessions because I run them on the days we dont have our weekly game scheduled for, and play them as casually and off-the-cuff as sitting down to play some video games with my friends after a long day of work
I never thought of one on one sessions as duets, but they've always been as side quest to a main game... but for restarting my main game that has been on hiatus since COVID started, I was already planning on running one shots with both old and new characters, so I guess I'm ahead of the curve! 😂
I absolutely love doing solo sessions, as a player or a DM. There is just something about the amount of focus you can give someone and their character.
We use them as intro sessions as mentioned, but also when somebody missed some sessions or went on a sidequest or whatever.
I love that idea of running a duet with each person before going into the multiplayer campaign. Absolutely wonderful way to lead up to it for both you and the players.
I love running solo campaigns for my husband and my bestie. They are exhausting but so much more flexible. And you can tailor it SO much to what that player loves and enjoys most without worrying about other players' experiences suffering or balancing "screentime"
Thank you so much for this, Ginny Di! My husband and I have played duet D&D for many years, and we really love this mode! During the COVID lockdown we played the Dungeons of the Mad Mage (5e version). We took turns being the DM - he ran the odd-numbered levels and I ran the even-numbered ones. We each played the other person's PC as a sidekick when it was our turn to be playing. It's one of the funnest things we've ever done together. He played a ranger (Gloomstalker) and I played a bard (College of Lore). We slowed down for the last few levels, spreading them out over time so we could adequately prepare. We have two more levels left to play now, and it's extremely scary-good! Keeping secrets from each other about the levels we were running was the hardest part.
You nailed it! I have been DMing solo d&d sessions for 37 years and do these 90% of the time. They are a lot of work, but I believe they can also be the most rewarding. They also are better suited to using the "rule of cool" as there are no other players to get upset or overshadowed and that leads to some awesome moments! Have fun with this new style, it's addicting!
Some of the best role playing sessions I have ever been involved with were one on one. You can even do player/player sessions for those long camp conversations and turn in notes to the DM afterwards (with DM approval of course). It gives players an opportunity to role play long scenes that may exclude or bore the rest of the table.
Ginny I love this idea! For me going off the concept you had mentioned of running a duet with each player before a new game starts, I ran something I called 0.5 sessions.
These were sessions where I grabbed 1-3 of my players for a short game before actual session 1 as a way for players to figure out, voice, play style, role, personality while interacting with other players and NPCs, and so much more! On top of it all, my players understood how their character got from their backstory to the rest of the party then, whether they start in a tavern, on a battle field, or anywhere else.
YES more stuff from GinnyDi! I've actually been wondering about this for quite a while thanks for making a video about it!
I have been doing duet dnd sessions with players, going thru backstory moments on the weeks multiple people can't show up for whatever reason. It really helps flesh out their character as well as rewarding them for showing up
I love the set up of the confessional angle - and the immediate tear down of the fourth wall.
I absolutely love the idea of using duet D&D session with each individual player. That sounds like an incredible idea before a session 0 with the whole group!
wanted to say a 1on 1 D&D campaign that i played for years is still the best gaming I've ever done in over 40 years of gaming.
Also, your blue hair is WOW INTENSE awesome !!!! thanks for the video.
I love the idea of using this as pre-campaign for players. helps the player get used to their character and helps the dm learn about the player's character as well.
I've been running one on one RPG for years. it's.. honestly the best experience possible for this stuff. the level of depth with the character you can do it out of this world.
I've played one on one D&D with my wife and friend in another country (on VTT).
Side kicks are key, but I love how much I (as the DM) can really focus on making the adventure something the other player is looking for.
I would totally recommend it
My friend is developing a brand new RPG system and while testing he started with a “duet” session with each player before we played our first game together and it was very helpful to set up ways to connect all our characters so the “team up” didn’t feel forced. He got to take events from each duet and set them up for the next player so they involved a location or NPC or whatever from someone else’s.
Can confirm, the one-on-one games before a group game are really fun. I had a DM do that for us and it was really helpful for figuring out how my Tabaxi Storm Sorcerer circus performer [more Cirque du Solei than traditional circus with animals] interacted with important people in his backstory. His mother was retiring from the road and it was his first performance alone. He gave a beautiful tribute to wish her well using magic. It was really emotional.
One of my most rewarding roleplaying experiences was a one on one star wars campaign using the savage worlds framework. We frequently switched the DMing role. And we generally have a fairly collaborative playstyle anyway.
Considering we were both playing a jedi knight and her padawan, making it a duet felt like a natural choice. It generally fostered a very close relationship between the two and enabled us to do plots that would have been hard to include other characters with more diverse classes in.
We both levelled our chraracters up as usual, using our own as a quasi-npc while DMing. Playing it as a one on one just requires holding back your character with the problem solving a little while you're Dming. But on the other hand, they become the natural vessel for hints when your player gets stuck on something.
8:37 - this is exactly what I’ve been doing to prepare my players for our new campaign and integrate their characters into my homebrew world, and I wish this video had been available to me before I started. It’s been going great so far, but you’re right - duet D&D is a lot of pressure!
Loved the video. I learned to DM during covid with my partner seeing as we couldnt hang out with friends. We tried Dragon of Icepire Peak, and she made a Warlock, searching for a way to bring back his mother who gave her life giving birth to him, and looking in Phandalin to learn more about magic and his own powers (he wasnt aware of his pact, nor that it was cause of his mother). It was an intense, emotional but beautifull experience. He had a small heart, and at first didn't like his npc partner 'a girl', but tailoring it towards the characters' insecurity and also a simmilair motivation of growing with magic, they quickly bonded and even fell in love. Every session felt as an episode of a beautifull drama serie with a laugh and a tear, and because it was 1 on 1, the character bonding was much much more intense. We didn't conclude the campaign, got stuck somewhere and i felt the pressure/insecurity of overperforming.
I did this before! It was really fun, certainly more demanding because if you need a second the players can’t just chat amongst themselves but I also found there was so much less distraction and so much more focus on the game, which I really liked. Also I love Ginny’s idea of doing a one on one game with each player when starting a new campaign, I bet it can really make each person’s characters feel more real and connected to the world for both the dm and the player. 😊
This is really interesting and the whole "3 sessions of material for 3 hours of play" thing sent me on a kind of theorizing tangent. The idea of the "Thread Pull Trigger", and what it means for play. A thread pull trigger is some detail that sparks a player to interrogate or investigate this detail, pulling the thread. And not just your basic follow up questions or clarifications, but REALLY pull on that thread. The meme version would be the random NPC you just made up on the spot as just an "extra" to fill out a scene who immediately becomes the sole fascination of some or all the players.
But part of the phenomenon is that even if others jump in, it's usually one or two players that get the ball rolling. And these moments are great! This is not a bad thing! Some of the best RPG stories are based on them. But they are TIME important. And as you add more players, the odds that ONE of them will hit a thread pull trigger gets higher and higher, while with a duet game it's only ever one player. In my younger days, my game group would often have 7+ players in the game and we'd routinely make it to 3 scenes MAX with an 8 hour play session. And with a duet I could easily see not having one of these 20 minute diversions/tangents for multiple scenes and just have to hit your beats and move on to the next scene.
Oh, and the reason these are different than just RP moments is that they tend to be more like "footnote" material than "narrative" material. It's not the "searching the murder scene for clues" or "interrogating the bandit leader" type stuff, planned moments of the story. It's taking a wiki-walk IN GAME. And these specific kinds of diversions are great for GMs because they tend to be lower importance. Either it's pre-made world building that you can infodump or it's entirely inconsequential so you can just MAKE SHIT UP. Doing the narrative scenes means you are deploying and concealing specific, game central data. With these, you either have the answer or the answer doesn't ultimately matter.
My favorite personal example of one of these was: Party is infiltrating the mansion of a SUPER evil douche (Bond villain type guy) under the pretense of a journalist and entourage. They know EVERYONE here is party to some nasty, malicious cabal under the Bond Villains command. But then I introduced the living plant druid, who was supposed to be more of the "amoral, not immoral" eco-terrorist type and one player was just INSTANTLY focused on them and needed their ENTIRE backstory. Of which I had written basically zilch.
But they kept talking to them and wanting details, but it wasn't really PLOT relevant so I just winged it and by the end I had given them the most bizarre and hysterical backstory. Their "Super Villain Origin Story" moment was when, entirely by random chance, they meditated SO HARD they accidentally made contact with the SENTIENCE OF THE SUN. And so on top of accidentally mind melding with an eldritch entity partially cooking their brain, they also got to view Eberron FROM their perspective and with their understanding. And from the Sun's point of view, the excesses of civilization is like your dog having a bad case of fleas. You beautiful, sweet little friend suddenly has these hordes of tiny jackasses making a mess of everything and slowly hurting your little boy. And so ever since that moment, this druid has had this zealous hatred for cities and empires and the thoughtless cruelty of the ruling class. Which is why he aligned with the Bond villain: he didn't actually agree with the villain or think they were any BETTER than the other pretentious jerks, but the Bond villain was willing to fund/supply the druid's crusade against the most grotesque exploiters of nature that didn't happen to be under Bond villain's protection.
And this was ALL just made up on the spot. They were supposed to be a piece of color background and a player on the board to make going out into the woods dicey.
I just ran 5 of these duet sessions for my group of 5 players and we all had a blast! I had them play through 2 months of their downtime after having completed their first major arc in the campaign.
When I jumped in to an ongoing campaign this year, we actually had a 1 on 1 session with the DM on accident beforehand (wasn't planned, other things just happened). Having that session to intro my character into the dungeon the others were just entering was SO COOL and made the initial introduction RP so much more fluent, since I knew EXACTLY why I'm there and what state of mind my character was in after having just barely escaped an encounter alive.
It was amazing, totally recommend doing that with your players!
I LOVE the idea of doing a solo adventure with each player before the actual start of a campaign.
Totally stealing that!
I've never done duet D&D before and I really appreciate your tips on how to prepare for it. Now a tip for you on something that I have done in my games before is this: When I've needed to look up something in my notes or review materials before a big scene I have several "Useful Tips for Players" that I have taped to clothes pin that I clip to my DM screen and use them like a loading screen on a game. The first time that I used this the players thought it was hilarious, but they've actually started appreciating some of the tips that I've shared with this.
I ran a single player game years ago for one of my friends who was keen to join our group, basiclly we developed thier backstory and helped them get an overview of the rules, I was a lot of fun and I'd encourage others to give it a go when introducing new players to an existing group so they know what's going with the world/region on as soon as they join. Anyway, great video, I really enjoyed it and hope you do more stuff like this.
I’ve done a few 1-on-1 D&D sessions for players when their characters get split up from the party, or for supplemental lore material. It’s always very fun and any “awkwardness” usually disappears pretty quickly.
I personally found that having a duet session with every player before session 1 has been incredibly helpful; especially if you're trying out a new system and you're not yet familiar with the mechanics.
The players get to do a test run of their character and you as a Dm get to have a pretty good idea of who your party's member are and what they can do before the game even start
I've done this exact thing for friends of mine. In one campaign, I even did one on one dnd, roleplaying significant moments in their backstories. It definitely can be fun and I enjoy dming for friends with this all the time
Yeah, I ran a duet game a few years ago and I totally agree. I burned through material so fast and I constantly had to pause and think about things that I didn't need to do DMing a normal game. Great advice and good insights!
I have exclusively played 1 to 1 for so e years now.
Really like it. Definitely allows deeper roleplay as you just follow the one PC and their story at their pace.