12 thoughts on “Someone played DW as one on one?”

  2. Not really fond of the idea, you’re missing the whole “relationship” set of interactions.

    There are other “1+1 players” fantasy game, out there, that are built for that. 🙂

  6. It works really well, and way better than D&D/Pathfinder/etc. I’m saying this because those traditional games can be extremely deadly for 1 on 1 campaigns, thus requiring some extra work around challenge ratings and stuff like that by the GM (and those RPGs generally need some “heavy” prep already).

    When it comes to bonds, the PC can share some of them with NPCs: a thief would share a bond with his/her contacts on the thieves’ guild, and a paladin would problably be a member of a knightly order, sharing bonds with some of the other members.

    One cool thing about single character parties is that it allows to create very personal campaigns; the GM can focus all the action around this PC.

  7. If your main obstacle is finding people to play with, one thing you might try is finding a group online using a tool like Roll20 or Google Hangouts. The technology is stable enough now that you can get pretty good experiences. It’s missing some of the social flavors of an in-person group (especially a group that’s already friends in other contexts), though actually this may even make it a bit more focused on the game, since that’s the primary thing bringing you together.

    If your main goal is to play with your colleague, you can still do that together using an online tool, just using it to help find others who might play with you. The nice thing about DW is that it doesn’t require a lot of GM prep and you can usually run for shorter sessions (I find 3 hours is about right), so if you have to work through a few ‘bad fits’ as far as groups go, you’re not out too much time and effort.

    All that said, I do think one-on-one is quite doable, though more players definitely makes for richer world-building and character development. If nothing else, having more players means more ideas and perspectives are in play.

  9. I’ve done lots of one on one with DW.  I have two pieces of advice for you.  First is to make sure that the player drives everything in the story so you (the GM) don’t end up talking to yourself for long periods of time.  Second is utilize the Hireling rules for NPC’s that join the PC.  It’s is a real lifesaver for both your paperwork and for the PC feeling important.  I’ve had to stretch out the Hireling rules for that from time to time to fill in gaps that the PC just didn’t have but mostly i used as is.

  10. Sean Worcester Great advice! To that end, Jan, if you listen to Discern Realities podcast, they do a short-form 1-on-1 Actual Play for the last 5+ minutes of every show, so you can get a flavor for a GM giving the player lots of control over the story. Lots of “Cool, you do that. What does that look like, on screen?” and let the player describe the action, or interaction, or scenery.

  11. big thing I always do when I run a first game of  DW is set a scene In Media Rez. Then I ask the PC’s or PC; How did you get there?  and Why are you there?  BAM instant hook.

  12. Wow, Thank you very much. What a lovely place i found here.

    I will give the Discern Realities podcast a try, but as i am no native speaker i may fail to understand.

    I also will check the rules about Hirelings.

    A lot of great Tips. thank you.

    my main obstacle +Dan Bryant is to find time to play. I use Roll 20 for a weekly Dungeonslayers group. My Real live Group (GURPS Bane storm) comes together only 2-3 times a year which is very sad.

    Playing with my college is a try to use the Lunch break for more gaming. 🙂

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