I’ve been a Dungeon Master for the better part of seven years now. During that time, I’ve seen a campaign through from start to finish, maintained a vibrant world, and have kept players coming back for more. My secret? Most of that time, I was running one-person campaigns.
I love running one-on-one sessions of Dungeons and Dragons. I’ve run one-shots, short arcs, and campaigns that have stretched years with just one person across the table from me. I recently ran a one-shot as a Christmas present for one of my best friends. I’m planning another one-shot as a present for a special birthday for another friend.
There are a lot of benefits to one-on-one D&D. If you’re just starting and don’t have many people lined up to play, or a veteran looking to run for a smaller table, you might be overwhelmed. There are unique benefits and challenges to running for smaller D&D parties, but I think you’ll find it incredibly rewarding.
Focus on Me
Running for a D&D party is a lot of work! Sitting down at a table with three to five players and managing all of their needs and wants can be challenging. Every player wants something different and wants to see their character’s story come to a satisfying conclusion. Running one-on-one D&D allows you to focus all of your attention on just one person.
When I first started running D&D, I was making sessions for my two closest friends. Those early days showed me how wonderful it was to be able to focus my efforts on just the two people. I had more time to spend creating things just for them. I also had the time, both out of session and in session, to make those experiences as wonderful as possible.
One-on-one D&D gives you the freedom to focus all of your creative energy on one person. This is an amazing gift. If you are an over-prepper (like me), you’ll get to spend all of that effort on just one person, giving you tons of material for sessions. However, if you prefer to minimize your prep time, running for one person eliminates a ton of work.
Consider The Details
My recent Christmas one-shot is a great example. When designing encounters, I was able to craft an experience that I knew would speak to my player and her character in particular. Her character has a deep connection with wolves and nature, so I devised a competitive hunt and ensured she could find plenty of wolves.
While building the session I also took into considerations like building each potential encounter with a way to succeed without fighting. In the past, my player and her character have struggled with senseless violence against animals, so this felt very necessary to ensure she had a good time.
I did this by taking inspiration from creature’s entries in the monster manual and carefully selecting which monsters were ripe for opportunities. For example, I took the idea of bowing to griffins (from Harry Potter) as a way to peacefully end an encounter with a griffin.
One memorable encounter involved convincing a creature called a Carbuncle to part with a gem on its forehead. The lore entry for the gem explained that it was a minor, but rare, magical item. However, the gem only grew from Carbuncles and would only grow back if removed with the Carbuncle’s consent. When prepping the encounter, I reasoned that harvesting Carbuncle gems without violence was more praiseworthy than the alternative as it preserves a source of the gems.
When my player rolled a nature check to learn more about the Carbuncle they discovered this information. This led to a much more interesting narrative encounter where the Carbuncle negotiated fiercely with my friend’s character and forced her to part with an important memory it had just recalled in exchange for its gem. This type of encounter might normally never happen in a normal game of D&D with multiple players.
Time to Think
One of the unsung benefits of running a game for just one person is how it will free up your time. One of the hardest aspects of playing D&D is scheduling time when you and three or more of your friends can sit down for several hours. It is much easier to schedule time with just two people. Not to mention, it’s much easier to reschedule if extenuating circumstances arise.
A big part of being a dungeon master is communicating with players about time, scheduling, and how they are feeling. When you’re focused on one person, it is much easier to put a campaign on hold or speak candidly about issues with a campaign when it’s just you, a close friend, and a game you love.
There’s one example from my own time running that I’ll never forget. During the pandemic of 2020, when many of us were trapped in our homes, like many people, I was struggling. I started to delay D&D sessions until one of my friends confronted me candidly and urged me to put the campaign on hold. He could see I wasn’t in a great place and that trying to take on the pressure of DMing was not helping. Despite putting the campaign on hold that evening, this experience brought us together and made it easier for me to run the game going forward. This is just one example of how a two-person dynamic in D&D makes it easier to compromise and reach solutions.
Get to Know You
The best part of running D&D for just one person is the time and experiences you get to share with them. Every session feels like a labor of love, a gift just for them, even when it’s not for the holidays or their birthday. I put so much into every session because I love making friends happy. Running one-on-one D&D has helped me to learn even more about my closest friends and, hopefully, become a better friend.
In these solo sessions, my friends and I have created moments together that we might never have had otherwise. I’ll never forget the first time I ran a dragon for my friend, and he convinced it to fly him into battle against giants. There have also been heartbreaking moments I’ve faced alongside my players. I’ve sent beloved characters to the grave and grieved alongside my friends. I’ve also seen my players grow and watch their characters mature alongside them. In my most recent one-shot, my player and I both celebrated as their child of the forest entered the next stage of their story by becoming a werewolf.
D&D is about creating unforgettable moments with your friends that you might otherwise never have. Running more intimate campaigns with fewer people has created so many of these moments I can scarcely count them all.
Battle Urge
While there are numerous benefits to running one-on-one D&D, there are also some unique challenges. Combat can be difficult to balance when you’re running a game for just one person. D&D was designed with the expectation that several players are involved in combat at one time. This means fights are a lot harder with one player, and there is a limit to what individual players can handle.
Balancing combat encounters can be tricky with just one player. As a Dungeon Master, I want to use fun monsters and design cool stat blocks, but I must also manage what my player can handle. I haven’t always gotten the balance right, and I’ve made mistakes. That’s fine! You’re going to make mistakes. What matters is how you handle them at the table.
The good news is that while balancing combat can be hard, running for just one person means you’ll have the time to find the right balance. Every player is different and will design a different character that excels in different types of fights. You’ll have to tweak the experience so that it’s perfect just for them. After all, that is the main strength of running just for one person.
Grab a Friend. Have the Time of your Life.
There are a lot of things that can make it hard to get started in D&D. The size of your playgroup shouldn’t be one of them. Even if there are just two or three of you who want to play D&D, you can make it work. Even if you have to bend the rules or make new ones, you’ll be able to figure it out together.
When playing with small groups in D&D the best way to ensure you have fun is by being open and honest with each other. As a DM, if you’re willing to compromise and explain and bend to meet the other persons needs, you’ll ensure your game excels.
Your next adventure is waiting for you! So, grab a friend and your imagination, and have that next great journey together. I hope you have fun! I know I sure have.
