Posts by Jonathan Ball and Beth Ball

Our last post extolled the many benefits of playing with one player and one GM (also known as a “duet”) that make this option hyper-attractive and contribute to the growing numbers of dungeon-delvers. Some of these boons include the ease of finding time to play, the freedom to pursue your gameplay preferences, and the great […]

This post covers several of the conceptual adjustments that GMs can make in order to adapt 5E rules and table dynamics to parties of two. We discuss the foundation for these shifts first—cooperation at the table between the player and the GM. Then we dive into some of the most difficult situations to navigate—PC death

Effectively running combat for one-on-one 5E is a major area of concern for many GMs. After all, the monster challenge ratings, player options, and adventure and encounter design guidelines all assume parties of at least four adventurers. When you play one-on-one, those assumptions don’t necessarily work. So how can GMs build encounters that are challenging

In our last post, we talked about how one-on-one play works best when the PC is flexible in both melee and ranged combat. Today we are going to round out the party by talking about how you can provide the PC with a worthy and supportive adventuring companion. In this post, you’ll find three primary