My 2-Player D&D Campaign

In short: I run a 2-player D&D campaign and find it incredibly fun and rewarding and have noticed much more player buy-in.

Over the last few weeks I have been running a 2-player Dungeons & Dragons campaign using Old School Essentials (OSE) as the rule set.

I wasn’t sure if so few players would have an impact on the campaign – I mean, most D&D campaigns have 4-6 players.

But it’s been a blast!

Almost immediately, the players were invested in their characters and the campaign world, and having just two players has become a benefit, rather than a drawback.

In this article I would like to go over how I set up this campaign and what I love about GMing to a small number of players and what the advantages – to the GM and the players – are.

“This all leads to each session being packed full of combat, exploration, and roleplaying – the three pillars of playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Campaign World

This campaign – like all my D&D campaigns – is set in the world of Aythia. I have developed this campaign world over the course of 4+ years, running a combination of group and solo campaigns.

The main area I tend to play in is an area called the Freelands, which is not beholden to any one rulers, but instead has five city-states that protect an area around them, with adventurers providing protection in other areas.

Campaign Idea

The Idea of this campaign is for a bunch of adventurers to start with a rundown farm on the outskirts of a new and fast growing town called Southaven, which has been built to support a new castle built by an expelled prince from one of the southern nations, who is funding all this with gold mines in the nearby mountains.

The PCs use the farm as a homebase and the owner – an aging farmer by the name of Dumas – relies of the adventurers to help build the farm back to being profitable in exchange for a (relatively) safe place to sleep and keep their stuff.

One of the elements of this campaign is for the PCs to manage the farm as well as going on adventures.

The effort and money they invest in the farm helps it grow and develop into a sustainable farm, or one that may even be profitable.

This means, the players will need to decide whether to invest in themselves, the party, or the farm – giving them real choices.

And, I must say that the players have taken to this idea rather well. They have started thinking about the treasure they find and earn, not only as wealth, but a way to help the farm.

This also has the added benefit of a place for the PCs to spend all that gold.

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The Structure

This campaign is very much a sandbox campaign.

I supply various rumours and missions the PCs can go on, but it is totally player-driven.

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They may want to go on any number of adventures, but must decide each week (we player every Monday night) which adventure to take, and which characters to take as well.

Each player has a cadre of four characters at their disposal. I only asked for 2-3 characters each, but they got carried away.

This was intentional as I wanted the players to have a choice of who they take on various adventures.

A few session in and the players seem to have their favourite characters, but there is always a decision to be made: who shall I take? Who is best for this mission (given what I know about it).

Another real (and important) choice the player needs to make.

Random Encounter Essentials:

The Sessions

The sessions themselves last 2-3 hours, but with just two players, we get so much packed in.

Combat is quick and decisive, actions don’t take forever to resolve, and decisions are made quickly.

This all leads to each session being packed full of combat, exploration, and roleplaying – the three pillars of playing Dungeons & Dragons.

There are also various different types of adventures up for grabs: dungeon crawls, exploring ruins of an old settlement, travelling to a potential goblin lair in the nearby hills, and, as they get more into the game, political intrigue.

Advantages

There are two types of advantages I want to cover: advantages to the player, and advantages to the GM.

Player Advantages

If it is not obvious already what the advantages are, then I will will list them out:

- - Fast, decisive combat
  - Quicker decision-making
  - More time for all pillars of the game
  - Character investment
  - Happy players

This last one is something I want to touch on.

I have noticed that the players are happier. They don’t get as distracted (they have no time to), and they work together a lot easier and quicker as there is just two of them.

It’s a happy gaming table.

GM Advantages

These aren’t as numerous, but are just as important:

- - Less prep time
  - More packed into a session
  - Happiness

This has a lot to do with running the campaign as a sandbox, but I find there is way less prep time running for a game two players. I just create rumours and areas of exploration, and the players run with it.

With just two players and therefore two characters (plus any henchmen), we get a lot more done. This means I am getting more of the world in front of the players and I get to build more of the world as they interact with it.

I’m just really happy running this campaign. It’s simple and less complex, and I don’t need to struggle with inter-player politics and issues.

Final Thoughts

I wasn’t sure going into this how it would go, but to be honest, it’s been a heap of fun so far. And I am not sure I will rush back to having heaps of players again.