Post/Author/DateTime	Post
dtsneak 06-10-07, 01:08 AM	I haven't played DnD for about 7 years and even then I played it only several times. I'm trying to get my roommates into it. What are some good alternatives to only having a small group, sometimes just two people?
FrozenSoul80 06-10-07, 01:10 AM	You don't always need to have 4 players to play a game. As long as there is at least one player and one DM a game is possible. You can play with limited people, lowing challenge ratings and encounters, or you can add some NPC party members. I hope this answers your question.
dtsneak 06-10-07, 01:21 AM	Well, I'm just trying to figure out a way that I can get anyone who is interested in playing to play. I'm personally not interested in being DM so I was hoping there was a way that I could get out of that responsibility as I'd be the most likely candidate. I'm just wishing there were some sort of pre-configured campaigns that would replace the DM. That way I'd be able to play along with my roommates. In reality this would never play out well though so I guess it's all wishful thinking. My brother used to play some RPGs online, which would obviously increase the number of available players. Are there any quality sites for organizing such games?
FrozenSoul80 06-10-07, 01:35 AM	Basically just ask people you know if they are interested in playing. Organising online is usually trouble, unless you wanted to play online D&D. By asking people you actually know there is more chance of them being nearby. If you don't want to DM, don't. Although, if no one else knows how to play it and you really want to play D&D it is probably best you DM. If you don't wish to DM you should train someone on how to be one. The best way is to lead by example. Just play a few small modules so they learn what to do.
Alex_P 06-10-07, 04:14 AM	dtsneak, A small RPG company offers the Mythic Game Master Emulator (http://www.mythic.wordpr.com/page14/page9/page9.html), which can plug into D&D. I haven't seen the thing first-hand, but it seems to rely on asking the players questions to determine what makes sense and then rolling dice to choose a specific event. I don't see that as a particularly fun way to play, personally, but people whose opinions I respect have commented that the Mythic GM Emulator does actually do a decent job of making it work. (These days, there are are also several good games that are designed to be GM-less from the ground up; I like them quite a bit, but the play experience tends to differ radically from D&D.) If you're interested in one-on-one play, this article (http://yudhishthirasdice.blogspot.com/2005/06/solo-games-post-first.html) is a fair starting point. The part about character competence is particularly relevant to D&D. RPOL.net is a popular way to play pen-and-paper games online. There's also a program called OpenRPG, which is essentially a chat client with a map, dice roller, and character sheets, which was quite popular a few years ago. -- Alex
bonethug0108 06-10-07, 04:28 AM	An easy way to help with dming is to buy a published adventure(I highly, HIGHLY reccomend red hand of doom, though you may not get through the whole thing) or download one for free. There are some on this website. You don't need to create a whole world as dm, just the immediate and possible immediate surroundings. Published adventures have those surroundings. Also, if you want to show someone how to run a game and let them eventually take over dming, I would reccomend going the same route as above, but stick to the shorter adventures instead. Hope this helps some.
KJW 06-10-07, 09:21 AM	Check the links in my signature on solo campaigns, especially the Guide to Solo Campaigns. That shows how to run a game with just one DM and one player. Yeah, it is long, but it is pretty useful with lots of ideas that also apply to 1-3 players games.
VrecknidjX 06-10-07, 09:49 AM	For one player and one DM, definitely see KJW's stuff--he has some excellent advice. (And, some of it will apply to one DM and two players.) For two players and one DM, consider allowing each player to play two characters but only if both players have a fairly strong background in the game and sufficient experience playing that it won't be a problem. For three players and one DM, a safe option is to occasionally have an NPC ally join the group for an adventure here or there. Try to avoid having the same guy all the time. A nice option is for the party to, for instance, hire a rogue if they need someone with a rogue's skills, hire a fighter if they need some extra muscle, hire a wizard if they need some good advice and spell support, hire a cleric if they need healing, etc. This last option can work fine for two players and one DM as well, but I'd still limit it to one person hired by the two characters, and then I'd just scale back some of the encounters a little. Dave