Duets
"What? We haven't finished the module," said Thad.
"Thad dear, I have barely survived the last few encounters - I'm just a fighter. I'm down half my hit points, these unholy wards and zombie ninjas are chewing me up," said Vicky.
"It is a tough module," said Thad.
"Yes, especially as I am the only PC! Did you adjust the module?" asked Vicky with some annoyance.
"Of course, I adjusted the module for being a duet," muttered Thad.
"Good, but I'm going back to town to hire some NPCs and stock up on more lotus potions," said Vicky.
"Come on, you really are past the worst of it. It's going to take you days and days to get back to town, recruit, and stock up," said Thad.
"Yeah, I know, which means more villagers will die from the plague, right? Great, okay, I'll try another room," said Vicky.
"You enter another chamber of the catacombs and you take 17 points of damage from the unholy wards on the room, but you have encountered the tomb of the Ninja Mummy King! He arises out of his sarcophagus and summons forth the Twelve Stone Dragon Golems from along the walls to destroy you! Initiative!" said Thad gleefully.
"Thad dear, I hate you," said Vicky with an angry glare.
One of the big challenges for duets is adjusting for a solo PC when a group of PCs is the default expectation. The situation is further complicated due to luck, which with a group of PCs is somewhat balanced out. However, with a duet an unlucky streak for the PC can mean catastrophe, while a lucky streak might not make much of a difference in a lopsided scenario. Furthermore, with a group all it takes is one PC to decide to flee to keep the party alive, but with a duet - it all falls on a single PC. The margin of error in a duet is a lot smaller than in a group campaign, and if the GM has not adjusted the game the margin of error may become infinitesimal. Hopefully, what follows will help on this front. The goal here is to not remove challenge from a duet campaign, but to make the challenge manageable for both player and GM.
Augmenting the PC
There are two ways to augment a PC for a duet campaign: make the PC more powerful and give the PC some help. Remember in a duet balance is not important so don't worry about that, instead focus on making the campaign entertaining and engaging.On the first point, making the PC more powerful, there are three approaches:
First, you make the PC more experienced. This is a useful technique, but it does take away some of the fun of advancement, which is an important part of the roleplaying experience. However, this is often the easiest fix to strengthening a PC, but if the player wants to start with an inexperienced character then this option will not work.
Second, you improve or add to the PC's abilities. Higher attributes, additional special abilities, and the like can serve two purposes: to make the PC more unique and improve the PC's survivability. A lot of GMs are skittish about going beyond the rules and giving characters extra powers and abilities, but duets are great opportunities to experiment. If you are flexible and creative it is almost impossible to have a game-breaking mechanic in a duet.
Third, you give the PC superior equipment. Believe it or not, giving the PC a prototype starfighter, an artifact, or a golem bodyguard is not as big of a deal as you would think - in fact, it can really give purpose and feel to a campaign.
On the second point, giving the PC help, there are again three approaches:
First, you give the PC NPC allies to adventure with. This is, in my opinion, a wonderful strategy as it gives the PC characters to interact with and support during combat and other challenges. There are a lot of tricks to using NPC allies, but the main rule is to keep the spotlight on the PC. NPC allies can be complicated and a future installment will deal with this in more detail.
Second, you tie the PC to an organization. This might be a military unit, a church, a wizard's guild, a corporation, whatever, but the organization is willing and able to support the PC. From information to NPCs to just having a fallback stronghold of some sort this is very useful. Additionally, if the organization brings significant status this will help the PC as well. Of course, being part of an organization also changes the nature of the campaign and it has to fit the story. Organizations bring their own set of obligations and challenges and this is something the GM and player should consider before the campaign begins to make sure it fits everyone's expectations.
Third, you give the PC a patron. This is similar to an organization, but patrons might be gods, demons, nobles, or so forth who can use their influence on behalf of the PC. A patron might also be an employer, but the key is that the patron wants the PC to help and is willing to provide assistance. Like organizations, patrons often bring a lot of luggage and this has to fit the campaign, but it is a useful tool.
It should be noted that a GM could embrace all six of the approaches given to augment or support the PC. The goal though is to find the right mix for the campaign.
Changing the Game
Besides augmenting the PC, the GM also needs to approach the game differently. This encompasses a lot of things, but the following four are good first steps to approaching duets properly.1. Avoid "Succeed or Die" situations. If you are thinking about using a situation where a single die roll will determine the fate of the PC - then don't do it, unless you have an out or are prepared for the campaign to end. You can still use situations where success or failure has a major impact on the campaign, but try to keep the fate of the PC from being decided by one die roll.
2. Use moral over mental challenges. Riddles can easily stump a player through no fault of the player. You need to avoid these sorts of challenges as they can be frustrating and demoralizing for your player. A better approach is moral challenges. Give the PC a dispute to preside over or a moral quandary to sort through and it is just as challenging, probably more interesting, and there are most likely no right or wrong answers. Though certainly some answers are better than others. Right or wrong is always a better question than red lever or blue lever.
3. Always give a warning and/or an out. Don't throw a PC into the Battle of the Alamo without warning the PC about the odds or maybe hinting at a secret tunnel from the fort. This doesn't mean you don't kill off the PC, but you only do so when the player has made a conscious decision to take the risk or to make the sacrifice. Believe it or not, players are willing to sacrifice themselves even in duets, but none of them like to be set up with a Kobayashi Maru out of the blue.
4. Aim for the player not the PC. The PC is what keeps the campaign going, but it is the player who is your emotional target. Instead of nearly killing the PC to make an emotional impact, perhaps you should kill the PC's horse or other NPC, or steal or destroy some item of emotional importance to the PC. This approach can give you greater emotional impact, a fantastic roleplaying opportunity, and keeps you from endangering the campaign by killing off the PC. Aim for emotional impact. However, do this sparingly - if you keep hitting the player where it hurts then the player will stop caring about things.
Alright, that is enough on this topic. The next column will deal with side adventures or situations where you run a duet in conjunction with a group campaign.
