A friend and I are thinking about starting PnP. We're both adepts when it comes to rules (and arguing about them...), we know what stuff we need to get to start playing, etc...
But one question has been trying to get my attention, sacrificing ideas at the altar of My Mind, and that is (as the title so alliterally points out), can you have a functional campaign with only 2 people, both of whom want to play a character? More to the point, just how huge is the temptation to exploit the information a Dungeon Master is privvy to as a player?
A simple soloution to this is to take 1 level lower for their current level and that should be the adventure level.
If you have 2 5th level characters, they would be suited for a 4th level adventure.
EDIT: man I should really read things through sometimes.
Listen up maggots, Mr. Popo's 'bout to teach you the pecking order.
It goes you, the dirt, the worms inside of the dirt, Popo's stool, Kami, then Popo.
~Mr. Popo, Dragonball Z Abridged
Back in 2nd edition AD&D era, when game was published by TSR, there was something called One-on-One Adventure Series [there was one for each basic class, eg. Fighter, Cleric, Wizard and Thief] which were ment to be played with only 1 PC and DM. So you may try to find them in some antiques book store or on the net.
You can totally, and completely customize an adventure so that it is 1 DM and 1 player. In fact, it makes the game go along somewhat more smoothly in things. There is no infighting among players, disagreements, etc. The problem is, the player needs a self-sufficient character, and the DM needs to make sure he/she makes the game of an appropriate difficulty level for 1 player.
Switching back and forth who is DM and who is the player is a bad idea I think. It will take the challenge out of the game if you know what is coming your way as a player. No, I'd say do mini-adventures and switch back and forth each time you finish them. Possibly two campaigns, and you section it so you switch between the two after 3 or 4 levels worth of adventuring. This way, you each DM one of the campaigns, and you can play for a few weeks in a row, and then switch between the two.
"You can do whatever you want to me." "Oh, so I can crate you and hide you in the warehouse at the end of Raiders?" "So funny, kiss me funny boy!" / *Sprays mace* " I know, I know, bad for the ozone"
I've done campaigns w/one player and one DM. It is tricky, but it can work. You basically have to have the DM play the second character as an NPC, and the other player had better be good. It is a good spot to try using a beefier character build, like a gestalt character or a character w/more XP.
i have played in one on one games and dm them its cool if you are both comfortable with each other and you are both good at getting into charector also i found you have to be careful because without a group you have no backup in tricky situations, but i have to say you can get alot of gaming into one session , go for it
i second that rob-hin. its a great way to learn the game properly
and its faaar from impossible to play 2 ppl. i've done it a lot of times. you cant do those killer combos with other players, but it's fun anyway
I once had a little teaparty, this afternoon at three, twas was very small, three guests in all; I, myself, and me. myself ate up the sandwhiches, while i drank up the tea. twas also i that ate the pie,and passed the cake to me
However, here are more interesting questions: Just how important would it be to get all the books? I have the 3.0 Monster Manual, is that enough? How much is different in 3.5 concerning monsters? Is there anywhere on the internet where you can find some of the stuff in the books? Specifically the Dungeon Masters guide, we know very little about DMing... and most comes from various webcomics
Listen up maggots, Mr. Popo's 'bout to teach you the pecking order.
It goes you, the dirt, the worms inside of the dirt, Popo's stool, Kami, then Popo.
~Mr. Popo, Dragonball Z Abridged
You can use official SRD from Wizards of the Coast site which you may find [url="http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/srd35"]here[/url].
But I would still advise you to get following books [either 3E or 3.5, but make sure that all the book use same rules]:
Player's Handbook
Dungeon Master's Guide
Monster Manual
[QUOTE=Rob-hin]Just 2 people?
I can't imagine that working out. You at least need 2 players + 1 DM, and even that it's a small group, doable and fun but small.[/QUOTE]
This may be too late as a suggestion for you and the other gamer, but hopefully not. A good friend and I started 1 & 1, and switched as DM at the end of an adventure. This was to keep from spoiling the plot and being "all knowing" during that adventure. Also our characters (we each played 2 to have a fairly well rounded party) were from different regions of the world. That way each of us could develop those areas and any background story lines as needed without stepping on what the other DM was doing. We got to be pretty good at creating "hooks" to draw the party back from one area to the other.
