Fellas do you have any recommendations for systems that can comfortably play out with 2 players and a DM?
UFOs Are A Psyop Shirt $21.68 |
Fellas do you have any recommendations for systems that can comfortably play out with 2 players and a DM?
UFOs Are A Psyop Shirt $21.68 |
Ones I've done successfully with two players and a GM, mind you we usually had two characters each:
D&D edition 3.5
TSR Marvel
One player:
Car Wars
Traveller
Cyberpunk 2020
Absolute shitshow:
Battletech. Admittedly the GM was a fuccboi.
GURPS.
GURPS.
This. Currently both playing in and running a 2 player GURPS game. (The one I’m running is a Gritty crime game, the other is a superhero game set in the universe of The Boys)
My bros said no to GURPS
Call them double Black folk and cause grevious bodily injury to them, they are nothing. They are not friends. They are federal agents and demons.
So the frick what?
Do you ask them for permission before you jack off?
If they want you to run it, they don't get any say. They can either accept your decision or they can go die somewhere quietly.
If you're a player, why are you here asking us?
GURPS is the best option for you because it doesn't force any kind of classes or levels so if you have few players they can cover all the required mechanical bases.
Definitely can't use any of the d20 family.
Anything not about murdering people usually goes ok.
GURPS morons incoming
Unironically GURPS. It's a modular system that can be used as a versatile kit to create any type of RPG experience you want. Frick you.
White Wolf's stuff tends to do better with small groups. If you don't want to play some supernatural freak, you can always play Hunter.
Never looked at white wolf stuff, might give them a try though I’ve heard mixed things about them.
Always wanted to do CoC, yeah, just could never find a pdf for it that wasn’t ridiculously cursed. Every one I had found online either had no page numbers or several letters missing in each word.
Never heard of RoS or SoS! I’ll have to give them a look. I’d love to do the 40k ones but my friends are weird about them. I think we tried one of the FFG Star Wars ones once and didn’t like the weird unique dies they needed?
I’m not sure! Honestly they’re the two smartest of my friend group so anything should work out theoretically so long as it’s not too boring/the setting itself is engaging, I think.
And that’s a good point. DH2e could be good, actually. I’ve been really wanting to do Deathwatch but no chance of that, I think.
I think it is weird anon recommended RoS bc common consensus is it is a bit gaff other than some good ideas. Instead look into Burning Wheel which took some of those ideas and ran with them. I just finished a campaign for one player and we are going to start another with 2 this weekend. Burning Wheel feels like it is designed for 1-3 PC's. Big emphasis on characters and their beliefs with an in-depth skill system that facilitates non-combat gameplay well. The base rules are pretty simple and easy to understand (other than character creation which can be a bear), but the game can get pretty complex when you start adding the OPTIONAL modules. Don't jump into the full Fight! rules at first, just stick to opposed rolls. These modules are cool though especially Circles ("I know a blacksmith in my village who could help us" and roll the dice - failure can mean you find him but he hates you for sleeping with his sister), Resources (money/wealth as stat), and the Duel of Wits (minigame for resolving important arguments or debates instead of just doing one roll).
>I think it is weird anon recommended RoS bc common consensus is it is a bit gaff other than some good ideas.
I know, which is why I listed Song of Swords, a homebrew based on RoS right afterwards.
OP, these are the kind of people you don't want to play with.
CoC works well for small groups and short games.
Many of the WoD/CoD games work with smaller groups.
Riddle of Steel/Song of Swords.
Awaken.
Many of the different 40k and Star Wars games work with a small cast, you just need to modify the scope and game type.
The only game that will just straight up not work is any version of D&D, really.
Any specific genre you want? Any focuses of gameplay - combat/social/exploration?
Dark Heresy 2e works well with small groups. I'd say two players and a GM would be almost ideal due to the nature od the game, and you can focus better than trying to wrangle 5+ morons all trying to be inquisitor.
In no particular order
>OSR stuff with each player controlling several PCs
>Scarlet Heroes with 2 players but they will be a bit powerful.
>Apocalypse World, making conflicts is a bit more direct, leans more on fronts and threats than making player conflict, ymmv
>Dogs in the Vineyard, keeps party power level down enough it remains challenging over time
>Kingdom, specifically for 3 players, hard story game though
I’ve never heard of Scarlet Heroes, Dogs, or Kingdom, anything about them you could tell me?
>Scarlet Heroes
Pulpy conan style game made for 1 player and 1 dm or solo that can still use osr modules. Has a few interesting mechanics for fighting mobs, pressing your luck, etc. That still gets across a lot of osr bits but more towards the heroic side. I've tried it with 2 players, it basically works although its not as much fun for me as just giving 2 players the whole party.
>Dogs in the Vineyard
Oldcore story game, initially for weird west mormon travelling troubelshooters, works well for most forms of episodic play with strong focus on character development. Dice pool as character traits conflict resolution is very interesting. Before story games got all fricked up.
>Kingdom
3 Player game, no dice, pretty abstract. Everyone is basically in conflict together over how and what a Kingdom does, can be ye olde kingdom or a space station or whatever. Only played once, still feeling it out not sure if I like it. Interesting though.
Oh, I remember dogs in the vineyard now! Scarlet Heroes seems interesting, Kingdom has my attention too though. Is it more of a boardgame than an RPG, or is it more of a all 3 players thing? That one’s got me curious.
Kingdom is all three players style rpg. Same guy who did Microscope, which is more of a group world building game. Kingdom doesn't initially have a map but I think it would help and be interesting for everyone to modify as they play like The Quiet Year.
You can balance encounters in any edition of D&D to be survivable for two PCs but it can become tedious.
Your post caressed me to take a look at Scarlet Heroes - what a well calculated revision to make solo play feasible in "OSR"! I am afraid that if you introduced a duo to D&D using it that they would get spoiled though. With a solo player it's easy for them to engender "these are rules for solo play, and that's different from group play" but with two players it seems like too many of the group elements would seep in and create false expectations for eventual community play.
Cyberpunk 2020 but gotta tailor the missions to the part more.
Call of Cthulhu can work with one player. And is probably your best bet honestly.