May I ask if you know of any good ttrpgs for two people, one player and the gm? I only have one person really interested in playing RPGs right now.
THEME: Duet Games Part 3
Hello friend! I know of quite a few duet ttrpgs, many of which you can find in my duet tag. Here's a few more for you to noodle at, some of which have a GM/Player dynamic, others which have asymmetric roles, and one or two that give you both a similar experience.
A Hymn For The Odd-Host, by Glyphtide Games.
On a distant habitable moon, a robot crash lands in a wild forest…
One of the forest's inhabitants, a sentient slime that feeds on electrical energy, finds its way into the robot's damaged circuitry…
This is their conversation.
An asymmetric game between a broken robot and sentient slime
A Hymn for the Odd-Host is a two-player asymmetric game that blends elements of strategy and roleplaying. One player plays as a broken robot with a terrible secret, guiding a sentient slime to repair its damaged subsystems. One player plays as the sentient slime, uncovering the truth while feeding off of this stranger's energy.
What emerges is a story of two strange entities and the relationship that grows between them.
A Hymn For The Odd-Host comes in the form of two brochures; one for the player embodying the robot, the other for the one playing a sentient slime. You'll need a deck of cards and 16 tokens to play.
This would be a great option if you just want to sit down for a couple of hours and play through a story once. I like how it gives you a chance to explore the other character, but in a set-up that gives you some distance between your character and typical human feelings. The robot doesn't have to feel remorse; and the slime might not understand betrayal. I'd be curious to see how such a set-up might change how I play.
Summer/Camp, by incaseofgrace.
A group of unwitting campers arrive at a summer getaway camp, where a terrifying threat awaits them…
SUMMER/CAMP is a duet TTRPG that seeks to emulate the thrills of classic slasher movies. One player takes on the role of a fearsome slasher, while the other plays 5 unwitting campers that must attempt to escape with their lives…
Are you looking for a story that might just kill you? Or are you looking for a campy, tongue-in-cheek thrill ride of sickeningly creative kills? The choice is yours-- make sure both of you are in agreement!
A great option for fans of 80's horror, Summer/Camp gives one player the role of the Slasher, and the other the role of the Campers. While it may feel counterintuitive, I recommend the "GM" player to take on the role of the Slasher, and the other person to take on the role of the Campers. While the second player will be embodying multiple people, the Campers have a backstory as a crew; and all of them will be trying to escape the horrors that the Slasher inflicts upon them.
Tacklebox, by Possible Worlds Games.
Step off of dry land and into Tacklebox, where reality shifts with every card!
In Tacklebox, card prompts shift the nature of reality around you. Keeping each prompt to yourself, any time you draw a card you're tasked with roleplaying its change in circumstances to your fishing partner. Prompts can either be kept a secret for the full game, strategically played to guide roleplaying, or revealed when guessed to earn points. Simply choose your rules, grab your cards, and cast your line into the unknown!
This might be a great game to play with someone who is a bit hesitant about roleplaying; it's basically a deck of cards with different prompts that you use to change the situation for the person you're playing with. From what I understand, the initial premise is that the two of you are fishing together. However, when a player draws a card, they must use the prompt on the card to help them describe how reality changes for the other fisher. The two of you might be navigating different realities together, or competing to figure out what's going on!
To get the physical version of Tacklebox, you can check out the Possible Worlds Store.
Rogue Blight, by Junk Food Games.
Rogue Blight is a ttrpg inspired by rogue-lite video games. There are parts of the game rules left blank. When you print it out, you will roll to see what is filled in. So, things like setting and conflict resolution rules will be different between campaigns.
It is meant to be for 2 players, but can be played with more.
Rogue-Blight looks to be a fairly simple fantasy game, although the amount of pieces that you fill in as a player/gm mean that you can likely tweak it to fit whatever setting you like (that is, assuming that you don't use the provided roll tables). It's a piece-together-and-play kind of game, which might be fun to tinker with if you want to figure out what kind of style of game you want to play, or if you want to tinker with different kinds of resolution styles.
Tower of Deviltry, by Ill Gotten Games.
You walk the remaining stretch after your horse falls to the Poison Moors. Weary and aching, you find renewed vigor as you clear the serpentine pines of the Sullen Forest. The Tower of Deviltry now looms before you. In the night sky above the dread constellation burns bright, a shape familiar to the curse-mark borne upon your skin. The gates creak open. Your crucible is at hand.
In Tower of Deviltry, one player will create an accursed noble entering a deadly gauntlet that will test their mettle. The other will act as GM, controlling the tower and its mystical knightly guardians.
This is a perfect game for folks who want a typical GM/Player experience, condensed onto 2 pages. One page is very text-heavy, with a an explanation on how to make a character, a list of weapons, combat rules and advancement mechanics. The second page is a grid that you can use for the tower map, as well as a character sheet for the player to fill out. The genre feels like a standard fantasy game, with dungeon levels and a curse to haunt you should you fail to ascend to the top.
Farm Flesh, by Rhodocros,
The land provides. You just need to work for it.
There is blood in the soil. It wishes to feel alive again.
Farm Flesh is a two-player storytelling game about a farmer and the ever-growing mass of flesh that is overtaking their land. Take turns moving around a narrative rondel as you progress through a year of blood, sweat, and tears, weaving together a story of struggle and growth along the way.
Both players in this game are using a similar tool to attempt to progress; a pair of rondels with actions on each slice, which can be navigated by using Haste points as you progress through four seasons. The page with the rondels is very smartly set up, so that you can have the players sit across from each-other at a table and both be able to see the rules that are relevant to them.
For a more typical GM/Player experience, I'd recommend having the "GM" player act as the mass of flesh, and the player act as the farmer. It might also be fun to play the game a second time and switching roles!
Hands Up!, by Luna Rose Manor.
Hands Up is a diceless, two-page crime rpg for two players. One of you is a Robber, stealing a Gem. The other is a Director, helping tell their story. Together, you'll go on a chase neither of you will forget in a hurry.
This is another game where the roles for each participant are fairly clear; one of you is the Director, which feels very much like a typical GM role, and the Robber, who is attempting to win the game by getting away with the diamond they've just stolen.
You play by using rock-paper-scissors, tracking the Robber's Health and Heat as they play. Health is fairly standard; it's an abstract representation of how many hits you can take before you're down and out for good. Heat increases as the Robber engages in bigger and bigger risks, but decreases if they manage to complete a part of the plan without any problems. If the heat gets too big, then your obstacles may become too big to escape, and the Robber is handcuffed and taken away.
Anyways...
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