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A few weeks ago I started DMing for my wife, who also plays an Essentials Hunter. We started at level 1 and are now nearly level 8. Here are a few things I've picked up along the way. Recognize the shortcomings of a Hunter The essentials Hunter, unlike the typical Ranger, doesn't have the possibility of having a beast companion. As such, you will find ...

Your comment on another answer implied you wanted to hear more about play style, pacing, and social dynamics, so I'll take a (long, it turns out) stab at that. Spend a lot of time with the both of you discussing what the character wants to accomplish. Continually checking in and talking about the character's (and player's) objectives during the game will ...

I find the physical situation of roleplaying and looking straight at each other's faces is often be too intimate when playing 1 on 1, so I like to have a shared map or other visual reference that's between us, or that we're at 90 degree angles from one another both facing the map. Both the player and GM should have things they want out of the game. They ...

My advice is twofold. 1. Talk with the player Lets face it, most problems end here. If you haven't talked to him about the problem, do it the next time you see him. Ask what he wants in a role-playing game, and tell him what you want. Then compromise until you are both satisfied. 2. Use a system that does not require a GM This is a slightly different ...

I think, in a case like that, it makes sense to a certain extent to tailor the story to that player's character. Think about the kind of character they built, and let their decision and their abilities drive the adventure. This is more than just a question of game mechanics. If they play a ranger, the events of the game can center around what's happening ...

The Fighting Fantasy books are, as you've already discovered, particularly bad choices if you don't want a lot of fighting. I would start not with any published setting--especially since high fantasy and slaying goblins and dragons seem to go hand-in-hand--or even with the idea of a role-playing game at all, but rather collaborative storytelling. Take some ...

Mars Colony is an excellent 2-player roleplaying game that was just released. You each take the roles of the Savior of Mars who's being politically "air-dropped" from Earth into the Mars Colony to help solve its problems, and the role of the story-guide who introduces those problems, complicates them, and roleplays the locals the Savior interacts with. It's ...

I've done a lot of one-on-one GMing. I lived with a family in 8th grade, and I had a 3-4 daya week one-on-one that went on for a year, as well as a few others early on, a few in college, and then 2 relationships and finally my wife. System is the first question for a lot of reasons. The first is you have to find out what kind of game the player wants. ...

It's not geared specifically towards two players, but The Big List of RPG Plots is my first stop in similar situations. Any Old Port in the Storm, Don't Eat the Purple Ones, Recent Ruins, and Stalag 23 would all be fairly easy to set up, and well-suited for a single player to handle.

I find one of the best genres for one on one RPGs is the superhero genre. Think about it, guys like Spiderman, Daredevil, Batman, Superman, Captain America, etc are always fighting the baddies on their own, so it's not a stretch to set up one player with a main superhero (and maybe a sidekick) and go on an investigation. Villains & Vigilantes (old ...

Tailor the game to the two of you. You have opportunities that are not possible with a larger group. My primary experience with 1:1 gaming is with my spouse of 15 years. We played RPGs intensely the whole time. The game was heavily tailored to exactly what each of us wanted to get from the experience. So all manner of interesting stories and changes were ...

Burning Wheel does a great job of supporting one-on-one games. There's a section in the Adventure Burner entirely dedicated to discussing such games. The main thing for these kinds of games is that there will be no inter-player conflict or shared party game mechanics. Any game that doesn't require those things should work one-on-one even if the game ...

Pathfinder addressed the issue of Monk's BAB in an elegant fashion (IMO). Monks keep their medium progression BAB (3/4 level) but, when she uses Flurry of Blows, she applies her entire class level as BAB albeit a penalty for using the equivalent of Two-Weapon Fighting. So, at 1st level, she has BAB pf +0. But if she takes a full-round action to flurry, she ...

Superhero games are GREAT for one on one gaming. Think about it: Batman, Wolverine, Spiderman, Daredevil, Hulk, Superman, the list goes on, solo superheroes are always going on adventures by themselves. Work up a mini-campaign to be finished in one night, with the other guy playing the lone wolf superhero trying to finish the goal. It doesn't have to be all ...

Here's a second answer… At the bottom of Ron Edward's "about" page for his two-player game S/Lay w/Me, he lists other games that are either two-player or that he thinks are best for two: Breaking the Ice, Shooting the Moon, Sweet Agatha, Tales of the Fisherman’s Wife (best with two, I think), Mars Colony, Showdown, Ghost Dog, Clover (potentially), Thy ...

Solo Itself I don't think there are any house rules required to play Pathfinder one-on-one. There are solo adventures for Pathfinder from Expeditious Retreat Press and have been for other D&D versions over time as well. All that's required is DMing. Since there's one PC, they will need difficulties tuned to them and some kind of safety net in case of ...

One on one play is a great time to develop a characters backstory; You need common ground between you and your player (otherwise, why are you gaming together?!) the characters background should be a ripe source of information you can plunder for this as well as motivations for what they want to do. The trick is, however, to remember that you as the GM are ...

There are a whole lot of RPGs that don't require the old "big balanced party" kind of thing. Some new/indie games are the "meant just for two people" romantic gimmicky thing, but there's no reason you can't run anything from octaNe to Eclipse Phase to Feng Shui with one player and a GM. Unless the game specifically has "player interaction" mechanics as ...

When I played with my wife we simply used Labyrinth Lord (old school D&D), used only one player character, a lot of hirelings and henchmen, and tried to avoid combat if possible. Hirelings are somewhat different from characters in that they are basically level 0 or level 1 characters. Unfortunately for them they often ended up being used as early warning ...

I have run a few one GM, one player games and they are really intense, almost tiring for the player especially. I found most players were pretty well cooked after two or three hours of that kind of play. I like the character to be injected into a situation where there are lots of NPC's to interact with...a city filled with a colorful criminal underworld, a ...

I've quite happily run one-on-one adventures with no changes from the base rules. A higher focus on minions is handy to come within the XP budget and access to personal healing is a must. It works better with defenders, leaders, and controllers than strikers. (Strikers really do require a party behind them to perform at their best.) My own experience ...

I really like your Burn Notice idea, that would be an excellent way to start out. If you look at the show there are usually 2-3 event/encounters that happen in the show that move the story plot and characters along. If you use this you should have an easily managed event sequence that will make sense. One thing to note in Burn Notice is the 'assistants' ...

I've played Beast Hunters with one GM and one player. It wasn't for me, but I understand it works well for others. There are many, many personal experiences of one-on-one play in this Solo Games thread. Here are some specific threads about Primetime Adventures, Freemarket and Trollbabe: Primetime Adventures Freemarket Trollbabe Finally, I've heard many ...

I've played 1:1 games extensively and used many game systems. In many cases its more about the relationship between the two individuals than the game system. However, the game system can support the 1:1 game better or worse. I prefer game systems that help plumb the depth of a character or small set of characters played by the player in the session. A ...

One of the best genres as a whole for this is Espionage and Spys... Steal liberally from every James Bond movie and book. And any other such story. Another good one, surprisingly, is the "Rebel Scout" in both the Star Wars and US Civil War settings. The prominent NPC in both has to do with the PC's mode of transport... in SW, it's the astromech droid; in ...

My biggest worry and adaptation is that I scale back the NPCs and hirelings. I don't want them to overshadow my solo player. I ask a lot of questions, I'll give feedback more on decisions and in general, I try to fill the "party" role of being an advisor/sounding board without taking over the game. It's tough.

One thing pointed out on this question is the Mythic RPG, which can be played solo or with any number of people without the use of a DM. I've never tried it, but it looks cool, and would allow you guys to play together and both be players, rather than one of you having to GM.

Shooting the Moon is probably one of those romance games you looked at, but it's really about two people fighting over a third, which is perfect for all sorts of cool tough guy adventure situations. I've played it with other dudes where we were rival archaeologists in love with the same woman and trying to out-do each other, so it was a pretty manly ...

The first thing to remember about tone (Harry Potter vs. Horror) is that you get to set that when you a game. Some games lend themselves one way or the other, but you ultimately get to make that choice. From the main fear you have voiced, I believe that the system is less important here and the story you lead your partner through is more so. Tailor it to ...

I've successfully played OD&D/Swords & Wizardry with my wife as a solo game. She's very inexperienced with RPGs. She still has not read the rulebook, but she loves the game. I tell her what to roll and when to do so - she tells me what she and her minions are doing. It works very well.