How to Run 1-On-1 DnD Adventures Using “Dragon Delves” New Rules
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
While Dungeons & Dragons is really known as a game that works best with three to four players and a Dungeon Master, the recently released Dragon Delves anthology offers new rules that allow you to run 1-on-1 DnD adventures with just a single player and a DM. It’s a unique and surprisingly simple way to play and can also be used beyond Dragon Delves to run other adventures or even entire campaigns.
So just how do these new rules work and how can you use them in your own games? Below, we take a closer look at all the details.
What are the new “Dragon Delves” rules for 1-on-1 play?
Not be confused with solo play (which can be played alone without a Dungeon Master), the 1-on-1 play rules in Dragon Delves require both one player and one DM. The rules, however, don’t try to reduce monster Challenge Rating or streamline the difficulty. Instead, they seeks to enhance the powers of the single player using something known as “Blessing of the Lone Champion.”
This new mechanic is somewhat similar to an Epic Boon, in that it’s a supernatural gift that bolsters a single player character’s abilities. If the DM chooses, they can provide rationale for why the player has this blessing or they can simply hand wave it without any narrative context.
What is Blessing of the Lone Champion?
As a single player, you gain the following benefits from the Blessing of the Lone Champion:
- Heroic Inspiration: You gain Heroic Inspiration whenever you finish a Short or Long Rest and whenever the DM has you roll Initiative.
- Temporary Hit Points: You gain a number of Temporary Hit Points equal to 10 times your level when you gain this blessing and when you gain a level.
Notably, Dragon Delves states that the blessing lasts for “the duration of the adventure.” This could mean multiple sessions of play over the course of a single adventure, which works well if you’re using a pre-written module. If, however, you’re running a homebrew campaign it’s up to the DM to decide when and where you receive (and potentially lose) the blessing.
What are the 1-on-1 DnD adventures in Dragon Delves?
Dragon Delves is the first official Dungeons & Dragons product from Wizards of the Coast to actually feature rules and advice on running 1-on-1 adventures (although there are a number of third-party DnD 5e products out there which, most notably the publisher D&D Duet).
The specific 1-on-1 adventures included in Dragon Delves are as follows:
- Chapter 2: Baker’s Doesn’t: Designed for a single Level 3 character, the adventure focuses on a halfling confectioner whose shop is accidentally set ablaze by a gold dragon. The player will also have to face down an evil male hag who lives in a gingerbread house in the nearby woods.
- Chapter 5: The Dragon of Najkir: Designed for a single Level 7 character, the action takes place on a monastery on the remote island of Najkir. The player will have to track down three shipwreck survivors, one of whom is a priest from their past.
- Chapter 9: A Copper for a Song: Designed for a single Level 12 character, the goal of this 1-on-1 adventure is to track down the long lost verses of a magical song that can rejuvenate the soil of a dying land.
It’s worth noting these adventures can also be run with multiple players, but the Wizards of the Coast design team has also created them with 1-on-1 play as an option.
Final thoughts
Playing 1-on-1 DnD is an amazing and overlooked experience among the TTRPG community, so it’s great to see Wizards of the Coast creating adventures and a rules framework around the concept. The Blessing of the Lone Champion mechanic is a simple and elegant way to give a single player a little more power and is a solid option for both new and experienced players. It also has the potential for use in a wide range of adventures outside of Dragon Delves and it will be interesting to see if Wizards of the Coast rolls out any more of these types of adventures in the near future.
In the meantime, the complete 1-on-1 rules and adventures can be found in Dragon Delves, which is available now on D&D Beyond and Amazon.
More D&D Rules Coverage
For more from the world of Wizards of the Coast, visit our D&D Rules page.
Subscribe to D&D Fanatics
Get exclusive D&D news, reviews and rules updates delivered right to your inbox.
Cameron Nichols is a Senior Editor who lives in Boston, Massachusetts, and has been playing D&D since the early 90s, when he was introduced by his older brother and cut his teeth on AD&D 2nd Edition. Since then he’s played virtually every RPG he could get his nerdy little mitts on (including a weird Goth phase in the early 2000s when he rocked Vampire: The Masquerade pretty hard). His favorite D&D campaign setting is the Forgotten Realms and his favorite character to play was a Half-Orc Barbarian named Grug (who was unfortunately devoured by a gelatinous cube).
