Play One-on-One D&D to Help Shy Players

Run one-on-one D&D for shy players in your group

Roleplaying in D&D or any other tabletop roleplaying game can be daunting. Especially newer players can struggle to get into character and interact with the group. They might sit and watch the other players and the DM take much of the screen time. Sometimes that is just fine. A more introverted personality might enjoy being a quiet member of the group. Calling them out during the session might be a quick way to scare them away from our table and potentially from the hobby as a whole. Here’s a tip: run a one-on-one D&D game for shy players.

Letting shy players explore their roleplaying skills

When we give a player the luxury of a one-on-one D&D session, with just them as a player and us as the DM, we let them explore their own roleplaying capabilities in small steps.

When there is less eyes on them, they can dare to speak in character more easily. We can have NPCs approach their character and start up a conversation. In our regular group, the veteran player or the “face” of the party might jump at the opportunity to converse with NPCs by default. The shy player might never even get an opportunity to try out roleplaying in social interactions. With the group removed, we can gently let them stretch their roleplaying muscles. We can give them as much time as they want to respond to an initial, “What can I do for you?” by an NPC.

An enlightening analogy comes from music. We would never think of putting a beginner instrumentalist into an orchestra. They would be too afraid to play any note at all. They’d put their flute to their mouth and pretend. Instead, we start with individual lessons. Then we move on to duets or trios. In small ensembles the learning musician can explore their own collaborative skills. The same applies to D&D. A one-on-one session is a great way to let players learn about their own roleplaying skills. They can try out different styles without anyone but the DM watching. They can find their own D&D roleplaying voice.

Using sidekicks to let shy players lead

We might give them a sidekick to accompany them on their adventure. This NPC always plays a supporting role in a one-on-one D&D game. The shy player can see what it feels like to take a leading role in an adventure, and have another character follow them. Suddenly the roles from the usual social situation at the table are switched. The shy player becomes the face of the party. Through a one-on-one session, they might discover that they like it. And that they’re capable of taking the lead in an adventure — and they might even be good at it! But without the one-on-one session, neither we as the DM, nor the player themselves might ever have realized this.

Ways of running one-on-one D&D to help shy players

Running a D&D game with just one DM and one player is not much different from running D&D for a group. There are mechanical pitfalls to consider (more on these in the links below) but the core of playing D&D remains the same: The DM describes the situation, the player declares their intent, and the DM narrates the outcome. One-on-one D&D is still D&D.

But we have a few options for how we run a one-on-one session for one of the players from our regular group. We can run a one-shot that might or might not be related to our main campaign. One-shots provide a great low-stakes environment for shy players to play D&D without the fear of any repercussions for characters that might be really important to them. These one-shots might be totally detached from the campaign we run for the group.

With this type of single-session adventure we can encourage shy players to try more exotic roleplaying concepts. An eccentric half-orc bard might not be something the player jumps into a multi-session campaign with. But an extravagant character concept can encourage shy players to open up in a one-on-one D&D session.

Alternatively, we can link the one-on-one session to an existing campaign. We can explore aspects of the player character’s backstory. Setting the game some time before the current fictional date of our campaign lets a player explore the story surrounding their character’s background, their home town, or specific events in their backstory. The insights learned during such a one-on-one game might spill over into the group sessions. The player might feel more secure in roleplaying their character, and they might even be able to provide background information relevant to the campaign.

Run one-on-one D&D to help shy players (or just because it is fun)

Running a one-on-one D&D game is a unique experience. It’s clearly still D&D but in an especially intimate setting. This type of small environment is perfectly suited to help shy players find their voice in D&D. But even if we’re not running one-on-one D&D for shy players, it can still make for a great D&D game in its own right.

Links & Resources

Mike Shea: “A Framework for One-on-One D&D” – https://slyflourish.com/framework_for_one_on_one_dnd.html
D&D Duet – Adventures and advice for creating a whole world, just for two – https://dndduet.com/
Matt Colville: “One-on-One D&D, Running The Game #89” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoJMNkgEqKA