The nextDungeons & Dragonsanthology will include several adventures meant for solo play. Later this summer,Dungeons & Dragonswill releaseDragon Delves, a new adventure anthology featuring 10 adventures.Each adventure will focus on a different kind of either chromatic or metallic dragon, with supplementary material providing a look at each dragon’s visual look over the course of 50 years ofD&Dmaterial. One primary focus ofDragon Delvesis that the book tapped a different artist for each adventure,providing the book with a unique look that skews away fromD&D’s standard house art style.
Recently,Dungeons & Dragonsopened pre-orders forDragon DelvesonD&D Beyond.The product page included a listing of its table of contents, which revealed an interesting tidbit of information. Tthree of the adventures in the book, each of which is focused around a different kind of metallic dragon, aresuitable for play with a “solo player” instead of group play. No further elaboration was provided on how these adventures are made with solo players in mind.
Why Dragon Delves' Solo Adventures Are A Big Deal For Dungeons & Dragons
Wizards Of The Coast Has Not Released Many Solo Play Adventures
Dungeons & Dragonsis typically meant to be played in a group, with most pre-built encounters balanced around having four player characters. While plenty of third-party material has featured adventures meant for one DM and one player,Wizards of the Coast has released relatively few products focused on this playstyle.TheD&D Essentials Kit,released back in 2019, featured optional rules that allow a player to control several Sidekicks to help flesh out a party of adventurers. These rules were later fleshed out inTasha’s Cauldron of Everythingbut have not been expanded upon since.
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Specifying that an adventure is suitable for solo play is a big departure forDungeons & Dragons. Presumably, these adventures are still made for use by one DM and one other player (truly solo TTRPGs do exist, but they are typically built around a journaling experience) andfocus on non-combat options.It’s notable that all three adventures focus on quests that could conceivably be solved without combat. One adventure involves rescuing a gold dragon wyrmling from a cottage made of candy, while another involves finding the verses to a lost song to restore a region’s farmlands.
Our Take: D&D Continues To Move In New Directions
Solo Play Is Just One Of The Ways D&D Is Pushing Boundaries
Dungeons & Dragonsis certainly trying new things with the release of its revised 5th edition ruleset, and solo play seems to be another avenue for growth. One of the biggest hurdles to playingDungeons & Dragonsis trying to get a group of players together on a consistent basis,so publishing adventures that can be played with a smaller group of players is an interesting way of tackling this problem.I’m curious how these solo adventures will play out, especially as it seems likeDragon Delveswill already be a major departure forDungeons & Dragonsin several ways.
