I’m looking to play Urban Shadows and it looks like I’ll only have two players. That doesn’t feel like enough players for me to bring out complications around different Factions or have many interesting PC-to-PC interactions and Debts.
Is this a problem? Besides getting more people (working on it), where else can I pick up the slack? Should I prod them into giving me lots of fiction to swim around in?
If the players are up for it, maybe have them each run two characters. This would allow them to double up connections and potential story points.
Since I’ve heard that it can be played successfully with one player, I would think two wouldn’t be a problem….
It means you will be responsible for more of their Debt-web and you’re really going to have to put a bunch of effort into hammering them hard. Without the goad of each of them needling each other with debts and problems you will have to be sure the game maintains inertia. Definitely lean heavily on a list of names – introduce new characters constantly and kill a bunch of them off. Save a few for the players to get really attached to and then kidnap them or have them do a heel/face turn. With fewer players, the setting needs to provide a bit more of the dynamism.
Some fantastic advice here already. I’ll just add my two cents and say that you can adopt some of the advice and moves from the 1-player rules found on pages 290-291. Enjoy the game!!
Ah, thanks Andrew. Those’re helpful. ( =
Two more players onboard! And they’re excited! They’ve only ever really played d20. Super excited.