Best adventure(s) for a one-on-one/two player game?

[Rebel Mage]

So, I've recently finished GM'ing a campaign, and me and one of the players absolutely love that player's character, so I jokingly mentioned the possibility of a one-on-one game (with a beloved NPC as a GMPC), and we both liked the idea, so we're considering it.

Now, I'm wondering: what do you all think would be the best adventure(s) for such a game? Edition doesn't matter (I can just convert stuff). Also, the game ended at level 10, but we've also mentioned handwaving "ooohh something happened and now you're lower level" as an option. (The campaign was in D&D 5E but we're likely going to play it in Level Up: A5E.)

(None of the Grand Conjunction adventures, btw, because I am planning on running a Grand Conjunction campaign with that player, just with a larger group, when another campaign is over.)

[alhoon]

I have no experience besides a quick google search with A5E but I would suggest some of the Children of the Night short adventures, perhaps tied in an over-aching arc. As a note, a lot of the CotN adventures work in other planes too. I know, I have run a couple of ghost stories without hiccups.

[Rebel Mage]

I have no experience besides a quick google search with A5E but I would suggest some of the Children of the Night short adventures, perhaps tied in an over-aching arc. As a note, a lot of the CotN adventures work in other planes too. I know, I have run a couple of ghost stories without hiccups.

Thanks! I've stolen one of the CotN adventures for another campaign (the one with Jander, because one of the PCs (actually, the PC of the player I'll be running it with) is a dhampir, so I was like. Well. Who's a lovely vampire who can be his dad?), so I had considered more CotN stuff.

A5E is just D&D5E but more options. It fixes most of the issues I have with that system. I know there are other systems out there (I've played a lot) but I still love the gameplay of D&D5E, but it has issues (the biggest being... WotC...), so A5E is a good solution to that.

EDIT: Hey, it looks like I've already purchased one of your DM's guild titles (...Yes, the Children of the Night one), which I'm sure will come in useful in my plans!

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Spellbook Masquarade from Dungeon Magazine #053 is a very nice adventure involving a Book of Lich Creation. It is a 2e adventure normally for a single 3rd-5th level wizard (or sorcerer) but I believe it can involve a rogue or any other stealthy character as well. I have changed the place and characters to be set in Chateunoir in southern Dementlieu close to the borders with Mordent. I have also made special cards to use in the adventure's masquerade part of the adventure. In my conversion to Ravenloft I made the Book of Lich Creation to once belonging to Crimson Arcanus and it is one of the books that ends up in Marcos Vedarrak's collection, which was latter borrowed by Professor Erik van Rijn to become a lich.

More info on QtR#30 article Behind the Mask.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

There were also a series of 2e adventures called Rogue's Challenge, Wizard's Challenge, Fighter's Challenge and Cleric's Challenge. While i never played any of them I was intrigued by the Cleric's Challenge II cover showing a cleric in a graveyard full of undead.

Cleric's Challenge II
Cleric's Challenge II is a solo adventure in which the player character is a cleric of level 4-6, who is sent to the rural town of Barlox, which can be set in any game world of the DMs choosing, in an environment suitable for growing grapes. I would suggest placing the adventure in Dorvinia for pre-GC Ravenloft, Borca or Dementlieu and having Father Bernadette’s Mummy being an exdisciple of Ezra. The town's temple was destroyed years ago and its priest disappeared, and the rivalry between its competing wineries turned ugly. The character must help the village's new priest, who is having trouble gaining new worshippers for the rebuilt temple. The character discovers a series of murders upon arrival, and must talk to the villagers to find out who or what is killing them.

Cleric's Challenge I
Centuries ago, Pommeville was the site of a temple dedicated to a dark power. The high priest of the temple was a powerful and evil cleric named Nedrezar. His servants controlled much of the surrounding area. Nedrezar aspired to lichdom, seeking to extend his power beyond the grave. During the process of transformation, he was betrayed by a lieutenant who wanted the high priest's power for himself. Nedrezar's soul was trapped in a crystal skull, and his body was entombed. Nedrezar fell short of transformation and did not become a lich.
The factions of the evil temple fell into a power struggle that weakened them all. A few years later, the forces of a nearby good kingdom attacked the evil temple and destroyed it. The force was accompanied by Bishop Astara True-heart, who discovered Nedrezar's hidden crypt. Astara knew that some evil slumbered within, and he prevented the king's men from removing the skull. He also consecrated the site and set a holy seal upon the crypt door to contain the evil within.
As the years passed, the town of Pommeville grew up on the site of the old ruins. The people of Pommeville knew little of the region's dark history. A week ago, a cleric named Giles arrived in Pommeville, searching for the temple. Giles was following the trail of Bishop Astara as recorded in the histories of the neighboring kingdom, and he discovered the old temple. Giles and his companions entered the temple and unwisely broke the seal, removing Astara's rod. Not realizing what they had done, they left.
Giles and his companions did not get far. To make the adventure easier, the DM can place Giles in Pommeville or Arden, where the PC will be able to quickly find him. Otherwise, Giles and his companions were set upon by a lamia and her minions a few miles north of town and were killed or captured.
With the rod removed, Nedrezar has awakened and is seeking escape. He requires the energy of living creatures to break free of his imprisonment, and is animating the zombies to bring him victims.

Fighter's Challenge II
The kingdom of Tramilar was once a powerful state. Now, disease and dissent have left the kingdom weak. The Dreadwoods on the kingdom's northern border are a haunt for evil creatures and plots. Discord stalks the very halls of the king. Only the bravest and most dedicated warrior could overcome the obstacles hidden in the forest and lurking in the throne room.

Adventure Elements for the 90s. The AD&D 2e era is best known for its plotted (or if you prefer, railroaded) adventures that also tend to have moved out of the dungeon. "Fighter's Challenge II" falls right into line, like a good soldier should. The PC stumbles across an imprisoned princess, then must get her home while facing a series of linear wilderness encounters and a small dungeon. There is a bit of a twist at the end, when the player finds that the princess is (perhaps) already at her home castle, but that sort of (easily foreseen) plot twist wasn't that unusual for the 90s either. This can be easily changed and adapted for Tepest.

[alhoon]

EDIT: Hey, it looks like I've already purchased one of your DM's guild titles (...Yes, the Children of the Night one), which I'm sure will come in useful in my plans!

Eh, I am not sure who you refer to, but I don't have any CotN DM guild titles.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

In the past I had made two one-o-one adventures one having the PC ending up in Sanguinia and being a guest of Ladislav Mircea who disguised his vampirism with alchemical potions. The adventure was a combination of Bram Stokers Dracula and Christie Golden's Vampires of the Mists with the PC taking the role of a combination of Jonathan Harker and Jander Sunstar, witnessing atrocities but being somehow in denial of his host being evil. The other one involved a stealthy PC breaking in my favourite inn in Ravenloft, yes the Old Kartkann Inn, which is full of traps dangerous adversaries and secret passages (layout can be found in Feast of Goblyns adventure.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Wizard's Challenge
The module is designed for individual low-level mages or parties of up to three characters. It centers on the village of Northbank, a previously busy town with a current minor connection to nearby wizards. "Haunting visitations" and murder begin the adventure which focuses on roleplaying and problem-solving vs. combat. I have made changes in the scenario to be played in Hazlan. Alternately instead of Nørdbredden (Northbank) it could be set in Ramulai and the guild may have been a secret society within the Red Academy before being dissolved by Hazlik.

The village of Nørdbredden is small but prosperous. It sits on the bank of the Saniset at the junction of two minor trade routes. Nørdbredden was once the home of a wizards' guild after the reinstitution of magic but it was dissolved nine years ago, but still Nørdbredden has more than its fair share of wizards.
The last leader of the wizards' guild was a man named Kyrinstan. He led the guild well, but enjoyed power and magic too much. Kyrinstan eventually decided to become a lich so that he might grow even more powerful and continue his magical research for etemity.

As the guildmaster searched for the materials and arcane lore to leam the process of becoming a lich, he discovered several spells. He tested many of these spells on his fellow wizards, eventually creating a new form of undead which he called the spectral wizard, these creatures are undead spellcasters. After Kyrinstan became a lich, he continued to study magic, but also decided to create an army of undead creatures that would answer only to him. In his hidden lair, Kyrinstan has created several spectral wizards and other undead minions to do his bidding. Kyrinstan (also known as the Dead King) does not directly affect the outcome of this module. His full description is left to DMs who wish to expand this adventure. Instead, Wizards Challenge deals with one of Kyrinstan's servants, a spectral wizard named Surrisk.

Surrisk was an apprentice to Kyristan and a member of the Nørdbredden wizards' guild. When Kyrinstan left the Nørdbredden area, Surrisk also left, building a small house in the nearby hilis and becoming a hermit. A few months ago, Kyrinstan asked Surrisk to visit. The former apprentice was "rewarded" by being transformed into a spectral wizard. At the bidding of his secret master, Surrisk has taken up residence in the old headquarters of the wizards' guild: a tower located just a few miles from Nørdbredden, its location all but forgotten by most of the townspeople. The Dead King ordered Surrisk to watch Nørdbredden, particularly its spellcasters. Kyristan plans to convince the spellcasters to join him, preferably as spectral wizards. If they resist, Surrisk must kill them. Kyrinstan the Dead King considers Surrisk a loyal lieutenant, and has named him the Ghost Prince.

Surrisk has let his power and position go to his head, and when confronting anyone but his master, he refers to himself as the Ghost King. Despite his ego, Surrisk will follow orders, though he will also interpret them. He will try to coerce all the local wizards to join Kyrinstan, will kill a few, and will eventually approach the PC, threatening death unless the PC joins. If the PC is not a wizard: The Ghost Prince will be watchful of other spellcasters, such as priests and bards and will try to kill them or drive them away. Warrior and thief PCs will be largely ignored by the Ghost Prince, so the DM must work a little harder to draw them into the plot. For instance, the PC might be given a reason to talk to one or more of the wizards, or one of them might befriend the PC or hire him as a guard. Eventually, the Ghost Prince should attack someone known to a nonspellcasting PC. Once any PC starts investigating the Ghost Prince, he will turn his attention to the PC. Nonwizards will be threatened with death unless they leave Nørdbredden. In any case, the Ghost Prince will continue trying to convert or kill all the local wizards. If characters of other classes are to be successful in the adventure, they may need magical items or spells from the local wizards. Nørdbredden is home to about 500 people. It sits on the northern bank of the Saniset River.

Almost three decades ago, a group of adventuring wizards decided to make Nørdbredden its headquarters. At that time, the village was home to only about 100 people. Despite its strategic position at the junction of two rivers, Nørdbredden was an unwelcoming town. It had a reputation for bandit attacks and general unrest.
Knowing they could clean up the town, the wizards decided to settle permanently and form a guild. Within the wizards' guild, they could share ideas, conduct research, develop new magic, and teach new wizards. The former adventurers quickly set the town in order and improved Nørdbredden's commerce. As word of the guild spread, craftsmen settled in Nørdbredden, responding to the wizards' demands for finely crafted objects suitable for enchantment.

Many people traveled to the village, hoping to consult the wizards or study magic. Nørdbredden grew, becoming a center for magical research and fine crafts, both magical and nonmagical. Then n joined the guild. With his skills and drive for power, he quickly ascended to the seat of guildmaster. Once he decided to become a lich, he began magical experiments, using other members as test subjects. The guild suffered several mysterious deaths before Kyrinstan was implicated. About 11 years ago, Kyrinstan was driven from the guild. Suspicion, disillusionment, and the lack of a leader destroyed the guild within two years. The guilds tower has been empty for six years. Only one former member, Dar Malson, stili resides in Nørdbredden, though rumors persist of a former member who is now a hermit in the nearby hills. Nørdbredden is stili home to several wizards, a few fine craftsmen, and a nicely stocked spell component shop. Its name is still linked with magic, and many adventurers travel there to discuss or learn magic.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Thieve's Challenge does not have good reviews

Thief's Challenge is an adventure for the 2nd edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, published in 1993. The Thief's Challenge is a single player module for thief characters that are between levels 1 and 4. John Setzer reviewed Thief's Challenge in a 1994 issue of White Wolf. On a scale of 1 to 5, he rated the module a 3 for Appearance, Concepts, Complexity, and Playability and a 2 for Value. He stated, "With a down-to-earth plot and little powerful magic, Thief’s Challenge provides an entertaining, everyday human adventure," while adding that "Extensive unused space and fairly large type make this module seem incomplete. Whatever was cut from this product shouldn't have been; there's plenty of room for more." Overall, Setzer rated it a 2.5 out of 5.

This adventure can be set with a few changes in Invidia Arkandale or even Falkovnia. A DM could place a supernatural villain by making the Gullwing Bandit being Nharov Gundar the vampire ex-Duke of Gundrak. The following can also make it appropriate for Richemulot.

With the evidence of the Gullwing Bandit‘s identity and location in hand, the PC has many choices and opportunities. If he is careful, he can gain much wealth and power; if he is tricky, he may supply the information to more than one person and gain multiple benefits and rewards. If not too imaginative, he may still come out rich and gain much needed experience.

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

Investigation games are good for this.

Some of the CotN adventures maybe?

Angel Pajaro from Werebeasts

Gestalt from Created

Lyssa von Zarovich from Vampires

The one from the cover of Ghosts who’s name escapes me right now…

[alhoon]

The one in the cover for ghosts is what I was thinking of too, but the beggar ghost inside is good too.

[Rebel Mage]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! Both me and the player are currently a bit obsessed with Baldur's Gate 3, but, after that, I think we can get started on this. ♥

[alhoon]

I heard a lot of good things about BG3 but computer games are different than tabletop and human interaction IMO. Even with roll20 and voice chat, there is still something missing than to have a bunch of friends around a table and hear the toc-toc-toc of the dice.