Beyond getting the books, learning D&D rules, and the time it takes to prepare, often the most difficult part of playing Dungeons & Dragons is finding other people to play with. DnD is typically a social game, with players and the dungeon master interacting with each other as their respective characters. However, if you’re itching to play the tabletop roleplaying game, but don’t have available players or time to find others, there are ways to play DnD solo. 

Alternative ways to play Dungeons and Dragons 

Though via the tabletop is the quintessential way to play D&D, it’s far from the only option. There are ways to experience the tabletop RPG in solo play that circumvent the need for other players, due to the fact that the role of the DM is being controlled by someone, or more accurately something, else.

Choose Your Own Adventure books

Classic Choose Your Own Adventure books provide a ‘light’ solo D&D experience that almost entirely removes the combat and dice rolling elements of TTRPGs. You read through each adventure book, which - at various points throughout the story - will propose a roleplaying scenario and a selection of possible options for you to choose from: some will advance the story in one potential direction, whilst others will outright kill your character (forcing you to go back to the previous scenario, to pick a different choice).  

D&D video games

Another option is to try one of the many Dungeons & Dragons video games that have been released over the years. The most recent D&D video game is Baldur’s Gate III - the latest entry in the beloved Baldur’s Gate series - which was released out of early access in 2023 to widespread critical acclaim and commercial success. Other solo game examples include the cult classic Planescape: Torment, as well as the Neverwinter Nights and Icewind Dale series, alongside DnD adjacent titles like the Divinity and Pillars of Eternity franchises. 

Solo RPGs

Otherwise, you could play a solo RPG - which is a tabletop roleplaying game that’s specifically designed to be played by a single player. Though they aren’t officially Dungeons & Dragons, Ironsworn, Delve and Colostle are all solo RPGs that offer DnD-esque experiences (fantasy-flavored exploration) that are ideal for one person to experience. 

Adventure board games 

There are several official Dungeons & Dragons adventure board games that provide a condensed version of the TTRPG, through a pre-designed campaign. These are inspired by some classic D&D game adventures, such as Tomb of Annihilation and Dungeon of the Mad Mage, and are more playable solo because the game runs the campaign for you. You might have to make some adjustment to the rules and difficulty, as well as potentially take control of multiple characters, to get the gameplay to work with a single player. 

How to play Dungeons & Dragons solo 

If you’re determined to play Dungeons & Dragons alone, there are ways to make this happen. 

Running DnD as a solo player

Your biggest hurdle is going to be figuring out how you’re going to manage the roles of both DM and player. You could devise your own adventure and run it for yourself as in a standard player and game master setup, or you could use one of the several homebrew systems designed to help you with solo roleplaying: 

• The Solo Adventurer’s Toolbox (part 1 and 2) 
• Solo Adventures Guide
• MUNE (The Madey Upy Namey Emulator)
• Mythic GM Emulator
• One Page Solo Engine 

If you’re making your own D&D solo adventure, your best bet is to keep things simple. Consider creating an adventure inspired by a classic old school style DnD and AD&D, with a larger emphasis on swords-and-sorcery dungeon-crawling. Running character interactions and complex narratives as a lone player are rather difficult. Whereas a straightforward dungeon adventure through a map with lots of intersecting paths punctuated by random encounter tables - all created in worldbuilding platform LegendKeeper - offer a much more accessible solo option. 

Solo DnD adventures

Though pre-made official D&D published adventures can be altered for a solo player - usually by cutting down on the content and reducing the difficulty - there are numerous homebrew or unofficial solo campaigns for D&D 5E. If you don’t want to create your own solo adventure, you can count on the likes of Obvious Mimic and 5e Solo Gamebooks for some great options for single player Dungeons & Dragons experiences, such as: 

• The Crystals of Z’leth
• Citadel of the Raven 
• The Wolves of Langston
• The Secret of Oki Island

Other solo DnD tips 

• Random tables are a must if you’re making your own solo D&D campaign - they will help keep exploration somewhat of a surprise, thanks to the random element of a die roll deciding what challenge or enemy you’ll be facing.
  
• If you do encounter roleplaying or character interaction scenarios in your adventure, try to embrace the weirdness of speaking to yourself as the NPCs and the main character in the scene, as it’ll make things more immersive.
  
• You can create an entire party of characters for you to play, which some of the official D&D adventures will require due to difficulty levels, or you can use the Sidekick rules introduced in the Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything book to make simplified characters to support you in combat.
  
• If you are controlling a single character, consider choosing a class that’s flexible enough to handle exploration, combat and support: like the Druid, Cleric, or Ranger.