YouTuber Daniel Norton of Bandit’s Keep talks in his latest episode about how Dungeon Masters can use solo play to improve their games.

In his affable style, Daniel covers several topics that apply to any D&D edition and probably to most other role-playing games. I haven’t much to add to what Daniel says so well. I can only tease you with Daniel’s list of ways a DM might use solo play.

• Play test adventures
• Create adventure hooks
• Plat test encounters
• Map and stock a dungeon
• Create interesting NPCs
• Learn game mechanics
• Rehearse published adventures
• Build your world

The most ambitious projects on DONJON LANDS are solo endeavors. Not all use D&D, but they are all for one D&D campaign or another.

• Wyrm Dawn uses How to Host a Dungeon to create a history for Wyrmwyrd, a B/X D&D campaign.
• The Battle of Throrgardr is a 12th-level B/X scenario, which decides a pivotal moment in Wyrmwyrd’s history.
• The Valormr Campaign uses rules for strategic-level wargames to play out events in a war that revealed major details about the history, including the origin and use of the Wyrmwyrd.
• The latest project is Dreaming Amon-Gorloth, a Holmes campaign, in which I’m stocking a large dungeon as I explore it with an adventuring party.

I find solo play especially useful for large projects, because I can set my own pace and play the particular game that fits the purpose. While Valormr, for example, could have taken years with a group or even just one other player, I wrote the rules, prepared the scenario, and played it in a summer. Not to mention the prospects of finding another player as interested as I am in such a wargames campaign.

To close the video, Daniel invites us to let him know if we would like to hear more from him about solo play. Of course we would.

Please visit the video “Playing Solo D&D can make you a better Dungeon Master” (7:48) on YouTube to leave a message for Daniel in the comment section, and see his other YouTube channel Bandit’s Keep Actual Play for more old-schoolery.