Help with online solo campaign [Archive] - Wizards Community

Help with online solo campaign [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Incudine
05-11-07, 10:53 AM Hi all,
Here is my dilemma and I would like some suggestions from you all.

I am going to start an Eberron campaign with a friend of mine, it will be starting at Level 1, going through the Schema campaign (starting with the forgotten forge, maybe replacing the Whispers of the Vampire Blade with another adventure) and possibly leading to the Eyes of the Lich Queen.

It will be an internet based campaign, using rptools and skype to play (we live in different countries), as this is the first time we will be playing this way we will start it as a solo campaign (1DM and 1 player) to see how it works and then maybe raise the number of players.

I have a good selections of book (all Eberron series as well) but my friend has none (being 1000 miles away means I cannot really lend him the books). He is quite good at RP and to get the mechanics, but he has not played D&D since before the 3.0 came out. As such he will not be 100% confident with the new rules and will have no idea of how is Eberron

Ok, to the questions, I am looking for some help on the following:

-He has asked me to give him a couple of options to pick and then from there develop the character together. What Race and Class would you suggest for the player (something flavourful but easy to play)?

-Any idea of why his PC does not know anything about Eberron?

-I was thinking of adding a Character played by me helping him around (slowly introducing the world of Eberron and complementing him I.e. he a fighter me an artificer), what class would you recommend? We should cover more or less all the bases (melee, skills, healing and magic) with only two characters.

-Any other extra free e-tools I may use (I am still looking for a dice roller so I can see his rolls)?

-Any tips and trick about running this campaign?

-How can I increase his chances of success? Should I have him and his loyal DMPC (run by me) start at level 2 instead of 1?

Thanks in advance to all that will help

Cheers
Incudine
Arryn
05-11-07, 11:10 AM One of they ways you could have a character that doesn't know anything about Eberron is to have him be a Warforged. They can be created and sent out into the world with little or no knowledge of the world they are going into. (Maybe he's one of those new 'illegal" Warforged that shouldn't still be made, but are.) If you do decide to run a support character, then an Artificer is an obvious choice to offer healing and other buffs to this Warforged character. I haven't played the modules so I don't know if bumping levels will help or not, someone else will have to chime in on that. That's about all I can offer but I hope it helps.
fiendish_platypus
05-11-07, 11:34 AM Does he know how to even play 3.5? If not I'd say a non-spellcasting class. Ranger, rogue, fighter, or the like. As for race I'd say something pretty straight-forward, probably a human.

Ya, I think Human Ranger would be good, maybe connected to the Jungle Boys (I think that's the one, from the King's forest) or one of the many druid sects.
UnderworldLord
05-12-07, 12:32 AM A lot will depend on the players style. So he hasn't seen 3.5 and he doesn't mind being a fighter or barbarian will be easier.

Warforged makes sense both optimally and fluffically, as most early warforged (from what I can tell) where either of thsoe two classes. Shifters also do excellent for both classes. Both have an eberron flavor, and are good races.

If he chooses a Warforged, an artificer companion would be excellent. A shifter ftr/barb would probably not mind it either, but the easier accessibility to healing would be better taken from a cleric, and having a cleric of the Flame as a side companion could offer role playing fun also. Equally noted, he could have a druid companion, possibly another shifter.

As for level-wise... I hate level 1, but it might be easier for him to adapt one level at a time. Just watch the horrid rats.
Rechan
05-12-07, 12:59 AM I have had experienc playing in a solo campaign once, and this was just over the phone. I told him what I was going to do, and he rolled for me. It was very enjoyable because it wasn't a very serious campaign, and sometimes it felt like I was just along for the ride because the DM had a huge ego. Of course, this was Shadowrun so the feel might be different.

WF is the most popular option of Race, but either 1) Shifter (I've been in the wilderness so I don't know jack really except what I've been told), or 2) perhaps a Talenta halfling or a Valenar elf. Same deal. If nothing else, the PC could be just a standard Human from the Eldeen Reaches or just some peasant from a backwoods thorp in Breland. Or the PC could have been very sheltered in Thrane and trained as a paladin or a soldier for the Flame.

I've seen it suggested that a good duo is a Bard and a Druid. The bard can handle fighting, combat casting, and a little healing, the Druid can handle a little healing, a little fighting, and the social support. However, this may not be the best for someone not familiar with 3e at all. However, rangers can use healing wands (they have healing in their spell list), so a druid companion may be useful.

However, this doesn't seem to really mesh well with the adventure plans you have set. What would a ranger and a druid or cleric really care about schema? A WF and an artificer of Cannith would care a lot more than some hicks from the sticks.

Be aware that the modules you're going to run are kinda ugly, combat wise. Especially I hear GotEC.

Something you might want to consider: Gestalt. Gestalt is a character option in Unearthed Arcana. Basically you take two character classes and take all the best qualities (A fighter/wizard would have the fighter's BAB, fort save, HPs, feats, the wizard's will save, spell casting, scribe scroll). They would be a level 1 fighter/level 1 wizard, and while at level 1 (and advance by the same rules), they are threated as level 2 for purposes of threats they can handle.

This way you can have one character have the abilities of two, and two characters have the resources of 4. The drawback is that your party of two characters only have only one action per round, and only so many things they can do in a fight, which means longer fights.
Incudine
05-13-07, 06:55 AM Hi guys
thanks for the help and the suggestions, I think I will suggest him to go gestalt, in past editions of games (D&D 1 and 2nd edition, Cyberpunk 2020...) I remembers he liked to play the Fighter type possibly with quite a bit of skills, so probably something along the lines of Gestalt Fighter/Rogue, maybe an Elf just arrived from Aerenal on a quest for his ancestors.

As the DMPC supporting him I think I will use an Idea I had a while ago, "Book" the WF Gestalt artificier/Factotum to cover the other bases of the group.

He may find "book" deactivated and restore him to life, as gratitude "book" will serve him as much as he could....

I know the idea is very rough and unoriginal at the moment , but I will work on it! :)

Any other suggestions about running the campaign would be appreaciated

Cheers
Incudine

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Incudine 05-11-07, 10:53 AM	Hi all, Here is my dilemma and I would like some suggestions from you all. I am going to start an Eberron campaign with a friend of mine, it will be starting at Level 1, going through the Schema campaign (starting with the forgotten forge, maybe replacing the Whispers of the Vampire Blade with another adventure) and possibly leading to the Eyes of the Lich Queen. It will be an internet based campaign, using rptools and skype to play (we live in different countries), as this is the first time we will be playing this way we will start it as a solo campaign (1DM and 1 player) to see how it works and then maybe raise the number of players. I have a good selections of book (all Eberron series as well) but my friend has none (being 1000 miles away means I cannot really lend him the books). He is quite good at RP and to get the mechanics, but he has not played D&D since before the 3.0 came out. As such he will not be 100% confident with the new rules and will have no idea of how is Eberron Ok, to the questions, I am looking for some help on the following: -He has asked me to give him a couple of options to pick and then from there develop the character together. What Race and Class would you suggest for the player (something flavourful but easy to play)? -Any idea of why his PC does not know anything about Eberron? -I was thinking of adding a Character played by me helping him around (slowly introducing the world of Eberron and complementing him I.e. he a fighter me an artificer), what class would you recommend? We should cover more or less all the bases (melee, skills, healing and magic) with only two characters. -Any other extra free e-tools I may use (I am still looking for a dice roller so I can see his rolls)? -Any tips and trick about running this campaign? -How can I increase his chances of success? Should I have him and his loyal DMPC (run by me) start at level 2 instead of 1? Thanks in advance to all that will help Cheers Incudine
Arryn 05-11-07, 11:10 AM	One of they ways you could have a character that doesn't know anything about Eberron is to have him be a Warforged. They can be created and sent out into the world with little or no knowledge of the world they are going into. (Maybe he's one of those new 'illegal" Warforged that shouldn't still be made, but are.) If you do decide to run a support character, then an Artificer is an obvious choice to offer healing and other buffs to this Warforged character. I haven't played the modules so I don't know if bumping levels will help or not, someone else will have to chime in on that. That's about all I can offer but I hope it helps.
fiendish_platypus 05-11-07, 11:34 AM	Does he know how to even play 3.5? If not I'd say a non-spellcasting class. Ranger, rogue, fighter, or the like. As for race I'd say something pretty straight-forward, probably a human. Ya, I think Human Ranger would be good, maybe connected to the Jungle Boys (I think that's the one, from the King's forest) or one of the many druid sects.
UnderworldLord 05-12-07, 12:32 AM	A lot will depend on the players style. So he hasn't seen 3.5 and he doesn't mind being a fighter or barbarian will be easier. Warforged makes sense both optimally and fluffically, as most early warforged (from what I can tell) where either of thsoe two classes. Shifters also do excellent for both classes. Both have an eberron flavor, and are good races. If he chooses a Warforged, an artificer companion would be excellent. A shifter ftr/barb would probably not mind it either, but the easier accessibility to healing would be better taken from a cleric, and having a cleric of the Flame as a side companion could offer role playing fun also. Equally noted, he could have a druid companion, possibly another shifter. As for level-wise... I hate level 1, but it might be easier for him to adapt one level at a time. Just watch the horrid rats.
Rechan 05-12-07, 12:59 AM	I have had experienc playing in a solo campaign once, and this was just over the phone. I told him what I was going to do, and he rolled for me. It was very enjoyable because it wasn't a very serious campaign, and sometimes it felt like I was just along for the ride because the DM had a huge ego. Of course, this was Shadowrun so the feel might be different. WF is the most popular option of Race, but either 1) Shifter (I've been in the wilderness so I don't know jack really except what I've been told), or 2) perhaps a Talenta halfling or a Valenar elf. Same deal. If nothing else, the PC could be just a standard Human from the Eldeen Reaches or just some peasant from a backwoods thorp in Breland. Or the PC could have been very sheltered in Thrane and trained as a paladin or a soldier for the Flame. I've seen it suggested that a good duo is a Bard and a Druid. The bard can handle fighting, combat casting, and a little healing, the Druid can handle a little healing, a little fighting, and the social support. However, this may not be the best for someone not familiar with 3e at all. However, rangers can use healing wands (they have healing in their spell list), so a druid companion may be useful. However, this doesn't seem to really mesh well with the adventure plans you have set. What would a ranger and a druid or cleric really care about schema? A WF and an artificer of Cannith would care a lot more than some hicks from the sticks. Be aware that the modules you're going to run are kinda ugly, combat wise. Especially I hear GotEC. Something you might want to consider: Gestalt. Gestalt is a character option in Unearthed Arcana. Basically you take two character classes and take all the best qualities (A fighter/wizard would have the fighter's BAB, fort save, HPs, feats, the wizard's will save, spell casting, scribe scroll). They would be a level 1 fighter/level 1 wizard, and while at level 1 (and advance by the same rules), they are threated as level 2 for purposes of threats they can handle. This way you can have one character have the abilities of two, and two characters have the resources of 4. The drawback is that your party of two characters only have only one action per round, and only so many things they can do in a fight, which means longer fights.
Incudine 05-13-07, 06:55 AM	Hi guys thanks for the help and the suggestions, I think I will suggest him to go gestalt, in past editions of games (D&D 1 and 2nd edition, Cyberpunk 2020...) I remembers he liked to play the Fighter type possibly with quite a bit of skills, so probably something along the lines of Gestalt Fighter/Rogue, maybe an Elf just arrived from Aerenal on a quest for his ancestors. As the DMPC supporting him I think I will use an Idea I had a while ago, "Book" the WF Gestalt artificier/Factotum to cover the other bases of the group. He may find "book" deactivated and restore him to life, as gratitude "book" will serve him as much as he could.... I know the idea is very rough and unoriginal at the moment , but I will work on it! :) Any other suggestions about running the campaign would be appreaciated Cheers Incudine