1 player campaign [Archive] - Wizards Community

1 player campaign [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Uncle_Cheesedog
07-19-06, 09:48 PM Hey,
I'm looking to make an entire campaign for one player and one DM (me). I was just wondering if anyone else had ever done this and what kind of advice they could give on the topic. Is it best to let the player create two or more PCs and control them all or have NPCs accompany the player as if they were other PCs? And if there's anything else I should know before planning this out that may vary from a regular D&D campaign. Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks! :)
jwhitson
07-19-06, 10:07 PM I have never done this but I have heard of people who have. You can have a perfectly good time with just you and one player. I would suggest the player control 1-3 characters and that you play 1-2 DMnpc's so that you get a party of four people.

good luck!
Jaaaysus
07-19-06, 10:38 PM KJW has an Entire article on it I'll Give you the link when I can I find...

Edit;
HA! firggin' found it!

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=553739
Tequila_Sunrise
07-19-06, 11:17 PM Ha! You live in the boondocks too? One-player games work just fine, but you have to let the player have at least two PCs or you have to have at least one DMPC.
Uncle_Cheesedog
07-19-06, 11:37 PM Thanks very much for the replies guys! That post was exactly what I was looking for and so much more, Jaaaysus. :) I havn't had a chance to read the whole thing through yet but so far it's been very informative.

And although I do live a bit outside town the reason I'd like to do a 1 player campaign is so that I can play with my brother whenever we feel like it rather than working around people's schedules we can just go whenever we've got a spare minute.

Thanks again, I'll possibly post my own advice once we've started the campaign.
Ashok_Lal
07-20-06, 02:32 AM The best thing about playing a solo adventure is that you can play all the other classes that dont get along well with others. (i play 3.0 so there will be even more classesto choose from if you play 3.5)

Frenzied bazerker . Forsaken. Spy of some sort. Most of the Druid PR's. The list goes on. This can be great way to explore the other sides of D&D.
Rerecros
07-20-06, 02:45 AM Give the player a gestalt fighter/cleric and a rogue/wizard to control.
Algus
07-20-06, 03:26 AM This is one of the things I loved about the 2E Class Handbooks - those books spent time detailing what a campaign focused around that class would be like (and they made for great reading material if you were planning to do a solo game) - I dont know if the 3E books have anything like that as I havent ventured much past the core books but solo games can work very well and can be very exciting.
BeginnerDM
07-20-06, 08:14 AM I strongly suggest AGAINST letting the PC have multiple characters as it takes away from the Roleplaying, and turns it more into a Miniature game like Warhammer.

Now some character might argue with themselves etc but most won't.

What I would do is have 1 npc controled by you, and the PC. Making them Gesalt is a great suggestion since they are more self sufficient with Gesalt characters.

Just watch the encounters when you first start and let the PC know that life can be dangerous.

I think one of the most fun games I ever was in I was the only player. You can tailor Everything in the campaign to that PC. Without annoying anyone else. Some great roleplaying opportunity.
razorboy
07-20-06, 09:14 AM I would let the player make a gestalt character (see the rules in Unearthed Arcana, or at a link posted above). I wouldn't let the player control another character, but it's a good idea to either provide one or two DM-controlled lower-level NPCs as sidekicks, and possibly some friendly contacts (like a priest or a wizard to identify stuff) to help the player. I've ran a few games with only one or two players, it's a great experience.
KJW
07-20-06, 09:28 AM Glad you like our thread on solo campaigns, you can also post questions on that thread for help from a number of DMs who regularly run solo campaigns. Thanks Jaaysus for posting a link to the thread. :D
Fraser1986
07-20-06, 09:36 AM I was under the impression that the prevailing wisdom on solo campaigns is NOT to control multiple characters. instead, you are free to focus the whole story around that players one character. It provides great roleplaying opportunities and he can do all sorts of interesting tangent-esque things he couldnt in a group game
KJW
07-20-06, 10:31 AM I was under the impression that the prevailing wisdom on solo campaigns is NOT to control multiple characters. instead, you are free to focus the whole story around that players one character. It provides great roleplaying opportunities and he can do all sorts of interesting tangent-esque things he couldnt in a group game

Yes, that is unquestionably the prevailing wisdom. A solo-PC has two to three times as much to do as a PC in a group campaign, it is very, very difficult for a player to handle multiple PCs in a solo campaign. It universally detracts from the depth and flow of the campaign. But every solo campaign is different and some players not only can handle it, but prefer to run multiple PCs instead of dealing with NPCs. Still I would not recommend it starting out.
Uncle_Cheesedog
07-20-06, 12:23 PM It's looking like I'm going to have the player control only ONE character and control a single NPC myself, but I won't introduce that character until the PC has at least gotten to level three or possibly ~5000 exp depending on how things go, that way the character will always be a higher level than the 'sidekick'.

I think this will work because the more I think about it, it would be very difficult for one person to have realistic interactions with him/herself than with a DM controlled character. It also works out better because players usually become attached to their characters and having two would kind of detract from that.

So I think that this is the rout I'm going to take. And I'd like to thank you KJW for taking the time to go into such detail about solo-campaigns, that post has been a HUGE help and I'll be sure to post any questions I have there in the future.

Thanks again!
Amadan
07-20-06, 05:29 PM Guess I don't agree with "Conventional Wisdom"

I've DM'ed for years and years and it's almost always been w. single player who controlled 2-3 PC's while I control 1 or 2 DMPC's. I've never had any problems with his differentiating between the characters and playing them to potential, nor have I notice it becoming "like Warhammer."
KJW
07-20-06, 07:24 PM Whatever works for you, but I think that from my experience and most DMs it that running multiple PCs is not the best strategy for most solo campaigns. Still it all depends upon the player, depth or roleplaying, and style of campaign so for your campaigns it may work very well. That is the beauty of solo campaigns they are tailored for the DM and player specifically and really there is no such thing as a standard solo campaign.
SPEAR9
07-20-06, 09:07 PM I've played alot w/ my gf(now fiance') and I stash an NPC somewhere in the game early.The plot should take him/her close to your NPC's location.I like to use an NPC that makes up for your PC's shortcomings.A fighter can't detect traps,but NPC rogues can.Magic users don't have good melee' skills,but NPC fighter does,etc.
You can place obstacles that,at first,can't be overcome by your player's class skills.But they can come back later.Loose ends make good excuses to throw in an extra encounter.
I run The NPC most of the time,but I allow her to use him as cannonfodder when the occasion arises. Hope this adds a little to the wealth of knowledge made available to you.
Good luck,Happy gaming
MYK
Jaaaysus
07-21-06, 12:57 AM Glad you like our thread on solo campaigns, you can also post questions on that thread for help from a number of DMs who regularly run solo campaigns. Thanks Jaaysus for posting a link to the thread. :D
Don't mention it (besides a new Campaign Will Get that thread moving again ;) )
Setzertrancer
07-21-06, 07:30 AM I would recommend you allow then them be a gesthalt character, which will allow them to have more resources at their disposal. This variant is in the Unearthed Arcana. If you don't have it i'll explain gesthalt breifly. The character chooses to be two classes at once and instead of multiclassing and becoming a Barbarian 1 / Cleric 1 they will be a Barbarian/Cleric 1
and what they do is they take the best from each of those classes. They will get the Base attack of the Barbarian as well as the hit die. and all of the class features of both (Spells, Rage, armor proficientcy, Turn Undead. So Class features stack and anything else, base atk, saves hitdie and skills. you take the highest of the two there is to choose from. You can do this with any class although some may clash.

Edit: Some ideas could include

Fighter/Rogue: Plenty of feats and ability to find and disarm traps very versatile combination.
Barbarian/Fighter: Not sure how useful this would be in a single player campaign, but think feats + rage + trap sense, couldn't be a harder tank to kill, one of my favourite options
Figher/Wizard: can hold your own in a fight and the spells of a wizard can do just about any thing else, won't be able to wear much armor however, you'll need dex.
Rerecros
07-21-06, 08:36 AM When making a gestalt character, remember, u are taking the strongest qualities from each. So make sure the classes are different without conflicting.

A Barbarian/fighter is a poor combination, because all u end up with is a barbarian with Bonus feats.

But, a Barbarian/Rogue would get not only rogue abilities, but good reflex saves, awesome skills, and hand crossbow proficiency.

Make sure that one has better BAB, HD, Skills and skills than the other.
And Make sure that they don't have the same good and bad saves.

Also, keep armor in mind.
Anything mixed with a monk or arcane spell-caster should not wear armor.
Anything mixed with a ranger or a bard should not wear anything but light armor.
Anything mixed with a barbarian or druid should not wear heavy armor.
Anything mixed with a druid should not wear metal armor.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Uncle_Cheesedog 07-19-06, 09:48 PM	Hey, I'm looking to make an entire campaign for one player and one DM (me). I was just wondering if anyone else had ever done this and what kind of advice they could give on the topic. Is it best to let the player create two or more PCs and control them all or have NPCs accompany the player as if they were other PCs? And if there's anything else I should know before planning this out that may vary from a regular D&D campaign. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks! :)
jwhitson 07-19-06, 10:07 PM	I have never done this but I have heard of people who have. You can have a perfectly good time with just you and one player. I would suggest the player control 1-3 characters and that you play 1-2 DMnpc's so that you get a party of four people. good luck!
Jaaaysus 07-19-06, 10:38 PM	KJW has an Entire article on it I'll Give you the link when I can I find... Edit; HA! firggin' found it! http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=553739
Tequila_Sunrise 07-19-06, 11:17 PM	Ha! You live in the boondocks too? One-player games work just fine, but you have to let the player have at least two PCs or you have to have at least one DMPC.
Uncle_Cheesedog 07-19-06, 11:37 PM	Thanks very much for the replies guys! That post was exactly what I was looking for and so much more, Jaaaysus. :) I havn't had a chance to read the whole thing through yet but so far it's been very informative. And although I do live a bit outside town the reason I'd like to do a 1 player campaign is so that I can play with my brother whenever we feel like it rather than working around people's schedules we can just go whenever we've got a spare minute. Thanks again, I'll possibly post my own advice once we've started the campaign.
Ashok_Lal 07-20-06, 02:32 AM	The best thing about playing a solo adventure is that you can play all the other classes that dont get along well with others. (i play 3.0 so there will be even more classesto choose from if you play 3.5) Frenzied bazerker . Forsaken. Spy of some sort. Most of the Druid PR's. The list goes on. This can be great way to explore the other sides of D&D.
Rerecros 07-20-06, 02:45 AM	Give the player a gestalt fighter/cleric and a rogue/wizard to control.
Algus 07-20-06, 03:26 AM	This is one of the things I loved about the 2E Class Handbooks - those books spent time detailing what a campaign focused around that class would be like (and they made for great reading material if you were planning to do a solo game) - I dont know if the 3E books have anything like that as I havent ventured much past the core books but solo games can work very well and can be very exciting.
BeginnerDM 07-20-06, 08:14 AM	I strongly suggest AGAINST letting the PC have multiple characters as it takes away from the Roleplaying, and turns it more into a Miniature game like Warhammer. Now some character might argue with themselves etc but most won't. What I would do is have 1 npc controled by you, and the PC. Making them Gesalt is a great suggestion since they are more self sufficient with Gesalt characters. Just watch the encounters when you first start and let the PC know that life can be dangerous. I think one of the most fun games I ever was in I was the only player. You can tailor Everything in the campaign to that PC. Without annoying anyone else. Some great roleplaying opportunity.
razorboy 07-20-06, 09:14 AM	I would let the player make a gestalt character (see the rules in Unearthed Arcana, or at a link posted above). I wouldn't let the player control another character, but it's a good idea to either provide one or two DM-controlled lower-level NPCs as sidekicks, and possibly some friendly contacts (like a priest or a wizard to identify stuff) to help the player. I've ran a few games with only one or two players, it's a great experience.
KJW 07-20-06, 09:28 AM	Glad you like our thread on solo campaigns, you can also post questions on that thread for help from a number of DMs who regularly run solo campaigns. Thanks Jaaysus for posting a link to the thread. :D
Fraser1986 07-20-06, 09:36 AM	I was under the impression that the prevailing wisdom on solo campaigns is NOT to control multiple characters. instead, you are free to focus the whole story around that players one character. It provides great roleplaying opportunities and he can do all sorts of interesting tangent-esque things he couldnt in a group game
KJW 07-20-06, 10:31 AM	I was under the impression that the prevailing wisdom on solo campaigns is NOT to control multiple characters. instead, you are free to focus the whole story around that players one character. It provides great roleplaying opportunities and he can do all sorts of interesting tangent-esque things he couldnt in a group game Yes, that is unquestionably the prevailing wisdom. A solo-PC has two to three times as much to do as a PC in a group campaign, it is very, very difficult for a player to handle multiple PCs in a solo campaign. It universally detracts from the depth and flow of the campaign. But every solo campaign is different and some players not only can handle it, but prefer to run multiple PCs instead of dealing with NPCs. Still I would not recommend it starting out.
Uncle_Cheesedog 07-20-06, 12:23 PM	It's looking like I'm going to have the player control only ONE character and control a single NPC myself, but I won't introduce that character until the PC has at least gotten to level three or possibly ~5000 exp depending on how things go, that way the character will always be a higher level than the 'sidekick'. I think this will work because the more I think about it, it would be very difficult for one person to have realistic interactions with him/herself than with a DM controlled character. It also works out better because players usually become attached to their characters and having two would kind of detract from that. So I think that this is the rout I'm going to take. And I'd like to thank you KJW for taking the time to go into such detail about solo-campaigns, that post has been a HUGE help and I'll be sure to post any questions I have there in the future. Thanks again!
Amadan 07-20-06, 05:29 PM	Guess I don't agree with "Conventional Wisdom" I've DM'ed for years and years and it's almost always been w. single player who controlled 2-3 PC's while I control 1 or 2 DMPC's. I've never had any problems with his differentiating between the characters and playing them to potential, nor have I notice it becoming "like Warhammer."
KJW 07-20-06, 07:24 PM	Whatever works for you, but I think that from my experience and most DMs it that running multiple PCs is not the best strategy for most solo campaigns. Still it all depends upon the player, depth or roleplaying, and style of campaign so for your campaigns it may work very well. That is the beauty of solo campaigns they are tailored for the DM and player specifically and really there is no such thing as a standard solo campaign.
SPEAR9 07-20-06, 09:07 PM	I've played alot w/ my gf(now fiance') and I stash an NPC somewhere in the game early.The plot should take him/her close to your NPC's location.I like to use an NPC that makes up for your PC's shortcomings.A fighter can't detect traps,but NPC rogues can.Magic users don't have good melee' skills,but NPC fighter does,etc. You can place obstacles that,at first,can't be overcome by your player's class skills.But they can come back later.Loose ends make good excuses to throw in an extra encounter. I run The NPC most of the time,but I allow her to use him as cannonfodder when the occasion arises. Hope this adds a little to the wealth of knowledge made available to you. Good luck,Happy gaming MYK
Jaaaysus 07-21-06, 12:57 AM	Glad you like our thread on solo campaigns, you can also post questions on that thread for help from a number of DMs who regularly run solo campaigns. Thanks Jaaysus for posting a link to the thread. :D Don't mention it (besides a new Campaign Will Get that thread moving again ;) )
Setzertrancer 07-21-06, 07:30 AM	I would recommend you allow then them be a gesthalt character, which will allow them to have more resources at their disposal. This variant is in the Unearthed Arcana. If you don't have it i'll explain gesthalt breifly. The character chooses to be two classes at once and instead of multiclassing and becoming a Barbarian 1 / Cleric 1 they will be a Barbarian/Cleric 1 and what they do is they take the best from each of those classes. They will get the Base attack of the Barbarian as well as the hit die. and all of the class features of both (Spells, Rage, armor proficientcy, Turn Undead. So Class features stack and anything else, base atk, saves hitdie and skills. you take the highest of the two there is to choose from. You can do this with any class although some may clash. Edit: Some ideas could include Fighter/Rogue: Plenty of feats and ability to find and disarm traps very versatile combination. Barbarian/Fighter: Not sure how useful this would be in a single player campaign, but think feats + rage + trap sense, couldn't be a harder tank to kill, one of my favourite options Figher/Wizard: can hold your own in a fight and the spells of a wizard can do just about any thing else, won't be able to wear much armor however, you'll need dex.
Rerecros 07-21-06, 08:36 AM	When making a gestalt character, remember, u are taking the strongest qualities from each. So make sure the classes are different without conflicting. A Barbarian/fighter is a poor combination, because all u end up with is a barbarian with Bonus feats. But, a Barbarian/Rogue would get not only rogue abilities, but good reflex saves, awesome skills, and hand crossbow proficiency. Make sure that one has better BAB, HD, Skills and skills than the other. And Make sure that they don't have the same good and bad saves. Also, keep armor in mind. Anything mixed with a monk or arcane spell-caster should not wear armor. Anything mixed with a ranger or a bard should not wear anything but light armor. Anything mixed with a barbarian or druid should not wear heavy armor. Anything mixed with a druid should not wear metal armor.