A single player game.. [Archive] - Wizards Community

A single player game.. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Lord_Cronos
10-01-07, 05:15 PM I am going to be running a single player game soon ( my daughter she's playing a rogue.) Now having said that I have a few questions.

1. How would CR's work? As in would a CR 1 creature be over powered for her?

2. Are there any single player adventures, that anyone has seen because I havn't seen any yet.

3. Any good ideas for adventure ideas?
pres_man
10-01-07, 05:26 PM 1. How would CR's work? As in would a CR 1 creature be over powered for her?
Sort of, basically it would be 50-50 chance she would be killed or would kill the creature, now if that is the type of game (which means she probably won't last more than a few encounters) you want go for it. But the game is set up that a player should be able to handle 3-4 encounters of the appropriate level per day (24 hour period), so each encounter shouldn't be that challenging.

How I would handle it is by first determining what would be an appropriate challenge for a party of 4, looking at larger number of foes, not more powerful foes. So for a party of four 1st level characters 4 CR 1/4 foes would be appropriate. Now since the party you are working with is 1/4 the normal party size, you should send in 1/4 the number of foes, e.g. 1 CR 1/4 foe. Something a single kobold warrior, tiny monstrous spider, or cat for example.

2. Are there any single player adventures, that anyone has seen because I havn't seen any yet.
You could always include an NPC to tag along and help out (some type of healer might be nice). Heck an awakened animal cleric might be a kind of fun companion for her.
arsieiuni
10-01-07, 05:31 PM 1. CRs work the same for parties with 1 character as they do for parties of 4 characters. If you read the ECL section in the DMG (The part above the encounter level chart) it'll tell you all about that. But more importantly, advice from a person who plays in 1 and 2 player games all the time: Either be ready to throw 1 lower CR creatures at her, giving her xp as if it had been a CR higher, or max her hitpoints on each hit die.

I.E. She is lvl 4, she fights a cr 3, getting xp like for a cr 4.
Only do this if you're not maxing her hitpoints though. You may still not want to throw as much at her as you would at a full party, but don't give her extra xp if you're maxing hit die.

If you need to throw certain kinds of monsters at her for this or that module or adventure, then use their normal advancement, even in reverse if you have to. You may also have to play around with this game for a while before you'll have a good idea of the balance needed. Just start a little soft and try not to kill her right off the bat and you'll probably get the hang of it quickly.

2. I never see single player adventures for D&D, but I constantly turn adventures into 1-2 player worthy by any means necessary. If you have to look over it before you play and lower some monster groups' numbers, remove the troll you know is 4 cr higher than your one party member, etc, that's fine. A big note... if you have one player, she's not a rogue, and the adventure really needs a rogue to make it work, toss in an NPC. Players hate to have NPCs tossed at them, because they eat some xp, but think of the IN-character side of it. You're stealthing through a dungeon trying to free prisoners and run across a trapped rogue. You manage to get him out... he's really good at picking locks... you'd want him along. (Yeah I missed where you said she's playing a rogue, but it doesn't matter because it was just an example, hehe!) He'd make your life easier. Realistically, characters would often more want to take the NPC along than their players. And in a tiny game like this, you sometimes have to make sacrifices one way or another to make things work. It's not a big deal and sometimes it can be fun. I recently tossed in an NPC ranger in a module I ran for our 2 player game and he turned into a really fun addition because the personality that developed for him in my head was really cool.
3. Look for modules on the internet. Pre-made adventures are my favorite way to do D&D. You get an adventure idea, monsters already set up, and a lot of work done FOR you. I've tried both ways, running out of the book and off the fly, and running with a module. I prefer modules now.

Some links that might help:
http://www.randomrpg.com/resources.php
http://www.rpg-resource.org.uk/
http://www.rpggateway.com/
http://members.fortunecity.com/gmdak/
http://thelorekeeper.com/

You can do some more looking if none of that is what you want.

Anyway, in conclusion, I play one and two player games all the time and it's as much fun if not more fun than running games with bigger parties. Also, my husband and I co-gm, co-play games a lot. We'll both make a character, then take turns running modules for them both. Yes, that makes us each a gm and player at the same time back and forth, but it's no problem. We just play with it and have fun.

I hope any of this was helpful. It's the best I can do!
Good luck!
Dragonsblood
10-01-07, 05:44 PM 1. I suggest completely ignoring the CR system unless you're going to run 3 DMPCs to back her up. It was designed for a party of 4.

Instead you should look at each enemy you throw at her and determine if it would be overpowering based on their attack bonus vs her AC, her attack bonus vs their AC, hit point totals, damage potential, special abilities, etc.

2. You're going to have a tough time finding modules for a single player. DnD is a team game. It's not designed for solo gaming (though it's possible with some modification).

3. For adventures I would focus on her rogue abilities. Lots of stealth, lots of traps, plenty of opportunity to open combat with a sneak attack. If she's making the typical CN seedy kind of rogue, make the adventure revolve around criminal elements like a theive's guild. Instead of heading to a dungeon to kill the evil dragon, have her break into the noble's house to steal an expensive do-da.
Holy_Beholder
10-01-07, 06:08 PM Bring the CR down by 2, or use a quarter of the people. Leave xp intact, instead of increasing it, she already gets 4 shares.
Lord_Cronos
10-01-07, 06:58 PM Thanx for all the input!
FarrenCronwing
10-01-07, 09:02 PM Honestly, I couldn't think of anything better to help you than http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=471897&highlight=lessons+from+dming this link.
noctambulist
10-01-07, 11:10 PM Some of the best advice I've found is in this thread here called Guide to Solo Campaigns (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=553739)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lord_Cronos 10-01-07, 05:15 PM	I am going to be running a single player game soon ( my daughter she's playing a rogue.) Now having said that I have a few questions. 1. How would CR's work? As in would a CR 1 creature be over powered for her? 2. Are there any single player adventures, that anyone has seen because I havn't seen any yet. 3. Any good ideas for adventure ideas?
pres_man 10-01-07, 05:26 PM	1. How would CR's work? As in would a CR 1 creature be over powered for her? Sort of, basically it would be 50-50 chance she would be killed or would kill the creature, now if that is the type of game (which means she probably won't last more than a few encounters) you want go for it. But the game is set up that a player should be able to handle 3-4 encounters of the appropriate level per day (24 hour period), so each encounter shouldn't be that challenging. How I would handle it is by first determining what would be an appropriate challenge for a party of 4, looking at larger number of foes, not more powerful foes. So for a party of four 1st level characters 4 CR 1/4 foes would be appropriate. Now since the party you are working with is 1/4 the normal party size, you should send in 1/4 the number of foes, e.g. 1 CR 1/4 foe. Something a single kobold warrior, tiny monstrous spider, or cat for example. 2. Are there any single player adventures, that anyone has seen because I havn't seen any yet. You could always include an NPC to tag along and help out (some type of healer might be nice). Heck an awakened animal cleric might be a kind of fun companion for her.
arsieiuni 10-01-07, 05:31 PM	1. CRs work the same for parties with 1 character as they do for parties of 4 characters. If you read the ECL section in the DMG (The part above the encounter level chart) it'll tell you all about that. But more importantly, advice from a person who plays in 1 and 2 player games all the time: Either be ready to throw 1 lower CR creatures at her, giving her xp as if it had been a CR higher, or max her hitpoints on each hit die. I.E. She is lvl 4, she fights a cr 3, getting xp like for a cr 4. Only do this if you're not maxing her hitpoints though. You may still not want to throw as much at her as you would at a full party, but don't give her extra xp if you're maxing hit die. If you need to throw certain kinds of monsters at her for this or that module or adventure, then use their normal advancement, even in reverse if you have to. You may also have to play around with this game for a while before you'll have a good idea of the balance needed. Just start a little soft and try not to kill her right off the bat and you'll probably get the hang of it quickly. 2. I never see single player adventures for D&D, but I constantly turn adventures into 1-2 player worthy by any means necessary. If you have to look over it before you play and lower some monster groups' numbers, remove the troll you know is 4 cr higher than your one party member, etc, that's fine. A big note... if you have one player, she's not a rogue, and the adventure really needs a rogue to make it work, toss in an NPC. Players hate to have NPCs tossed at them, because they eat some xp, but think of the IN-character side of it. You're stealthing through a dungeon trying to free prisoners and run across a trapped rogue. You manage to get him out... he's really good at picking locks... you'd want him along. (Yeah I missed where you said she's playing a rogue, but it doesn't matter because it was just an example, hehe!) He'd make your life easier. Realistically, characters would often more want to take the NPC along than their players. And in a tiny game like this, you sometimes have to make sacrifices one way or another to make things work. It's not a big deal and sometimes it can be fun. I recently tossed in an NPC ranger in a module I ran for our 2 player game and he turned into a really fun addition because the personality that developed for him in my head was really cool. 3. Look for modules on the internet. Pre-made adventures are my favorite way to do D&D. You get an adventure idea, monsters already set up, and a lot of work done FOR you. I've tried both ways, running out of the book and off the fly, and running with a module. I prefer modules now. Some links that might help: http://www.randomrpg.com/resources.php http://www.rpg-resource.org.uk/ http://www.rpggateway.com/ http://members.fortunecity.com/gmdak/ http://thelorekeeper.com/ You can do some more looking if none of that is what you want. Anyway, in conclusion, I play one and two player games all the time and it's as much fun if not more fun than running games with bigger parties. Also, my husband and I co-gm, co-play games a lot. We'll both make a character, then take turns running modules for them both. Yes, that makes us each a gm and player at the same time back and forth, but it's no problem. We just play with it and have fun. I hope any of this was helpful. It's the best I can do! Good luck!
Dragonsblood 10-01-07, 05:44 PM	1. I suggest completely ignoring the CR system unless you're going to run 3 DMPCs to back her up. It was designed for a party of 4. Instead you should look at each enemy you throw at her and determine if it would be overpowering based on their attack bonus vs her AC, her attack bonus vs their AC, hit point totals, damage potential, special abilities, etc. 2. You're going to have a tough time finding modules for a single player. DnD is a team game. It's not designed for solo gaming (though it's possible with some modification). 3. For adventures I would focus on her rogue abilities. Lots of stealth, lots of traps, plenty of opportunity to open combat with a sneak attack. If she's making the typical CN seedy kind of rogue, make the adventure revolve around criminal elements like a theive's guild. Instead of heading to a dungeon to kill the evil dragon, have her break into the noble's house to steal an expensive do-da.
Holy_Beholder 10-01-07, 06:08 PM	Bring the CR down by 2, or use a quarter of the people. Leave xp intact, instead of increasing it, she already gets 4 shares.
Lord_Cronos 10-01-07, 06:58 PM	Thanx for all the input!
FarrenCronwing 10-01-07, 09:02 PM	Honestly, I couldn't think of anything better to help you than http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=471897&highlight=lessons+from+dming this link.
noctambulist 10-01-07, 11:10 PM	Some of the best advice I've found is in this thread here called Guide to Solo Campaigns (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=553739)