A solo player [Archive] - Wizards Community

A solo player [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Heroic
02-18-05, 09:07 AM Me and my friend want to start a new session . I've never played dnd , he played a bit before but we decided that I could be the DM. We are good friends and I don't think that a few starting problems would get in our way. We are just trying to have fun.
Anyway , we to play alone, in another words we don't want other PC's in our adventure. Do you think it's possible to have an adventure with just 1 PC? Do you have any previous experience with this ?
Decepticons
02-18-05, 09:19 AM Sure, having a solo PC is totally acceptable Heroic. However, as a new DM and with only one player, you have to keep a few things in mind:

1. KEEP IT SIMPLE! If you're just starting out, there is NO GREATER RULE. Start off at level 1 and just play a bit. If your bored at level on, make a new campaign at a higher level, but play a few levels starting at level one so you and your player can both get a grip on the rules.

2. Remember that the "core rules" are designed with a party of four in mind. You're going to have to compensate. When planning your encounters, remember your "party" has 1/4 the power of normal parties. Four orcs is a challenge for a level one, four person party, so that means that one Orc is a challenge for your solo adventurer. I haven't run a one player campaign before, but I think if I did, I would make ALL skills avalible to the player as class skills and maybe give them twice the normal skill points.

3. Normal, four+ person parties have lots of classes with a diverse set of skills. Your solo adventurer doesn't. If he/she wants to play a fighter, you should make some magic healing avalible to him in the form of a wand or at least a few potions of cure light wounds.

4. KEEP IT SIMPLE.
Heroic
02-18-05, 09:25 AM Sure, having a solo PC is totally acceptable Heroic. However, as a new DM and with only one player, you have to keep a few things in mind:

1. KEEP IT SIMPLE! If you're just starting out, there is NO GREATER RULE. Start off at level 1 and just play a bit. If your bored at level on, make a new campaign at a higher level, but play a few levels starting at level one so you and your player can both get a grip on the rules.

2. Remember that the "core rules" are designed with a party of four in mind. You're going to have to compensate. When planning your encounters, remember your "party" has 1/4 the power of normal parties. Four orcs is a challenge for a level one, four person party, so that means that one Orc is a challenge for your solo adventurer. I haven't run a one player campaign before, but I think if I did, I would make ALL skills avalible to the player as class skills and maybe give them twice the normal skill points.

3. Normal, four+ person parties have lots of classes with a diverse set of skills. Your solo adventurer doesn't. If he/she wants to play a fighter, you should make some magic healing avalible to him in the form of a wand or at least a few potions of cure light wounds.

4. KEEP IT SIMPLE.

Yes, thank you. I will probably also put some NPC's to his aid. But thank you for your tips, sure helped.
True Cavalier
02-18-05, 09:35 AM Just my one cent, don't put in too many npcs (enemies & friends) in battle because it will end up with the dm taking 8-9 turns (for all creatures) while the player will only have 1... Basically that's what always happens, but with only one player, the dm's turn will seem so much longer.
Decepticons
02-18-05, 09:39 AM NPC helpers are a good idea but remember a few things with them as well.

1) Don't let them become DMPCs. Resist the urge, as DM, to get attached to NPCs and run them like your character(s).

2) Don't let them overshadow the PC. Make sure the NPCs are the ones in the "sidekick" role and not your PC. Nothing will turn a player off faster than his/her character becoming a side note in the campaign while the NPCs run around taking care of business.
Dark_Tide
02-18-05, 09:52 AM One PC campaigns are great, one of my most memorable characters was in a one PC campaign... Celedor, Elven pallidin of the west...

Anyhow, these kind of campaigns are great to learn the rules and have a great time on rainy days. Later you will want more people in your group, but by then, you'll be a pro... or close enough. You can then recuit whoever you'd like to start a new campaign with the knowledge of playing a handfull of campaigns. Give DMing a chance, maybe you'd like it, and same with your friend. Good luck!
ECOM
02-18-05, 10:20 AM I have dm a few one person adventures and they can be great fun I have some sugestions fo ryou.

1. start at level 3 or 5 instead of 1. level 1 charicters are extreamly fragile (expecily wizards) excpecilly when alown. and figuring out the correct chalenge rating is hard for one level 1 charicter (generaly a single charicter can handle a challenge equal to 4 less then his level with no problem)

2. Try to avoid planing too many situations where combat is needed. one charicter can not stand up to as many combats as a normal party.

3. Both of you spend a lot of time and really detail the charicters background and history. flesh out npc that the charicter knows or will come into contack with soon (let him help with npcs that are part of his background, childhood frends ect. these could also be future charicters if the first one dies)

4. be prepared to fudge die rolls untill you get use to adjusting cr. im not saying that you should do this just to keep the pc alive but if you thought that an encounter should be easy and it turns out to be really dificult this is where you may want to fudge.

5. with only one pc tpk is very easy. also remember that death is not the only result of combat and should be rare (unless you like starting over all the time)

6. If you have it the unerthed arcana has rules for recharge magic which help make wizards playable without suport at early levels

7. when creating a charicter follow the normal rules* but also give the charicter 5 extra class skills of his choice +1 extra skill point/ level ( +4 at level 1), With only one charicter he will not be as versitile as a party and will need the skill boost (another option is to lower the dc of some skill checks this is better if you see adding others to your game soon)

* I also have given an extra feat at 1st level which has not been detrimental, but i have not been able to determon if really needed

Of all the solo games I have run, the most fun i had was with the player playing a rouge in a city game.

have fun
ecom
CuttinCurt
02-18-05, 12:02 PM I played many solo adventures in my day. One of them was in 3.0, the rest in 2.0, when multi-class characters were quite more powerful than they are now.

With that said, definately have fun with this. Soloing is the most fun, in my opinion, and it makes the pc the whole focus of the adventure.

Start with small crits, testing things out one orc at a time... :) But one of the main problems I incurred as a dm for a solo adventure, was being patient. Battle is not the say all of these solo adventures. Soloing opens up so much more potential roleplay that it would be a shame to not spend gobbs of time rp'ing. (After saving the girl from the ravishings of her would be orcish captor, the pc stands there with the woman, her clothing half torn and bruised, wondering what he could say to console her and make her feel safe. She flies into his arms, kissing his face thanking him for saving her life. Does this lead to conversation or something else?) Only the pc can dictate how it will go. Talking between characters like this is so vital to brining them to life. And while the girl is thanking the pc, the only thing he can think about is the fact he thought he just saw the orc twitch, not quite dead yet, so he throws the girl out of his arms and stabs the beast again? or does he allow the girl to continue?

Just some fun stuff that can make the killing of the beast seem secondary to the rp afterward.

And then keep a timeline. Certain events happened at a certain time. The pc had a brawl in a tavern at such and such time, knocking out the lt. of the local thieves guild. If the pc is not out of that town in 2 days, then a strike against him will occur.

Maybe the fight in the bar was just a small misunderstanding. Maybe it had nothing to do with the pc. But he knocked someone out, now you have ammunition to work with.

Let he Pc's actions dictate the way the game goes. It gives the pc life. It is so critical in these types of games.

I know I am rambling, but some of the best games I had were this way and I wanted to share the successes we had with them.

CC
Temroc
02-18-05, 12:25 PM What my wife and I do (as we move around too much to have a constant group of players) is play where I DM and she PCs. She just has 3 characters that she plays - currently a barbarian, a druid and a ranger in a very foresty campaign. It takes a little more effort - you have to remember which character is carrying what potions, or who does the talking and stuff, but its very fun when it works. It helps with the CRs and stuff a little more than just having one character do an adventure built for four.

Or - pick up Unearthed Arcana and try out the Gestalt characters. Play two classes at one!!
Mandarbgrim
02-18-05, 01:08 PM Yeah, I recommend trying to play gestault..although it makes things more complicated. It makes the characters more well rounded and heroic. A large part of my gaming experience has been playing solo with my cousin DMing when I was a kid. It is actually easier in a lot of ways to introduce tailored plothooks, and you don't have to worry about pc's conflicting with each other, or doing something that isn't in character just to keep the game flowing.
Versipellis
02-18-05, 04:04 PM I am currently DMing a solo adventure and my player seems to have no problems he is currently a lvl 2 Samurai and enjoys the challenge of thinking new ways to overcome that fact that he might have to set off a trap or two, so what I am saying is allow him to hire a warrior or expert npc and he/she pays for it, but if they don't want that allow them to tactically think in game and out of game for the solution then make an ability check based on what they say.
Companero
02-18-05, 05:49 PM Almost all my games, whatever system, have been solos. I do think they are the most fun, because you can really concentrate on the characters...

1) Don't let them become DMPCs. Resist the urge, as DM, to get attached to NPCs and run them like your character(s).

Very important rule, that.

On the other hand, some decent NPC support is useful, and can turn out very cool...

I have a long running solo Planescape campaign were the character is a rather self absorbed, research and knowledge obsessed wizard, who became more and more egotisitical as became more powerful - so I thought it might be fun to force some responsibility on him...

What happened was that a teenage tiefling escaped slave broke into his house in Sigil with the intention of stealing food and got caught in the act, but managed to talk him out of punishing her, and basically appealed to his conscience... The wizard decided (without any pushing from me at all...heh) to take her in, by his logic because it would be cheaper than hiring a servant, and he needed someone to carry his extra stuff on quests, plus its useful to have someone small and stealthy around to pick locks and stuff... He spent alot of time acting as if he really didn't like the arrangement, but when she suddenly disappeered he still felt the need to go and find her, despite the fact that it seemed like she had simply upped and left...

The problem recently has been that he has been (basically through his own lack of thought for other people rather than intention) leading her into danger... afterall he has just passed 19th level, while she is probably still on 2nd... Most recently, his own general lack of common sense (a wizard of my calibre is above such things as the Blood War... :rolleyes: heh) almost led to a fate worse than death for his new travelling partner and this had led the character (I have a pc who loves roleplaying far more than combat :) ) into some serious soul searching regarding the way he has treated his cohorts over the years...
friedmad
02-18-05, 06:00 PM the only problem with solo PCs is that challenge ratings are based on a group of 4 players....

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Heroic 02-18-05, 09:07 AM	Me and my friend want to start a new session . I've never played dnd , he played a bit before but we decided that I could be the DM. We are good friends and I don't think that a few starting problems would get in our way. We are just trying to have fun. Anyway , we to play alone, in another words we don't want other PC's in our adventure. Do you think it's possible to have an adventure with just 1 PC? Do you have any previous experience with this ?
Decepticons 02-18-05, 09:19 AM	Sure, having a solo PC is totally acceptable Heroic. However, as a new DM and with only one player, you have to keep a few things in mind: 1. KEEP IT SIMPLE! If you're just starting out, there is NO GREATER RULE. Start off at level 1 and just play a bit. If your bored at level on, make a new campaign at a higher level, but play a few levels starting at level one so you and your player can both get a grip on the rules. 2. Remember that the "core rules" are designed with a party of four in mind. You're going to have to compensate. When planning your encounters, remember your "party" has 1/4 the power of normal parties. Four orcs is a challenge for a level one, four person party, so that means that one Orc is a challenge for your solo adventurer. I haven't run a one player campaign before, but I think if I did, I would make ALL skills avalible to the player as class skills and maybe give them twice the normal skill points. 3. Normal, four+ person parties have lots of classes with a diverse set of skills. Your solo adventurer doesn't. If he/she wants to play a fighter, you should make some magic healing avalible to him in the form of a wand or at least a few potions of cure light wounds. 4. KEEP IT SIMPLE.
Heroic 02-18-05, 09:25 AM	Sure, having a solo PC is totally acceptable Heroic. However, as a new DM and with only one player, you have to keep a few things in mind: 1. KEEP IT SIMPLE! If you're just starting out, there is NO GREATER RULE. Start off at level 1 and just play a bit. If your bored at level on, make a new campaign at a higher level, but play a few levels starting at level one so you and your player can both get a grip on the rules. 2. Remember that the "core rules" are designed with a party of four in mind. You're going to have to compensate. When planning your encounters, remember your "party" has 1/4 the power of normal parties. Four orcs is a challenge for a level one, four person party, so that means that one Orc is a challenge for your solo adventurer. I haven't run a one player campaign before, but I think if I did, I would make ALL skills avalible to the player as class skills and maybe give them twice the normal skill points. 3. Normal, four+ person parties have lots of classes with a diverse set of skills. Your solo adventurer doesn't. If he/she wants to play a fighter, you should make some magic healing avalible to him in the form of a wand or at least a few potions of cure light wounds. 4. KEEP IT SIMPLE. Yes, thank you. I will probably also put some NPC's to his aid. But thank you for your tips, sure helped.
True Cavalier 02-18-05, 09:35 AM	Just my one cent, don't put in too many npcs (enemies & friends) in battle because it will end up with the dm taking 8-9 turns (for all creatures) while the player will only have 1... Basically that's what always happens, but with only one player, the dm's turn will seem so much longer.
Decepticons 02-18-05, 09:39 AM	NPC helpers are a good idea but remember a few things with them as well. 1) Don't let them become DMPCs. Resist the urge, as DM, to get attached to NPCs and run them like your character(s). 2) Don't let them overshadow the PC. Make sure the NPCs are the ones in the "sidekick" role and not your PC. Nothing will turn a player off faster than his/her character becoming a side note in the campaign while the NPCs run around taking care of business.
Dark_Tide 02-18-05, 09:52 AM	One PC campaigns are great, one of my most memorable characters was in a one PC campaign... Celedor, Elven pallidin of the west... Anyhow, these kind of campaigns are great to learn the rules and have a great time on rainy days. Later you will want more people in your group, but by then, you'll be a pro... or close enough. You can then recuit whoever you'd like to start a new campaign with the knowledge of playing a handfull of campaigns. Give DMing a chance, maybe you'd like it, and same with your friend. Good luck!
ECOM 02-18-05, 10:20 AM	I have dm a few one person adventures and they can be great fun I have some sugestions fo ryou. 1. start at level 3 or 5 instead of 1. level 1 charicters are extreamly fragile (expecily wizards) excpecilly when alown. and figuring out the correct chalenge rating is hard for one level 1 charicter (generaly a single charicter can handle a challenge equal to 4 less then his level with no problem) 2. Try to avoid planing too many situations where combat is needed. one charicter can not stand up to as many combats as a normal party. 3. Both of you spend a lot of time and really detail the charicters background and history. flesh out npc that the charicter knows or will come into contack with soon (let him help with npcs that are part of his background, childhood frends ect. these could also be future charicters if the first one dies) 4. be prepared to fudge die rolls untill you get use to adjusting cr. im not saying that you should do this just to keep the pc alive but if you thought that an encounter should be easy and it turns out to be really dificult this is where you may want to fudge. 5. with only one pc tpk is very easy. also remember that death is not the only result of combat and should be rare (unless you like starting over all the time) 6. If you have it the unerthed arcana has rules for recharge magic which help make wizards playable without suport at early levels 7. when creating a charicter follow the normal rules* but also give the charicter 5 extra class skills of his choice +1 extra skill point/ level ( +4 at level 1), With only one charicter he will not be as versitile as a party and will need the skill boost (another option is to lower the dc of some skill checks this is better if you see adding others to your game soon) * I also have given an extra feat at 1st level which has not been detrimental, but i have not been able to determon if really needed Of all the solo games I have run, the most fun i had was with the player playing a rouge in a city game. have fun ecom
CuttinCurt 02-18-05, 12:02 PM	I played many solo adventures in my day. One of them was in 3.0, the rest in 2.0, when multi-class characters were quite more powerful than they are now. With that said, definately have fun with this. Soloing is the most fun, in my opinion, and it makes the pc the whole focus of the adventure. Start with small crits, testing things out one orc at a time... :) But one of the main problems I incurred as a dm for a solo adventure, was being patient. Battle is not the say all of these solo adventures. Soloing opens up so much more potential roleplay that it would be a shame to not spend gobbs of time rp'ing. (After saving the girl from the ravishings of her would be orcish captor, the pc stands there with the woman, her clothing half torn and bruised, wondering what he could say to console her and make her feel safe. She flies into his arms, kissing his face thanking him for saving her life. Does this lead to conversation or something else?) Only the pc can dictate how it will go. Talking between characters like this is so vital to brining them to life. And while the girl is thanking the pc, the only thing he can think about is the fact he thought he just saw the orc twitch, not quite dead yet, so he throws the girl out of his arms and stabs the beast again? or does he allow the girl to continue? Just some fun stuff that can make the killing of the beast seem secondary to the rp afterward. And then keep a timeline. Certain events happened at a certain time. The pc had a brawl in a tavern at such and such time, knocking out the lt. of the local thieves guild. If the pc is not out of that town in 2 days, then a strike against him will occur. Maybe the fight in the bar was just a small misunderstanding. Maybe it had nothing to do with the pc. But he knocked someone out, now you have ammunition to work with. Let he Pc's actions dictate the way the game goes. It gives the pc life. It is so critical in these types of games. I know I am rambling, but some of the best games I had were this way and I wanted to share the successes we had with them. CC
Temroc 02-18-05, 12:25 PM	What my wife and I do (as we move around too much to have a constant group of players) is play where I DM and she PCs. She just has 3 characters that she plays - currently a barbarian, a druid and a ranger in a very foresty campaign. It takes a little more effort - you have to remember which character is carrying what potions, or who does the talking and stuff, but its very fun when it works. It helps with the CRs and stuff a little more than just having one character do an adventure built for four. Or - pick up Unearthed Arcana and try out the Gestalt characters. Play two classes at one!!
Mandarbgrim 02-18-05, 01:08 PM	Yeah, I recommend trying to play gestault..although it makes things more complicated. It makes the characters more well rounded and heroic. A large part of my gaming experience has been playing solo with my cousin DMing when I was a kid. It is actually easier in a lot of ways to introduce tailored plothooks, and you don't have to worry about pc's conflicting with each other, or doing something that isn't in character just to keep the game flowing.
Versipellis 02-18-05, 04:04 PM	I am currently DMing a solo adventure and my player seems to have no problems he is currently a lvl 2 Samurai and enjoys the challenge of thinking new ways to overcome that fact that he might have to set off a trap or two, so what I am saying is allow him to hire a warrior or expert npc and he/she pays for it, but if they don't want that allow them to tactically think in game and out of game for the solution then make an ability check based on what they say.
Companero 02-18-05, 05:49 PM	Almost all my games, whatever system, have been solos. I do think they are the most fun, because you can really concentrate on the characters... 1) Don't let them become DMPCs. Resist the urge, as DM, to get attached to NPCs and run them like your character(s). Very important rule, that. On the other hand, some decent NPC support is useful, and can turn out very cool... I have a long running solo Planescape campaign were the character is a rather self absorbed, research and knowledge obsessed wizard, who became more and more egotisitical as became more powerful - so I thought it might be fun to force some responsibility on him... What happened was that a teenage tiefling escaped slave broke into his house in Sigil with the intention of stealing food and got caught in the act, but managed to talk him out of punishing her, and basically appealed to his conscience... The wizard decided (without any pushing from me at all...heh) to take her in, by his logic because it would be cheaper than hiring a servant, and he needed someone to carry his extra stuff on quests, plus its useful to have someone small and stealthy around to pick locks and stuff... He spent alot of time acting as if he really didn't like the arrangement, but when she suddenly disappeered he still felt the need to go and find her, despite the fact that it seemed like she had simply upped and left... The problem recently has been that he has been (basically through his own lack of thought for other people rather than intention) leading her into danger... afterall he has just passed 19th level, while she is probably still on 2nd... Most recently, his own general lack of common sense (a wizard of my calibre is above such things as the Blood War... :rolleyes: heh) almost led to a fate worse than death for his new travelling partner and this had led the character (I have a pc who loves roleplaying far more than combat :) ) into some serious soul searching regarding the way he has treated his cohorts over the years...
friedmad 02-18-05, 06:00 PM	the only problem with solo PCs is that challenge ratings are based on a group of 4 players....