Paragon one-on-one: A slayer versus the world

[Quickleaf]

An old gaming buddy and I were thinking of doing a one-shot reunion game; he's more into the SCA and I'm more into gaming, but there's enough cross-over to keep it interesting. Since the last time we gamed together was 2e, and he hasn't done much gaming since (a bit of 7th Sea), I was wondering if I could do a one-shot in a "rules light" sort of 4e.

His character was Kiryana Silverspring, an aasimar planewalker fighter and sensate. Sort of a cross between Conan or Red Sonja and Oscar Wilde, just a bit more good-aligned. I think the character was around 13th or 14th level when we ended our old campaign (there were 3 of us).

So I'm thinking of converting his old PC to a 15th level essentials slayer and running a "returned after mysteriously missing for seven years" adventure. Not sure about the particulars, probably something involving the Blood War, Osiris, the Sensates, and the PC's angelic heritage.

Anyhow this opens up two questions:

1. Has anyone done one-on-one paragon adventures before? Any advice? Are there pitfalls to watch out for that are different from heroic tier?

2. How can I tweak the slayer to make it more friendly to an improv style of play? How should I present a one-page character sheet?

 

[SensoryThought]

The advantages of a slayer over a standard fighter are numerous for your scenario.

1. The defender abilities and marking of the fighter are largely wasted in a single player game.
2. Starting paragon can introduce an overwhelming number of powers to a new player of any standard class. Essentials classes are a lot simpler by comparison.
3. A slayer has crazy damage and good defenses to mean good solo play.

I did a bit of 1-on-1 when I was younger and found it a challenge. Even one extra player makes a huge difference. Fear the boot did a good podcast on single player games, but is was back a bit (you'd have to trawl though the list).

 

[Quickleaf]

Yeah that's why I figured slayer was best (plus it fits his play style better).

Ah perhaps I wasn't clear. I've done single player games before, with this same player in fact (though it was years ago). So I'm aware of general stuff to watch out for. But I've never done it with 4e, and never at paragon. I've seen a couple posts about heroic tier 4e solo adventures but none on paragon.

 

[Rampant]

The big thing to watch out for in this case is monsters with ranged attacks especially those who can slow or immobilize at a distance where the slayer is weak.

I'd advise avoiding most solo creatures because they are specifically designed to take on parties, and those with extra action counts especially would quickly overwhelm a loner.

An alternative solution might be to give the player companion pcs to round out the party a bit.

back to soloing

Without a leader your on demand healing is gonna be pretty light so I advise dropping gear that will keep the slayer going longer, anything that provides heals, temp hp, or defense boosts is a good thing.

Another issue you'll run into is swarming, slayers are lethal one on one and have some small ability to do crowd control but a minion rush can still be pretty harsh if the slayer didn't invest in those abilities, so make sure the slayer is packing cleaves or soemething.

 

[cavalier973]

What level will the character be? You might consider handing over a "Cloak of the Phoenix"; when its wearer drops below 1 hit point, it does fire damage to nearby creatures, and the wearer reappears at the start of his next turn (from Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium).

 

[RangerWickett]

Well, if he's 15th level, remember that for a "balanced encounter," your XP budget is 1200 XP. You can stretch and fiddle around that based on how many encounters you expect him to face before he gets to rest, and whether you want him to be a bad-ass or to be terrified of his enemies.

Some options.

Hew Through Enemies (1200 xp)
Eight level 11 minions
Four level 15 minions
Sixteen level 7 minions (who will almost never hit him)

A Fair Fight (1200 xp)
A single level 15 creature.
A level 11 elite.
A level 11 standard monster, plus four level 11 minions.

A Notable Challenge (1600 xp)
A level 17 monster.
A level 13 elite.
A level 13 standard, plus four level 13 minions.
A level 15 standard, plus four level 9 minions.

A Severe Challenge (2400 xp)
A level 19 monster.
A level 15 elite.
A level 15 normal and eight level 11 minions.


Also, if you're making his PC in the character builder, remember that there's the House Rules option. If you want to give him a little more oomph, maybe stat him as a level 15 slayer, then add in a bonus level 13 encounter fighter attack, or maybe a couple low-level daily cleric utility spells. Something that matches his schtick, and gives him a few more options so he doesn't get bored just using the same at-wills and stances.

 

[Quickleaf]

The big thing to watch out for in this case is monsters with ranged attacks especially those who can slow or immobilize at a distance where the slayer is weak.

I'd advise avoiding most solo creatures because they are specifically designed to take on parties, and those with extra action counts especially would quickly overwhelm a loner.

Yeah, I'm thinking I should keep conditions to a minimum.

Without a leader your on demand healing is gonna be pretty light so I advise dropping gear that will keep the slayer going longer, anything that provides heals, temp hp, or defense boosts is a good thing.

Any suggestions?

So far I picked out a Brooch of Vitality (which grants extra max HP).

Also, I'm giving the PC the Striking Resurgence feat (to attack when using second wind), and the Reactive Surge utility (to spend a surge when bloodied).

Another issue you'll run into is swarming, slayers are lethal one on one and have some small ability to do crowd control but a minion rush can still be pretty harsh if the slayer didn't invest in those abilities, so make sure the slayer is packing cleaves or soemething.

Yeah, the feel I want is the legendary warrior against overwhelming odds. The cleave stance seems like a good addition.

What level will the character be? You might consider handing over a "Cloak of the Phoenix"; when its wearer drops below 1 hit point, it does fire damage to nearby creatures, and the wearer reappears at the start of his next turn (from Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium).

15th

The cloak actually sounds really cool, I'll look it up. Any other suggestions?

Well, if he's 15th level, remember that for a "balanced encounter," your XP budget is 1200 XP. You can stretch and fiddle around that based on how many encounters you expect him to face before he gets to rest, and whether you want him to be a bad-ass or to be terrified of his enemies.

Great break down, thanks RangerWickett!

One of the things I wanted to include are some iconic planar enemies, in particular a marilith (which is usually a level 24 elite), so I'm playing with ways to handle that.

Also, if you're making his PC in the character builder, remember that there's the House Rules option. If you want to give him a little more oomph, maybe stat him as a level 15 slayer, then add in a bonus level 13 encounter fighter attack, or maybe a couple low-level daily cleric utility spells. Something that matches his schtick, and gives him a few more options so he doesn't get bored just using the same at-wills and stances.

Nope, not using the character builder.

Yeah, I'm definitely house ruling the PC quite a bit...

Here's my first go at a one-page character sheet that's a pretty honest conversion (also attached as PDF).

You'll notice right away that I included a lot about sensory powers - that was one of the PC's shticks, so I used a Sensate paragon path written up on the Planewalker website; that same writeup listed "Gifts of Belief" (boons basically) which provided bonuses to Insight/Perception - I gave her most of them.

I also fudged the skills a bit, made Cleave based off Dexterity, and made up "Blade Strikes True" as a 6th level utility power.

The Celestial Sunblade is a minor artifact that's basically a sunblade with the master's blade property (+1 attack when in stance) and the normal sunblade daily power souped up.

Also I used Hastur's traits & talents from Traits (4E) - Hastur to round out the character.

 

[Quickleaf]

I'm also contemplating letting the PC use healing surges as action points to take an extra action, probably limited to 1/round.

 

[Kynn]

That's a lovely character sheet. (What I meant to say in the XP.)

 

[Quickleaf]

That's a lovely character sheet. (What I meant to say in the XP.)

Thank you. The pic is from Mark Smylie's excellent Artesia comic, but it captures this PC so well. I'll probably roll the "blade strikes true" into my last idea so that the PC can spend healing surges at-will to make extra attacks or re-roll missed attacks. This way I can have some tougher enemies go toe to toe.

The basic premise for the adventure is going to be breaking a potential alliance between baatezu and tanar'ri which could end the Blood War. There are a couple twists I'm brainstorming...

The malebranche and marilith responsible for the alliance are lovers who have to act covertly until they score a major victory or their respective sides will see them as traitors.

A young paladin named Blessed Agretia now commands Kiryana's army; Agretia is on a secret mission to agitate the fiends into resuming the Blood War. She will be a good-aligned foil to the PC.

We'll probably set aside 3 to 4 hours to game, but it's hard to plan how much ground we'll cover. I'm used to planning sessions for groups where we're lucky if we get thru 3 encounters!