Do you run a solo adventure?

JesterPoet · Mar 31, 2004

I was thinking of running a solo adventure for my wife. So I have a few questions:

1) Do you run a solo adventure?

2) If so, how do you scale it? Do you provide the character with NPC companions a lot? Is it fun?

3) Do you drink Tea, Coffee, both, or neither?

mikebr99 · Mar 31, 2004

Gestalt BABY!

see ya...

Mike

BiggusGeekus · Mar 31, 2004

JesterPoet said:
I was thinking of running a solo adventure for my wife. So I have a few questions:

1) Do you run a solo adventure?

By myself! Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk! Thank you Ladies and Germs, I'll be here all week.

2) If so, how do you scale it? Do you provide the character with NPC companions a lot? Is it fun?

I let the player hire one or two companions that he had limited control over. It is fun because the game really does become about The Hero. Everything revolves around the one guy. It isn't fun in the sense that I game mostly to hang out with my friends. "The more, the merrier" I always say (when I'm not saying something else).

3) Do you drink Tea, Coffee, both, or neither?

All of the above. This is where quantum physics and beverages can take a nasty turn.

JesterPoet · Mar 31, 2004

mikebr99 said:
Gestalt BABY!

Ummmm.... pardon?

I've been thinking about running a solo adventure for my wife in the Midnight campaign setting. I suppose I could get one other player though.... I dunno. Is it a better idea to run for one or two? Or does it not really matter?

JimAde · Mar 31, 2004

JesterPoet said:
Ummmm.... pardon?

I've been thinking about running a solo adventure for my wife in the Midnight campaign setting. I suppose I could get one other player though.... I dunno. Is it a better idea to run for one or two? Or does it not really matter?

I think he's referring to the gestalt characters in Unearthed Arcana. Basically you take all the best features of two classes and mash them together. Makes the character significantly more powerful, but with a solo game that's probably fine.

I've run a couple of solo games over the years (though not in D&D) and had a blast. It is important that the PC have well-developed NPCs to play off of. So one or more followers/cohorts is probably a good idea. But those NPCs should be run by you (which I always do with NPCs anyway).

BTW: I drink both, but not at the same time

BiggusGeekus · Mar 31, 2004

JesterPoet said:
Is it a better idea to run for one or two? Or does it not really matter?

If the second guy shows up, great. I mean, where's the harm? It'll also be easier to determine encounter difficulty.

In the meantime, borrow a page from the Lone Wolf books. Keep combat to one-on-one or one-on-two. Additonally, remember that CRs were designed for a party of four. So a group of four 3rd level characters should be able to beat a CR 3 critter using 20% of their resources. A single 3rd level character will likely get pasted. You'll have to experiment a lot with this, but for now just subtract two from the guy's level to determine a good CR.

Also, Midnight is a hard setting to figure for CRs. There's a chapter in the book on that. You'll have to be pretty careful. A solo midnight game isn't really well-covered territory.

You might have to fudge a bit anyway. An orc (CR 0.5) using a greataxe can critical for over 40hps worth of damage with some luck. So a single orc has the ability to outright kill most 3rd level characters to say nothing of 1st or 2nd level guys. You may want to secretly make the solo guy immune to criticals for the first couple of games until you get the hang of things.

Good luck!

Crothian · Mar 31, 2004

JesterPoet said:
1) Do you run a solo adventure?

Ya, I've run solo campaigns for about a decade now.

2) If so, how do you scale it? Do you provide the character with NPC companions a lot? Is it fun?

It's a solo game pure and simple. THere are NPCs, but the focus is clearly the PC. It is a lot more interactive with NPCs then it is combat based. IT is great fun.,

3) Do you drink Tea, Coffee, both, or neither?

Tea. I'm a huge tea drinker. I perfer hot tea and have literally dozens of different types.

JesterPoet · Mar 31, 2004

BiggusGeekus said:
Also, Midnight is a hard setting to figure for CRs. There's a chapter in the book on that. You'll have to be pretty careful. A solo midnight game isn't really well-covered territory.
Good luck!

Yeah, I just think the setting lends itself really well to a single or 2-person struggle. I still haven't decided on that fully, though.

Kahuna Burger · Mar 31, 2004

I've just started a solo game for my husband. There is one major npc (a cohort) who I run - she was intrumental in getting the adventure rolling, but isn't much of an independant thinker and he will be making the big decisions - he's the prince, now king in exile and she's a Royal Companion (bodyguard with mild concubine overtones). He just finished rallying a number of 1st level characters (he's 6th) and a spare cleric to defend a border temple on the outskirts of his former realm from being closed by the userper until the king of the ajoining realm could be contacted to fully incorporate it. he's mostly hiding his true identity, but once he has escaped the now hostile territory he will be more open about it as he tries to gain the alliances and power needed to take back his kingdom.

he will probably end up taking the leadership feat multiple times and gaining more cohorts, as well as a loyal core for his army. NPCs will be important, both ongoing ones and those he has to negotiate with for troops. His true enemies currently outclass him by a order of magnitude - the big guy has followers of the same level he is - so its going to be a long campaign of exploring and building ahead.

Anyway, thats what I've done.

Kahuna Burger

FireLance · Apr 1, 2004

JesterPoet said:
I was thinking of running a solo adventure for my wife. So I have a few questions:

1) Do you run a solo adventure?

I used to, for my then girlfriend (then fiancee, currently wife).

2) If so, how do you scale it? Do you provide the character with NPC companions a lot? Is it fun?

I always give this piece of advice to people running solo campaigns: tailor the challenges to the character. In a solo campaign, you only need to concentrate on one PC and you should have a very good idea of what she is capable of and what are her strengths and weaknesses. Especially at lower levels, let the PC encounter challenges that she is very well equipped to handle, and do not target her weaknesses... yet. That can be done when she is higher level and better able to survive.

As a general rule, combat encounters should be with creatures that have a CR of 2 or less than the PC's level. However, don't forget that some creatures which are less dangerous for a group may be deadly for a single PC. A CR1 ghoul, for example, is a serious threat to even a 5th level PC since a single unlucky roll could leave her paralyzed and at its mercy. Generally, do not pit the PC against a creature that has a chance (however small) of killing or disabling her with a single action. This includes paralysis, charm, dominate, death effects, petrification and high critical multipliers.

NPCs are a good idea to have around as they mitigate most of the problems of solo adventuring. However, do not allow the NPCs to overshadow the PCs. The PC should always be the "star" of the show.

Done well, a solo campaign can be very enjoyable.