DM'ing for 1 Player, Need Advice

[CalrinAlshaw]

As the title says, I want to DM for 1 player (My GF). When she first got with me, she thought D&D was the nerdiest thing on earth and refused to consider it, I've brought her around by giving examples of D&D and how it CAN be cool, even to her. The next step is running a game for her.

First off, since she is completely new to D&D, I won't have her running more than 1 character, and I am also not going to run a bunch of NPC's to make a balanced party.

Second, she is running a core 3.5 Halfing Rogue, starting at first level. I ran the rogue through a single small adventure that I sort of winged, but I find myself at a loss of what else to run for a single PC rogue.

Third, I need some way to help her learn the game without having to explain the complexities every 3 seconds or just throwing the PHB at her and telling her to read it.

Anyhow, thanks ahead of time for any advice.

Calrin Alshaw

 

[sir_ollibolli]

I am doing something similar with my girlfriend, and I'd suggest two things.

One: There are two-and-a-half adventures online for sale that are 1-1 for a rogue character with beginning level from a company called Wyvern Claw Design

Two: Get yourself the Third Book Of Lost Swords from Saberhagen, read it and adjust the plot to your play of the game.

By the way Giselle (the character of my girlfriend) is on her way to her eduction in thievery (so she is basically a 0-level character). We are not playing combat scenarios, but more a storytelling approach with lots of one-on-one conversation (that is the way to really hook her to the game...)., but that may change when the story warrants it (as you will see when you read the novel, it is nearly completely stand-alone and a good read by the way, too)

 

[Krellic]

A halfling rogue would do well in a city-based campaign. In my experience single-player games are great for role-playing and can get quite intense. You could have your PC run up against the Thieves Guild, the local Guard or any powerful person who they've robbed.

If she's not larcenously inclined then there's always the private investigator route or information broking.

I would make sure I have plenty of NPCs and a few ongoing plots that your PC can find out about, even dabble on the edged of but not necessarily be fully involved, unless she wants to be... I try and create a number of events that are going on that the lone PC can hear about or get involved in, some of which may be more akin to gossip and scuttlebut.

I also do this for parties when they're in a civic background but I find that they spend more time talking to each other than getting to know the locals. For a lone PC though you need to provide all the interaction, albeit through a number of NPCs.

What you have got to be careful about is the type of combats that you get her involved in. Low-level combat is very hairy for the lone player and she's better off in situations where her skills are what she relies on. With one player you can play a lot of consequences, people are going to hear about this character and possibly draw the wrong conclusions.

You can have a lot of fun with that I once had an ex-scribe who was an albino who carried a few small knives for defence. The people of the small town he was in soon had him pegged as an assassin and attributed all sorts of special abilities to him. It got him into all sorts of trouble.

Your lone PC will soon need to find allies be it a little muscle for that particular job, someone to keep a lookout or an unscrupulous backstreet cleric willing to heal without questions for the right coin or service. You could soon have her unwittingly involved with all sorts of really unsavoury sorts.

It's different from dungeoneering and running for parties but it can be very satisfying.

 

[dekrass]

I've run alot of one player campaigns, all of my players have diferent schedules. I find that tailoring the campaign on the character's, and thereby player's, goals can help. It is also much easier to do than in traditional campaigns. Since she's a new player she probably doesn't have many character goals, but if of good alignment it's as simple as throwing a distressed commoner in front of her.
You just have to remember to keep the CR low, and don't put single low-level characters at distinct tactical disadvantages. Past first level encounters are easier to come up with. I suggest much sneaking past fairly average people, guards and such.

 

[Flyspeck23]

Third, I need some way to help her learn the game without having to explain the complexities every 3 seconds or just throwing the PHB at her and telling her to read it.

Maybe you could design the adventure in a way that it slowly, step by step, introduces the rules to her. Something like the Game Stoppers column at the WotC site.

 

[Peskara]

Second, she is running a core 3.5 Halfing Rogue, starting at first level. I ran the rogue through a single small adventure that I sort of winged, but I find myself at a loss of what else to run for a single PC rogue.

Third, I need some way to help her learn the game without having to explain the complexities every 3 seconds or just throwing the PHB at her and telling her to read it.

A rogue character is great for running a more skills-based adventure than a combat one, which is handy since combat is really danerous for a lone low-level character. Run something that focuses on her skills, like an investigation or an infiltration. Be careful to always leave her one or two non-combat options for escape should things go poorly. One solo adventure that I played in was a locked-room murder mystery.

 

[Ozmar]

How do you balance combat challenges for 1 PC?

For those of you who have run these types of games: how do you balance challenge levels for single players?

The CR system assumes a CR 4 monster is an average challenge for 4 4th level PCs. But of course, that assumes that they have a range of abilities (one character doesn't) and that they can adapt to the circumstances if one PC takes an unlucky critical (one character can't).

So... as a rule of thumb, what have you found to be a good guideline for balancing challenges for one character? 2 levels less than the character? 3 levels? 4 levels? Half the level? Or something else?

Thanks!
Ozmar the Curious

 

[Ferret]

I usually wouldn't say this but make sure she doesn't die, more importantly don't let her know!

Oh and at the same time don't rail road her by making sure she does die.

 

[The Prince of Cats]

I am also introducing my girlfriend to DND this way (I had no idea that this was such a common phenomenon) and a device that I came up with that has worked really well thus far is NPCing a mute travelling companion for her. This way she still handles the bulk of the character interaction but she can ask him questions in sign language and remain in character. It's a really neat dynamic out of combat and it's immensely helpful to have even just one complimentary ally in combat. Other than that, I'd suggest that you utilize the main advantage you have in this situation over a typical group - you know her very well and only have to worry about keeping her interested. Tailor the campaign in such a way that it involves things you know she'll find interesting while at the same time trying to give her an accurate picture of the game as a whole. As far as mechanics go, I had the best luck breaking everything down to "this is the target number - these are the modifiers - roll - results" she seemed to pick it up a lot faster when everything had a predictable formula.
I hope you two have as much fun as we did!

 

[Faerl'Elghinn]

All right- according to the majority of message board users, the best way to add some fun to your session is with- you guessed it- a TPK!! With only one player, it should be fairly simple- just have her get ambushed by a party of 20 or so orcs with 6 or 7 barbarian levels. If you play it right, she might not even get to roll!! How cool is that!?! Then you can skip right to the fun part...