Going Solo into the ToEE

[Irda Ranger]

That's right. My wife/DM wants to run "Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil" for me as a solo campaign (all our gaming buddies spontaneously up and left for places like Michigan).

Now I have read the reviews and the player stories of death at every turn. I know what I am getting into, but I have a question for those who have DM'd or played it.

What level do you think a PC would have to be to even have a chance of surviving? Where should I start from a character creation point of view? The quest is in the mail from Amazon, so my wife hasn't had a chance to read it and give me her opinion yet. Any suggestions at this point would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Irda Ranger

PS - She also bought a used copy of the original ToEE. Think I should play that first? and with the same PC?

 

[hong]

Consider taking the Leadership feat and bringing some followers with you into the dungeon. You really need some ablative damage absorption capability; and followers can also bring your body out to be raised if things go pear-shaped.

 

[Hand of Vecna]

well, it's supposed to take a part of characters from 4th to 14th level (if I recall correctly), and since a "party" is generally composed of 4-6 PC's, I'd say a solo character should be at least 6th level before tackling the RttToEE (and taking the Leadership feat to have some cohorts/henchmen/minions isn't a bad idea, either)...

 

[Khan the Warlord]

Well, I've been running RttToEE for some time now, and let me say...you're a talking dead man if you wish to only use one PC.

IMH (and playtested) opinion: it wouldn't really matter if you started off at 14th level and went solo -- at some point, you're just going to die.

Take the Leadership feat as others suggested. Hire an NPC or three. But, whatever you do, don't waltz in there with only one character.

I'm not trying to sound insulting...just factual.

BTW: if you took a single 6th level character to the moathouse, you would die from the first, "surprise" encounter.

 

[applenerd]

I would have to echo everyone elses sentiments on this subject. I've been DM'ing a group through it right now and there are parts of it which I think would require some teamwork. I think other peoples idea of the leadership feat is a great way to solve this problem so I would say go for it. It's a great module and my group is really digging it and figuring out "what's really going on". You definitely get your money's worth out of it!

 

[Metus]

There is evil there that does not sleep. You need to go in being at least lvl 16 to even have a chance as a solo. This is taking into consideration that you won't be leveling up fast enough if you start off lower. Then again, maybe it's just me and I'm exaggerating.

Really though, if you went in at level 20, then there would still be a few dangers you would not be able to avoid. Khan's right: there's going to come a point where you're just going to die. Cohorts sound good to me.

But hey, it all comes down to how your DM decides to run it, and if you just want to throw caution to the wind.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Not with 10,000 men could you do this.

It is folly!

 

[James McMurray]

Don't listen to the people saying you're gauranteed to die.

Here's my take on it:

A character wanting to go solo should have two things:

1) At least 8 levels, maybe 9.

2) An ability to talk well, disguise, themsleves, and bluff.

If you go in with a low-leel character and try to have it just bea massive dungeon crawl, sure, you'll probably die. But you could try going in as a new recruit, or impersonating an older recruit, and qork it as a role-playing adventure.

Personally, I'd love to give it a try.

Also, if you go for leadership, be sure your followers can bluff a bit too, or at least don't mind not being able to go with you everywhere.

 

[Zhure]

Can I have your stuff when you're dead?

Seriously, a group module is really tough to solo.

Greg

 

[Erekose]

The easiest answer is to run it as a group but with the groups made of NPCs other than your character.

The harder answer is to tailor the adventure to one PC rather than just playing it straight.

It all depends on how much work your wife wants to do. (i.e. more before game work to produce a tailored adventure or more in game work looking after the other NPCs in your character's group).