Rel
Liquid Awesome
My wife likes to roleplay sometimes but has had little opportunity since the birth of our daughter a little over a year ago. We recently discussed me running a solo game for her and tonight (after the baby is in bed) is going to be the first session.
Here's the thing:
She is going to be playing a Wizard, starting from 1st level. It is going to be tricky to present challenges to her and keep her alive. I am trying to come up with some ideas for providing some support for the character without saddling her with a ton of NPC's on which she is dependant.
One obvious concern is that she presently has no access to healing and, with 5 HP, is a glass jaw in combat. My idea for a solution to this is for her mentor to provide her with a magic item to start with. The item is:
The Staff of Light
This staff has a continual flame spell cast upon it and the top is always wreathed in flames of almost pure white. Once per day, it can cast Summon Monster IV at caster level 7. The spell will always call forth a Lantern Archon.
So with the staff she can boost her combat effectiveness (with the damage the Lantern Archon can inflict with it's ray of light) and get the benefits of the Aid spell for a short while. It won't actually heal her, but it will give her a decent amount of temporary hit points.
There are a couple of limitations that I am considering putting on the staff to make me feel a little better about handing out the candy so early on and to give it a bit more flavor. One is that because the Lantern Archon is Lawful Good, she has to "stay on the path of right" or he won't come when called. Another possible limitation is that the staff calls a specific Lantern Archon and that if he is ever killed in combat, he is banished and cannot be called for some period of time.
Then, early on, I am planning on introducing an NPC who will accompany her. He will be a Half-Orc, Expert 1 who was the cook and gardener for an aristocrat who she is on a mission to seek out. The aristocrat has been kidnapped and possibly killed and the Half-Orc wants to find him out of a sense of duty. The NPC should be able to give her another little boost in combat effectiveness (if nothing else, he's another target).
Eventually, her path will lead to The Sunless Citidel and she will have the possibility of picking up Meepo as a companion.
I know that this is starting to sound like I'm doing just what I said I didn't want to do - put in a bunch of NPC's. The key to me is that they are optional. She can choose to travel with them or not. She isn't just stuck with them right out of the gate.
Any thoughts?
Here's the thing:
She is going to be playing a Wizard, starting from 1st level. It is going to be tricky to present challenges to her and keep her alive. I am trying to come up with some ideas for providing some support for the character without saddling her with a ton of NPC's on which she is dependant.
One obvious concern is that she presently has no access to healing and, with 5 HP, is a glass jaw in combat. My idea for a solution to this is for her mentor to provide her with a magic item to start with. The item is:
The Staff of Light
This staff has a continual flame spell cast upon it and the top is always wreathed in flames of almost pure white. Once per day, it can cast Summon Monster IV at caster level 7. The spell will always call forth a Lantern Archon.
So with the staff she can boost her combat effectiveness (with the damage the Lantern Archon can inflict with it's ray of light) and get the benefits of the Aid spell for a short while. It won't actually heal her, but it will give her a decent amount of temporary hit points.
There are a couple of limitations that I am considering putting on the staff to make me feel a little better about handing out the candy so early on and to give it a bit more flavor. One is that because the Lantern Archon is Lawful Good, she has to "stay on the path of right" or he won't come when called. Another possible limitation is that the staff calls a specific Lantern Archon and that if he is ever killed in combat, he is banished and cannot be called for some period of time.
Then, early on, I am planning on introducing an NPC who will accompany her. He will be a Half-Orc, Expert 1 who was the cook and gardener for an aristocrat who she is on a mission to seek out. The aristocrat has been kidnapped and possibly killed and the Half-Orc wants to find him out of a sense of duty. The NPC should be able to give her another little boost in combat effectiveness (if nothing else, he's another target).
Eventually, her path will lead to The Sunless Citidel and she will have the possibility of picking up Meepo as a companion.
I know that this is starting to sound like I'm doing just what I said I didn't want to do - put in a bunch of NPC's. The key to me is that they are optional. She can choose to travel with them or not. She isn't just stuck with them right out of the gate.
Any thoughts?