Single PC Game

[Mokona]

Does anyone have any advice on the various elements needed to run a successful 4th Edition single player game?

Should most encounters be with minions? Is Fighter or Paladin the most reasonable choice for the lone PC? Would stealing 3rd Edition gestalt rules be helpful? Is there anything that a single PC is better at than a group (perhaps espionage)?

 

[Mort_Q]

4e is very party centered... but, a stealth based campaign could be workable. You may need to learn-by-doing though. I'd be interested in hearing what happens.

How do you envision a 4e gestalt character? Free choice of powers from two classes? Would you increase the number of powers known? Doubled the at-wills, sure, but what about encounter powers?

 

[seusomon]

I mostly play single-player games, and I've been trying this out with various PC classes and monster types.

Paladin or fighter are very good choices, as are the striker classes. Minions can actually be pretty difficult without a wizard to take out several at a time (or a fighter with cleave). Keep a very close eye on whether the character is intended for ranged combat or melee combat, and be sure to design encounters with that in mind.

I found that for most classes, a second level encounter was a fair challenge for a first level character.

 

[azigen]

The DMG as suggestions for running a single player game. I recomend reading those.

Imo i agree that a defender or leader might be the best type. For multiple monsters, minions would be the best bet for level 1. However, one on one fights should be feasible according to the rules. Also, as the player levels you can pit the player versus sorties of monsters lower than himself within xp limits.

 

[FireLance]

As someone keen on developing a campaign for a solo paladin PC, the lack of mosters that straddled the gap between minions and standard monsters bothered me a little, so I created my own:

[SBLOCK]Adjunct monsters (which I have previously referred to as Demi monsters) straddle the gap between minions and normal monsters. They require less bookkeeping than normal monsters, but unlike minions, they have more than one hit point and are not immune to damage on a miss. However, a PC may still kill adjuncts in one shot with a critical hit. An adjunct may be modified from a minion and is equal to two minions.

To make an adjunct from a minion:

1. Change hit points to 4 + half Constitution score + 4 x level.
2. Remove the note that a missed attack never damages the monster.
3. Add a note that a critical hit reduces it to 0 hit points instantly.
4. Increase its damage by 50%.
5. Double the XP award for the monster.

The following is a sample adjunct, modified from the giant rat minion monster in the PH:

Alpha Giant Rat, Level 1 Adjunct
Small natural beast (XP 50)

Initiative +3
Senses Perception +5; low-light vision
HP 14; Bloodied 7; a critical hit reduces an adjunct to 0 hit points instantly
AC 15; Fortitude 13, Reflex 15, Will 12
Speed 6, climb 3

Bite (standard; at-will)
+6 vs. AC; 4 damage

Alignment unaligned
Languages -
Str 12 (+1) Dex 17 (+3) Wis 10 (+0)
Con 12 (+1) Int 2 (-4) Cha 6 (-2)​

[/SBLOCK]

 

[Chromesphere]

Hi guys,

Sorry for the late reply...

I've started working on a site with a bunch of single player quests / dungeon crawls. Im still working on it heavily at the moment, its extremely time consuming. I plan to tie all the individual quests / dungeon crawls into a full single player campaign. It's going to take a while, but i'm working on it bit by bit at the moment. At this stage I planning that it should include a town ('dragonshore'), map of the local area and approx 15 quests.

http://dnd.chromesphere.com/

Anyway hope it helps you for your needs, and good luck!

CS

 

[chris.crouch]

Would stealing 3rd Edition gestalt rules be helpful?

I've been thinking about this a bit, and I think a way to do it would be "Elite PCs":

Have a character class as normal, then apply one of the Class Templates from the DMG for your second class. Change action points so that you get 2 after an extended rest, 1 after each encounter, and you can spend up to 2 in any encounter.

Your PC counts as 2 normal PCs of your level for the purposes of building encounters and experience.

You might need to give a few more points for ability scores too, maybe 24-26 points for point buy.

Chris

 

[icarusfallz]

Although I never have a shortage of players, I like the dynamic of a one DM/one player game. It is really fun to run intro games for new players and such. Remember to use PC style NPCs to help the survival factor. Also, it's often fun to run solos for your regular players between sessions while the team is in downtime. Often these are pure RP sessions ("I need to have my sword reforged.") that give you an opportunity to drop new plot seeds into the game (at the next session "Hey guys, I ran into this old man while getting my sword reforged. he offered to buy us dinner at the Frothing Otter if we'll listen to his timeshare presentation at the Keep of Ultimate Evil!").