Solo adventure for a sorcerer

[kolikeos]

Hello everybody.
Soon I'll be running a short solo adventure for a 10th level sorcerer. He is currently in the mage's guild of a metropolis and I would like to have the adventure mostly in the mage’s guild and maybe a bit in the city around it. This is part of an ongoing campaign with more than one character.
Any ideas anyone might have are welcome, since I’m not really sure what to do.
I would also like to use the opportunity to teach the player more about the rules and, more specifically, about her character's abilities and spells.
If anyone has advice one how I should do it, what kind of situations I should create and what challenges to put before her character, that would be great.

This is the character:
Gnome, male, sorcerer 10, CN
Feats: craft wondrous items, craft wand, spell penetration, still spell
Skills (only ones with high ranks): concentration, bluff, knowledge (arcane), spellcraft
Spells (not including 0th level): magic missile, shield, mage armor, enlarge person, expeditious retreat, identify, scorching ray, rope trick, see invisibility, spectral hand, fireball, vampiric touch, dispel magic, dimension door, assay resistance, telekinesis

Thanks in advance.

 

[kolikeos]

bump?

 

[dmccoy1693]

What's his backstory. sidequests are a perfect time to have backstory issues come up.

 

[kolikeos]

That's the problem, she never came up with any kind of backstory for her character. It would be a good idea to have him (the character) meet some long lost family member he left behind all those years ago.

 

[Nifft]

Feats: craft wondrous items, craft wand, spell penetration, still spell
Skills (only ones with high ranks): concentration, bluff, knowledge (arcane), spellcraft
Spells (not including 0th level): magic missile, shield, mage armor, enlarge person, expeditious retreat, identify, scorching ray, rope trick, see invisibility, spectral hand, fireball, vampiric touch, dispel magic, dimension door, assay resistance, telekinesis

IMHO, solo adventures work best when you're doing "first person sneaking" and role-playing rather than straight-up combat. Basically, problem solving rather than tactical wargaming.

Thus, I'd focus on problems that can be solved by the bold skills & spells above. Like, a thief-style adventure. The sorcerer doesn't have a lot of mobility magic (no fly or spider climb), so a dungeon of puzzles might work -- just make sure some of the puzzles are flammable, in case the player gets frustrated.

But you could also go tactical wargame. Since the Sorcerer presumably has a high Charisma, you can also give the PC some groupies! Lower-level NPCs who will give him more actions in combat against a bunch of lower-level NPCs. He's focused on spell-penetration, so it would be VERY amusing to have the final bad guy be an invulnerable caster like an elderly Rakshasha (lower HP, higher SR) who boasts about his invulnerability to magic...

To prevent the Sorcerer from owning early combat, make the fights in places with a lot of civilians -- so he has to use his spells smartly instead of just shooting away with fireballs.

Finally, force some back story on the PC. Not as a punishment, just because it's more fun than being amnesia orphan #12.

Cheers, -- N

 

[The Lost Muse]

If the sorceror were to hire a rogue and a fighter, they could go through many lower level modules with a relative amount of ease.

 

[kolikeos]

IMHO, solo adventures work best when you're doing "first person sneaking" and role-playing rather than straight-up combat. Basically, problem solving rather than tactical wargaming.

Thus, I'd focus on problems that can be solved by the bold skills & spells above. Like, a thief-style adventure. The sorcerer doesn't have a lot of mobility magic (no fly or spider climb), so a dungeon of puzzles might work -- just make sure some of the puzzles are flammable, in case the player gets frustrated.

But you could also go tactical wargame. Since the Sorcerer presumably has a high Charisma, you can also give the PC some groupies! Lower-level NPCs who will give him more actions in combat against a bunch of lower-level NPCs. He's focused on spell-penetration, so it would be VERY amusing to have the final bad guy be an invulnerable caster like an elderly Rakshasha (lower HP, higher SR) who boasts about his invulnerability to magic...

To prevent the Sorcerer from owning early combat, make the fights in places with a lot of civilians -- so he has to use his spells smartly instead of just shooting away with fireballs.

Finally, force some back story on the PC. Not as a punishment, just because it's more fun than being amnesia orphan #12.

Cheers, -- N

Hey, thanks a lot, this gave me a few good ideas

 

[Nifft]

Hey, thanks a lot, this gave me a few good ideas

Happy to help, do let us know what you do and how it goes.

Cheers, -- N