Best Practices for running single-player (or two-player) campaigns

[StreamOfTheSky]

Gestalt doesn't make you better than a single class at something, other perhaps than with synergistic spells or class features. He may be the only gestalt in the world, or one of few, but he has no higher BAB than the fighter, gains spells no faster than a wizard could, etc... Gestalt just lets you handle more things well. For most NPCs, being good in one thing is enough, simply because of the "screen time"; you don't seem them enough or doing enough stuff for the versatility difference to be very noticeable. The PC, on the other hand, is basically a Rennaissance man.

You don't NEED to use gestalt rules. A lot of us just think it'd add to the game. And I rather like gestalt in general.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Give the PC a way to rest/heal, like a rope trick or teleport home trick, and a way to keep from being tracked or scryed.

I think Trailblazer's "10 Minute Rest Period" option would be a great implementation of this.

Regarding cohorts and followers. AD&D would let the PCs hire as many as they needed, as long as the players paid them. 3e ropes this under the Leadership feat.

This seems that Pre-3e could run a followers-based single-player campaign at low levels, while in 3e the PC couldn't until Leadership was acquired. Or in the interest of pulling off a single-player campaign should the DM just handwave the limitations on RAW cohorts at low levels since so much else else around encounter balance is going to be unpredictable with so few characters?

 

[ValhallaGH]

I think Trailblazer's "10 Minute Rest Period" option would be a great implementation of this.

Agreed.

Regarding cohorts and followers. AD&D would let the PCs hire as many as they needed, as long as the players paid them. 3e ropes this under the Leadership feat.

No, 3e lets you higher goons to help you out.
It also lets you have goons that are loyal and don't cost as much wealth to maintain, by acquiring the Leadership feat.

Absolutely nothing in the rules prevents PCs from hiring help. One of the best-loved NPCs I've ever seen was Alfred, 1st level Warrior, hired for one (short, 1st level) dungeon crawl. He and his 5 hp kept the party alive, earned his 50gp fee and a half-share of treasure, and proved the value of the half-plate / large shield combination. I pulled his stat-block off of a D&D Minis card.
If the PCs had been willing (and able) to pay for it, they could have hired another eight guys, just as cool as Alfred was.

 

[Gilladian]

Well, I ran a short-lived (due to real life, not the campaign failing) campaign for my husband last year. His character was a L1 gestalt rogue/wizard and he had a companion npc who was a rogue/cleric gestalt. My plan was that the cleric would lag behind him by one level of advancement as the game went on.

Combat was not very bad; I was originally afraid I'd have to really tailor things, and I would be very careful with certain types of monsters (as mentioned above). But regular goons (bandits who were L1 warriors) and giant rats, even a giant spider with a weakening poison, weren't bad.

I would strongly suggest a campaign tailored to them, not a module. You'll find you can spend a LOT more time on the NPCs, the motivations, the background color, and the PCs minor interactions, because nobody else is sitting there getting bored while you discuss whether he's going to buy the rapier with the green stone or the yellow stone in the hilt. And the potential political statement made by that purchase, in light of who the PC's father is...

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

I would strongly suggest a campaign tailored to them, not a module.

Good call.

 

[HeavensThunderHammer]

I thought I'd share this file. It's a compilation of posts from the WotC boards thread on how to run a solo game that I believe has since dissipated into the nether.

 

[Fourmoyle]

A lot of excellent advice in this thread.

I read it all, and I got the Solo RPG Guide linked above. I'm going to be running the campaign for my wife. I predict she'll be more than likely picking a magic user, maybe a druid, so versatile character class is already handled.

I'm wondering about tweaking things to make the familiar/animal companion the cohort, if she does pick a magic using character. Any advice on whether or not this is a good idea, and if so, how to go about doing this?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Gilladian]

Personally, I like the idea of the familiar becoming more a cohort. With a druid character, the companion could get "awakened", perhaps as a reward after an early adventure, by the druid's mentor.

With the familiar, perhaps they are involved early on in some sort of magical disaster, where they're exposed to unusual magical radiation. The familiar gets a bigger dose of it, and starts "changing".

Or they go through a gate to some other reality for some reason, and while there the familiar is "different". When they come back, the familiar retains the difference.

You can invent a lot of reasons for the change to occur, but really, does it matter? If it works for the game, go for it! I'd be inclined to say that the familiar was simply ODD from the day it arrived on the scene, and see if the player ever bites on finding out why as an adventure hook.

 

[Ahira Battleaxe]

Something my friends and I thought of some time ago is simply to add the Feral Template from Savage Species to your character (for no cost, perhaps in a single player game) because at low hit-die, it adds little to your abilities at one racial HD, but makes healing up after each encounter a matter of waiting a few minutes for your fast heal to fix things.

 

[Zenbryo]

I like big groups as much as the next (hell, I'm currently running a campaign with 10 players, which is exciting to say the least), but some of my most memorable D&D moments were from solo play

One in particular involved my brother as DM, and my level 1 halfing rogue in the big city. We ran the campaign to around 4th level, but it was some of the most fun I've ever had playing. Lots of derring do, treachery, stealth, crime, and intrigue.

I think the key is recognizing that combat should come infrequently to a solo game. When it's "fight or flight," flight should be the default action for the PCs. Staying and duking it becomes only worth while if there is a VERY good reason to do so.

I'm going to say my halfling drew his sword less than ten times the entire campaign. I'm not saying it has to be that infrequent, just that it can be, without losing quality.

The nice thing is, avoiding combat is much easier for a party of one or two. For instance, I can't tell you how many times my halfling was pursued and hid in a barrel or a crate or drain to get away.

The roleplaying becomes much richer in a solo game, too. And I think as someone mentioned earlier, the boredom factor is essentially eliminated. There is only one spotlight, and only one person to stand in it.

I say stick to custom-tailored material, flush out your NPCs, and be prepared to improvise heavily (especially with the rules) and reward the player for creativity and originality.