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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Prisoner6" data-source="post: 4585344" data-attributes="member: 54021">I ran a one-player campaign awhile back.  My solution was to do this:a) give the PC a companion or sidekick.  A Robin to his Batman.  A Tonto to his Lone Ranger.  It helps if the sidekick has some healing abilities, but that doesn't mean the sidekick is all healing.b) give the PC some extra-special powers.  That could be an innate power, or just a special magical item that gives the PC an edge.  Basically the PC needs some super special ability to kick in when the going gets *really* bad.  For example, when the PC gets below half HP, he can summon a wolf to come fight for him. Or, once per day his sword can cast some kind of healing spell, but only on the wielder.   It sounds like you're well on your way with this, with his summoning powers, so I'm just adding this for completeness.  I just want to add that he needs a "safety net" power that kicks in when things go bad.(What happens to his phantom warriors when they die? Are the replaced, or gone forever?)c) Make the story completely centered on the PC.  There are no other party members, so there's no chance of him hogging the spotlight.  Make the PC a prince, say. In a game with 4 players, letting one of them be a prince might give him an advantage over the other players.  With just one player, there's no imbalance.  (He could just as easily be the son of Zeus, which might explain the special powers).  c2) Make the story completely centered on the PC.  The villains, they are after HIM.  He's not just some random adventurer that got hired to retrieve a McGuffin. He *is* the story.  The bad guys are after *his* girlfriend, say.  Or maybe the bad guy needs a drop of *his* blood to complete some dark ritual (after all, the PC is a prince, or the son of Zeus, or whatever).  In other words, make every story line as personal as possible.  No "there's a dungeon full of monsters terrorizing the village" adventures.  Make it "your sister has been kidnapped by monsters!  They were paid off by your rival Dr. M, who is striking back at your family because your father banished him from the kingdom."d) Give him a mortal enemy.  A Joker to his Batman.  A rival.  There's one guy who desperately wants to stop him for whatever reason.  That bad guy doesn't need to show up every adventure, but should show up frequently.  e) Give the PC a mentor. A Yoda to his Luke.  f) break the rules like crazy.  In a 4 or 5 player game, if you break the rules for one character, you have to break them for all characters, and things get out of hand fast.  With only one player, you can go nuts.  Sacrifice the rules for the benefit of the story ... or to save the character's butt.  I hope some of this helps. Good luck with your game.</blockquote>

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