Is it possible for a solo game to be unbalanced?

[FireLance]

Is it possible for a solo game (meaning, one DM and one player) to be unbalanced? Consider the following three aspects of balance:

1. Option vs Option: In a solo game, the DM can emphasize options that would be underpowered and de-emphasize options that would be overpowered in conventional games.

2. PC vs PC: In a solo game, there are no other PCs.

3. PC vs Challenges: In a solo game, the DM should be able to easily to judge the PC's overall level of optimzation and scale the challenges accordingly.

Is there any way in which a solo game can be unbalanced?

 

[hong]

Either the player or the DM could be so much better at powergaming the system, that the campaign (inadvertently) becomes either a walkover or a killer. Does that count?

 

[Herobizkit]

I suppose it's possible, but you have to consider... exactly what are you balancing your PC against? Since there are no other PC's, you don't have to worry that Jim's playing an ECL +3 race and Sam's playing a regular race, for example.

When I DM solo games, I usually round out the one character with a retinue of 2-4 NPC's roughly equal to the PC (either equal in level or up to 2 levels lower than the PC). I can treat the same NPCs as spear-carriers (for "bulk" bodyguards, for example) or as an actual adventuring party (complete with full stats, in-game speech, backstory, and plot considerations).

Personally, I've DM'd and participated mostly in solo campaigns for over a decade, and I find them very rich and entertaining. Believe it or not, I ran through The Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil as a solo player (I played two PCs with a retinue of 3 NPCs of the latter type in my above example) and had time to learn about and prepare for an upcoming war (as part of the DM's hombrew game) in between the stale parts.

 

[green slime]

No. But it can still be unfun, doubleplusbad.

 

[S'mon]

Either the player or the DM could be so much better at powergaming the system, that the campaign (inadvertently) becomes either a walkover or a killer. Does that count?

I think that's the only way it could be unbalanced. In particular it's easy for a solo D&D game to be too difficult to survive, when a single missed save can mean failure & death. I've GM'd solo games for everything from a Lesser God PC to a modern werewolf PC, and they've gone great. They're ideal for 'larger than life' heroes, as you don't need to worry about overshadowing the other PCs - compare the (IMO successful) model of Hercules in Hercules: The Legendary Adventures, where you have a single superheroic protagonist + his cohort Aeolus, to the (IMO, failed) model of Andromeda, where you nominally have a group of protagonists, but the munchkin better-than-everyone PC Dylan Hunt overshadows the rest and ultimately causes their 'players' to quit in disgust...

 

[Merkuri]

It's probably much much easier for a DM to balance a campaign against one character than a whole party because you know exactly what that one character can do. It's possible for it to be unbalanced in the sense of PC v. challenges, but that'll probably only occur when the DM is not familiar with the race and/or class of the PC, has very little planning time, or is just plain cruel (or dumb).

On the other hand, challenge ratings are written up for a party of 4 PCs. A party of 1 PC (and possibly a henchmen) varies greatly from that. The more you deviate from the norm (4 PCs), the more chance you have of screwing up and throwing something too powerful or not powerful enough at the character.

 

[Crothian]

Yes, it can be unbalanced with too much power that the player or DM just can't handle.

 

[Slife]

No. But it can still be unfun, doubleplusbad.

You oldthink newspeak. Doubleplusungood!

 

[FireLance]

Either the player or the DM could be so much better at powergaming the system, that the campaign (inadvertently) becomes either a walkover or a killer. Does that count?

Well, assuming the unbalancing doesn't result in a TPK, and assuming the DM isn't a total incompetent, wouldn't the DM be able to correct for this eventually?

 

[green slime]

You oldthink newspeak. Doubleplusungood!

Thank you indeed citizen for correcting my ungoodness!