Running a game for just one player?

[Buttercup]

How many of you have done this? I know there are a few PDF adventures out there for one PC, but the ones I've seen are for a rogue. What if you were designing an adventure for a lone character who was, say, a Wizard? What factors would you consider? What would you do in the way of plot. Assume you want to keep the PC alive.

 

[kengar]

I've done this once or twice. Sometimes it's because there is only one player, other times because the group is split up for more than just a part of the evening's session. A few things I've noticed that might help:

1. If you are planning on a solo adventure ahead of time, de-emphasize combat. Have a fight or two, but make them (mostly) avoidable and not the point of the story. RP opps and skill use are usually more rewarding for the solo character, especially non-fighter types.
2. Provide opportunities for the character to hook up with helpful NPC(s). One solo adventure, the PC cleric saved a half-orc (War1) from a group of villagers who were going to stone him (they thought he was an orc raider separated from his gang). The half-orc followed the cleric for a while out of gratitude and provided some muscle.
3. Keep it close to town unless the PC is an outdoors type (i.e. Ranger or Druid) and wants to be play a wilderness adventure. The support of the local cleric NPC who can cast a CLW, etc. is a big help to a solo adventurer.
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   Hope this helps!

 

[mrswing]

I've done this LOADS of times... out of necessity, but many extremely good sessions resulted.
Most important thing is to make sure that the adventure you use/design is really geared towards the strenghts of the character and avoids the weaknesses as much as possible. In other words, if your player is a wizard, go easy on the combat and traps! One of the things which really irritated me about the old TSR Fighter/Cleric/Mage...Challenge modules, which were intended for one-on-one play, was that the opponents were far too numerous and the challenges involved DID include obstacles which the class in question was ill-equipped to deal with. Personally I would not use any dungeon-type adventures (maybe include a short dungeon segment, but not much more than that) and concentrate on storytelling/roleplaying. I would focus on city adventures - for instance, some of the old Ravensbluff modules had some pretty good adventures for low-level characters which provided lots of challenges but allowed for a goodly amount of character survival.
The best thing about one-on-one play is the fact that it's easier as DM to control the storytelling, and to keep the atmosphere. Less OOC exchanges take place, the player usually becomes more involved with her/his character. It also makes improvisation a lot easier (less different opinions to interfere). One of the greatest ever sessions I had was with one musketeer character (in an old FGU Flashing Blades scenario) who had to get secret documents away from the Cardinal's Guards during a play, which was attended by a very powerful and bad-tempered noble who could have the character thrown in jail like that if he noticed any disturbance of the performance. Every little bit from the climax of Scaramouche was used and magnified, and a grand time was had by all... well, by both.
The major problem is of course what to do when your player gets unlucky. I once forced a skill roll on Conan (!!!) for jumping on to a horse from a wall, he missed and ended up paralyzed (Rolemaster critical fumble...). So I had to improvise and let an evil sorceress heal him so she could use him for her own dark designs... It worked, but only just.

Good luck with the game!

 

[Rel]

I am currently running such a campaign for my wife. She is playing a single classed Wizard and here is how I've handled it so far:

I started her off by running an intro scenario that was her "graduation" from her mentor. It was a series of challenges set up by her mentor that was designed to test her skills as a Wizard (lots of Spellcraft and Knowledge checks along with creative spell use) and see if she had properly learned some important lessons (like when to run away and trying to gather information before entering a conflict).

I was concerned about her ability to heal so I addressed this in two ways. First I made sure that her mentor taught her to make "healing salves" (found in Tome and Blood) using her Alchemy skill. I also had him give her a magical staff that summons a toned down Lantern Archon for 7 rounds, once per day. The Archon can cast Aid and bolster her hit points for a few rounds and also help out in a fight a little bit. There is also a subplot involving her trying to find a way to release the Archon from the staff, so it is a roleplaying device too.

Next, I started running her through a slightly modified version of Sunless Citidel (minor spoilers to follow). I introduced an NPC to aid her. He was a Half-Orc Expert 1 who specialized in Gardening and Cooking but could handle himself with a spear if necessary. His employer was kidnapped by the goblin raiders in the Citidel and so he went along with my wife's character to rescue her.

Along the way, Meepo and another NPC from Sunless Citidel have joined her party so they now number 4. But it is very likely that only the Half-Orc will remain her companion after Sunless Citidel (I plan to continue on with Forge of Fury).

So, to summarize, when the PC is by themselves, tailor the challenges to the PC. If you provide them with ways of dealing with their shortcomings then you can present them a wider range of challenges. If they have help from NPC's then you can run a more traditional style game so long as you adjust the encounters to fit their power level.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I have done it. Based it in and around the wizard's guild. Lots of NPCs and interactions. The Wizard as part of being part of the guild have to perform duties as they were assigned, this was very political and would move wizards up the ranks making friends along the way.

Some of the adventures:

The hunt/purchase of components for spells - dealling with people, hiring a party (did not have to travel with them, just hire and pay)

Murder of a Wizard - he was only a poor hedge wizard but he was part of the guild and his items belong to the guild at his death, so the wizard was given the task to log and solve.

 

[haiiro]

When I first started gaming, this was the only way I played. The friend who introduced me to D&D ran solo games for me, and since I didn't know anyone else who played at the time that was how I started running games. I had been DMing for about two years before I started running games for more than one player, and since then I've pretty much always been friends with enough gamers to run for/play with groups.

I ran a lengthy solo campaign for my best friend when 2e first came out; we played regularly (several times a month) for about two years, and semi-regularly for a little while after that. When the campaign began, he was a party of one -- a fighter. As time progressed, I introduced his PC's brother, who was a ranger, and two other fighters. Other NPCs rotated into and out of the party; off the top of my head, I can remember two thieves, a gnomish illusionist and another fighter. Despite the party composition, we spent at least as much time roleplaying as running combats.

We were pretty flexible about who ran the NPCs -- he almost always ran his brother, while I usually ran the other two fighters and any rotating party members, but sometimes he ran everyone.

In terms of game balance and structuring the challenges my friend (and his party of NPCs) faced, I didn't use much in the way of traps or magic -- our game was very political and human-centric, and the longest-running portion of the campaign was centered around a war in the Moonsea region of FR. We were both learning about gaming as we went along, so I would introduce stuff as I found out about it, and he would change his playing style as new elements of the game became more interesting to him. For the most part, I just made sure that he and his party were tough enough to take on what I threw at them -- and in the habit of recognizing when they weren't tough enough, or a spellcaster was going to take them apart, etc.

The campaign began in Taladas (in the Dragonlance world), moved briefly to Ravenloft, then to Spelljammer, and then settled into the Forgotten Realms. We had a blast.

 

[Buttercup]

Anyone else have advice on this one?

 

[drnuncheon]

I run a game with only two players, and one of the things I've noticed is that sometimes it's really easy to get stumped, the fewer people there are on the players' side of the table.

What I mean is, if there are 4 people, then there are 4 chances to remember the vital clue or figure out the puzzle or have ideas on how to approach the situation. If there's only one person, there's no backup if they get stuck. Be lenient with things like allowing rolls for hints.

Another thing to note is that everything will be on *you*, the DM. All interaction must filter through you (by necessity, since you're the only other one there.) There have been times when even with two players I've been able to sit back and just watch them roleplay, but you will never have that luxury in a one-on-one game. Prepare for that.

Having NPCs around, assisting the solo player, is practially a must. If it's going to be a wizard, here's an idea: make sure they have summon spells, and use the variant summoning rules from the DMG that let you always summon the same creature. That gives you a source of roleplay and a combat helper, but it's still the wizard doing something to make it happen.

J

 

[DSC-EricPrice]

I have so much advice on this I've written more than 48 pages of raw text for an upcoming book entitled All or Nothing !

A lot of what has been said here hits the target right on, but you can definitely say even more. There was another thread on this perhaps a week or two ago with someone in a similar situation, and many additional ideas were put forth. Rogues are, because of their wide variety of skills, perhaps the easiest to write a wide variety of solo adventures for. Every class is doable though, using techniques like playing to the character's abilities.

I can say that solo adventuring, particularly where roleplaying is heavy, is hard on the DM. Voice training is a good idea, as the DM will find themselves talking almost all the time.

Despite all the talk of playing to a character's abilities, I firmly believe that you should play to the player's style. If the person wants combat, but yet wants to play a wizard, find some rules to make a more militant wizard. Introduce a variant hit point system (Based on Con score) that allows them to fight longer, or force them to multi-class to a more militant class based on their actions, not their "intentions". Supplement shortcomings with one shot magic items or short-term NPCs. Lastly, dont be afraid to toss your character something they couldnt normally resolve. After all, its unrealistic to think the character, one character, would be prepared for any and every eventuality.

Well, Im going to stop now, otherwise I'll be typing for a long time.

 

[haiiro]

Despite all the talk of playing to a character's abilities, I firmly believe that you should play to the player's style.

I thought about some of the other games I've run for solo players, and I think this statement sums things up well. Customizing challenges to fit the PC is certainly important, but play style is probably even more so.

With a group, you're likely to have players who want different things out of the game (apart from a fun session, which should be the common thread ) -- combat, politics, RPing, dungeon crawls, etc. With only one player, there's generally going to be a less diverse wish list.

Some examples I can remember:

- A Dragonlance campaign with a wizard PC. Both of us were very into DL, and the game focused on exploring the DL world and experiencing the milieu. A rotating party of NPCs was helpful, and this game ran for about a year.

- A Shadowrun game with a street samurai PC. He worked solo, the player liked infiltration missions, and we both liked emphasizing tech and cyberware; we played on and off for a year or two.

- Lots of short Warhammer FRP games (2-4 sessions), all with different types of PC (and different solo players). Everyone seemed to like combat, crits and gore -- myself included. Go figure.

I've never looked back on my solo DMing from an analytical standpoint, and it's an interesting thing to do -- thanks for asking the question. I hope your forays into this area go well.