D&D 5E S O L O games...,

[crusaderbard]

Me and my wife play alot of solo games. We have a group we play with, but we also like after a hard day from work to sometimes come home and chill and play a game with just me and her. I've gotten good over the years with solo story lines and etc..., There is alot more story over combat oriented games when you run a solo campaign. That character is under the spotlight and gets alot more attention. My main question is for those who have done this type of game. 5th edition seems to be really easy for solo gaming. But the game is a bit more stat oriented then previous editions. What do you guys do for stats? Low stats can really stink when your the main hero / character. So anyone got a good way to roll up stats for this type of game? She usually travels with a couple (at most two) NPC's but not always, and the attention is never on them.

 

[Crothian]

For Solo games in D&D I tend to allow the player to have a more powerful character then normal. If you want to roll stats then roll them but allow her a few extra points to place where she wants. Then depending on what she creates make the campaign that fits the character.

 

[Paraxis]

Roll up stats however you think works best, or just give her an array.

For high power games my group used to use 4d6 take highest 3, re-roll 1's and pairs of 2's. It made for good ie high ability scores.

I might recommend the bard class for her, gives her a bunch of skills, arcane magic, healing magic, and possible fighting ability with valor sub-class.

Intelligent magic items also let you add support, like a holy symbol with the soul of a cleric trapped within it can cast spells and do things independently of the player character.

Npc companions that don't engage much in social scenes work good so all the spotlight time stays on the main character, so animal companions, warforged strong silent types, monks with the vow of silence, stuff like that.

 

[Herobizkit]

I'd say give her the standard array. 5e is actually not very stat oriented at all; the bounded accuracy built into the system allows for characters to have less-than-perfect stats and still do extremely well.

If you want to "up her power level", I'd say allow her to start with a feat (or two feats if Human) at first level, and at 4th, give her both a feat and stat boosts. That should more than make up for any perceived deficiency, especially where many feats grant a stat increase.

 

[Paraxis]

5e is very stat dependent, every check is an ability check and bounded accuracy means your ability modifier is a significant part of that. When proficiency tops out for most things at +6, the possible +5 from ability mod is huge.

It is also more important in a single player game because, the star of the story needs to be doing almost everything. The star needs to be diplomatic, stealthy, athletic, knowledgeable, perceptive, you know just about all of it. That is another reason I recommend the bard class, the jack of all trades ability helps cover all the bases and the expertise ability lets them focus.

 

[Herobizkit]

As a counter-point, having extremely high stats early in the game is helpful in the lower levels, but all stats top out at 20. Having a +5 for your whole adventuring career doesn't encourage growth as you are already at the height of your potential.

Really, it all depends on what style of campaign you want... a zero-to-hero progression, or superhero from the get go.

 

[mcbobbo]

It also bears noting that the stats only matter if she absolutely must succeed at the skill/attribute checks. And that's as much a function of adventure design as it is anything else.

 

[aramis erak]

5e is very stat dependent, every check is an ability check and bounded accuracy means your ability modifier is a significant part of that. When proficiency tops out for most things at +6, the possible +5 from ability mod is huge.

It is also more important in a single player game because, the star of the story needs to be doing almost everything. The star needs to be diplomatic, stealthy, athletic, knowledgeable, perceptive, you know just about all of it. That is another reason I recommend the bard class, the jack of all trades ability helps cover all the bases and the expertise ability lets them focus.

Given the number of "double proficiency bonus" features, PB is up to 12 in limited circumstances.

 

[crusaderbard]

I think also some of the magic items coming out will make bonuses go up at least up to +3. Having high stats scare me, but I'm finding it not so bad in a solo game I think. I do make one other NPC to help out etc.., I like the ideas mentioned above about the non-spotlight stealing ideas of assistance in game i.e. the cleric trapped in the sword, and using monsters to help out. I've always ran a somewhat epic style campaign anyway.

 

[Brainwatch]

In one Solo game I played in, I let the PC have a special ability to call forth a "Shadow Aspect". In game the PC would call forth an aspect that emerged from her shadow to help the PC. The mystery of this ability became part of the story for the PC.


Mechanics wise this was basically a DM NPC that would help the PC as needed while still keeping the "party" to just 1. There were 4 Shadow Aspects, one for each basic class, fighter, mage, cleric, rouge. This also allowed the PC to have some help when she needed it. Especially when combat occurred and numbers mattered.