Solo Adventures?

[ZetaStriker]

Well, I saw it brought up in another thread, and I started thinking about it. Sometimes, you have that one person who you can't get to come to a bigger game, or just wont fit in with your regular group, and you want to throw them a 4E demo to inspire interest in the game. I thought of filling the gaps with NPCs, or running an extra PC on my own, but after thinking on it for a while, I began to wonder if there might be another way. Might these be a few ways to make it manageable without losing the fun of 4E's new mechanics?

The PC:
-Either grant actions points in pairs and add an extra Encounter and Daily power from the PC's class' power list, or give him/her a Multiclassing feat and an Encounter and Daily power from one other class' power list.
-Alternatively, instead of granting extra powers, allow the Encounter power to be used twice, and allow the Daily power to be used as an Encounter power.
-Granting magic items at 1st level could add more options as well to strengthen the experience.

Monsters/Challenges:
-Drop monster defenses and attacks by two, and use the 'Bloodied' HP value as the total HP value.
-Alternatively, keep AC and attack rolls the same, but halve damage rolls and keep the Bloodied HP mark as their total HP.
-Drop all skill check/challenge DCs by 2.
-(obviously)Don't use solos, and include Elites as opponents specifically tailored for 1 on 1 combat.
-Be careful with the number of Minions used, as choking off player movement will kill the experience.

Do you think, as far as combat is concerned, that these changes might allow such a demo to be run? I'm aiming for an average of 2-4 monsters per combat, with slightly more in minion heavy areas, and obviously one less when Elites are involved. Thoughts? Opinions? Outright flames? I'd like to hear them.

 

[Rabbitbait]

I would definitely look at having an action point per encounter, but probably none of the rest of the options you have listed.

I think if encounter powers become twice-per-encounter powers and daily powers become encounter powers also, it would actually reduce the level of tactical thinking needed. - the player would never need to use their at-will powers and their 'special' stuff becomes less special.

The best option may be just to reduce the number of enemies you throw at the player at once. If it is a first level player then aim for 100xp, or maybe 200xp for a very hard battle. Once they start getting higher in level and you work out what they can handle then you would be able to start chucking more pain at them.

Don't get too panicked that they might die. Very possible in a solo game where there is no-one to back you up. Dying at low level ain't so bad, and it gives the player a healthy level of fear for future games.

Another option might be to get them to team up with some NPCs.

Whether you or the player control them in a battle situation would depend very much on both of your styles.

Another option might be just to start with a higher level character.

 

[aybkamen]

I like the Action Point per encounter.

Also you can give the character a monster as a back up. Like a panther or any other that fills a back up role for the character class.

This way the player can control the creature without the problems of being lost in a full NPC character class powers. He can also enjoy his character and take a look on DM thingies

 

[ZetaStriker]

Well a higher level character would ordinarily be my first choice, but we don't have the rules for it yet. This is just a pre-release demo, after all. As for NPCs, they're another likely option, although I really dislike the idea of giving the PC control over them. My 'solo rules' were more just a look at how I might get things to work without NPCs, and my further discussion on them will assume that NPCs are not involved.

I am very much against reducing enemy numbers drastically though... a few minions is hardly an encounter once the player has a grasp on the rules, and using minions to back up a single regular enemy will get old quick. And using small groups of regular enemies will work great when Soldiers, Skirmishers and Brutes are fielded, but Lurkers and Controllers, and to a lesser extent Artillery, wont function quite as intended. I'd be better off using NPCs than reducing the number of enemies.


...

I guess my idea of a 1 man adventure in this pre-release scenario is sort of an action movie experience; even regular enemies should appear 'mookier' in comparison. Hence my changes to monsters in order to increase the number I can pack into a given encounter. I'm probably going to playtest that a bit either way, but in the end I may scrap that end of it.

I am tempted to give the player more options, however, because playing alone removes the entire party dynamic. A single player almost needs the extra stuff to give them the extra oomph to their combat options. Solo monsters are a good look at what might need to be done. A solo PC may need more abilities and more action points to stay interesting, and I want my player's PC to feel as awesome after an encounter as the Solo Black Dragon might after getting that total party kill. The separate encounter daily powers are probably the most likely route I'd go for this, but I'm still not sure what would strike an optimal balance... again though, I say all this without having actually tried it or its regular play alternative. Which is partially why I threw it up here.

EDIT: The animal companion isn't a bad idea... it removes a few of the problems I felt I was facing when including NPCs, or worse, letting the PC control NPCs. It's something I'll definitely consider as I go about testing some of these ideas on my own.

 

[LowSpine]

Solo adventures have to cater to one class, or perhaps just one role.

A defender could survive a solo quite well without messing as long as the enemy is the right power - but defenders have a disadvantage against anything with a range so I would keep them out mostly.

A leader really thrives on others for their powers to make a difference. I don't know how to address that without giving him minions to work with. Perhaps his adventure would involve helping a caravan and give him lots of red shirts to work with. He could rally them to protect the caravan or heal them when they are lying bleeding to death.

A striker would do okay. Just give them lots of places to sneak about, escape routes and range at the initial encounter distance.

A controller would be tricky. I would suggest keeping all his enemies to minions and, like the striker, keep them at a distance so he can smash most of them down before they get too close. If you intend to get some close the minions should be lower in number so he stands a chance. The other way would be to give him a one off ritual scroll (part of the quest) which gives him a bit of temp hit points and a magical defence bonus. That sort of thing. If you want some sort of big bad at the end give him a one off magic weapon like a 'staff of Gerald slaying' that shatters when the big bad is killed. These things should preferably not carry on out of the adventure so just make them adventure specific and part of the plot.

 

[invokethehojo]

I've ran solo adventures many times and I have to say, I believe you're over thinking this.

Making all those changes to a new rule system no one is familier with isn't a good idea. If you don't want to reduce the numbers of enemys drastically (and I don't blame you for that) I would say to just give the PC some help here and there: a healing potion or two (don't need a fancy rule book to make up one of those) or magic item that has a encounter or daily ability that could get him out of trouble. Maybe design the encounters to favor the PC (terrain and such)

or design the adventure itself to be more solo friendly; such as a rogue stealing some jewels. That kind of adventure would have many skill challenges (get close to someone to learn how to acces jewels, maybe steal plans to the place its locked, then the heist itself) and would probably involve only small encounters, a couple of gaurds or two, maybe another rogue with the same idea.

If none of these things work for you you might need to ask yourself: is this worth doing? Will it work or will it just be a futile attempt that will end up giving the player a negative idea of 4e?

 

[Rechan]

Just one monster (or minions) for a solo adventure. (No solos or elites, unless you're feeling punchy).

For a controller PC, I'd say put them against another controller or some artillery; so it becomes a 'spellslingers across the room'. I was thinking about this last night, of allowing wizards to counterspell one another, or at least a power struggle (The ol' "Two powers hitting at one, so it becomes a test of wills to see whose power breaks first") with dueling Arcane rolls.

 

[Rex Blunder]

Maybe start a level 1 fighter against some goblin minions and stuff, and have a NPC cleric show up in time to help against some undead. Then you could fight the wizard Bargle!

Not being snarky. I'd love to see the red box solo adventure adapted for 4e.

 

[Dronehound]

If the character is anything but a defender, give him a pet or something else that can fill that roll. Something like Drizzle's panther. I can even gain power with the character, becoming something like an advanced familiar. For example, your solo dragonborn wizard starts up with a family heirloom of a statuette of a small lizard. The statuette can turn into a giant lizard every encounter for 4 rounds. He gains a few levels, and the statuette can turn into a fire lizard for 10 rounds. Achieve paragon status, and the statuette can now turn into a half-red dragon/wyvern at will, and can be used as a mount. At epic level, it turns into a giant fire breathing realm destroyer of a dragon. Similarly, for a tiefling warlock, an imp at lower level, then hellhound, then nightmare, then cerebus. For an elf ranger, a wolf, dire wolf, blinking winter wolf, legendary blinking winter wolf....

This is a better option than throwing in random fighter NPC. A pet will not take the glory of the player, and in fact, the player controlling the pet will take pride in it's success as much as the success of his character.

 

[Rabbitbait]

Also,

let the player know you are learning as you go as well. Hopefully that'll give you a bit of wiggle room.

Be ready to cheat. If an encounter is starting to look too hard - fudge the dice, lower the enemies hit points mid battle, don't let the enemies use their best abilities etc. Opposite if the encounter is looking too easy.

One of the beauties with 4e is that a player won't get killed with one hit, so there is time for the DM to adjust things on the fly if you need to.