Solo Campaigns
- Thread starter Tinker Gnome
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Plane Sailing
Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!
I ran a memorable solo campaign for a player with a 1e ranger; the class was well suited mechanically and thematically for it, and he went from 1st to 5th level over about a years gaming.
Memorable moments were when he discovered that the halfling sidekick who had teamed up with him for weeks to hunt down a marauding Ogre Mage actually *was* the Ogre Mage, or where he charged a group of hill giants with his mounted lance to rescue a princess tied to a stake (at 4th level) and managed to get a critical hit and kill one of them. He was sure he was going to die against those odds, but decided a rescue attempt was the right thing to do. The hill giants saw a vengeful ranger bear down on them and smite one of their mates with a single blow and took off for the hills, sure that a hero of legend had come upon them
Memorable moments were when he discovered that the halfling sidekick who had teamed up with him for weeks to hunt down a marauding Ogre Mage actually *was* the Ogre Mage, or where he charged a group of hill giants with his mounted lance to rescue a princess tied to a stake (at 4th level) and managed to get a critical hit and kill one of them. He was sure he was going to die against those odds, but decided a rescue attempt was the right thing to do. The hill giants saw a vengeful ranger bear down on them and smite one of their mates with a single blow and took off for the hills, sure that a hero of legend had come upon them
roguerouge
First Post
Awesome. I've had a great experience doing it. My advice is to include the following: a sandbox campaign style, a BFF (for advice and RP), several love interests, and to encourage leadership. Subtract 4 or 5 from the PC's level to determine their solo level: you have no margin for error. Have a "ghostwalk" or "post-death" experience ready in case of a death that can't be hand-waved as a capture.
And have tons of prep for role playing. You won't believe how many starter towns you'll go through.
And have tons of prep for role playing. You won't believe how many starter towns you'll go through.
I like to branch off into mini-solo quests when the party breaks up (which is quite common and they do it all by themselves, they do). We're setting one up right now - the necromaster (his title) is distracting the lovely young wife of the evil wizard while the rest of the group explores. Unfortunately, they were booted out by a portal and he's still stuck behind so now he has to get out all by himself.
They're lots of fun and provide plenty of opportunities to set up the character for a surprise without the other players knowing. When he's in on the secret and plays along after rejoining the group, no one suspects anything. If I set it up for him and expected the player to play along, everyone would automatically get suspicious.
They're lots of fun and provide plenty of opportunities to set up the character for a surprise without the other players knowing. When he's in on the secret and plays along after rejoining the group, no one suspects anything. If I set it up for him and expected the player to play along, everyone would automatically get suspicious.
I've played in a couple of solo games. Both of the games were in homebrew settings and one was with a homebrew game system. This really helps because the games were essentially 'sand boxes' in that I had a character that was given pretty much free rein to do whatever I wanted. The best game was where I was a new initiate into a secret society and was given some start up money and set in an urban setting and told to gather information and send it back to the society. I was allowed to roleplay freely because I didn't have to worry about what other players wanted to do. The DM could let me generate my own adventures or give me missions to accomplish. The hard part was that I had to come up with all of the ideas on my own. But, to have a successful solo campaign, then I think the DM has to really know the insides of the campaign setting and be able to improvise well if the player decides to go down a certain path. But, the burden is also on the player to have a character with enough depth that they can be proactive in their own motivations.
In 4e, I'm not sure how well a solo campaign would run. 4e emphasizes a lot more party cohesion and relying on the specialities of the other classes/roles. So, if you are considering running a game in 4e, then I would suggest giving the character more skills to be trained in, focusing more on skill challenges, and keeping combat to a minimum. But, my real suggestion would be to go back to a 3.X edition for a solo game.
In 4e, I'm not sure how well a solo campaign would run. 4e emphasizes a lot more party cohesion and relying on the specialities of the other classes/roles. So, if you are considering running a game in 4e, then I would suggest giving the character more skills to be trained in, focusing more on skill challenges, and keeping combat to a minimum. But, my real suggestion would be to go back to a 3.X edition for a solo game.
Lord Mhoram
Hero
Interesting point. I play for character immersion, and that is so much easier to do in solo play, as the whole game is focused on you, rather than the group.
Herobizkit
Adventurer
My style of play has been strictly solo play for the better part of 10 years. As such, my player and I have swapped roles as DM. It is a much more focused forum for decent storytelling and many of our stories have been more focused on NPC interaction than rote adventuring.
I have often played 2 characters side by side with a supporting cast of 2-3 "core" NPCs controlled by the DM. This has resulted in lots of hilarity as I often have played the characters as a 'team' with clearly defined and differing (often conflicting) personalities.
Example: younger brother, 16 yrs old - human fighter/rogue - your typical plucky, overeager hero who believes that brute force can solve most problems and proves it on a daily basis; older sister, 21 yrs old - human Favored Soul of (our campaign's Light goddess) - former barmaid, responsible, well-mannered and well-spoken, has a sense of humour reserved for her female friends as the men in her life have proven to be idiots, including her brother.
Example: Drow (in our campaign, Drow is just another non-evil subspecies of Elf) Priest of Knowledge - sarcastic, dry wit, sees humans as children, treats them as such; Human Ranger (Detective aspirant); speaks slowly and controlled, tries to solve issues using brains over brawn but has the brawn when necessary, prefers to handle situations with minimal bloodshed.
When I DM a solo campaign, the player IS the campaign. Everything revolves around the player, and while other things can happen, those things are always related to the player in some way. Sandbox is generally how I DM, and most ideas for adventure come off the hip as I go.
I have often played 2 characters side by side with a supporting cast of 2-3 "core" NPCs controlled by the DM. This has resulted in lots of hilarity as I often have played the characters as a 'team' with clearly defined and differing (often conflicting) personalities.
Example: younger brother, 16 yrs old - human fighter/rogue - your typical plucky, overeager hero who believes that brute force can solve most problems and proves it on a daily basis; older sister, 21 yrs old - human Favored Soul of (our campaign's Light goddess) - former barmaid, responsible, well-mannered and well-spoken, has a sense of humour reserved for her female friends as the men in her life have proven to be idiots, including her brother.
Example: Drow (in our campaign, Drow is just another non-evil subspecies of Elf) Priest of Knowledge - sarcastic, dry wit, sees humans as children, treats them as such; Human Ranger (Detective aspirant); speaks slowly and controlled, tries to solve issues using brains over brawn but has the brawn when necessary, prefers to handle situations with minimal bloodshed.
When I DM a solo campaign, the player IS the campaign. Everything revolves around the player, and while other things can happen, those things are always related to the player in some way. Sandbox is generally how I DM, and most ideas for adventure come off the hip as I go.
weem
First Post
Solo campaigns can be great! I have not played in one but have run a few (back in the 2e days).
I would love to run a solo campaign for someone playing an Avenger, but another idea I had was to run a duo campaign - one player playing an Avenger (of a non-good God), the other playing a rogue - and have them be brothers. the Avenger wanting to move on to the next task/mission while the rogue wants to slow down and enjoy the spoils of their adventures, etc.
The campaign I currently run, we have played 17 sessions... after the 18th (next weekend) the group will likely be splitting to get a number of different things done in time for a large event. So, after the next session, we will be planning "individual" games where, for example, one weekend we play the path of the Fighter, at which point the other players will play NPC's involved in his storyline - another weekend will be for the Wizard, etc etc until they are done and meet back up which will be one session for each player.
I would love to run a solo campaign for someone playing an Avenger, but another idea I had was to run a duo campaign - one player playing an Avenger (of a non-good God), the other playing a rogue - and have them be brothers. the Avenger wanting to move on to the next task/mission while the rogue wants to slow down and enjoy the spoils of their adventures, etc.
The campaign I currently run, we have played 17 sessions... after the 18th (next weekend) the group will likely be splitting to get a number of different things done in time for a large event. So, after the next session, we will be planning "individual" games where, for example, one weekend we play the path of the Fighter, at which point the other players will play NPC's involved in his storyline - another weekend will be for the Wizard, etc etc until they are done and meet back up which will be one session for each player.
MortalPlague
Adventurer
Put in another vote for 'solo campaigns are great'! I ran one for a friend of mine back in the days of 3.5, and his barbarian chieftan protected his people from the perils of the Frostmarsh, and later, the perils of civilization. He set up treaties, dealt with NPCs, and finally died while fighting a great dragon. It really brought out the best in a player I'd never seen really rp before.
