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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ivocaliban" data-source="post: 3821372" data-attributes="member: 17596">I ran a solo Greyhawk campaign for six years. The rest of the party was made up of NPCs, although we split the duty of controlling these supporting characters. While I spoke for all of the NPCs and gave them their personalities, the player rolled dice and made tactical decisions for several of them. I suppose in that light it was rather like a Final Fantasy game in which the player told the characters what to do in combat, but he didn't control their personalities.Anyway, this style worked for us, but I'm sure it isn't for everyone. You do have to put aside the idea that death is always a hair's breadth away, however, if you want a solo campaign to work with any sort of continuity. As I've said before, there are many fates worse than death...and all of them are more rewarding when considering the overall storyline. Death can occur, but in a solo campaign it's more important that it not be entirely random. A dramatic battle with a key villain that ends in death is at least more rewarding than failing a saving throw and falling in a pit trap.I realize some folks don't appreciate fudging the rules under any circumstances, but it really is a necessity in a solo game. Otherwise the entire campaign grinds to a halt while the player makes a new character and the DM tries to find some way to connect this new character to the old character's quest. Or you end up doing an entirely new game/setting which means the DM has to start from scratch. Either way, it's a drag.One way I found to fudge without breaking too many rules was to give the solo PC a "gift." In my solo campaign, for instance, the PC was an aasimar whose mother died not long after his birth. She left her son with a ring bearing her family crest. When the PC grew up, he wore the ring constantly in memory of the mother he never knew. During a particularly nasty battle with an ogre mage the PC was slain, just before the rest of the party managed to over come the foe.The party was far from any sort of healer and I knew it would slow down the game immeasurably to have things end at this point. So, I remembered the ring and considering the nature of aasimars and their ancestors I decided to have the ring cast raise dead on the PC before it crumbled to dust. I also took advantage of this moment to play out a dream sequence/near death experience with the PC and his mother's spirit and it worked well from all angles. So, the "gift" can be anything...and you don't have to explain it all right away. In fact, it's far better if you don't. That way, you have at least one failsafe built into the system if something goes terribly awry. The PC above just thought his gift was an ordinary signet ring until the moment came and its power was triggered.Anyway, just a few suggestions from someone who has DM'd more than his fair share of solo campaigns.</blockquote>

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