Thinking About Running A 4e Solo Game

[Kaodi]

Hey, Everyone.

As the title suggests, I am contemplating trying to run a new solo game, my third overall and first for 4th Edition here on the PbP forums.

So, I would like to know if there is anyone who would be interested in playing in one (and/or DMing one, because I like playing solo too). I am looking to run something based on PoL, more or less, but it will be driven by the character that is selected and their background. That is to say, when posting a character you would like to play (my limitation in this respect is that it be a full write up race, so PHB and Warforged, or whatever else comes out of Dragon), what you post as your information will be important to the setting and the campaign, though I might suggest some changes.

I cannot give any guarantees on how good this game will be, but I will try to make in entertaining for the both the player and myself. Strictly speaking, recruitment will last until I decide on a character I like, so if you are interested, it is probably better to post sooner rather than to wait.

( Edit: I suppose I should add that I mean to start at 1st Level. )

 

[renau1g]

Definitely interested! I'll work on something, but my initial thoughts are a dwarven fighter...

Here we go:

Name: Kaldar Graystone
Age: 95
Race: Dwarf
Class: Fighter (Probably Guardian)

[sblock=Appearance]
Kaldar stands a little over 4 feet tall and is solidly built. His long black hair is pulled back tightly behind his head and his beard has 5 braids in the fashion of the Graystone clan. His light gray eyes are hard and cold, and seem to see into your soul. His movements are light but purposeful; he doesn’t seem to waste any effort that is not needed. Deep crevasses line his face giving him a permanent scowl and the skin of his arms are marked with the scars of many battles. His plate armor is deep crimson with a bronze badge denoting his rank in the Darchoun Army.
[/sblock]

[sblock=Personality]
Kaldar is very stoic and serious. He speaks only when there is a reason to and when he does he is brief and concise. He demands discipline from himself and those under his command. He believes that there must be order and trust among his fighting men. He is not used to being around those of other races so he is suspicious of their motives. He dislikes anyone who is a ‘fast talker’ or speaks using big words. He finds himself confused and angered by it. His idea of a motivational speech to his troops is, “For Honor and Glory” or “Hold, lads, they are coming to their death.”
[/sblock]

[sblock=History]
The Dwarven kingdom of Darchoun lies in and under the mountain range of the same name. The Darchoun mountains run east and west separating the Elven kingdom of Criasmoor in the south from the barbaric realm of Sine. A large pass cuts the mountain range almost in half leading from Sine to Criasmoor. Here the dwarves built a series of walls and gates to defend the entrance to the kingdom which lies on the Criasmoor side. They guard against attacks from the tribes of orcs and ogres of Sine. Inside the seventh wall lies the entrance to the Dwarves largest city called Seven Gates.

There are three clans who live in Darchoun, the Graystone Clan, the DiaKain Clan, and the Delvar Clan. There has been peace and unity among the Clans for over a thousand years. They have set up a system of rule allowing each Clan to rule for 50 years. The clan leader becomes the Patriarch of Dwarves. After the 50 year reign the clan steps aside for the next Clan to rule. When the clan steps down, they take on the responsibility of training and maintaining the army. During the next rule the clan moves to take over all mining and building operations. This allows each clan to rule and have sway in all decisions made.

Kaldar was born into the Graystone clan 10 years into their rule. His uncle, as head of the clan was named Patriarch. When Kaldar was growing up he wanted to be a soldier. He would sit at the parade grounds and watch the Defenders run through drills. He was amazed at their precision. Every Dwarf played a part to make the larger unit function as a single entity.
His father allowed him to train with the palace guards and soon Kaldar became a bodyguard for his uncle. During the final year of the Graystone reign a warlord from Sine united the tribes and attacked the first of the seven walls. During the first year of the war the first 2 walls were captured by the Sine army. The Dwarves held the third but no effort was made to retake the first 2.

When the DiaKain clan took over, Andarian DiaKain I was named Patriarch, and the Graystones took over the army. Kaldar, a seasoned warrior by that time, was placed with the Harbingers, an elite fighting corp.
The first campaign launched by the new leaders of the army saw the Harbingers push back the enemy to the first wall. For 42 days they fought, the ground between the two walls became saturated with the blood of orc and Dwarf alike. On that 42nd day a group of orcs and goblins lead by an Ogre Magi broke through the Dwarven defense.

Kaldar rallied his troops and formed an arced line with him at the apex. Even though the dwarves were outnumbered 5 to 1, wave after wave of the enemy broke against the dwarven line. Before long the enemy had to climb over the bodies of their comrades to fight. As the orcs withdrew to regroup, Kaldar lead a counter charge that soon became a route. The Sine army was driven back past the first wall.

The gate was hurriedly repaired and the dwarves where able to fend off their attackers next assault. For 3 more weeks the orcs and ogres tried to breech the wall to no avail. Finally, demoralized the army began to break down. Each commander blamed the other for their defeats. The ogres withdrew first. Having lost most of their leadership, fights broke out among them trying to determine who should lead. Seeing the largest members of the army leave, the orcs quickly followed suit, withdrawing back to their swamps in the north.

With peace restored Kaldar was summoned to the palace where the Patriarch named him Samryn, the highest honor that is given in the dwarven army. He was given command of the Harbingers and named special army liaison office. Kaldar held this position for 15 years when Tharizdun’s named was whispered by the oracle. He urged the army to call back the volunteers and mobilize their forces for another war. The leaders didn’t feel there was a credible threat. They felt that they were safe behind their walls and in the mountain.

Kaldar petitioned for 2 months when the signs began. At last he received audience with the Patriarch. Andarian was troubled but was reluctant to call up the military so soon after the war ended. He decided to send Kaldar on a mission to find out exactly what they were up against and if the threat was real.

[/sblock]

 

[renau1g]

*Phew*
Let me know your thoughts? Kind of a home-brewed world I run at home. I find its easier to change than canon material like FR or Eberron.

Kaldar has a lot of experience, but if what I read about 4e is right, characters are assumed to have adventured to get where they are.

 

[Kaodi]

Hmmm... Appearance and Personality are okay I guess, up to you anyway. But I am not so sure about the history. The level of experience you imply is substantially higher than a 1st level character, even in 4e. Also, given some of the ideas about PoL, I am not sure why there is this convenient wall system that keeps the bad guys from the good guys, not to mention why dwarves would go out of the way to protect elves in any case...

But if I were to go with you, I could probably work what you have posted into something more like a Point of Light.

If I may... (in shorter form):

Kaldar is basically as you have posted, but he is a veteran of a number of smaller battles and skirmishes with the orc tribes of the Sinagor, the treacherous area north of the mountains.

Instead of a grand system of gates with a huge city, he is from a smaller dwarven fort city that does guard an underground pass that connects two valleys within the mountain range. The northern one is the Sine valley, and the southern one is tentatively within the control of the dwarves, with several other forts in the mountains surrounding it. This would be Darchoun.

South of the mountains is Creyasmoore, a somewhat sinister (to the dwarves) that is inhabited by wild beasts, as well as the elves. The dwarves have some trading relations, but as thing are now neither would likely go out of their way to help the other.

There are rumours of a family on Oni in the Sinagor, where none have been there since Kaldar was young and fought in the most serious battle of his career, but what that means for the dwarves is so far unclear. There are also rumours of something that lies beyond the Sinegor, something from the human empire of Nerath, broken before Kaldar was born, that is taking the attention of the tribes of the Sinegor, though that has not meant a decrease in the number of raids on Kaldar's home fort.

Also, an additional element that I thought of when you first mentioned a dwarf fighter, before you posted anything abount his background: High in the mountains above the dwarven fortress, but accessible only from one of the passages branching off from the main tunnel to the southern valley, there lives an ancient Galeb Duhr. The dwarves give him what little he needs to survive, and in return he has always acted as a kind of mentor to whoever was willing to listen, but particular to a young Kaldar. He spends his days quietly overlooking the valley from the precipice he calls home.

 

[renau1g]

Hmmm... Appearance and Personality are okay I guess, up to you anyway. But I am not so sure about the history. The level of experience you imply is substantially higher than a 1st level character, even in 4e. Also, given some of the ideas about PoL, I am not sure why there is this convenient wall system that keeps the bad guys from the good guys, not to mention why dwarves would go out of the way to protect elves in any case...

Not a problem regarding the experience. The dwarves don't protect the elves per se, the elves rather gain the benefit of having a neutral party between them and the north. I thought the walls would create the POL.

If I may... (in shorter form):

Kaldar is basically as you have posted, but he is a veteran of a number of smaller battles and skirmishes with the orc tribes of the Sinagor, the treacherous area north of the mountains.

Instead of a grand system of gates with a huge city, he is from a smaller dwarven fort city that does guard an underground pass that connects two valleys within the mountain range. The northern one is the Sine valley, and the southern one is tentatively within the control of the dwarves, with several other forts in the mountains surrounding it. This would be Darchoun.

South of the mountains is Creyasmoore, a somewhat sinister (to the dwarves) that is inhabited by wild beasts, as well as the elves. The dwarves have some trading relations, but as thing are now neither would likely go out of their way to help the other.

There are rumours of a family on Oni in the Sinagor, where none have been there since Kaldar was young and fought in the most serious battle of his career, but what that means for the dwarves is so far unclear. There are also rumours of something that lies beyond the Sinegor, something from the human empire of Nerath, broken before Kaldar was born, that is taking the attention of the tribes of the Sinegor, though that has not meant a decrease in the number of raids on Kaldar's home fort.

Also, an additional element that I thought of when you first mentioned a dwarf fighter, before you posted anything abount his background: High in the mountains above the dwarven fortress, but accessible only from one of the passages branching off from the main tunnel to the southern valley, there lives an ancient Galeb Duhr. The dwarves give him what little he needs to survive, and in return he has always acted as a kind of mentor to whoever was willing to listen, but particular to a young Kaldar. He spends his days quietly overlooking the valley from the precipice he calls home.

Sounds good to me, I like the changes!

 

[Kaodi]

That was rather more positive than I thought. I was kind of half afraid that you would denouce me for changing things as much as I did after saying I wanted a player created backstory.

I guess this should be fair warning to anyone else that is interested: I want your help, but it is still me that is creating the world that we game in by far and large.

In any case, thanks for the entry. We will have to see what else pops up in the next little while though before I make any decision.

 

[Kaodi]

Bumpety bump.

Surely there must be more people who would like to give a solo game a try? The reason I prefer solo is mainly out of the belief that it is easier to manage, faster and more reliable. We only have to worry about you and me, not three or four other people. So, in theory there should be a much lower chance of solo games just dying off like most games seem to.

 

[Rayex]

Well, I am really quite interested in the concept of a Solo game. I do have a really hard time coming up with a concept for this. In a bit of a dry-zone, creativity-wise, these last days. If I do come up with something nifty, I'll post though.

 

[Rayex]

Ok, here's a little bit of what I've been thinking about.

Freedom - Female thiefling Warlock [Infernal Pact]

Shamirita was raised by humans. Or rather a human. Master Mikial was the only cleric in Skeid, a small village at the outskirts of the Empire. Having the honourable position he did, nobody (atleast not puplicly) said anything when he took in the young Thiefling, found one night crying at his doorstep.

Her childhood years were filled with misstrust from the other villagers, and the other kids were never allowed to asociate with the young thiefling. She was teased by the older kids, and mocked by the adults, but never when Mikial was around. Whenever the cleric was present, they all treated her like she was one of them. In her heart, she knew she never would be.

In her late teens, Master Mikial started to change. He often used Shamirita as a punching bag, and was constantly drunk. Her already brooding hatred for humans and their deceptive nature only grew with the months of abuse.

One night, in her dreams she was approached by a young man cloaked in shadows. He promised her power and glory, if she would only accept her true nature - that she was born into captivity, and her freedom was through killing the old Cleric. For weeks Shamirita had nightly visits by the shadow-man, each night he puched her to accept his bargain, and for each night that went past, she felt her resolve crumble, and knew the right of his words.

At last, she accepted. Laughing in delight, the shadow-man, who Shamirita had come to think of as Temptation, put his hand on her forehead. Fiery pain and an explosion of emotions and almost-felt memories raced through her, and when she woke up she could still feel the fire inside her.

In the evening, as was usual these days, Mikial once again got drunk and turned his attention on the young thiefling. But now, she had an answer. The old cleric burst into flames at your touch, and his screams pierced the night.

Calling upon his patron deity, he was able to quench the flames and turned on you, hatred shining in his eyes. From his outstretched hands a ray of brilliant light striked for her, and she fell to the floor in pain. However at the same moment Mikial burst into flame again, now powered by Shamiritas pain and torment.

The clerics drunkardness proved his undoing. Now too damaged and intoxicated to help himself, his human body quickly succumbed to the infernal flams. And Shamirita knew she had to escape. Hastily gathering her posessions, she left through a backdoor, at the same time she could hear people entering the front door. His shrieks of pain must have avoken the villagers. Using the darkness of the night, the young thiefling was able to sneak out of the village and into the plains beyond.

That night, she renamed herself Freedom, and vowed to never again trust anyone, and she knew, in her heart, she was alone in the world.

 

[Graf]

Very interesting. I'm a bit swamped to "try out". But it looks like you've already got two strong applicants anyway.

I'm curious what you see as being the appeal of "solo" games. I've seen them for a while now and I'm curious what the draw is.
Is it just logistical? The storytelling aspect?

(Sorry this is a bit off topic; I was tempted to hit the "fork thead button" but I have no idea what it does really...)