One player+DM campaigns?

[Mayhem]

I started a game with my brother this evening, he chose to be a 1st level dwarf guy beguiler/warblade gestalt in fullplate with 2 pistols :smallannoyed:. Still, he managed to do pretty well compared to my DMPC crusader/psychic warrior halfgiant/halfdwarf( mechanically XPH half-giant) who got downed against 4 measly kobolds :smallsigh:. Being the only PC I guess it's fine if still spell doesn't change the spell level or casting time. He doesn't even have melee weapons, he just uses colour spray and then proceeds to bludgeon the unconcious kobolds to death by pistol whip :smallconfused:.

I'm running the WoTC adventure the Burning Plague( designed as a first adventure for 4 1st level players), we've only gotten through the first fight though. It was also his first d&d game. He's been playing Arcanum: Of steamworks and magic obscura a lot lately, so I suppose that's the direction I want to take this in.

So does anyone have any tips on running a solo game like this? Anyone know of any prewritten campaigns or adventures to run? Any help would be appreciated.

Has anyone DM'ed a game with only 1 PC? I'd really like to hear your input.

Also, the flavour of sublime way, psionics, and guns along side the rest of d&d makes this especially weird.. anyone have any ideas on what the rest of the country might be like? I suppose I could just treat it as normal d&d but with more monastaries.

Cheers,
Mayhem.

[Thurbane]

Haven't tried it on practice, but I always thought a good PC for a one player game would be a bounty hunter or assassin. The DM could give you different assignments to fulfill (bounties or assassination targets) as adventures.

[Kol Korran]

i haven't tried it either, but i've read a few campaign journals on the matter. it seems that the main thing about a single player campaign is that you can focus a great deal more on the motives and aspirations of that player, let them drive the game more easily than a group.

for this you need to know your world reasonably well i think, but you can wing it if you're good on it. a good strategy is to open up a few hooks at the end of a session, and see what the player chooses, and plan acording to that for next session.

DMs usually give support characters (DMPCs) but be warned! this has a far greater "annoying factor" potential in single player campaign than in larger groups. what seems to work is to have that character less powerful than the main one, and a subservient one. sort of a Sancho Pancho for his Don Quijote.

this consistent character (who usually has someway to heal, identify objects and all kind of other stuff), is supplemented by other minor characters- two brave brothers of the town militia, the cowardly panicked wizard novice, the beautiful elven bard that fancies him and so on. all for small appearances, with him in the main seat.

battles at his CR have the potential of being very dangerous, depending on how leeway you give him in planning his character.

all in all single player campaign seem less focused on battles, and more on exploration, roleplay and interaction. but again- this mostly depends on your player.

this is what i read. i hope this helps,
Kol.

[Mayhem]

Thanks, mercenary campaign is a great idea.

A reasonably detailed world huh? Yeah that makes sense, there isn't many reasonable ways to keep a solo character on track.

I noticed that a few weak enemies can be way more devastating than just one or two strong ones, due to critical hits.

DMPCs are quite difficult. I'm thinking of just allowing him to buy a metally retarded warforged bodyguard or something, and make him RP it... except then most likely the cohort would be used to spring traps despite his max search ranks and trapfinding :smallannoyed:.

[Kuulvheysoon]

I've done more than a few solo-campaigns, and I offer you a piece of advice:

DMPCs. I've found that they're most effective in the earlier levels, about 1-5. Usually I give them a melee-type companion, usually one that either they can heal or can heal themselves. Now, this melee type WILL vary for each campaign. Once, I had a solo where the player was a swift hunter, so for the first 5 levels, she got a barbarian companion with a focus on the sneaking skills, because that was the playstyle of a particular character.

CRs are a little trickier, I find. You have to make sure that the character/player can think of a way to deal with them (that same swift hunter ran into a swarm at level 7... and she had no AoE items and lacked a torch. She actually ended up running from that encounter). I find it best if you pick first creatures that are native to thenatural 'element' that they're in - animals in the forest, duergar in the Underdark, humans in the city, etc... Then branch out into more exotic forms, starting with about EL-1 (for the typical player).

Of course, if the player is an optimizer, you can throw most of this out the window.

[Crossblade]

I ran a solo campaign for my gf for about a year....

Tips:
*Give the PC max hp per level.
*Don't be afraid to alter the monsters hp. Example: a troll's hp is listed as 6d8+36 (63hp) That doesn't mean it HAS to have 63hp, it can have any wheres from 42 to 84 hp. If things are looking bad, and your PC did 43 dmg to it already, next hit CAN kill it, even if it's a 1 dmg. It's fine to lower enemy hp.
*Typically CR for 1 pc + 1 DMPC is CR-2 or CR-3
*Don't worry about keeping to Wealth By Level. He's the only PC, he's allowed to look over powered and awesome in lots of bling. No one else will complain. (It may make determining CR a little harder though)
**Further note on CRs: multiple enemies ARE harder than few enemies, this is because of Action Economics. Enemies can team up on fewer heros and widdle their health away faster than 1 or two stronger ones. This is because of flanking and aid another actions. (See: That D*mn Crab/Those D*mn Crabs)
*Allow restating a little bit later into the game if this is the PC's first character. Mistakes will be made if he's a first timer, tell him he's allowed to re-stat/rebuild only once (but if a second request comes along, consider allowing that too)
*Communicate with the player about the progression of the plot and alter it towards the PC's enjoyment. Example: in my solo campaign, I had a reoccurring LBEG that my PC used to like, however the LBEG got annoying so I had the BBEG kill the LBEG. PC enjoyed it as I did it in a way to enhance the story.