Running a 3.5 Solo campaign; Advice needed

[Squark]

So, I'm going to be running a 3.5 solo campaign. First time I've DM'd a live campaign in a while. Anyway, does anyone have advice on running a solo campaign? I've got a couple of questions that I've wondered about, but if you have any additional advice about mistakes to avoid, I'd appreciate.

Questions;

1) NPC Companions: Obviously, They shouldn't speak unless spoken to or I've created a side arc for them (And I need to be careful with that, of course. Don't give an NPc a sidequest unless my Sister takes a shine to them, and even then, She's still in the spotlight). I'm more concerned about making sure she stays in the spotlight during combat. SHe's playing a Gestalt Bard/Ranger (archery), so I figure she needs some sort of bodyguard. One thing I've considered is making her the only Gestalt Character, and keeping the companions single classed (And I should probably avoid Primary Casters, too, unless they're entirely support focused). Also, if she eventually gathers a second or third companion, should I give her the stats for one or two of them to control during combat?
2) Resources: Obviously, a wand of Cure light wounds should probalby be among the first things she finds. But are there other sorts of items I should make sure fall into her hands?

[Malroth]

let her start with a group of 3 PC's friends from the same village or some other connected background , she controls all 3 characters and throw in a less powerful NPC sidekick to fill in whatever gaps she has in the party roles (except the face if she has 3 PC's and nobody can talk to NPC's she obviously doesn't think that part of the game is important)

[HalfQuart]

I think 3 PCs is too many; that's a lot of overhead to manage. I like your idea of 1 sidekick (cohort?), and then maybe add a few followers (shield/torch bearers) if needed. One thing you'll need to figure out is if she'll try to sneak around and avoid combats or set up ambushes... if so, her sidekick will need to be able to be sneaky too.

Assuming she's a fairly experienced player, I'd let her control the cohort too. (unless she doesn't want to).. at least let her run it in combat, even if you run him in social situations.

[HalfQuart]

I just stumbled upon this Guide to Solo Campaigns (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19905314/Guide_to_Solo_Campaigns) and thought it might be useful.

[Fouredged Sword]

I find that a well run DMPC is a great tool.

Remember some basic rules and you will work out fine.

Rule 1 - DMPC's are not heros.
- Don't let the DMPC be powerful. Don't let them be heros. Don't even make them very handy. They are not leaders, they are not champions, they are not great men. The player must lead them, or they wander off because without a reason and a leader they are not adventurers. The DMPC fighter just wants to go to the bar and drink. The DMPC healer is a abject coward. The DMPC wizard just wants to research his next spell. They want to do as little as possible, leaving the player room to actually play.

Rule 2 - Keep them focused
- A DMPC needs to have a laser focus on one aspect of the game, and it needs to be something the PC lacks. Pick some ability the character lacks and you think he needs. Give him an ally that fills that roll, and JUST THAT ROLL. A fighter with a tower shield and full plate to help the PC wizard. A DMPC healer to keep the PC barbarian alive. A rogue 2 / artificer 3 to help the PC wizard break into locked chests and find traps.

Rule 3 - Keep them less powerful
- The DMPC needs to be a flawed character build. Maybe they are a sword and board fighter with a tower shield and no power attack. Maybe they are a sorcerer with no offensive spells. Maybe they are a healer. Maybe a druid with a sparrow animal companion and a low of spamming SNA to summon wolves and nothing else. The player should constantly be aware that "he could do better" if he built the character.


Rule 4 - Make them quirky
- DMPCs need character. Give them funny quirks and personality. Make the PC interact with them alot. Make them funny, or cowards, or scoundrals. Do somthing that makes them more than just walking spellbooks or towers of meatshield.

Rule 5 - Make lots of DMPCs, let the player choose who he gets.
- Keep them to no more than 1-2 at a time. I like to make a stable of DMPC's that the PC goes and recruits for a given plot line, but he can never seem to get more than one or two to go along with a given scheme. This keeps the complexity down and the focus on the player. It also lets him choose the DMPC from the options you give, and lets him dictate the play style.

[Miranius]

You could fill many roles with, for example, a facototum npc. a little spellcasting, turning, skills, UMD.... you name it, a factotum has it.

Depending on your players experience and your game style, 3 npc`s seems a bit much for me (mostly because of the time involved to play 3 seperate characters), i`d stick with 2 and 1 comtrolled by the DM.
(if you haven`t seen it yet, you absolutely HAVE to see Gamers 2 "dorkness rising", a hillarious movie about D&D with exactly that NPC sitiation ;) )

[nobodez]

You also might want to go the Mass Effect/Dragon Age (or really any CRPG of the recent decade) and have their PC be a bit like Shedpard/the Grey Warden/Hawke and the NPC helpers a bt like the companions from the game.

Depending on how much control your Player wants, they can either just order the NPCs around or have full control of each round's actions.

As for advancement, have a set path for each NPC, and let the Player decide how th NPCs advance up tht path.