Solo Campaign - Tips & Guidelines Wanted

[Eradis]

I am about to start a solo campaign with a friend being the player. I am a decent idea of where I'm gonna go for the story line and which kind of encounter I will mostly do, but one's creativity has its limit. I know he might go for its traditional Rogue character which is a good choice in my opinion for a solo character, but I still want to keep his options open.

Here's what I am looking for:

Which class are fun to play solo, that has decent fighting skill to partake combat encounter, but doesn't lack rp element.
Any idea of combat encounter mechanics that would fit against a single Hero (he will have npc friends from time to time, but the story will really focus on his PC)
Any tips about making the most of every RP encounters
Anything else that you might find worth mentioning.


Thanks! =D

[Waterdeep Merch]

Check out Jacob's Well, an old adventure from Dungeon back in the day (a wizard named Google will aid you in this...). It was designed as a solo adventure. Some things about its design-

* There were plentiful NPC's, both to interact with and to potentially aid the player. They were a pretty complex bunch.
* There actually wasn't much combat (usually). Really, there was only a single monster. The presentation of that monster is what sold it. This is both because it was a mystery/horror game and because, realistically, a solo character just can't survive regular fights.
* Mystery hooks in general are a great idea for a solo campaign. It really fits well, having the player alone in an intriguing place, surrounded by people that have their own motives.
* Horror also lends itself very well to a more personal experience.
* It took place in a very small setting that was extremely fleshed out. Focus and detail over breadth and size. It's a good general theme to keep in mind with a single player.

[Eradis]

I shall seek that mysterious Wizard of an odd name for inspiration, but I must admit I never was too fund of module campaigns.

I do have more intention to pit the player in all sorts of social encounter, stealth missions, investigations and the likes, but I will probably make him start around level 5 depending of his character choice to be able to make him feel like a musketeer-caliber hero while I pit him against a bunch of degenerate goblins (or whatever creature or re-skinned creature will suit the settings best).

Horror never attract me so much as I do not feel I have the necessary material for it. It's a theme I had no problem creating with a team in improvisation shows, but on my own as a Game Master, not so sure. Though I do want to extend my reach to that territory especially with the rpg "Kids on bikes" coming up soon. Do you know of a direction that might help me develop such skills?

[lunaticfringe]

I would hesitate to throw them up against a bunch of anything unless they go Blaster. 1 vs Many is stacked ridiculously in favor of the Many. Single Target Classes are screwed by bad dice rolls.

Also consider using 4e's Minions. They are started out like regular monsters but have 1 HP.

[Eradis]

I would hesitate to throw them up against a bunch of anything unless they go Blaster. 1 vs Many is stacked ridiculously in favor of the Many. Single Target Classes are screwed by bad dice rolls.

Also consider using 4e's Minions. They are started out like regular monsters but have 1 HP.

I am actually not afraid of one man against the world type of fights as I already tried some and it went very well even with single target characters. Break the fight into sequences, play a bit with the initiative, throw some narrow path from time to time or add a familiar/ally of some sort that the player have control over if not a siege weapon (always depend on the situation) and the day is made. Also, not every battle have to be to the death. Chase scene can be a blast, especially when it comes as a surprise. Stuck in a room surrounded by foes? Is that their prized parchment I am holding? Well, it is what I came for, but my life is worth more. Throw it in the fireplace and watch those pesky villains run for it to try and save it while you escape during that brief window it created.

[The Shadowdove]

Solo playstyle benefits the player/dm who learn to use more than just the class as their tools.

Reward a player for creative problem solving and strategic approaches to combat. It's what a solo artist would do to adapt for the lack of allies.

They should make contacts, so certain npcs should be more iconic, reappearing, and someone they may be able to go back to.

A room should be described in such a way that gives them options or a malleable palate from which to use their imagination. Hiding, terrain, limiting the enemies field of vision/options for attack.

Items in the area they can figure out are something they can interact with and use to their advantage. The layout of the room should be easy to understand, and misconceptions shouldn't be punished but instead improvised so there isn't any confusion and the character has something to work with.

They should learn to craft more than one plan for attack, escape, and sanctuary.

Resources are infinitely useful. Everything is a tool, a weapon, a hideout, a source of information, an ally who may also be a potential for.

Crafting this sort of playstyle can be done without stating as much, but by allowing those elements to show as you play. A careful roleplay punishment or narrow escape can lead to more creative and we'll thought out roleplay or planning in future scenarios.

[Nifft]

NPCs -- yeah, make 'em interesting, but be sure you (the DM) hand over full control of allied NPCs during combat. If the allied NPC has secrets, that's fine, just don't put those on the NPC character's combat sheet which you hand to the solo-player.

The world should feel alive, like it exists independently of the PC. This is a bit of a conflict, since you want at-the-table time to focus a strong spotlight on the PC. One way to solve the dilemma: write set-pieces about what's going on in the background, for example a conversation between merchants in the market as the PC walks through. Send these via email, to be read between sessions. Make the world feel alive, preferably in ways that don't occupy face-to-face time, which should be spent mostly in dialog with the player.

That background-detail email stuff also gives the player a better context for when the solo-PC eventually interacts with those NPCs.

[Eradis]

I love those ideas. Putting more effort on world features such a hideouts, sanctuaries, faction standings and the like will certainly benefits my player and his character's role in that world. I have in mind a multitude of events that will occurs without needing his implications (though if he is to mingle with them, things might change for sure), nonetheless I do not feel the need to e-mail him average occurrences to keep him up to date. Simple narrative of what is going on around him feels more natural and realist to me. Even in our days, we can miss out on pretty obvious change or news if we don't take the time to open up a newspaper often enough or avoid particular streets or neighborhood on regular basis. Just thinking of the number of shops that opened in just weeks from the ground up in a town next to mine during a month I was out of the loop still gives me shivers.

I like the idea of giving some NPCs control to the player, but I probably won't do it for thoses that have a different agenda or meant to have certain tactics such as betrayal or bad fleeing habits. The animal kinds, constructs or mercenaries is another story though.

Thank you!

[Nifft]

I like the idea of giving some NPCs control to the player, but I probably won't do it for thoses that have a different agenda or meant to have certain tactics such as betrayal or bad fleeing habits. The animal kinds, constructs or mercenaries is another story though.

You can do NPC betrayal, just make sure that you separate in-character betrayal from player feeling betrayed.

How to do betrayal:
- Don't make an NPC switch sides during combat. If an NPC is going to violently betray the solo-PC, do it exactly when initiative is rolled.
- Try to give clues about an NPC's betrayal before it happens. For example, the NPC disappears on mysterious errands at strange times, and the NPC looks guilty when the solo-PC questions her. Other NPCs say they don't trust her. When you walk into an adventuring inn, the bartender gives her the stink-eye. Etc.


But instead of betrayal -- which should be very rare -- what I prefer to do is offer NPC specific complications.

For example, let's say a faerie dragon stole an emerald from an adventurer, and ate it. You pick up the faerie dragon as a companion, but the little fellow is recognized by the adventurer, who demands compensation. Going forward, you know that the faerie dragon eats gemstones -- this may be a complication which reduces treasure a bit in the future. (I used this, it was pretty cute.)

[Eradis]

You can do NPC betrayal, just make sure that you separate in-character betrayal from player feeling betrayed.

But instead of betrayal -- which should be very rare -- what I prefer to do is offer NPC specific complications.

For example, let's say a faerie dragon stole an emerald from an adventurer, and ate it. You pick up the faerie dragon as a companion, but the little fellow is recognized by the adventurer, who demands compensation. Going forward, you know that the faerie dragon eats gemstones -- this may be a complication which reduces treasure a bit in the future. (I used this, it was pretty cute.)

I won't lie, I actually like betrayal while in a fight. Though I build up to it. It doesn't make sense for a NPC to injure or kill members of Team Foe if he's about to turn on Team Hero. Instead he might oddly miss and attack against him might tend to miss a lot too, he might accidentally trip or slash an ally of the PC mid-fight, let out a stupid "look out" to a foe to prevent the PC from doing a sneak attack, etc.

The idea of the lil' gem eater is delicious though (I know what I did there and I glad I could, thanks to you Nifft). I love to introduce strange friendly creature with some knacks depending of the game. I often come up with my favorite: A strange whimsical creature or psychic child. I think I have never put any in a game so far because I don't want to introduce such NPC too early on, especially when I have greater plan for it on the long run. I mostly end up finishing the game prior to that so I'd rather "keep it for the next". Mh... Thinking about it, I actually recently put in the Psychic Child in a LoD game I'm running, but turns out one PC did tragically by a dumb mistake caused by another that nearly ended in a TPK. I gave the player the choice to play that kid and he took it. Turns out his power made a jealous, but the kid would have been there anyway. The table turned quickly when they came in a fight and the kid couldn't do jack.

What other creepy crawly of any kind do you put in your games or love to see? (dang that could be a decent topic on itself, maybe later haha!)