[4e] Solo adventures - advice needed!

[Thieves]

<non-crucial rant>I've been thinking of DMing a campaign for a single character, set in mythical Greece, with sphinxes, minotaurs, harpies and whatnot. The reason for using only one PC is because of flavor (like Hercules, Theseus etc.) and purely mechanical reasons (I live in an area devoid of people who can RP as well as grasp the rules and be genre savvy, and only have this one friend of mine who can communicate telepathically; with 4 or 5 people we tended to die miserably, and with just the unoptimized duo of us we could handle CRs far too high for our numbers and levels).</non-crucial rant>

The question is: what are the big Yesses and Noes of running a solo adventure in 4e?

Lack of roles, firepower, durability? Is gestalting a viable option? (even fully, i.e. doubling available abilities? and I'm not sure there even is such a concept in 4e) I do intend on giving him some cohorts from time to time, but these would be cannon fodder. I'm generally still quite dim on 4e, so something even quite obvious / blatantly broken you learn after four sessions will come in handy as I transfer from 3.5.

Help, Playground, for the love of Zeus! Aphrodite!

[demidracolich]

There are hybrid versions of classes where you get some abilities from two classes and pick powers from one of those class every level. This means they are not as good as a pure class but can have hybrid roles.

[Yakk]

To Gestalt in the character builder, use "Hybrid" and then hand out a bonus "Hybrid Talent" feat or two, and bonus powers, using the homebrew buttons.

[Thieves]

Okay, thanks, I take it as a 'yes' to hybrids.

What about roles? Which role is it best to play when soloing - an adventure, not just a dungeon - or is it flexible up to the style of play?

Would you recommend class-tailored quests or varying quests to see how a barbarian convinces a court? I guess the latter would be more fun and exploratory, and I know there won't be "hey i'm a fighter i'm not supposed to do that"; so are there any drawbacks to that approach?

[Tiki Snakes]

Well, you should very much tailor the adventure to the player and the character, given that you've only one in this situation. So look at the character he wants to build, and put him in situations that play to both his strengths and weaknesses, but over-all make sure you play to his interests.

Hybrids are a reasonable option for this, but make sure the player knows what they are doing before they build such a character. They can be messed up easier than other types.

[Ichneumon]

Defender or Leader are the best roles for a solo adventure, as staying alive is what is most important. Defenders can take the blows and Leaders can heal. Maybe try making a hybrid combo of both? Don't know if it's possible or not.

[Kurald Galain]

Defender or Leader are the best roles for a solo adventure, as staying alive is what is most important. Defenders can take the blows and Leaders can heal.

While healing yourself is going to be very useful, it strikes me as rather pointless to play a defender when there's nobody around to, you know, defend...

I'd recommend playing a striker with good skills and some out-combat utility (hm, that's going to be tricky), and dragging an NPC healer along...

[Thieves]

Just now that Yakk suggested the Character Builder I saw on wizards.com there's an article on mythical creatures, just what I would need. Am not subscribed at the moment; could someone in there tell me what's actually there? Is it an index / compilation or are these non-MM original creations you attack the weak points of for massive damage?

While healing yourself is going to be very useful, it strikes me as rather pointless to play a defender when there's nobody around to, you know, defend...

I'd recommend playing a striker with good skills and some out-combat utility (hm, that's going to be tricky), and dragging an NPC healer along...

What I thought. Defender could end up as a stand-there-do-nothing too quickly, which is disastrous for solo, even if the survivability is nice. I'm not sure about too-useful NPCs (not going to use DMPCs for sure)... What do you think about being able to use Healing Surges just whenever he wants (and transforming slide/heal-Ally abilities into slide/heal/more damage for yourself)? He's a hero, he Can do big stuff.

[Kurald Galain]

What do you think about being able to use Healing Surges just whenever he wants

That ability is called "healing potions"

I think a rogue is one of the best solo characters in 4E, particularly with a multiclass feat. They've got good skills, stealth to avoid combat, and can do nasty damage when needed.

(and while they have nobody to flank with, there are plenty of powers that grant combat advantage without flanking)

[Excession]

Monk is another good solo class I think, using the Dex/Wis build. Compared to rogue you get less skills, and worse social skills, but better Wis skills. You don't rely on CA as much but can get it easier via Deadly Draw, you can target low NADs, and get more multi-target damage. Your defences can be slightly higher (class +1 to all, Unarmored Agility), and your own low NAD won't be as low.

[Tiki Snakes]

That ability is called "healing potions"

I think a rogue is one of the best solo characters in 4E, particularly with a multiclass feat. They've got good skills, stealth to avoid combat, and can do nasty damage when needed.

(and while they have nobody to flank with, there are plenty of powers that grant combat advantage without flanking)

I'd imagine Human Ranger is probably a bit of a solo-sweet-spot, too. Great damage, tough (especially if you go two weapon build) the Animal Companion to split aggro / watch duty / etc, plenty of skills and a reasonable list to start with.

(Or a Bard who only ever takes multi-class feats? )

That said, if the DM is willing to tailor things to the character you build, you could happily play any class really. A good, heavily offensive defender build would probably be what I went for, though, half the time. A Particularly brutal fighter, or the particularly violent Paladin build perhaps.

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

Rogue works if it works with the player's concept. The clever, sneaky hero easily fits into the Greek mythos, but some people just want to play a brave warrior who rushes headlong into battle. Speaking of which, Barbarian works. You might want to gift him some extra skills in that case, but that's not a big deal, being a solo campaign and all.

[Meta]

A wizard is a surprisingly good solo. Very low hp but high defenses, good escape powers, summons, and lots of battlefield control. Thunderwave will help keep nasties away and utilities like Blur and Fly can be encounter enders if used correctly. Id recommend a human wizard personally.

[Coidzor]

What I thought. Defender could end up as a stand-there-do-nothing too quickly, which is disastrous for solo, even if the survivability is nice.

How, exactly? Being pin-cushioned by ranged attackers that can't be reached?

Unless he picks a class with a lot of tagged skills or you just give him more on that end, hybrid's going to probably be necessary just for the whole skill challenge, non-combat portion of it all.

Certain aspects of defenders would still be useful, however, others, mostly the mark mechanics would be largely discarded, though a paragon polearm fighter would still be happy.