Tips for solos and similar?

[JusticeZero]

Does anyone know of a source of advice for very small or single person groups, regarding how to GM for them?

[Knaight]

Does anyone know of a source of advice for very small or single person groups, regarding how to GM for them?

I haven't seen much in the way of gathered advice. That said:

1 Player: You absolutely need a well characterized, interesting protagonist. Be more willing to have temporary NPC allies, but avoid DMPCs. I find that character centered stories work well here, whereas dungeon crawls and the like are substantially more difficult.

2 Players: Two player groups are a bit different than larger ones. The biggest change is that there's the whole possibility of partners - genres that favor partners over groups are suddenly much more viable. As far as character dynamics go, it often helps to have two characters with similar goals and fairly different approaches that together comprise an archetype about partners.

3 Players: Groups of 3 basically handle the same way as larger groups, except for everything is a bit easier. I wouldn't worry about them, and personally consider it the ideal group size.

[WrathMage]

Does anyone know of a source of advice for very small or single person groups, regarding how to GM for them?

See I am in the same situation. I am about to start my first ever solo game after more than twenty years of running for groups, and I am eager to hear of others experiences running solo, especially D&D (i'm about to run an Eberron game in Sharn that focusses on a P.I type of character).

[GungHo]

2 Players: Two player groups are a bit different than larger ones. The biggest change is that there's the whole possibility of partners - genres that favor partners over groups are suddenly much more viable. As far as character dynamics go, it often helps to have two characters with similar goals and fairly different approaches that together comprise an archetype about partners.

Buddy cop games are great, no matter the genre. And as the DM, you get to play the screaming captain. "DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THAT FIREBALL COST THIS CITY?!?"

[Slipperychicken]

Remember to adjust encounters to fit a 1-person group instead of 4+. Almost every solo oneshot my brother ran for me (across several systems) has ended in my character being one-shotted by the first enemy encountered.

[Knaight]

Buddy cop games are great, no matter the genre. And as the DM, you get to play the screaming captain. "DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THAT FIREBALL COST THIS CITY?!?"

I'd also include noir style games and the like with things that feature partners, but I can't disagree with this at all.

[Bulhakov]

1 player games are great for:
- character backstories, especially beginner players
- detective/mystery stories, especially for experienced players

2 player games are great for the "buddy cop" or "odd couple" dynamic. And Knaight said very well how to achieve this "common goals, different approaches".

In small player games it might be possible to allow players more worldbuilding power, i.e. have them make NPC/scene descriptions to build the story with you (if you're good enough to improvise along with them and trust them not to introduce anything gamebreaking).

[BWR]

1 Player: You absolutely need a well characterized, interesting protagonist. Be more willing to have temporary NPC allies, but avoid DMPCs. I find that character centered stories work well here, whereas dungeon crawls and the like are substantially more difficult.

*sigh*
Say it with me: There's nothing wrong with DMPCs per se. I've played and run several one-on-one games with DMPCs and they've always been fun characters.
The important thing to remember is it's the PC who's the star of the show and should call the shots and make the important decisions and be the focus of NPC interaction. DMPCs are a wonderful tool for both the player and DM. Sometimes as a player you are just stuck and can't think of a way out: the DMPC can give suggestions. It relieves a lot of tension and frustration in the game. As a GM, you have a perfect object for lots of intense roleplaying, which helps the player and the PC get tied to the game.

[BeerMug Paladin]

I don't even get what a dmpc is. Any npc that hangs around the party can accomplish multiple things that contribute to smoothing the game flow. They can...
1) Fill a crucial party role not supplied by the players.
2) Provide hints for puzzles that the players can't seem to work out.
3) Suggest alternative solutions for a problem that the players haven't thought of but have been planned for.
4) Perform tasks or duties that generally aren't going to be that interesting, like guarding the party's stuff at the entrance to a dungeon.

As for the tips for a solo game: be very careful what challenges you give your player. At early levels a defeat by an enemy is pretty likely, so try to come up with enemies which would rather do something with a prisoner, rather than just kill a helpless PC.

[TuggyNE]

I don't even get what a dmpc is.

This might help clear up the different varieties.

[Threadnaught]

Be more willing to have temporary NPC allies, but avoid DMPCs.

Wow, I must be a terrible DM.
Well my players did whinge about it when I threw a CR30 enemy at them while they were level 2.

Two players, I run it with several DMPCs who are all as competent as the PCs are. There are a few gods who are far more powerful than they could hope to be for some time, but they're going to go away, forever.
Leaving their portfolios open to some of the DMPCs to fill, canonically speaking. I hope my players break canon. Kinda hope they don't. I just had to let them visit the past.

Each DMPC has just as much importance to the(ir) story as the PCs, it's just that, I'm following the PCs' story, in which the DMPCs are merely extras. In the overall story, the PCs haven't done as much as all the DMPCs, but there's two of them.
I have over a dozen DMPCs doing stuff, all while the PCs are off doing their thing.


Yo TuggyNE, there was no agreement to my having DMPCs, but they don't force the PCs to let them tag along and they're as powerful as the PCs. Where are they on the table.

[TuggyNE]

Yo TuggyNE, there was no agreement to my having DMPCs, but they don't force the PCs to let them tag along and they're as powerful as the PCs. Where are they on the table.

GM's-PCs. Partial OOC agreement (if only tacitly, by not asking you to get rid of them), some IC agreement (again, if only tacitly by not getting kicked out); power, agency, plot focus, party member, and role are all self-explanatory.

Since they're not being passed off as "totally an NPC you guys!" then they're not S-GM's-PCs.

[madtinker]

Both of the games I'm running in my sig started as solo games. One thing that I think helps is having friendly npc's nearby that have a plausible reason to come save the PC's at early levels, once I had the PC's horse jump into the fray. Another idea is to let your players use the rules for gestsalt characters, which slightly increases their power level. I usually make the npc's of same or lower level and a deliberatly sub-optimal. In one game I'm experimenting with an npc 2 levels higher than the pc, but there's a good in-game reason for him to be there, and the pc isn't tied to the npc in any way.

So, generally I really like single player games because it let's me tailor the game to that person's style. Just be ready to adjust enemy power on the fly so as not to overpower the pc too early.