How to run D&D for one player?

[eviltwink]

Hi! Long time reader, but I've only posted a few times. ;)

Anyways, I'm planning on running a 3.5 D&D game for my girlfriend. However, she's played a lot of tabletop and LARP, but never really much D&D. Also, I only have one player.

How, exactly, do I go about running this game for one player? I want action, but not solely that. I'll have intrigue, drama, romance, etc. However, I really want the adventure aspect as well...but the book is written for a group of 4 PCs. Do I have to throw in a bunch of NPCs to be with her? I don't have an issue with a few, but it'll be annoying to handle that many distinct personalities at the same time, all the time, as well as making sure they don't take the spotlight away from her character, whatever it will end up being.

Suggestions? Hints? Tips? Outright derision?

[Savior Girl]

Use something like Gestalt (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/gestaltCharacters.htm) classes, from the SRD - it'll mean she'll be able to cover a little more territory on her own.

Start her a bit advanced - 5th or 6th level, maybe. At 1st level, even a single enemy is a potential TPK with one player.

Don't use big groups of enemies. Balance down; what's a threat for four equal level characters isn't probably going to be fair game for one character until she's four levels or so ahead.

[eviltwink]

Hmmm...okay, cool. I don't have Gestalt info. Only the core books.

[Savior Girl]

Hmmm...okay, cool. I don't have Gestalt info. Only the core books.

Gestalt's in the SRD. I edited the link into my prior post.

Essentially, your character takes two classes at every level, and gets all of the benefits of each class (except where they overlap, in which case, she gets whichever is better; like you take the better HD, better saves, better skills, while getting all of the special abilities of each class (like a Fighter/Cleric gestalt gets full BAB and full divine spellcasting and tons of feats.))

[brianm]

I'm running a solo game of Labyrinth Lord currently. Here are a few things I'm doing you might try:


I'm allowing a lot of lateral thinking and tactical planning. I'm encouraging my player to do everything she can to stack the odds in her favor before the fight starts. To make that happen, I'm allowing a lot of scouting things out and research, so she can know what's coming and plan for it, rather than suddenly dumping her into the middle of a fight. Though there's still the occasional surprise and sometimes what she thinks she's headed into isn't exactly what is actually there. :D
I'm encouraging the use of retainers and henchmen. This way, her dwarf can enjoy the benefits of having a cleric and a sorceress along, but as their employer, she's firmly in the position of leader. They look to the PC for guidance and she has the final say in all decisions.
One card I've not had to play yet, but that I'm keeping up my sleeve, is post-death play. That is, there's no reason the character's adventures end on death. The PC wakes up in the lands of the dead/afterlife, and must find a way to earn resurrection. This sort of thing is much easier to do in a one-on-one game.


Hope there's something useful in here for you. Let us know how it goes. :)

- Brian

[The Wyzard]

Really, really avoid shut-down powers. Don't throw any save or die/save or suck things at her, because she's got no backup. Don't bother running it at low level, go ahead and power her up with high stats/gestalting. Stick to enemies that are substantially below her level, and be careful what they are. Make sure that the stuff you can throw at her is stuff she can take. Put a lot of focus on roleplaying and other non-combat scenes. Go for low-HP enemies that she can take out quick, insofar as possible.

After that, a lot of things depend on what kind of character she's playing.

[Atia]

Run it with an NPC to cover her. I can't stress how much more fun that makes the game for me.

My hubby's running it for me with a paladin meatshield NPC - it helps so much. And we started at level 3.

[Old Geezer]

Hirelings and henchmen are in the game for a reason.

[Weebles]

Venchmen are standing by! ~Dr. Henry Killinger

[Alcamtar]

1. Hirelings. Can't overstate this. Also, a trained attack dog is a mighty fine thing to have. It keeps watch for you at night, never fails morale, is intimidating, has unusual tactics, may be able to track, is smart enough to obey orders, and will eat pretty much whatever you kill. If it dies, you can buy another to replace it. If it lives, you can let it earn fighter levels. Get a pair of dogs and outfit them with barding! I've even allowed a dog to carry a healing potion in a flask around it's neck for delivery to fallen character, inspired by the legendary St. Bernard delivering brandy.

2. Encourage creativity, and relax the niche protection (since there are no niches to protect). Be generous. Anyone can sneak, hide, and climb stuff. Anyone can try to puzzle out a clerical scroll, and may even manage to stumble through a prayer. You don't need gestalt rules to play a gestalt character, only intelligence and a cooperative DM.

3. Provide extra gear to cover weaknesses. Potions for healing and whatnot are a must if the player is not a cleric. This sort of stuff is extra, in addition to what you'd normally give the character, since it is taking the place of party members.

4. Run the kind of adventures you can't run for a group... most books and many films focus on a single protagonist (often with sidekicks [henchmen]), not a party. Use these for inspiration. Solo adventures rely a lot more on sneaking and subterfuge, whether you're a thief or not. Fights are more often one-on-one than vs. a group.

5. Pull your punches in designing adventures. If she's not a wizard, don't make magic an important part of the scenario! Published adventures are designed for a balanced party and will require modification. Tailor the adventure to her abilities, keeping in mind she has limited firepower-per-round.

6. If she goes down, she doesn't have party members to heal her up again. Henchmen are a great help here... if they survive! Basically this means you can't push so hard. Anything that renders her unconscious basically ends the game. If she does go down, it's a good idea to have foes who are likely to capture or leave for dead, rather than kill outright. Actually capture is an underused plot element that can work really well in single-player games.

7. Charisma can defeat foes that you'd have no chance of fighting.

Have fun!

[Old Geezer]

6. If she goes down, she doesn't have party members to heal her up again. Henchmen are a great help here... if they survive! Basically this means you can't push so hard. Anything that renders her unconscious basically ends the game.

This is not necessarily so. After a year of diligent work my henchmen's base morale was something like 150% to 175%--- enough so that when I got killed, even with all the applicable minuses their morale was still high enough to continue the fight, win, and bring my body back to the cleric for a Raise Dead.

The short answer to "how" is "I spoiled them rotten".

[Web Warlock]

Would any of you allow a player to play more than one character?

Tim

[Eurhetemec]

Would any of you allow a player to play more than one character?

Tim

My wife plays four characters in our "solo" game (I run a normal game as well, everyone only plays one in that, of course). I suggested she start with three but she wanted one of each role. She's not an experienced P&P RPG player, but she's played computer and console RPGs since she was a kid, and doesn't seem to be having any problems.

With the adventures, the idea I've been going on is to pick a character to make "the hero" for that adventure (as she doesn't have a particular favourite). It's been fun so far.

The other methods proposed here are good as well - I think Alcamtar's suggestions are particularly nice.

In any case I would certainly have the player control the henchmen in combat unless they really seemed averse to it.

[RUMBLETiGER]

Would any of you allow a player to play more than one character?

Tim
This was going to be my suggestion. allow your one player to run two or more characters. It's a bit confusing juggling the paperwork but it can run fairly smoothly once you get the hang of it.

Have her choose one character she really loves to play, that's the one with all the invested personality and probably the party face, the public relations for the rest of the group. The others can be fairly simple in terms of personality. The quiet cleric just out of the monastery to explore the world. The nearly feral barbarian who menaces those he distrusts but has a soft side towards the party. The quiet but always calculating rogue who sticks to the shadows, rarely saying a word but always on the lookout for danger or a big score. These can be the axillary characters your player could run without having to invest alot of mental energy in keeping the personalities running if you've got any element of roleplay.

If multiple characters isn't an option, I'd suggest you give free UMD skills if she's playing a non-caster, and permit use of both arcane and divine wands, staves and such as usable to her character. Than provide her with an animal companion or two, intelligent magical beasts who for some story-tied reason decided to ally with her and level up as she levels as if she was a druid (assuming she's not a druid) that she could control.

Just out of curiosity, what class is she considering taking?

[mrlost]

Encourage her to play a versatile class like the Druid (or Bard, Factotum etc.) that way she can handle most any situation competently. Start her off with some lower level companions that nobody is attached to so you can use them to show how dangerous adventuring is and how much cooler her character is. As her reputation builds make sure you give her a cohort (say a ranger or barbarian) and some lower level followers (experts) that show up and pledge their services.

Prepare sessions to include a range of encounters: generally one of difficult challenge to the party where they fight one tough monster, then at least one encounter with multiple weak monsters, and also a cinematic encounter where they have to chase someone or otherwise use problem solving to pass.

Make sure that their are lots of dungeons and at least the occasional dragon or dragonblood creature. I've found that goes a long way toward keeping the game fun for newbies. It is D&D afterall. Limit the fights with stuff like Flumps and other obscure monsters. Keep things iconic whenever possible.

Before starting the game I'd sit down and do a world building session with her to define what she's most interested in seeing in the game so you can pander to that.

Don't forget druids vs aberrations = cool!

[RUMBLETiGER]

Another option would be for her to play a character class that specializes in making allies, such as:
-A necromancer of some sort that commands undead
-Someone who effectively uses the craft construct feat to make construct companions.
-A psion who specializes in shaping ectoplasm to make golems
-A summoner specialist that can call up creatures at her aid
-A druid that specializes in the spontaneous use of the summon nature's ally spells

etc.