[3.Whatever] Solo games

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 9:01 pm

It's much more common for me to be able to meet up with one player at a time, than a group and I could definitely use some general GMing practice (improv, rules mastery and pdf switching, etc.). So I figured I'd give solo games a shot. I'm interested in suggestions on what classes, encounters, plots, etc. work well with them, and in how your experiences with solo games turned out.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 9:11 pm

Have a stock of NPCs to team up with them as needed for adventures. Or, alternatively, make the PC -really- badass.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 9:19 pm

How would you recommend implementing extra badassery?

42 point buy? Better than usual magic items? Gestalt classes? Gestalt races? Houseruling that you can roll a d20 first and then decide what you do with it on your turn?

codeGlaze · Post by **codeGlaze** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 9:25 pm

Solo runs can do a lot of cool stuff.

In the past one of our favorite solo GMs has slipped into MTPing a lot more because there's only the one person to take into account.

But if you can keep that urge in check (... well, as much as you want to, at least.) you can rock out some awesome story lines.

Make solo characters movers and shakers in the world. Or build them up to movers and shakers, then use them for cameos in group play. They could give tips/information, be financiers, etc.

You could even play multiple solo-session players off of each other by having events in one session play into another character's run.

If you want to bring these solo-run characters into group play, too, use the solo runs to do all the special things your player might enjoy. Doing a temple run to get an artifact helmet, sword, staff, wand, etc. Gathering information for the next group-play...

Solo sessions give the opportunity to world build and really make the campaign setting feel like it's "theirs". They make friends, contacts and enemies. They carve out their niche in the world, and potentially set up resources to pull from in a group setting.

Fuchs · Post by **Fuchs** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 9:45 pm

Solo adventures can really focus on stuff you usually do skip over some, since it splits the party. No need to cut scenes short, no need to juggle background story hooks with the adventure arc hooks, you can tailor the game to one character.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 10:00 pm

radthemad4 wrote:How would you recommend implementing extra badassery?

42 point buy? Better than usual magic items? Gestalt classes? Gestalt races? Houseruling that you can roll a d20 first and then decide what you do with it on your turn?

Generally? Any two of higher stats, better magic, or gestalt classes.

Hell, I don't even do point buy. I do point divvy--pick something like 84 points and then they're divided between the stats as they want, no going over 18 before racial bonuses.

For the record, that's a starting row of 14s.

This is, of course, assuming they're not trying to do a solo wizard or something. Then they just don't -need- something like Str. But if someone wants to play a Paladin or a Rogue or something else with MAD, they really need to make sure those stats are rocking.

JonSetanta · Post by **JonSetanta** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 10:16 pm

I ran a session with a midget actor (who went by the definition of "gnome" due to size) that went through a series of escapades between towns and cities having sex with exotic women.

At one point in time he suffers a pelvic fracture due to an orc woman, and seeks out a healing potion in a neighboring town, and a battle with wolves, and so on.

So it was interesting and fun but in truth I prefer a group for the diversity of social interaction.

Back in early college in my parents' home town I would DM (in a round method of swapping DM roles) with a friend and my brother. They would sometimes split the group, leading to one on one adventures before reuniting, and sometimes the introduction of another friend, so it led at times to solo journeys albeit brief.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 10:26 pm

codeGlaze: I like the idea of using the same setting as other solo games and the group games. In that case, I won't use different rules for them, but no harm in higher levels and extra magic items. The 'make your own adventure sponsor' thing sounds kind of cool. Thanks

Fuchs: Yeah, I'll go with more of an individual focus.

Maxus: 84 points is 4 18's and 2 16's.

. Oh, you were referring to total attributes, and not point buy points. Hmm, that seems like an interesting method of stat picking. Yeah, MADs benefit more from high stats as SADs would just 20fy their casting stat and not give a fuck about other things. I might just do this for my normal game as well. I think I'll go with better magic items and maybe waive some of the restrictions for cohorts and pets and have them be completely under PC control.

sigma999: Yeah, having a bunch of people around is just way more fun. Still, I'm hoping these give me enough experience to take more GM levels so that the group sessions get even better.

Dogbert · Post by **Dogbert** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 11:28 pm

For solo play, you need a protagonist who can do their own work themselves, including:

-Social encounters
-Crossing difficult terrain
-Solving mysteries
-Healing/buffing
-Fight

With the exception of the fighter, any other of the "big 4" can do them all to some degree, and their degree of agency will grow with level and increased access to magic. As long as you're aware of your protagonists' can/can't by level, your adventure will run smoothly and you won't have to resort to VAH crap.

Alternatively, you can run a gestalt game.

Dean · Post by **Dean** » Mon Jan 27, 2014 2:09 am

I think Solo games are incredibly fun and satisfying. It is an entirely new beast to be sure but it allows you to act out characters lives much more fully than the usual party game. It is the difference between an ensemble cast and a single protagonist. My biggest suggestion is to give your player a sandbox, because every single player game I've had turned into a sandbox. Have a town with a map and planned NPC's and a few adventures that you want to give your PC and then just let them do their thing. With a group there is much less ability to wander off and capture an Owlbear because you heard about Owlbears in the woods but the single player can just decide they want to do that and then do it -immediately-. Put them in a sandbox you have a good amount of preparation for and then expect to make up a lot of things as they "Go looking for a Kobold Den" or "Start refurbishing the old wizards tower in the woods". No matter what you do expect to play a ton of NPC's and to have very lengthy in-character talks with your player, because they don't have anyone else to spend time with but you. You will be all of their friends and all of their enemies.

Solo games are completely different but it's a flavor of the game that can be very satisfying and intriguing in a completely different way than a usual D&D session.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Mon Jan 27, 2014 2:47 am

I've played/am playing in a few solo PbP games, over the years, and for PbP there are huge benefits (such as "only two people waiting on each other, not five, so things actually happen in a halfway timely manner"). The big important thing to do is to make the game cater to all of the players (1) you have. By which I mean "If they're not playing a character that can find traps, don't put traps in" and similar. Basically you aren't sharing a spotlight around, so anything that is supposed to be dealt with (as opposed to "I hear there are multiple dragons in that mountain, 30' tall when on all fours!" "Maybe I should take my third-level ass elsewhere"), can be dealt with by them.

That's the main thing. You don't actually have to power them up, you just have to use their actual character sheet as the guideline for what they face. And you can give them NPC companions and stuff, of course.

It also makes it a bit easier for them to in fact be The Hero of The Story. So they in fact do get to marry the princess, discover (and become emperor of) the lost city of Niknaknokkynoo, grab the special artefact of time and all that.

Fuchs · Post by **Fuchs** » Mon Jan 27, 2014 6:50 am

All my PbP games are solo games, for the reasons Koumei mentioned. And it also allows more exotic concepts and backgrounds for characters to work well. And finally, no balance problems within the party. I usually tell the player to simply make the character he wants to play, not the character that will grow into the character he wants to play.

Seerow · Post by **Seerow** » Mon Jan 27, 2014 7:01 am

Why am I not surprised that solo games are so popular among TGD members?

ubernoob · Post by **ubernoob** » Mon Jan 27, 2014 8:12 am

Seerow wrote:Why am I not surprised that solo games are so popular among TGD members?

Because we don't play nice with others?

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Mon Jan 27, 2014 8:23 am

Seerow wrote:Why am I not surprised that solo games are so popular among TGD members?

I've run a couple adventures for friends over the years. It has its perks.

For my money, being in a -really- good group is still more fun, but solo games -are- more convenient to schedule.

deaddmwalking · Post by **deaddmwalking** » Mon Jan 27, 2014 6:28 pm

I had a blast with the Fighter's Challenge when I was much younger [read: Elementary School]. I also played a lot with my older brother as a solo player. Games like that can be a lot of fun.

As far as what works, you definitely have to consider whether the solo player is supposed to exist in the same universe as other players. If you run a 'solo-session' that takes 3 weeks of game time, what were the other players doing during those 3 weeks. To avoid issues, it's easiest if solo-characters are truly solo - they're not part of a group with other PCs.

If you do include other PCs, they should take on the role of an established NPC henchman, with the understanding that play reverts to the GM when they're unavailable.

With a party, there are lots of situations where a TPK was avoided by a single player remaining standing. With solo-play, the margin between victory and total defeat is a lot narrower... Be prepared for the PC to be 'defeated'. Give your bad guys reasons to not kill the PC. If they do kill him, it has to be in a Bond Villain dramatic fashion (or sealing him in the Well of Souls a la Indiana Jones). The PC should expect to suffer setbacks, but needs more 'immunity to death' than in a standard game - if a PC dies but another one joins the group, you maintain some continuity - if a solo PC dies and you create another, there is absolutely no continuity - you're just starting a new campaign.

The PC will need a variety of ways to deal with challenges. Hyper-specialization is bad and should be discouraged.

Cyberzombie · Post by **Cyberzombie** » Mon Jan 27, 2014 6:51 pm

radthemad4 wrote:How would you recommend implementing extra badassery?

42 point buy? Better than usual magic items? Gestalt classes? Gestalt races? Houseruling that you can roll a d20 first and then decide what you do with it on your turn?

The first thing you need to do is grant fate points or some kind of other mechanic to give the PC rerolls. In any game with save or die effects, one character is going to need some artificial luck mechanic to cancel out rolling a natural 1 against a hold person or ghoul paralysis.

Gestalt classes also works well in that it helps make the character able to take on more challenges. Doubling his skill points can also help if you intend to do any kind of stuff relating to skills.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Mon Jan 27, 2014 9:47 pm

While a part of me wants to run a gestalt game, I want to try avoiding mechanical differences between my solo sessions and my other sessions. I'm probably going to go the cohorts and pokemon route (possibly even using actual pokemon).

Dogbert: Yeah, I'll make sure PCs don't make one trick pony characters. What's VAH?

deanruel87: That sounds awesome. No need for party consent to do whatever the fuck you feel like. I'll definitely have to work on my improv. In groups it generally didn't matter when my NPCs were flat characters (in fact them being straight men kinda worked as the group was having fun just talking to each other). What's a good way to nudge players into deciding their own goals for their characters?

Koumei: I'll go through their equipment, skill lists, abilities, etc. and try to come up with situations where those happen to be extremely handy.

deaddmwalking: Ah, good old Bond villains. They'd probably also provide some food and rest to help the hero recover enough to escape. Great idea.

Cyberzombie: Yeah, I can see save or dies being a huge problem. I think I'll have those only being cast when the PC isn't alone. I want to preserve some mechanical consistency, so I'm considering using some sort of fate point system in my normal game as well, only the solo PC gets more due to Conservation of Ninjutsu. Know of any good implementations?

virgil · Post by **virgil** » Mon Jan 27, 2014 10:00 pm

Except for healing, I don't see why gestalt and/or multiple characters is necessary. Can't you just lower the EL of everything by four?

Ikeren · Post by **Ikeren** » Mon Jan 27, 2014 10:25 pm

Wider variety, Virgil. A Wizard/rogue, say, with traps, social skills, and melee ability can deal with a wider variety of situations than merely a rogue or merely a wizard, and swifter, ECL wise, too. If you lower the EL by 4, all of your fights from 1-5 are melee slogs, but also, if you're a single classed wizard without knock, all locked doors become impassible, so the DM has to plan their use far more carefully.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Mon Jan 27, 2014 10:28 pm

I was considering multiple characters mainly as a flexibility upgrade, e.g. someone who can 'create a distraction' while you sneak in somewhere, an item crafter, a flying mount, etc.

Edit: Ninja'd

codeGlaze · Post by **codeGlaze** » Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:21 am

Having companion NPCs solves a lot of 'problems' in solo campaigns.

There's really no reason to start stapling on all sorts of extra shit to pad the game for a solo player.

If things go badly, that's a great way to introduce an unexpected ally.
It they go swimmingly... profit!

And, really, solo questing allows the DM to run special kinds of games that group play doesn't. Stealthy, ninja games. Heavy intrigue games. Super-social games. Indiana Jones...

tussock · Post by **tussock** » Tue Jan 28, 2014 8:12 am

OK. Easy-mode solo is where you're a Druid with a pet who's a better Fighter than if you were a Fighter (or a better Rogue than the Rogue, whatever), and you heal them, and if they die you get a new one. Hard-mode solo is where you're a Fighter and you can't fight because the dice will inevitably kill you and you also can't really do anything else.

But a lot of solo is about not really being able to do everything. So you have to use your roleplaying muscles to make imaginary friends to help you with various problems. High level and stats and shit don't ultimately matter, as while they do do reduce the number of NPCs you need to help solve all your problems, you'll still spend most of your time getting NPCs to do stuff for you.

Or you can be all ironman and be a mute Ogre Fighter who potions his way to world domination. It's kinda missing the point of being two people talking about an imaginary world all night though.

AndreiChekov · Post by **AndreiChekov** » Tue Jan 28, 2014 10:20 pm

I've run a couple of solo games. Usually with a person who wants to try a character that is an asshat.
It can be fun, but it seemed to me that they just wanted to be mean to everything and were too timid to do it in real life.

Dean · Post by **Dean** » Tue Jan 28, 2014 11:35 pm

Everyone plays RPG's to express some flavor of power fantasy. Being a dick to everyone like you're playing GTA is certainly one of those. I actually think that seeing what people's fantasies are is the most psychologically interesting part of this game. Whatever lets the player express the fantasy they want to live is a character concept I'm happy to entertain and solo games actually seem like a much better outlet for the aggressive psychotic archetype than normal.