Solo Hero campaign

[mojo_bones]

I have been playing/running hero for about 15 years now, but for the first time I am running one player playing only one character. The setting is a kind of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV version) meets X-files sort of thing. The Character has been "chosen to fight evil" but does not know yet where his powers came from nor what exactly his mission is.

I give a little background so you know the type of game, but what I am looking for are helpful hints in running a true solo campaign. Anyone done this with success? What worked and what did not? What should I absolutely avoid?

Thanks for any tips here.

[Narratio]

Re: Solo Hero campaign

 

I did this once. The gaming physics become a lot easier because there's less conversation, butting in, distractions etc. You can cover a lot of ground. Which may be good or bad depending on your imaginative abilities.

 

But the bit that I found tricky was that soon everything became a challenge for the player.

Everything.

It's very hard to get the single player do any real character development. The player, and his PC, becomes as single centred as a shark. You can't really GM a love interest or secret identity when there's just your two, it gets to be a little (or a lot) embarressing. Likewise the interactions between your player and the host of NPC's (you again) soon tends to disappear and the universe narrows down, a lot.

[Warp9]

Re: Solo Hero campaign

 

I've played in and run a number of Solo games, although that was a long time ago.

 

The approach I took was not all that different from running a "normal" game.

 

Having a larger group does give more variety of personalities. So it does sometimes get a bit harder to keep the interest up when the game is composed exclusively of the same two people. But, in general, I would say that the experience was a positive one.

 

The main advice I'd give, and this suggestion may already be obvious, is that you can make use of the "solo format" to really fit the game to that one player.

 

I'm not sure if that advice is all that helpful, but I will consider it for a bit; and maybe I'll think of something else.

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: Solo Hero campaign

 

Having played in, or GMed solo games for almost 20 years* I spout off here.

 

One - if the player is into relationships and the roleplaying aspect that is much better than in a group, because you and the player can spend 2 hours doing nothing but interaction - for myself, who games for immersion, that is a huge bonus.

 

One of the things you have to watch as a GM is to set the adventures up for the player, in addition to the character. If the player isn't much of a problems solver or has a difficult time putting things together a mystery for the adventure where the point is pulling clues together is not likely going to work well. In a group setting the ideas get bounced around the group and ideas form, in solo play there isn't anyone to bounce ideas off of, so once you are stuck, you are stuck, and only the GM can pull you out.

 

It is much easier to fine tune combats, as you only have one character's abilities to concern youself with. Same thing for non combat challenges, you have a much smaller skill list to have to bring into the session.

 

Personally I love solo games. Good luck.

 

 

* when both you and your wife game, it happens.

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: Solo Hero campaign

 

It's very hard to get the single player do any real character development. The player, and his PC, becomes as single centred as a shark. You can't really GM a love interest or secret identity when there's just your two, it gets to be a little (or a lot) embarressing. Likewise the interactions between your player and the host of NPC's (you again) soon tends to disappear and the universe narrows down, a lot.

 

Now maybe it is because I do solo play with the wife, but I found just the oppostie.

 

I get much more character dev in solo play. I can spend 2 hours roleplaying that kind of stuff without the group saying "Enough, on with the plot!"

 

 

One of the other advantages is that in solo games, the world is created specifically for that character, so you can focus just about any kind of thing you want to have happen in the game on him. If you want to run a Fantasy game where the character is the legend of prophecy, you can, without stepping on anyone else's toes. It also helps in letting things happen in the world - a lot of times in group play a GM doessn't want vast changes to the world, to keep the status quo. In solo play, in a world designed for that one character, well who cares if the PC finds peace in the middle east, or causes all the nukes to suddenly not work - the world is there for the actions of that Character. It leads to a different kind of play that can be very fun, where the character can make a huge difference in the world.

[Blue]

Re: Solo Hero campaign

 

I ran a campaign for 6 years like this, from Junior High School until a couple years after HS.

 

I think I was at my most creative because a vast majority of it as off the cuff. Sometimes I'd even improvise the villains based on the median power range of the villains I'd used. If the villain was bigger, I'd toss in an NPC hero to help.

 

It's so much easier to tailor a campaign to one person. You know their taste and it obviously doesn't conflict with anyone else's.

[Sir Ofeelya]

Re: Solo Hero campaign

 

Oh, I get it. I thought this thread was about solitary vice.

[Dino]

Re: Solo Hero campaign

 

What Lord Morham and Blue said.

 

Also, I cannot overstate the importance of NPC's to a solo PC. With no other players in the game to bounce ideas off of, your player is gonna need NPC's to act as confidants, advisors, friends and allies, as well as opponents and informants.

[Ockham's Spoon]

Re: Solo Hero campaign

 

My wife is my most consistent gaming companion, so lots of campaigns are effectively solo in that they are just me and her. Invariably though, regardless of who is running the campaign (me mostly), the player will have multiple characters (2-3 typically). As GM I like this because if I get stuck with one character's plotline, I can shift to the other. It also means that you can have lots of "we have to split the group up" type scenarios which is so classic to comics and so impractical with multiple players. Also, with multiple PC characters, I don't have to worry about the player having to rely on NPCs as much because they don't have the right abilities or skills to deal with a situation.

 

In conversation, having only one character means more focus for that character, both in development and play, but can occasionally be limiting (how many times I thought of a great reply that I couldn't use because it was out of character). On the other hand, you don't end up with the player just talking to himself because the only two PCs are being run by the same person.

 

One drawback for the GM but advantage for the player when two PC characters are being run by one player is that the characters effectively share the same information; kind of an implicit mind link. Sure, as GM you can keep character A from acting on information that only character B has, but it is kind of like a judge sustaining an objection by an attorney: sure the information is stricken from the record but the jury still heard it.

 

Just some points to ponder. Have a great time with the campaign!

 

_____________________________________________________

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein

[Guest steamteck]

Re: Solo Hero campaign

 

I did this once. The gaming physics become a lot easier because there's less conversation, butting in, distractions etc. You can cover a lot of ground. Which may be good or bad depending on your imaginative abilities.

 

But the bit that I found tricky was that soon everything became a challenge for the player.

Everything.

It's very hard to get the single player do any real character development. The player, and his PC, becomes as single centred as a shark. You can't really GM a love interest or secret identity when there's just your two, it gets to be a little (or a lot) embarressing. Likewise the interactions between your player and the host of NPC's (you again) soon tends to disappear and the universe narrows down, a lot.

 

 

See I've found the opposite is often true. Admittedly most of my experience is playing solo with my wife but it allows lots of time for personal interaction and PC /NPC relations etc. I've also GMed solo with my best friend or my kids every once and awhile and you get some great moments when the group isn't rushing you along. Cater to your player's interests and tell the story he/she wants to be in as opposed to a compromise for the whole group. now I do advise several characters to choose from so if you feel like a change you can switch to another characters plotline.

[archermoo]

Re: Solo Hero campaign

 

See I've found the opposite is often true. Admittedly most of my experience is playing solo with my wife but it allows lots of time for personal interaction and PC /NPC relations etc. I've also GMed solo with my best friend or my kids every once and awhile and you get some great moments when the group isn't rushing you along. Cater to your player's interests and tell the story he/she wants to be in as opposed to a compromise for the whole group. now I do advise several characters to choose from so if you feel like a change you can switch to another characters plotline.

 

My experience as well. Much easier to get some serious character development done in a solo campaign, because the Ref can concentrate on that one character and what they need to do to grow.

[Guest steamteck]

Re: Solo Hero campaign

 

Exactly!In fact, when my wife is having trouble getting into a new character, our cure is to play solo with her. Works great and quite often adds new psychologiclas or DNPCS. Sometimes she clicks with the most unexpected NPCS. FUN stuff.

[sinanju]

Re: Solo Hero campaign

 

This thread has motivated me to start working on a solo game for my wife. She misses gaming--and so do I, actually (our gaming group fizzled out a couple of years ago). But we've got nobody to game with anymore.

 

Now I'm thinking that I'll give this a try. We'll ressurrect Joey the Werewolf, a character she really enjoys playing--she definitely likes being an unstoppable engine of destruction when she games--and see how it goes. I'll be using Fudge rather than Champions (the older I get the more "rules light" I like my games), though.

 

It'll be a "World of Darkness"-style game (but without all the angst). I think I'm going to use the campaign background I launched shortly before our gaming group dissolved way back when:

 

There's been a supernatural cataclysm. Nobody (well, nobody JOEY knows) knows exactly what happened--but all the magical hotspots and ley lines around the world have suddenly shifted around. Places of power which have existed for centuries or millennia are now barren of magic. Anyone/anything/any group which relied on them is in turmoil or dead.

 

The epicenter of the cataclysm is the campaign city. Virtually all the pre-existing supernatural types (weres, mages, vampires, etc) in the campaign city are either really most sincerely dead, or fled before whatever disaster took place.

 

There are numerous vampire clans, werewolf packs, magical cabals (etc) left in the lurch--and the campaign city, formerly a relative backwater supernaturally speaking--is THE magical locus in North America, if not the world. There are countless supernatural hot spots just waiting to be claimed.

 

A continent's worth of vampires, werewolves, mages and their hangers-on will be descending on the city in hopes of carving out empires of their own in a huge free-for-all that should provide plenty of fodder for endless conflicts.

[Sean Waters]

Re: Solo Hero campaign

 

I'd say pre-planning was a big....must.

 

Decide what you want to GM. If it is NOT relationships (for example), set the game up that way: don't constantly avoid them in-game. You need a REASON the PC can't form relationships, be it an aura of evil, or almost everything taking place in some demon realm, or just a 'crippling shyness' disadvantage.

 

I'd discuss with the PC beforehand what they want, but don't forget you are the GM: take advice but don't feel compelled to use it.

 

If you are keen on relationships, and that is what you want to play a lot then you need to make sure there is sufficient variety. After all YOU are the whole world - you need to be able to do a number of different personalities consistently and memorably.

 

One little trick I use a lot with major NPCs, whether I'm soloplaying or groupplaying is 'ticks': some little quirk that enables instant identification. Yuo can do different accents if that is where your talents lie (either for individuals or groups), or you can use more physical ticks, like running your fingers through your hair or grinning broadly whenever you speak in (a particular) character. Had one NPC who ALWAYS started whatever he said by clearing his throat; worked really well.

 

You can even do things like wearing different hats, giving each character two or three words or phrases they like to use (although you need to have a good memory and a quick mind to get that working), or, if you are an ACTOR then you can just project yourself into the role, but if that is a large part of what the game will be about, then you need to spend a large part of your prep time there.

 

One final bit of advice, especially with solo play, keep the obvious dice rolling to a minimum. There's only two of you, roll the dice quietly while you speak and act out the results: if your player's persuasion roll sucked, you become sullen and unhelpful; you DON'T just say 'no, you blew it'.

 

Have fun. OK, that was kinda more advice, but I won't tell if you don't