hello all, I am going to be DMing for a friend of mine who has never played D&D. I am not sure how you would DM for one person, do you guys have any tips on how to run it. thanks in advance.
Probably have them play a fighter or paladin: squishier classes run the risk of getting nuked right at the start of combat. For similar reasons, probably start at level 3 instead of 1: 1 is fun with a group but only because if one guy gets one shotted there’s others to save them.
I'd be extra mindful of what that one character can do. Of course a DM should always have some grasp on what the party can do, but if you're centered on one singular character, you'll want to account for their HP, AC, spells/maneuvers/other resources they choose etc. What damage types they have access to. Because if say my rogue runs into an encounter where the deck is stacked against her, that's not a big deal she has a party to cover for her. If my rogue was on her own that could easily feel unfairly brutal.
You could use 'sidekicks' as mentioned above to help but I'm hesitant about situations where friendly npcs outnumber the player character. It's one thing to have a sidekick or two with a full party but if you have two sidekicks helping out a single PC, that PC might get a bit bored with most of the encounter being run by the DM and reducing the impact of their one turn.
Alternatively if they're up for it, if it's just one player have them play two or three PCs like a party in a JRPG if they're up for that and chan handle dealing with multiple sheets. This helps avoid the issues above with balancing against a single PC or having the one player's turn feel drowned out by helpful npc turns.
hello all, I am going to be DMing for a friend of mine who has never played D&D. I am not sure how you would DM for one person, do you guys have any tips on how to run it. thanks in advance.
To what was previously posted, I would add, make use of a sidekick or two for the player so there are some tactical options in combat.
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Probably have them play a fighter or paladin: squishier classes run the risk of getting nuked right at the start of combat. For similar reasons, probably start at level 3 instead of 1: 1 is fun with a group but only because if one guy gets one shotted there’s others to save them.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
I'd be extra mindful of what that one character can do. Of course a DM should always have some grasp on what the party can do, but if you're centered on one singular character, you'll want to account for their HP, AC, spells/maneuvers/other resources they choose etc. What damage types they have access to. Because if say my rogue runs into an encounter where the deck is stacked against her, that's not a big deal she has a party to cover for her. If my rogue was on her own that could easily feel unfairly brutal.
You could use 'sidekicks' as mentioned above to help but I'm hesitant about situations where friendly npcs outnumber the player character. It's one thing to have a sidekick or two with a full party but if you have two sidekicks helping out a single PC, that PC might get a bit bored with most of the encounter being run by the DM and reducing the impact of their one turn.
Alternatively if they're up for it, if it's just one player have them play two or three PCs like a party in a JRPG if they're up for that and chan handle dealing with multiple sheets. This helps avoid the issues above with balancing against a single PC or having the one player's turn feel drowned out by helpful npc turns.
Obligatory Matt Colville video here :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoJMNkgEqKA&ab_channel=MatthewColville
I would let the player make the tactical decisions with the sidekicks. That is their purpose, and also why a sidekick is different from an NPC.