The title more-or-less says it all, but just for some extra meat to the post, I’ll embellish on my request with the details.
I have a friend who is living overseas, and we thought it might be fun to try playing D&D online. Given the massive timezone difference, its going to be much too hard to schedule anything regular for more than the two of us, so I’m looking at my options for running it for a single player.
I’ll welcome all advice from anyone who has done this, but the questions I’ve specifically got are:
1. What are the best published adventures suited towards this style of play? I have the legendary bundle, so I have every adventure available to me already. I haven’t read them all yet, however, and sometimes its hard to tell how much work I’d need to put into making the encounters ‘accomplishable’.
2. If I was to ‘retune’ a more difficult adventure (like Curse, or RotFM), where would I start? Removing monsters from encounters, or reducing HP by a consistent value?). I already run two other games, so less work is the preference.
3. TCoE has sidekicks, which I will absolutely be using. Any advice in running those? E.g., DDB doesn’t support sidekick characters yet, so how have you done it? Would you recommend handing them over to the player to control and RP, or is it best in the hands of the DM? Is it a good idea to have more than one?
If I have more thoughts I’ll add them, but welcoming any discussion on this style of play.
1. I don’t think there is a currently published solo adventure, so the amount of work you’d have to do for each is relatively consistent. I’d recommend something shorter like Dragon Heist, though, since you might want to restart or switch to homebrew when you’re more comfortable with it.
2. Always remove monsters first; for “boss” monsters, cut multiattacks. (Then cut hit points, you’ll still need to do that too.) “Action economy,” meaning which side gets more attacks, is what makes it tough on a single player: it doesn’t matter how few hit points the monsters have if he/she can only kill one a round, and they’re all getting an attack apiece.
3: I haven’t tried sidekicks, so I don’t have much advice on them. I’d suggest letting the player run them, though, and not have more than one. More than that is just too complicated.
And one final note: a tough, consistent class like Fighter is probably the best bet for the player. Solo fights are very swingy by nature: if one guy rolls bad there’s no one to balance it out and the fight crashes. That’s why a class that minimizes swing and gives you time to realize you’re losing before you’re KOed is important. If the player really wants to be a mage, steer them towards Warlock. And no matter what class they are, giving them a Periapt of Health might be smart, otherwise one kill, which is normally fine, is a TPK.
1 I personally like the dragon of ice spire peak. It has scaleable encounters, ready made sidekicks, and is a great introduction to what dnd is all about. Granted, it does take some adjustment- CR 6 monster for 5/4 level characters, for example.
2 For lowering the CR of an encounter, I would recommend using the dnd beyond encounter builder. You can input character number and level really easily, and figure out exactly how many monsters is the challenge you’re looking for. If there is one boss- remove resistances first, then reduce HP. It’s also easy to adjust on the fly. If you’re not sure, I would start low- having more orcs burst in from the trees is always an option!
3 It depends on your player’s level of comfort with the game- if they know it and feel comfortable, have them run the sidekick. If not, run it yourself. Sidekick stats are fairly straightforward, and don’t take up to much DM effort. One thing to be careful about with sidekicks is that there’s no way to input them into the encounter builder. I, personally, am a fan of DMPCs. A good solid fighter DMPC can really help a rogue or spellcaster out. Plus, they give the illusion that the PCs have an ally in the DM, which, while not entirely true, can showcase the friendship between you and the player, and make it feel like a fun and cooperative experience.
General advice:
Figure out what class the PC wants to be and plan your sidekicks/ DMPCs accordingly. A spellcaster or rogue really needs a good solid melee fighter, whereas a fighter needs a healer backup.
You have an opportunity to really delve into your player’s backstory/ character traits in a duet.
Be ready to save them! I have several ideas that I use to rescue PCs, while also giving them a new NPC ally or quest. But don’t make it too easy- have some change (resurrection is great spell for this) and definitely some dire warnings.
If your PC is experienced, have them play multiple characters.
For playing online, I’ve found it helpful to video chat while playing, so you can use minis and a map, as well as see and hear the person.
The title more-or-less says it all, but just for some extra meat to the post, I’ll embellish on my request with the details.
I have a friend who is living overseas, and we thought it might be fun to try playing D&D online. Given the massive timezone difference, its going to be much too hard to schedule anything regular for more than the two of us, so I’m looking at my options for running it for a single player.
I’ll welcome all advice from anyone who has done this, but the questions I’ve specifically got are:
1. What are the best published adventures suited towards this style of play? I have the legendary bundle, so I have every adventure available to me already. I haven’t read them all yet, however, and sometimes its hard to tell how much work I’d need to put into making the encounters ‘accomplishable’.
2. If I was to ‘retune’ a more difficult adventure (like Curse, or RotFM), where would I start? Removing monsters from encounters, or reducing HP by a consistent value?). I already run two other games, so less work is the preference.
3. TCoE has sidekicks, which I will absolutely be using. Any advice in running those? E.g., DDB doesn’t support sidekick characters yet, so how have you done it? Would you recommend handing them over to the player to control and RP, or is it best in the hands of the DM? Is it a good idea to have more than one?
If I have more thoughts I’ll add them, but welcoming any discussion on this style of play.
1. I don’t think there is a currently published solo adventure, so the amount of work you’d have to do for each is relatively consistent. I’d recommend something shorter like Dragon Heist, though, since you might want to restart or switch to homebrew when you’re more comfortable with it.
2. Always remove monsters first; for “boss” monsters, cut multiattacks. (Then cut hit points, you’ll still need to do that too.) “Action economy,” meaning which side gets more attacks, is what makes it tough on a single player: it doesn’t matter how few hit points the monsters have if he/she can only kill one a round, and they’re all getting an attack apiece.
3: I haven’t tried sidekicks, so I don’t have much advice on them. I’d suggest letting the player run them, though, and not have more than one. More than that is just too complicated.
And one final note: a tough, consistent class like Fighter is probably the best bet for the player. Solo fights are very swingy by nature: if one guy rolls bad there’s no one to balance it out and the fight crashes. That’s why a class that minimizes swing and gives you time to realize you’re losing before you’re KOed is important. If the player really wants to be a mage, steer them towards Warlock. And no matter what class they are, giving them a Periapt of Health might be smart, otherwise one kill, which is normally fine, is a TPK.
Good luck and have fun!
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
1 I personally like the dragon of ice spire peak. It has scaleable encounters, ready made sidekicks, and is a great introduction to what dnd is all about. Granted, it does take some adjustment- CR 6 monster for 5/4 level characters, for example.
2 For lowering the CR of an encounter, I would recommend using the dnd beyond encounter builder. You can input character number and level really easily, and figure out exactly how many monsters is the challenge you’re looking for. If there is one boss- remove resistances first, then reduce HP. It’s also easy to adjust on the fly. If you’re not sure, I would start low- having more orcs burst in from the trees is always an option!
3 It depends on your player’s level of comfort with the game- if they know it and feel comfortable, have them run the sidekick. If not, run it yourself. Sidekick stats are fairly straightforward, and don’t take up to much DM effort. One thing to be careful about with sidekicks is that there’s no way to input them into the encounter builder. I, personally, am a fan of DMPCs. A good solid fighter DMPC can really help a rogue or spellcaster out. Plus, they give the illusion that the PCs have an ally in the DM, which, while not entirely true, can showcase the friendship between you and the player, and make it feel like a fun and cooperative experience.
General advice:
Figure out what class the PC wants to be and plan your sidekicks/ DMPCs accordingly. A spellcaster or rogue really needs a good solid melee fighter, whereas a fighter needs a healer backup.
You have an opportunity to really delve into your player’s backstory/ character traits in a duet.
Be ready to save them! I have several ideas that I use to rescue PCs, while also giving them a new NPC ally or quest. But don’t make it too easy- have some change (resurrection is great spell for this) and definitely some dire warnings.
If your PC is experienced, have them play multiple characters.
For playing online, I’ve found it helpful to video chat while playing, so you can use minis and a map, as well as see and hear the person.
Most importantly, have fun!
Only spilt the party if you see something shiny.
Ariendela Sneakerson, Half-elf Rogue (8); Harmony Wolfsbane, Tiefling Bard (10); Agnomally, Gnomish Sorcerer (3); Breeze, Tabaxi Monk (8); Grace, Dragonborn Barbarian (7); DM, Homebrew- The Sequestered Lands/Underwater Explorers; Candlekeep
It does support sidekicks, they are in the extras tab on the character sheet.