Regardless of what kind of battle (many weak grunts that trade blows with the rest of the party, or a solo "boss" monster facing the party), read on if they are trying to play up the stealth more and offer lots of room to snipe arrows and cast spells, or otherwise see if they're into rushing the enemies. It's kind of hard to really storm the front lines as a rogue sometimes, especially with a monk out there, but think about adjusting objectives and battles to focus on what they want their character to specialize in, with the other party members being more like a lifeline.
Maybe as a rogue, they're just there to sneak into places where they get first dibs on treasure and then get out. It's hard to say without knowing how your player, well, plays.
I'd say, PERSONALLY, I would do a LOT of pathetically-weak monsters (infestation, as you said), and maybe one more serious one that slipped in once the dwarves all left, and they can take it on for a big risk/big reward type of payoff.
The thing with a bunch of smaller encounters, is it lets the party recover if needed, or evaluate where they are before taking on more battles. When you head into battle with a big monster, sometimes you don't get that luxury, you are engaged and either you win or it can go badly.
As the other comments have stated, make sure the actual player is getting to do all the important stuff. The NPCs should be a supporting cast to the main player's Michael Jordan. Maybe the cleric spends more time keeping the real player up and running than actually fighting.
You'll find a good balance naturally. If it feels like you're having fun, you're doing it right. If you feel like your player is frustrated or unhappy, take a look at your options.
Kayzig and BrassZeus, I really appreciate the tips for battle,
however their is a problem, my player is shy about asking me questions or getting creative with their imagination like to get over an obstacles such as to go through a unpickable door, as well as answering questions like "what do you do?" and when they do something creative, they get really fluster(and I mean REALLY fluster) when ever they mess up via nat.1s or can't describe clearly what they want to do. In a sense, they can't roleplay.
so basically, I have to carry their hand and sadly railroad the story because of this
Can’t roleplay is entire different problem try maybe not really doing a one on one session, but them in an environment with other role players, and try to put them next to that one person at the table everyone likes, (the helpful for new players kind of likes)
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Marvarax andSora (Dragonborn) The retired fighter and WIP scholar - Glory
Brythel(Dwarf), The dwarf with a gun - survival at sea
Jaylin(Human), Paladin of Lathander's Ancient ways - The Seven Saints (Azura Claw)
Urselles(Goblin), Cleric of Eldath- The Wizard's challenge
Viclas Tyrin(Half Elf), Student of the Elven arts- Indrafatmoko's Defiance in Phlan
Find a good D&D show to watch (not a movie... a regularly streamed show). Watch it together so that they can see how others handle situations. Feeling like you have to roleplay by yourself can be intimidating. Especially if you do well with managing all your characters and they feel like they are failing at handling even one. My wife would pretty much instaquit if she felt like she was in that position. As much as possible, use one of your characters as a "face" character if needed for dealing with NPCs, but don't make decisions in the moment. Have that character then discuss options with your player's character for dealing with situations. If they can't decide, don't decide for them... just come up with 2 or 3 options that the other party members might think would be good and let them choose. Delicate. Balance. It is a lot of work on your end and it is easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing, saying or feeling, but all of that has to take a backseat to allowing your player to blossom and take on a heroic role. You can't force this, you have to allow it to happen. It is a difficult path... but can be very rewarding if you handle it well...
Oh... and if your player did not create a detailed enough backstory to really dive into the role, help out by asking lots of questions in an out-of-game experience so that they learn more about who their character is. Knowing why your character would do something often comes by finding out how they ended up where they are.
Kayzig and BrassZeus, I really appreciate the tips for battle,
however their is a problem, my player is shy about asking me questions or getting creative with their imagination like to get over an obstacles such as to go through a unpickable door, as well as answering questions like "what do you do?" and when they do something creative, they get really fluster(and I mean REALLY fluster) when ever they mess up via nat.1s or can't describe clearly what they want to do. In a sense, they can't roleplay.
so basically, I have to carry their hand and sadly railroad the story because of this
so, any tips for this?
Hiya,
I run one on one games almost exclusively, so I think I can help.
Battles: one thing to keep in mind is that the lethality of an encounter rises with each monster/npc you throw at the party. Keep an eye on their hps.
Social: This one is going to be harder because of your players discomfort. Simply put, the player *has* to be the face and the guiding directing force in the party. No NPC should have this role. That said, your player can learn how to loosen up and start to inhabit their character. Just start small, allow the player to indicate actions in third person, eventually they will shift to “I” statements.
Creativity: This is a big one for me, and one that makes me dislike a particular module. When I create a trap or obstacle I do not plan a way out or through it. I want the player to exercise creativity and present a possible solution. If I come up with the “one way out” scenario I defeat the player because they have to try to think like me. Ugh! Tomb of Annihilation. Grr!
Die rolls: Try to carefully weigh when to roll. Sometimes rolls just are not needed. Let the story flow between you. You will then know when to roll the dice.
Kayzig and BrassZeus, I really appreciate the tips for battle,
however their is a problem, my player is shy about asking me questions or getting creative with their imagination like to get over an obstacles such as to go through a unpickable door, as well as answering questions like "what do you do?" and when they do something creative, they get really fluster(and I mean REALLY fluster) when ever they mess up via nat.1s or can't describe clearly what they want to do. In a sense, they can't roleplay.
so basically, I have to carry their hand and sadly railroad the story because of this
so, any tips for this?
Is the player having fun? If the answer is yes, then "holding their hand and railroading the story" is not a bad thing. Some people enjoy that.
Look at video games for example, some people enjoy the wide open sandbox style games like Skyrim or The Witcher. Others get overwhelmed by that freedom and would rather have a railroaded game like BioShock or a TellTale style game. It sounds like you might have a player who prefers the latter over the former, and that is okay.
Hawkswoor, thanks for huge advice I REALLY appreciated it.
And Grizzlebub, I haven't really thought of it like that, thanks. :)
Okay, this isn't about my player but more in general, any ideas what kind of monsters I can use for my player. my player is a lv. 7 rouge so I was thinking of putting monster with bad perceptions as well as some little things like kobolds, the abandon dwaven town is located inside a mountain, making the setting underdark(or if I'm wrong, correct me please), so any monsters/creatures I should put into my campaign. However I am afraid of putting just 1 mindflayer (maybe for a boss).
There are a few methods to flesh out his experience. If he doesn’t mind the extra work, he could Paly more than one character. This could work especially well if he played the character as if he were each of them indivually. Good luck!
There are a few methods to flesh out his experience. If he doesn’t mind the extra work, he could Paly more than one character. This could work especially well if he played the character as if he were each of them indivually. Good luck!
I doubt if the player is shy and struggling with role-playing one character they would enjoy the idea of role-playing two.
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Hello, at the moment, I am DMing a 2 player game (1 DM and 1 player)
so any tips are welcome including story, NPC interaction, battle, ETC.
My player has at the moment 3 allies and are about to help clean out a abandon dwarven town that is infested with monster/creature
Focus a lot on him, make him the leader, along with that really flesh out and work with his backstory.
Marvarax and Sora (Dragonborn) The retired fighter and WIP scholar - Glory
Brythel(Dwarf), The dwarf with a gun - survival at sea
Jaylin(Human), Paladin of Lathander's Ancient ways - The Seven Saints (Azura Claw)
Urselles(Goblin), Cleric of Eldath- The Wizard's challenge
Viclas Tyrin(Half Elf), Student of the Elven arts- Indrafatmoko's Defiance in Phlan
thank you for the tip Jimmop
But are there any tips for battles like should they be strong few creature or a BUNCH of weak grunts?
Regardless of what kind of battle (many weak grunts that trade blows with the rest of the party, or a solo "boss" monster facing the party), read on if they are trying to play up the stealth more and offer lots of room to snipe arrows and cast spells, or otherwise see if they're into rushing the enemies. It's kind of hard to really storm the front lines as a rogue sometimes, especially with a monk out there, but think about adjusting objectives and battles to focus on what they want their character to specialize in, with the other party members being more like a lifeline.
Maybe as a rogue, they're just there to sneak into places where they get first dibs on treasure and then get out. It's hard to say without knowing how your player, well, plays.
I'd say, PERSONALLY, I would do a LOT of pathetically-weak monsters (infestation, as you said), and maybe one more serious one that slipped in once the dwarves all left, and they can take it on for a big risk/big reward type of payoff.
The thing with a bunch of smaller encounters, is it lets the party recover if needed, or evaluate where they are before taking on more battles. When you head into battle with a big monster, sometimes you don't get that luxury, you are engaged and either you win or it can go badly.
As the other comments have stated, make sure the actual player is getting to do all the important stuff. The NPCs should be a supporting cast to the main player's Michael Jordan. Maybe the cleric spends more time keeping the real player up and running than actually fighting.
You'll find a good balance naturally. If it feels like you're having fun, you're doing it right. If you feel like your player is frustrated or unhappy, take a look at your options.
Good luck and happy adventuring!
Kayzig and BrassZeus, I really appreciate the tips for battle,
however their is a problem, my player is shy about asking me questions or getting creative with their imagination like to get over an obstacles such as to go through a unpickable door, as well as answering questions like "what do you do?" and when they do something creative, they get really fluster(and I mean REALLY fluster) when ever they mess up via nat.1s or can't describe clearly what they want to do. In a sense, they can't roleplay.
so basically, I have to carry their hand and sadly railroad the story because of this
so, any tips for this?
Can’t roleplay is entire different problem try maybe not really doing a one on one session, but them in an environment with other role players, and try to put them next to that one person at the table everyone likes, (the helpful for new players kind of likes)
Marvarax and Sora (Dragonborn) The retired fighter and WIP scholar - Glory
Brythel(Dwarf), The dwarf with a gun - survival at sea
Jaylin(Human), Paladin of Lathander's Ancient ways - The Seven Saints (Azura Claw)
Urselles(Goblin), Cleric of Eldath- The Wizard's challenge
Viclas Tyrin(Half Elf), Student of the Elven arts- Indrafatmoko's Defiance in Phlan
Find a good D&D show to watch (not a movie... a regularly streamed show). Watch it together so that they can see how others handle situations. Feeling like you have to roleplay by yourself can be intimidating. Especially if you do well with managing all your characters and they feel like they are failing at handling even one. My wife would pretty much instaquit if she felt like she was in that position. As much as possible, use one of your characters as a "face" character if needed for dealing with NPCs, but don't make decisions in the moment. Have that character then discuss options with your player's character for dealing with situations. If they can't decide, don't decide for them... just come up with 2 or 3 options that the other party members might think would be good and let them choose. Delicate. Balance. It is a lot of work on your end and it is easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing, saying or feeling, but all of that has to take a backseat to allowing your player to blossom and take on a heroic role. You can't force this, you have to allow it to happen. It is a difficult path... but can be very rewarding if you handle it well...
Oh... and if your player did not create a detailed enough backstory to really dive into the role, help out by asking lots of questions in an out-of-game experience so that they learn more about who their character is. Knowing why your character would do something often comes by finding out how they ended up where they are.
Thank you for the tip grayfax,
I am following your advice by watching campaigns on youtube with my player
We are also going to have a session 0 (again) to help my player with their backstory and help them with other stuff
I am really enjoying these tips you guys are giving, keep them coming.
Is the player having fun? If the answer is yes, then "holding their hand and railroading the story" is not a bad thing. Some people enjoy that.
Look at video games for example, some people enjoy the wide open sandbox style games like Skyrim or The Witcher. Others get overwhelmed by that freedom and would rather have a railroaded game like BioShock or a TellTale style game. It sounds like you might have a player who prefers the latter over the former, and that is okay.
Hawkswoor, thanks for huge advice I REALLY appreciated it.
And Grizzlebub, I haven't really thought of it like that, thanks. :)
Okay, this isn't about my player but more in general, any ideas what kind of monsters I can use for my player. my player is a lv. 7 rouge so I was thinking of putting monster with bad perceptions as well as some little things like kobolds, the abandon dwaven town is located inside a mountain, making the setting underdark(or if I'm wrong, correct me please), so any monsters/creatures I should put into my campaign. However I am afraid of putting just 1 mindflayer (maybe for a boss).
Try kobold fight club for ideas. At level 7 hour player is pretty powerful.
There are a few methods to flesh out his experience. If he doesn’t mind the extra work, he could Paly more than one character. This could work especially well if he played the character as if he were each of them indivually. Good luck!
I doubt if the player is shy and struggling with role-playing one character they would enjoy the idea of role-playing two.