So I am going to be running a single player campaign for my wife, my first time running a single player campaign.
I'm planning on running the campaign based on Waterdeep Dungeon Heist. It seems like a good adventure not overly focused on combat, so she gets to do a lot of the investigation, RPing stuff she loves, but still some combat. I know Dragons of Icespire Peak is usually suggested as a good single player campaign, but our main campaign is based out of Phandalin, and they've already been presented the hook to go the DoIP route if they choose, so I wanted to have the adventure in another area of the sword coast.
We'll be doing the sidekick approach, so she will have her main character and then a second character that will be a support person.
I was going to have her start her character at level 3, but debating whether it would be better to have her start at level 5 since 4 is when you can take your first feat and 5th is when a lot of the classes pick up their extra attack and such, which would be helpful in giving her more attacks per turn.
notes specific to W:DH... some of the early chapter 1 fights can be quite deadly. just keep the first monster far away to encourage ranged attacks and NPC involvement. later, a few ambushers in a dark place could absolutely ruin someone's day so maybe be sure to play up the potential witnesses from other buildings and windows facing the building, perhaps discouraging a hasty door-kick.
also, the first part is structured so that strangers can meet in a tavern and yatta yatta, but i'd recommend you don't neglect that it's also an option to begin as a group. maybe she's bossing around her brothers (one beefy, one brainy) always convincing them she's in charge. or perhaps she's a lady seeking adventure, telling her long suffering servants this like a fox hunt and they'll be back before anyone is wise. or maybe it's ladies night out and each of the friends has been neglecting to mention certain skills that just happen to come up as the night goes on. whatever it is, my recommendations (for this and any DM+1 campaign) boil down to not skimping on the backdrop details of each environment. it's a fun chapter for role players to wallow around in if you let them. and don't skip the trinket shop!!
notes specific to W:DH... some of the early chapter 1 fights can be quite deadly. just keep the first monster far away to encourage ranged attacks and NPC involvement. later, a few ambushers in a dark place could absolutely ruin someone's day so maybe be sure to play up the potential witnesses from other buildings and windows facing the building, perhaps discouraging a hasty door-kick.
also, the first part is structured so that strangers can meet in a tavern and yatta yatta, but i'd recommend you don't neglect that it's also an option to begin as a group. maybe she's bossing around her brothers (one beefy, one brainy) always convincing them she's in charge. or perhaps she's a lady seeking adventure, telling her long suffering servants this like a fox hunt and they'll be back before anyone is wise. or maybe it's ladies night out and each of the friends has been neglecting to mention certain skills that just happen to come up as the night goes on. whatever it is, my recommendations (for this and any DM+1 campaign) boil down to not skimping on the backdrop details of each environment. it's a fun chapter for role players to wallow around in if you let them. and don't skip the trinket shop!!
Thanks! We definitely won't be skipping the first part, part of the reason we want to do this, in addition to just always wanting more DnD is to be able to spend more time deep diving in to the world, and help me practice my skills building an immersive experience, than we do in our main game. She wanted to play a character and setting that would let her really delve in to the flavor and details of the setting. Our main game is awesome and epic, but with 6 players on quests for fortune and glory, it can be hard to really get to spend a lot of time on that side of things.
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So I am going to be running a single player campaign for my wife, my first time running a single player campaign.
I'm planning on running the campaign based on Waterdeep Dungeon Heist. It seems like a good adventure not overly focused on combat, so she gets to do a lot of the investigation, RPing stuff she loves, but still some combat. I know Dragons of Icespire Peak is usually suggested as a good single player campaign, but our main campaign is based out of Phandalin, and they've already been presented the hook to go the DoIP route if they choose, so I wanted to have the adventure in another area of the sword coast.
We'll be doing the sidekick approach, so she will have her main character and then a second character that will be a support person.
I was going to have her start her character at level 3, but debating whether it would be better to have her start at level 5 since 4 is when you can take your first feat and 5th is when a lot of the classes pick up their extra attack and such, which would be helpful in giving her more attacks per turn.
Any tips on running a single player campaign?
notes specific to W:DH... some of the early chapter 1 fights can be quite deadly. just keep the first monster far away to encourage ranged attacks and NPC involvement. later, a few ambushers in a dark place could absolutely ruin someone's day so maybe be sure to play up the potential witnesses from other buildings and windows facing the building, perhaps discouraging a hasty door-kick.
also, the first part is structured so that strangers can meet in a tavern and yatta yatta, but i'd recommend you don't neglect that it's also an option to begin as a group. maybe she's bossing around her brothers (one beefy, one brainy) always convincing them she's in charge. or perhaps she's a lady seeking adventure, telling her long suffering servants this like a fox hunt and they'll be back before anyone is wise. or maybe it's ladies night out and each of the friends has been neglecting to mention certain skills that just happen to come up as the night goes on. whatever it is, my recommendations (for this and any DM+1 campaign) boil down to not skimping on the backdrop details of each environment. it's a fun chapter for role players to wallow around in if you let them. and don't skip the trinket shop!!
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
Thanks! We definitely won't be skipping the first part, part of the reason we want to do this, in addition to just always wanting more DnD is to be able to spend more time deep diving in to the world, and help me practice my skills building an immersive experience, than we do in our main game. She wanted to play a character and setting that would let her really delve in to the flavor and details of the setting. Our main game is awesome and epic, but with 6 players on quests for fortune and glory, it can be hard to really get to spend a lot of time on that side of things.