I’m going to run a one shot for my friend and we wanted to try lvl 20 for once, only I can’t figure out how to balance monsters for one character, any suggestions?
The unfortunate answer is, you can't. D&D is balanced around team play, and the monsters are balanced around a party of 4. People experience equally unbalanced games when they pit a party of 6 against a standard monster stat block. A Lich in its lair is CR22, but my party of 4 x Level 10 and 2 x Level 9 characters beat it without anyone going unconscious, despite me increasing its hit points by 50% to accommodate for the larger party. (For those who will ask "what about Power Word: Kill - they outranged it, used a Cube of Force to shield three of them from spells, dispelled Power Word: Stun, survived the 15d6 damage lair action, cast Silence on it, and eventually Banishment after it failed saving throws against Hideous Laughter, Polymorph and a big hitting damage spell and used all its legendary resistances. It wasn't even their first big fight of the day! Anyway I've gone wildly off track).
A single level 20 character has a Hard encounter against a lone CR11 monster, and a Deadly encounter against a single CR12 monster. However, this doesn't take into account that the level 20 character can potentially kill a CR12 monster in a single turn. A level 20 wizard can cast Power Word: Kill against a CR12 Arcanaloth, killing it instantly. Conversely, a single CR4 banshee or CR2 intellect devourer can return the favour.
So how to address this:
First, you need to know what class the player is going to run, and tailor the game to that character. This is essential for any solo game.
Ensure that if they are a spellcaster that they go through at least 6 encounters without a Long Rest, so that they can't rely entirely on nukes at 8th and 9th level.
If they are not a spellcaster, put gimmicks in the fights that require use of their specific class abilities, otherwise combat is going to be pretty tedious and just rolling a lot of attacks.
Give them 2 henchmen to run, simple stat blocks. If you don't want to use the Hireling rules, then give them a veteran or two to control, they have simple stats and can do some support while letting the level 20 character do the real work.
Run combats that involve multiple enemies that deal reasonable damage. A trio of fire elementals could make a decent fight.
Wow thanks, I’ll be sure to use that, And three elementals I think would make a pretty fun encounter in a volcano/ forge environment for them to hide in
I would also say that depending on the ingle player. Roleplay. And lots of it. In a one on one game it is you and them, give him(or her) the spotlight so they can enjoy the game. And as with the other guy said do try tailor it around the character. If they make a backstory for the one shot character even better. It's not likely they will. But if they do or they just up a character they use in another campaign with you to lvl 20 then try to incorporate backstory elements into the game. You can also use non combative enemies to torment them
I can see a one shot based upon a beefed up Quickling. Quicklings for example are really really fast getting three attacks for a cr 1 enemy. But they don't like to fight. They would more rather steal from you, Or plant fake documents into your pockets to get you in trouble with city guards. And with a base movement speed of 120 feet they are good at it. Of course i'm not suggesting you do this as it is your game. But it could be just as fun and entertaining to use a non combat scenario
Also bend the rules a bit as it is a one on one game. Some rules are gonna need to be bended. And possibly lower the stats of a monster if your using a bigger one. Or be smarter with weaker monsters. Goblins for example are as smart as people and love traps, they can and will do hit and run tactics. That being said do not be trying to actively kill the player. They are the player not the enemy
And of course with whatever you do, Have fun with it. If your not having fun then its likely the player wont be either
I’m going to run a one shot for my friend and we wanted to try lvl 20 for once, only I can’t figure out how to balance monsters for one character, any suggestions?
The unfortunate answer is, you can't. D&D is balanced around team play, and the monsters are balanced around a party of 4. People experience equally unbalanced games when they pit a party of 6 against a standard monster stat block. A Lich in its lair is CR22, but my party of 4 x Level 10 and 2 x Level 9 characters beat it without anyone going unconscious, despite me increasing its hit points by 50% to accommodate for the larger party. (For those who will ask "what about Power Word: Kill - they outranged it, used a Cube of Force to shield three of them from spells, dispelled Power Word: Stun, survived the 15d6 damage lair action, cast Silence on it, and eventually Banishment after it failed saving throws against Hideous Laughter, Polymorph and a big hitting damage spell and used all its legendary resistances. It wasn't even their first big fight of the day! Anyway I've gone wildly off track).
A single level 20 character has a Hard encounter against a lone CR11 monster, and a Deadly encounter against a single CR12 monster. However, this doesn't take into account that the level 20 character can potentially kill a CR12 monster in a single turn. A level 20 wizard can cast Power Word: Kill against a CR12 Arcanaloth, killing it instantly. Conversely, a single CR4 banshee or CR2 intellect devourer can return the favour.
So how to address this:
Wow thanks, I’ll be sure to use that, And three elementals I think would make a pretty fun encounter in a volcano/ forge environment for them to hide in
I would also say that depending on the ingle player. Roleplay. And lots of it. In a one on one game it is you and them, give him(or her) the spotlight so they can enjoy the game. And as with the other guy said do try tailor it around the character. If they make a backstory for the one shot character even better. It's not likely they will. But if they do or they just up a character they use in another campaign with you to lvl 20 then try to incorporate backstory elements into the game. You can also use non combative enemies to torment them
I can see a one shot based upon a beefed up Quickling. Quicklings for example are really really fast getting three attacks for a cr 1 enemy. But they don't like to fight. They would more rather steal from you, Or plant fake documents into your pockets to get you in trouble with city guards. And with a base movement speed of 120 feet they are good at it. Of course i'm not suggesting you do this as it is your game. But it could be just as fun and entertaining to use a non combat scenario
Also bend the rules a bit as it is a one on one game. Some rules are gonna need to be bended. And possibly lower the stats of a monster if your using a bigger one. Or be smarter with weaker monsters. Goblins for example are as smart as people and love traps, they can and will do hit and run tactics. That being said do not be trying to actively kill the player. They are the player not the enemy
And of course with whatever you do, Have fun with it. If your not having fun then its likely the player wont be either
Sul Khatesh.