Hi, I'm kinda new to D&D and would love some veteran advice. I started getting interested in D&D during 2020, I bought myself the Starter Set, Essentials Kit, Tasha's and Fizban's. Where I live, and my schedule make it so that I don't have a party. So, finally, this week I created a Sorcerer with the 2024 rules and played through a small adventure I got on the DMsGuild and the first chapter of the Lost Mine of Phandelver.
To say the least I had to cheat a little because the adventure wasn't made for 1 player, and being my own DM, I also ended up metagaming a lot. Furthermore, when creating my character, I rolled on the trinket table and got "A gemstone that looks like a lump of coal when examined by anyone but you" and I turned that into my "Arcane Focus (crystal)" and because I took Magic Initiate (Wizard), I took the spell "Find Familiar", chose a Pseudodragon and made it work instantaneous (and through the gemstone) instead of with a ritual spell, so that I'll have a secondary character.
I thought a lot about my character and his story, and I know more or less a campaign I'd love to play as this character, and magic items that would make sense narratively.
My questions for you fine folk, Is there a resource (preferably free) where I can make a randomly generated campaign with the story beats that I want, as both player and DM? and if I were to find a party for a one shot or something like that and I'd want to use this character, is that even possible with my sleight homebrewing rules or should I try to stick closer to the rules as written? and what do I do about awarding myself magic items? I want certain ones that I think are good narratively like the dragon horde weapon from Fizban's.
You might also consider a Play-by-Post campaign. Moves a little (a lot) slower but you still get plenty of opportunities to interact and roleplay. Play-By-Post - D&D Beyond General - D&D Beyond Forums - D&D Beyond (dndbeyond.com) If you scroll to the bottom of the page there is a "filter" drop down box on the right - select "Recruiting" and it will show you the PbP campaigns that are looking for characters.
"...at worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
I don't know what "Metagaming" means, but I can tell you that you should look for some old AD&D and Basic D&D adventure modules made specifically for solo play. Obviously the mechanics would need to changed, if you want, so you can play it in 5e.
For example a Vampire in 1e has 8HD (1HD= d8) and it's attacks can drain two levels from you (Energy Drain), probably the most terrifying ability of any monster. A vampire in 5e has a 13CR (equiv to 17HD), but only does necrotic damage. After that things aren't much different.
I don't know what "Metagaming" means, but I can tell you that you should look for some old AD&D and Basic D&D adventure modules made specifically for solo play. I'm obviously the mechanics would need to changed, if you want, so you can play it in 5e.
For example a Vampire in 1e has 8HD (1HD= d8) and it's attacks can drain two levels from you (Energy Drain), probably the most terrifying ability of any monster. A vampire in 5e has a 13CR (equiv to 17HD), but only does necrotic damage. After that things aren't much different.
"Metagaming" is when you have your character act in certain ways because you (the player) know things (ex. monster stats) that your character would NOT know. So for example if my character would normally attack with hand axes, but as a player I know a certain monster has resistance to slashing damage so I switch to a bludgeoning weapon, that's metagaming.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"...at worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
There's a few people selling specially written solo adventures on DM's Guild if you search for solo play or you could try Obvious Mimic who have written three adventures so far and won a couple of awards for them https://obviousmimic.com/
I don't know what "Metagaming" means, but I can tell you that you should look for some old AD&D and Basic D&D adventure modules made specifically for solo play. I'm obviously the mechanics would need to changed, if you want, so you can play it in 5e.
For example a Vampire in 1e has 8HD (1HD= d8) and it's attacks can drain two levels from you (Energy Drain), probably the most terrifying ability of any monster. A vampire in 5e has a 13CR (equiv to 17HD), but only does necrotic damage. After that things aren't much different.
"Metagaming" is when you have your character act in certain ways because you (the player) know things (ex. monster stats) that your character would NOT know. So for example if my character would normally attack with hand axes, but as a player I know a certain monster has resistance to slashing damage so I switch to a bludgeoning weapon, that's metagaming.
Ah okay. Still trying to learn the lingo. I just learned what "whispering" means, unless it has various meanings.
I don't know what "Metagaming" means, but I can tell you that you should look for some old AD&D and Basic D&D adventure modules made specifically for solo play. I'm obviously the mechanics would need to changed, if you want, so you can play it in 5e.
For example a Vampire in 1e has 8HD (1HD= d8) and it's attacks can drain two levels from you (Energy Drain), probably the most terrifying ability of any monster. A vampire in 5e has a 13CR (equiv to 17HD), but only does necrotic damage. After that things aren't much different.
"Metagaming" is when you have your character act in certain ways because you (the player) know things (ex. monster stats) that your character would NOT know. So for example if my character would normally attack with hand axes, but as a player I know a certain monster has resistance to slashing damage so I switch to a bludgeoning weapon, that's metagaming.
Ah okay. Still trying to learn the lingo. I just learned what "whispering" means, unless it has various meanings.
No sweat - happy to help!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"...at worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
Mythic GME V2 helps as a great Oracle to run solo games. I like Jeansen Vaars PUM, SUM, and GUM systems as a Oracle and Scene creator. Both systems work with D&D 5e. Check out this YouTuber Geek Gamers she has a YouTube video about everything solo. And watch this video from Trevor Noah a YouTuber 9 Tips for Solo RPGs, and you will be on a good start down this journey. I have a blog I just started you can view below I do on my solo gaming, I also give tips on Solo RPG's and I would be happy to answer questions if you have any about solo gaming.
One thing I will vouch for when it comes to Solo Play, is it gives you plenty of time to learn how to play your character. Think about the many group games you played where people were hmm hawing on what spells to cast, what weapon to use and when trying different actions or abilities would be favorable. How long did those people take? A simple fight with 5 people could take 30 to 40 minutes.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hi, I'm kinda new to D&D and would love some veteran advice.
I started getting interested in D&D during 2020, I bought myself the Starter Set, Essentials Kit, Tasha's and Fizban's. Where I live, and my schedule make it so that I don't have a party.
So, finally, this week I created a Sorcerer with the 2024 rules and played through a small adventure I got on the DMsGuild and the first chapter of the Lost Mine of Phandelver.
To say the least I had to cheat a little because the adventure wasn't made for 1 player, and being my own DM, I also ended up metagaming a lot.
Furthermore, when creating my character, I rolled on the trinket table and got "A gemstone that looks like a lump of coal when examined by anyone but you" and I turned that into my "Arcane Focus (crystal)" and because I took Magic Initiate (Wizard), I took the spell "Find Familiar", chose a Pseudodragon and made it work instantaneous (and through the gemstone) instead of with a ritual spell, so that I'll have a secondary character.
I thought a lot about my character and his story, and I know more or less a campaign I'd love to play as this character, and magic items that would make sense narratively.
My questions for you fine folk,
Is there a resource (preferably free) where I can make a randomly generated campaign with the story beats that I want, as both player and DM?
and if I were to find a party for a one shot or something like that and I'd want to use this character, is that even possible with my sleight homebrewing rules or should I try to stick closer to the rules as written?
and what do I do about awarding myself magic items? I want certain ones that I think are good narratively like the dragon horde weapon from Fizban's.
Thank y'all
You could check out this forum: Looking for Players & Groups - D&D Beyond General - D&D Beyond Forums - D&D Beyond (dndbeyond.com) - There are a lot of groups that us Discord or other platforms to play virtually.
You might also consider a Play-by-Post campaign. Moves a little (a lot) slower but you still get plenty of opportunities to interact and roleplay. Play-By-Post - D&D Beyond General - D&D Beyond Forums - D&D Beyond (dndbeyond.com) If you scroll to the bottom of the page there is a "filter" drop down box on the right - select "Recruiting" and it will show you the PbP campaigns that are looking for characters.
Good luck!
"...at worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
I don't know what "Metagaming" means, but I can tell you that you should look for some old AD&D and Basic D&D adventure modules made specifically for solo play. Obviously the mechanics would need to changed, if you want, so you can play it in 5e.
For example a Vampire in 1e has 8HD (1HD= d8) and it's attacks can drain two levels from you (Energy Drain), probably the most terrifying ability of any monster. A vampire in 5e has a 13CR (equiv to 17HD), but only does necrotic damage. After that things aren't much different.
"Metagaming" is when you have your character act in certain ways because you (the player) know things (ex. monster stats) that your character would NOT know. So for example if my character would normally attack with hand axes, but as a player I know a certain monster has resistance to slashing damage so I switch to a bludgeoning weapon, that's metagaming.
"...at worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
There's a few people selling specially written solo adventures on DM's Guild if you search for solo play or you could try Obvious Mimic who have written three adventures so far and won a couple of awards for them https://obviousmimic.com/
Ah okay. Still trying to learn the lingo. I just learned what "whispering" means, unless it has various meanings.
No sweat - happy to help!
"...at worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
Mythic GME V2 helps as a great Oracle to run solo games. I like Jeansen Vaars PUM, SUM, and GUM systems as a Oracle and Scene creator. Both systems work with D&D 5e. Check out this YouTuber Geek Gamers she has a YouTube video about everything solo. And watch this video from Trevor Noah a YouTuber 9 Tips for Solo RPGs, and you will be on a good start down this journey. I have a blog I just started you can view below I do on my solo gaming, I also give tips on Solo RPG's and I would be happy to answer questions if you have any about solo gaming.
Hope this helps.
Check out my solo roleplaying adventure blog!
Would like your feedback on my Homebrew: Backgrounds Magic Weapons
Zarod aka Gerrart Roncherac "The Poet", Luur "The Lethal" and Clockwork Watcher 3 (C-Dub3) "Dub"
One thing I will vouch for when it comes to Solo Play, is it gives you plenty of time to learn how to play your character. Think about the many group games you played where people were hmm hawing on what spells to cast, what weapon to use and when trying different actions or abilities would be favorable. How long did those people take? A simple fight with 5 people could take 30 to 40 minutes.