New to the community, but love what I have seen you guys doing here. Have a question: does anyone have any recommendations, resources, or tips for solo-running published adventures?
In my specific case, I want to run through some of the new D&D 5e stuff: Tyranny of Dragons, Princes of Apocalypse, etc. From the little I've tried, I noticed it was really challenging to "surprise" myself or feel any real sort of story exploration or player agency; rather, it felt like I was merely plugging numbers into a math game, and it was nearly impossible to avoid spoilers or game-breaking stats that would normally be hidden from PCs.
I guess this could be why so much of what I have read about solitaire RPGs use random world/campaign/encounter creators; however, I really want to experience these adventures. I only lack a consistent enough play group with which to run them.
Thanks for any any advice you might have!
lino pang Good point. If one is comfortable enough improvising they can (& should) use the preprinted module as a guideline & source of inspiration (background material, of a sort) & let the oracles/randomizers take over & follow their lead.
ReplyDeleteBrian Anderson Player Emulation instead of GM Emulation. ;)
ReplyDeleteHere's how I generally solo low-level modules:
ReplyDeleteyou play the DM and play one PC. Your PC would be the lone voice of reason in the party. Your PC would, invariably, know the best course of action, but frequently be outvoted on said best course of action. Your PC continues to hang with the other folks in the group because they buy drinks / lodging for free, and they throw the best parties in town (free carousing rolls maybe?), or your PC is a non-resilient back-liner and needs stronger locals to survive.
Or, the party is led by some sort of charisma monster that successfully persuades your PC that there isn't time, it's not likely, etc. etc.
In the event that your PC feels so strongly about a course of action, searching for a secret door, etc., they need to sneak back to the dungeon in the still of night and bring back proof to the party and successfully persuade them. Alternately, the NPC party thief does this in secret and sells the extra loot etc. on the black market and shares a fraction with the party.