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...Except they don't exist yet. But they could!
Last night, I mentioned to my roommate (Benchak on these here boards) an idea I had kicking around in my head, knocking over all the random crap in my brain: making 4E adventures for one DM and one player, kinda like those ones they did way back in 2nd Edition. They'd be geared towards specific PC roles (defender, striker, etc.) and/or specific power sources, with the challenges being uniquely suited to folks whose classes fit that profile. It originally came about as a way for me to try out some of the classes without necessarily committing one to a specific campaign, but I thought if folks were interested, we could possibly make them available for the general public.
Now, so far I've only sketched out some concepts for one or two adventures, so they'd still need to be written and playtested and such, but I thought I'd use this thread to gauge interest in seeing these things come to fruition.
Current plan is to make them essentially a fan project, somewhat akin to the 4E Pathfinder conversions; no money would change hands for them, which should hopefully make us less of a tempting target for hoards of lawyers hungry for fan-blood. I'd ostensibly set them in the Pathfinder campaign universe, but I could easily make them setting-neutral (Sarenrae becomes "The Sun Goddess", Pharasma the "Death Goddess", and as far as I know, no one owns Asmodeus), and have them be simple one-level (or half-level) adventures. It'd be a good way for folks to try out a class, or maybe serve as a side-trek, and new players could learn the ropes without worrying that all the other players will roll their eyes while they ask which die is the d10 and how to roll for initiative and such.
Ben and I would probably write the first few, but obviously we'd be happy to accept adventure ideas, and clearly we don't own the concept, so feel free to make your own. My first idea was an adventure for strikers, especially since both Ben and I have our greedy eyes locked on the avenger class (and it doesn't hurt that strikers in general seem really popular).
So, anyone interested in seeing what comes of it?
I definitely think this is a good idea, especially since minions can help a lot with this. A "standard" encounter for a single PC would be 4 minions which feels like it could be a good amount. Of course any class that gets an at-will burst or some chaining spell (see Chaos Bolt from the Sorcerer) can make that combat trivial.
Either way if you write one you should post it here or at least a link to a site you are posting them on. I would like to try some of them since they can fall into that elusive "fun but cheap" entertainment that my wife and me always seem to pursue.
I definitely think this is a good idea, especially since minions can help a lot with this. A "standard" encounter for a single PC would be 4 minions which feels like it could be a good amount. Of course any class that gets an at-will burst or some chaining spell (see Chaos Bolt from the Sorcerer) can make that combat trivial.
Either way if you write one you should post it here or at least a link to a site you are posting them on. I would like to try some of them since they can fall into that elusive "fun but cheap" entertainment that my wife and me always seem to pursue.
I'd also be careful about making minions your standard encounter fare - this heavily penalizes strikers who have significant chunks of their class features dedicated to dealing extra damage (which doesn't matter when you're hitting creatures with 1 hit point). When you're talking about a mechanic that, if used heavily, would be bad for controllers and strikers, you probably want to take a lot of care when considering using it at all.
This sounds like a great idea.
Unfortunately, I have like zero writing talent so I would be of no help at all writing them, but they would be a fantastic resource.
I have a campaign with 2 PCs (Dwarven Battle Cleric and Eladrin Wizard), and these are exactly the sorts of things I would love, and then just upscale them for 2 players instead of 1.
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Hey, thanks for the feedback, guys! And especially thanks for the interest! :D
On the minion note: since the current plan (until it breaks my head, at least) is to design the adventures to be especially good for specific character roles, I do intend to balance the number of minions appropriately. Controllers might get a few more simply because what controller doesn't enjoy the idea of blasting a room full of bad guys? But just because there's minions doesn't mean that I'll bunch them all in the center of the room just waiting to be taken out in one hit.
One thought I'm working on is to do combo encounters with one "real" monster/NPC and a couple of minions. That way, folks with AoE attacks or attacks that allow for more than one target can get their kicks, but there'll still be at least one guy standing after they blow the minions away.
But for the first adventures, at least (especially the 1st-level ones), the focus is to allow people to use their skills to devastating effect in order to let them get the feel for the PC role they're playing in. For a 1st-level controller adventure, there might be an encounter where a couple of minions are hanging out in the center of the room, in the hopes that the player says, "oh, hey! I've got a power that'll wipe these guys off the map in one blow!" Y'know, help reinforce the concept of what the character's strengths and weaknesses are. Or for a defender, have him battle one pretty tough dude and a couple of minions, in order to get the feel for his role's skill at close-quarters battlefield control (possibly even give him a dude to "defend" for part of it, in order to maximize his chances to successfully play with marking foes). Later adventures will give more mixed encounters so PCs will have to "play smart" in order to come out on top, and will probably use some serious terrain to create tactically advantageous situations.
So don't worry; minions will make an appearance, but they will not dominate the encounters. Hell, at later levels, I can even toss two lower-level dudes at a PC with a solid chance that the PC will come out on top, and let them have the satisfaction of smacking those two guys around for a while.
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I think you could get a lot of inspiration from the 2e adventure modules <insert class> challenge I & II. They followed a similar theme to that which I believe you to be espousing.
Any solo adventure has to avoid generica, attempts to match one adventure to all roles are doomed to failiure.
As you stated highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the class the module is designed for, unless your designing the next Tomb of Horrors that is 8-).
Here is something that just dawned on me. One of the perks to a defender is how the marking effects helps combat by:
1)forcing opponents to hit you or
2)Making it harder to hit others.
If you are the only person then your mark basically has no effect. Seems like that mechanic might need to be tweaked a little.
I would say have a mark target just take a -2 to attacks but then a Swordmage who manages to mark everything on the field might be a little too powerful. Perhaps a +1 to your defense against a marked creature since you are "watching and anticipating their action." Just a concern that you might want to think about. Still interested in this idea though. :-)
There was a gladiatorial article in one of the current Dragon Magazines that dealt with "duels" or one-on-ones which gave the best type of monster per role for a character to be paired against.
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Here is something that just dawned on me. One of the perks to a defender is how the marking effects helps combat by:
1)forcing opponents to hit you or
2)Making it harder to hit others.If you are the only person then your mark basically has no effect. Seems like that mechanic might need to be tweaked a little.
I would say have a mark target just take a -2 to attacks but then a Swordmage who manages to mark everything on the field might be a little too powerful. Perhaps a +1 to your defense against a marked creature since you are "watching and anticipating their action." Just a concern that you might want to think about. Still interested in this idea though. :-)
I was thinking on setting some adventures up (for defenders and leaders especially) where there might be some NPCs you need to protect/assist. For instance, just off the top of my head, a defender may have to help an NPC get to a location safely through hostile territory or keep a gang of marauding goblins from harming some townsfolk, while a leader may have to lead a group of green NPC dudes in a fight against something threatening a settlement's farmland.
If I go with this concept, it'll be in a way that the DM can run it without undue "paperwork"; some folks may be noncombatants, while others might be simple one-trick ponies who can assist the character's tactical plans. Probably no more than two NPCs at a time in any given adventure.
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There was a gladiatorial article in one of the current Dragon Magazines that dealt with "duels" or one-on-ones which gave the best type of monster per role for a character to be paired against.
Yeah, my roommate's got that article. I'll have to hit him up for that. Thanks for the idea! I'll definitely look into it.
...Except they don't exist yet. But they could!
Last night, I mentioned to my roommate (Benchak on these here boards) an idea I had kicking around in my head, knocking over all the random crap in my brain: making 4E adventures for one DM and one player...
Or, you could make them with just players, and one DM Deck. It is a collectible card set with which a single player can play with himself.
It is a concept I tried to give birth to in >this thread< . But, it hasn't taken off yet.
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Sadly, I'm buried up to my arms in Pathfinder Paper Minis at the moment. I hope to get crackin' on something soon; before you jump up and down in excitement over the idea, feel free to take a gander at my take on incorporating the Avenger class into Golarion here and here (same article, just different sites; pick your poison), then decide if you'd want to read more of my scribblings on the subject of gaming.
Sorry, I'm incredibly self-depreciating. :P
I really do hope to work on this, but if you need something now-ish, check out Tensor's experiment. It might work for you. At the very least, I'm hoping to run some sample encounters using some 4E-ified versions of the Pathfinder Iconics and provide some input on single or two-player games. I'm running Legacy of Fire with two PCs and a DMPC, and I've been noticing some trends in the way fights play out in smaller groups.
Actually, my roommate (Benchak on the boards) is running a 4E-coverted version of one of the Pathfinder modules for the two of us; I'll see if he wants to chime in on some thoughts on the matter.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
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Yes, I've been running a 4e conversion of River Into Darkness for Ashton and myself (PC Deva Avenger, DMPC Shifter Druid).
Although I'm not sure how much feedback I can give, since this is also my first time DMing 4e.
I'll ponder on the subject for a bit and maybe write something later.