We've all heard of it, really. The tales of these single people banding together with any multitude of heroes, but when are the heroes NPC's and not real people? That's the fun question.
People approach pathfinder with the zeal, and impeccable idea that it needs 4 or more to play, and I can get behind that! I really can, but frankly, to me, a man with few compatriots of enjoyable company, I've never properly ran a 4 man or more campaign. Now this isn't for a lack of trying, mind you! I'm rather charismatic in person, enjoyable, and all-together a stand up man with plenty of good qualities. Everything a DM really needs, aside from chips and food bribes for his players.
Well, recently... actually that's probably improper. Over the last year I've dabbled and dabbled, pecked at, chinked, and overall just completely sifted through an Adventure path. I've got a hefty sum of them, and have read the lot from front to back. It was around the time that I'd finished reading, and playing, Rise of the runelords, back when it was paper back and separated, that I fancied the idea of... A single man campaign.
Now I know what the general consensus is on this type of thing. It's a bad idea! It's boring, well, not really so. Anyone who truly enjoys playing pathfinder guns for multiple different things. There are those of us that enjoy the thrill of hacking down enemy upon enemy in good company, but that's somewhat... I don't know, befuddling? Sometimes?
it happens often, really too often, to be honest. You see it all the time on the Advice forums; someone complaining about a player, or making requests about how to handle a troublesome person. Be it a rules lawyer, garbage dump, or just all-around college freshman who can't ever make it to game night. So many problems can stem from having more people, when the guy at the table that's devoted to your world merely suffers!
Yes you! That guy! The one who wants to blaze a STORY! A grand tale about how you're beefy barbarian overcame wizards, or how the lone wizard overcame an assassins guild. All kinds of things, really. Plenty of us, those that want to see the Forum posts we've so dearly applied our characters made on paper, or hero lab, to. Ah yes we all know that sensation. The game starts well, online, in the paizo boards. For 2 weeks you're appeased! Then slowly, but surely, the creeping death of boredom sets in as everyone gets more rigid, and the luster is lost.
And then it dies!
Yes, just like that your campaign you waited 2 weeks for clarification on, gnashing your teeth to get accepted in, suddenly dies in less time than it took to get accepted. Is it College? Is it work? No one's ever really sure. Sometimes the DM just -stops- without warning. Was it his health? Did he actually die? Did the jokes towards his made-up world get out of hand? Or did he just not feel it? Well, I guess you have to be there to understand.
Regardless, it dies, and it dies a slow, painful death. This can usually be slowed down, of course, by holding yet another painful invitation. This is rather unwise, of course, as no one ever bothers fixing a horse's leg. It's often best to just shoot it and then eat it. The only difference is Adventure paths aren't edible, and they definitely aren't delicious.
So here's where I stand... A single player campaign. You find that one kid! That one! The one with fire in his eyes and gusto shooting out of his brains, ready to wrap his head around some problems and write a story. Find him, love him, throw him in a game.
Just like I did.
Now, people might be wondering about the campaign itself? How does it work? What happens if the guy dies? Is the story over? Does it just fade to black until some random cleric feels the need to res you? How much time passes during something like that? How does the gold work? Wouldn't it be really easy to die?
Well, gentlemen, I have solved most of these problems in my current scratch-designed AP. I've went through great pains to create a... wide caste of NPC's. Call them pets, if you want, but I personally adore every single one of them. I always find myself looking back at them, overlooking their stories, considering the context, and imagining up how I can fix their progressions.
For now, let's talk about the player himself. At the beginning of "A Dirge for Everything" your character has just recently died in one of a fistful of areas, each one rich with history and current events. It's been a week, somewhat. Anyways, the person arrives at this thing called "The Nexus."
The Nexus is a low-law purgatory with quite a few interesting rooms. 2 Great "Beings" have taken it upon themselves the job of staving off the story's main issue; the Fog. The Fog is a Black, evil thing. Contact with it causes death, and disentigration. Anything that falls into it and can't get out within the next few minutes simply dies, and the body can't be found through even the most potent divinations. The corpse ceases to exist as the person's soul is crushed into a ethereal pulp.
From the Nexus, the main player, that's you, the one with fire in his eyes, can go to any of these bastions just as easily as you could go use the bathroom. A few flights of stairs, a talk with a wizard and your first few NPC's, and voila, you're in Hazrit looking for a very sweaty Dwarf's magical tools.
While in the Nexus, the player can recruit 1, 2, and rarely, 3, NPC's to tag along with him on the venture. At this point it's natural for the DM to somewhat fill the gap in the player's weaknesses, or intentionally give him a broken wing on the matter. This typically happens when the player can still manage, or if he will likely have no trouble surviving on his own. Does this mean the player will always be having his ass saved or saving asses? Likely, but that's how every game is.
Unlike most campaigns, Dirge doesn't give 2 flying squirrels about what your alignment is. The way the area sees it, they need more strong of character people to help stave off the fog, and find out why the bastions are, well, bastions. You can either save all the kids you want, or be the reason a village burns down. You can join the Disciples of Dragons in Hazrit, learning all the secret meeting places, or look deep into Argosal's rise to Lichdom.
The only way the paladin is going to b*#+! about what you're doing is if you bring one, and honestly, if you know you're going to be naughty nancy, you're going to avoid the guy in the fancy, marble engraved armor who most definitly worships Iomedae.
All of the NPC's do certain things at certain times. You won't be able to find certain people at certain times, but that's because they're doing their own thing in their own areas. In the Nexus, everyone is either a Hero or a Villain, but they're always great as well. Great in the sense that they're powerful. Indeed, the game begins at level 4, and every NPC starts at level 5. When you level, all of them do as well. That's assuming they haven't managed to die alot, however.
Now, here's the thing, and probably the most important as that. PC Hero death! It's an inevitable thing. The enemy is strong, and you're not sober, and it just ends poorly, and it probably involves some kind of acidic pudding. The Nexus crushes the souls of those that enter it, and recreate their bodies using that. They are made of "Colored Aether" from that point on. If a player dies, he suffers an exp loss of 50% towards his next level.
Think on it like this; You just hit level 8, but you're 20000 exp ahead! Good for you. Suddenly Juvenile Red Dragon has a poor day and ruins yours by killing you. Poor show, Tim, poor show. Anyways, you die, and you magically re-appear in the Nexus in your pre-death condition, likely with ribs shooting out of your kneecaps and smelling of freshly charred moron! The 20,000 you had will turn into 10,000. This way you can never lose a level, but if you keep screwing up you'll inevitably hit a wall.
All of the heroes in the Nexus are capable of having this happen to them, but there *is* a catch. Every single time an npc dies, they suffer a 2% chance of becoming "Crestfallen". What this means is that the NPC loses the will to do anything, and it is an effect on the mind. After a "Crestfallen" dies, they're soul is in too poor of shape to return, and that person is dead forever. The Crestfallen will actively seek dangerous situations to put them out of their misery, but if they're saved, the situation resets back to 2%.This stacks with each death.
In every single Bastion there is a tyrant of sorts. Sometimes multiple. At certain points it's very obvious who they are, but at the same time other areas are more cryptic. The chilling pass of Argosal? The lich. Hazrit? There are so many dragons you won't even be able to think of which one could be the nastiest. Each of these "Trants" or "Congresses" have *something* that's staving the fog away from them, or calling it to around their kingdoms. The whole point of the campaign is to get/destroy/learn what those are.
So Gentlemen? This isn't an invitation to the campaign at all, as it is still being debugged and tested, but I could still use your opinions. Suggestions, and tell-tel signs of whether or not I'm just screwing up here. So tell me.
I think it's a good idea. Means the one player is not having to argue with the party on what decision he wants to make. Keep it up.
The benefits of a solo man campaign, off the top of my head, far outweigh the diminishing retuns.
Pros:
-Livid amounts of character interplay.
-Character centered story line.
-Consistent story pacing.
-Quick, or long sessions. Great for forum games.
-Lack of Arguments, unless NPC's are involved.
-Pick your allies, most of the time.
-No sharing.
Cons:
-Rare difficult fights.
-Massive Cr down-scaling.
-An Epic fight is a person with your own character's technical combat rating.
-If you kill a man, you get all his gear.
-No sharing unless NPC's specifically ask for it as a reward.
Here's an example. In the campaign, "A Dirge for Everything" the player has the unfortunate/fortunate problem of a Nemesis. Now, don't get me wrong, there are plenty of NPC's in the nexus working against you, or at the least, using you. The thing is, is that there are TEN potential Nemesis NPC's that come into the fray based on your character. You have a strength heavy character? Meet your clone. You have someone with a high dexterity? Meet your dex fighter nemesis.
There's literally one for just about everything. It's entirely based on stats, however, and the person in question will likely have stats very similar to yours.
The Adventure path also happens to have it's entire NPC roster already written, complete with backgrounds and explanations of how they act in combat, and what they do in their "Downtime"
If you guys could, do me a favor and ask some questions, because I could really use them to fix up anything that stands out in the AP.
Note: This could be fun, but it needs:
A) Two VERY GOOD friends
B) A very good GM
C) A player that prefers RP more than combat
Why? A) Because a GM need to put a lot of effort to make a campaign shine, and now you're putting a similar (although perhaps lower) amount of effort for a single person rather than a group. I've heard of spouses doing it for other spouses, on this very site.
B) and C) Ultimately, this is going to hinge on the type of adventure the player wants. If they just want combat, they can go to videogames and get an EXTREMELY similar experience. PnP is more flexible, but the time/effort necessary makes it just easier to play a videogame alone.
However, if they prefer Roleplay, this can be marvelous. PnP can overcome most of the storytelling difficulties of video games (though this hinges on the very good GM). Otherwise, play baldur's gate or planescape torment. It's always fun to slay almost-gods.
I will admit I'd probably enjoy this, but I simply dont think I'd be able to find a GM willing to put that type of effort for me. Or for me to find someone I'm willing to GM like that for.
Cant say anything about the adventure path specifically though.
I do have a few characters that could work in a one person campaign. A pirate captain (with leadership). A fighter that could (theoretically) take out armies of mooks in a single round. A witchguard/spellcaster combo (one could be an interesting GMPC) for a couples or bros thing.
Note: For online stuff, I recommend roll20, always convenient.
Note: A way to compensate for CR modifications: Allow the player to form a "party" on their own. They have battle control over them but nothing else (à la baldur's gate).
Dont know what to say about sharing the gold. If the main dude is also responsible for making sure the other party members are properly equipped, he will share equitably. Although you could make them understand they cant expect people to respect them if they dont share. Not a natural habit for a PnP roleplayer, but for RP, it's necessary. I tend to treat NPC allies as true party members, so I think its reasonable to expect the player to share.
Some of my best games were one-on-one. It really turns the game into a cooperative storytelling experience.
"A Dirge For the Future" is a campaign -made- for solo players, and as it happens, takes a turn as far as Adventure paths are concerned. It's a Tragedy! All of the NPC's inevitably gain significant leaps and bounds of baggage as they go, and the ones you pay the least attention to just sort of stop existing in a tragic, yet subtle manor.
Depressing, to say the least, but if you think that miniature description is bad, you should see the development sections.
The Difficult section lies in your arch rival, a pre-determined man. Essentially the "Rival" is the man/woman who functions just as well as you, but all fights with them take place in one on one scenarios.
There's also so much background lore that it hurts.
Chapter 1 is still being written, and climaxes with the knowledge of "How" the fog is being staved off being learned.
To be frank, the first encounter is against 2 rust monsters, but this has proven time and time again to be a scare-encounter, as no one has yet to have anything rusted.
A level 7 Arch Nemesis is a CR 7 Encounter, as he does indeed have class levels. However, That means that 4 level 7's would make him a simple fight, while at the same time, an unfair one on his end. However, a Single level 7 has an APL of 4, making each encounter with your nemesis an Epic fight.
In the case of dirge, losing to your Nemesis just makes him stronger and sets you back, but usually leaves that nemesis to gain the reward and forward his own plans.
Dotting for later.