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I have not been really successful in DMIng before. And I am doing a 1 on 1 campaign with a friend.
I am not sure what to do with this, and I am feeling a little overwhelmed as the the clock clicks closer to the date where we are pose to start.
He sent me this... and I am like Horse Dung!!...
"Name: Quellon [Quell-uhn] Griner
Nickname: Quill
Male
Aasimar (Half-Human)
35 years old
Appearance:
Tall (6’ 2”)
Red-gold hair
Hazel eyes
Skin has a very slight bronze tone
Origin:
He does not remember his early childhood well, and so he relies on a tale his father told him. Before he was born, his father and mother left for an overseas trip while his brothers and sisters stayed with their aunt. Only his father returned, many months later, carrying Quellon in his arms - his mother having passed away due to complications with the birth. His father mentions little of what happened to his mother, and even less about why they travelled overseas - he refuses attempts to talk about it. Quellon was put to work at an early age, helping out with his father’s fishing business. He had a somewhat tough childhood, mistreated by his brothers and sisters (they doubt his relation to them), and raised by a father distracted by work.
Heritage:
Doesn’t know about his celestial heritage yet - hasn’t aged enough to tell he doesn’t age like humans do
His celestial heritage has bred in him a desire (which he can’t explain very well, not knowing his true heritage) to track down artifacts of power and keep them in his protection so that they cannot harm others. Being only half celestial, this desire is, for now, sated by finding the truly bizarre things of this world. He one day dreams of opening an oddity shop one day that carries various curios, baubles and other rarities to cater to a crowd of other oddity lovers/seekers. He even has a small, vacant shop space in town he’s eyeing. Until he gets enough money to buy it and enough of a collection to properly showcase, he has started a small oddity collection of his own. He likes bringing it out and showing it to those who share an interest in the bizarre. His favorite items are:
A small ornate bowl of gray blue metal that, when filled with water, will emit a faint, pleasing tone when a small stone is dropped inside. For some reason, this sound reminds him of his mother, of whom he has no other memory. Suspected celestial origins.
A pair of cured crow’s feet that will stand at attention and walk around, as if attached to an invisible crow, when the phrase “Who will tend the unburied dead?” is uttered (and cease at the phrase “Naught is left but bone and tendon”). Suspected necromantic origins.
A key head made of ancient wood that grows a new key blade and millings whenever a water is poured down the hole where the original key blade was. The key blade grown is unique every time. He has not found a keyhole yet that the grown key blade fits into. Suspected druidic origins.
Work History:
During his early and teenage years, he worked for his father’s shipping company. In his early 20s, he became the first mate on his father’s vessel. After all this experience, he has become an experienced sailor/fisherman.
His father sold the family business around when he was 27. He stayed on as a consultant of sorts, but after a mishap occurred during harvest and a serious misunderstanding resulted from it, he decided to quit. He left the family business and found work elsewhere in the city, but mostly down at the docks where he is most comfortable.
Skills:
Somewhat skilled at Disable Device (working with small fishing hooks and lures, setting spring-loaded cage traps for husk crab, repairing motors on his father’s river barge fishing vessel)
Skilled with rope (tying and untying knots, repairing nets)
Knife proficiency (from gutting fish - lots and lots of fish)
Perception is high - notices lots of small details (condition of fishing gear, currents in the sea, direction of the wind, signs of disease on fish, mood of crew, etc.)
Knows how to find good hiding spots for his stuff
Excellent swimmer
Stats:
He has used his natural charisma to negotiate slightly better pay rates for jobs, lower costs for his groceries bought at market, and placate the landlord looking for overdue rent. 14 (+2)
He has built his strength up by working for his father while young, and many manual labor jobs hence. His knowledge of the fishing industry has “netted” him many jobs on the docks. His strength is slightly above average. 11
A disease suffered while he was child has left him with a weak immune system and low constitution. His Constitution is much lower than average. 7
His dexterity is fairly high - tying fish hooks, repairing fish nets, and navigating a busy fishing boat during his early years was a boon to his natural reflexes and fine motor skills. His Dexterity and Disable Device skill are well above average. 16
His wisdom is exceptional. He knows a little bit about everything. He learned tasks by doing them himself, trial and error, and monitoring others; he learned about the ways of mankind by observing the behavior of his father and his clients as they interacted. 15 (+2)
His intelligence is slightly above average - he’s sharp, but he never liked sitting down to learn things through reading books or listening to teachers (he wasn’t in school much at all). 12.
Conflict Resolution:
Attempts to talk his way out of conflict that comes upon him unexpectedly. Tries to bluff in order to get the upper hand before attacking. Usually aware of his surroundings and the danger he might be in.
Stats:
Dex: 16
Wis: 15 (+2 racial) = 17
Cha: 14 (+2 racial) = 16
Str: 11
Int: 11
Con: 7
[Point buy: 10+7+5+1+1-4 = 20]
Residence:
He currently lives in a very small apartment he’s had for almost a year - the longest span of time he’s ever resided in one spot. He’s crafted a small hiding spot to keep his valuables (savings and curio collection). He uses the space mainly for sleeping and little else.
Family:
His mother passed away when he was very young. He has no specific memory of her.
His father, a retired fisherman, is aged and in a poor state of mental health. His father loves him and cares for him greatly, but does not always show it. Out of all his children, he is by far most proud of Quellon.
He is the youngest of four children. His sisters and brother, all much older than he, no longer speak much to him - his countenance and other features are so distinctly different from their own that they suspect he was somehow adopted. They are currently content to vie against one another, trying to sway their aging father’s decision about how much of the inheritance they’re entitled to from his small fishing business, sold when he retired some eight years ago. Quellon wants no part in this greedy affair, and so far has not received (nor asked for) one cent from his father’s estate.
Weaknesses/Quirks:
He feels a bit out of sorts further into the city, away from the docks. Can sometimes have trouble with directions. Likes to be near water.
He smells like the docks - a strong fishy, saltwater smell.
Has a hard time keeping his mouth shut when he sees some injustice or poor behavior displayed in public.
Intrigued by and drawn to magic items that have a novel effect (curiosities).
Fascinated by concept of fate. Likes to watch games of fate/chance, like dice and card games played by sailors at the docks.
Has little tolerance for the practice of necromancy, outside minor effects (like his crow's feet)"
what help do you need..all I see is a character with a lot of self description to validate the stats, and some background details.
Pick what you want or don't want to run with in his background and just DM as usual.
Put him in a coach with a few others and attack it with goblins..make sure they set it on fire.
A lot of the detail players put in their characters is really just mental masturbation for the player, you can use what you want.
Be strong young GM! :)
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Get him to put the character on a normal sheet. and tell him that con 7 is a bad idea but since he is gonna be the only hero in the story you can keep it in side i guess.
I'm not really sure what you are asking with this, but in terms of Character motivation/quests there is plenty to go off:
1) Natural inclination towards strange artifacts and curios, any number of quests can sprout from this and feeds into his primary character goal of opening his shop. I would play with this quite a bit I think.
2) find out who is mother is
3) enjoys and feels comfortable on boats etc, giving plenty of reasons to travel away from town
4) I could see his father leaving him the entire inheritance and then his brothers and sisters getting pretty jealous...
Just putting forward some minor kind of sidequest ideas, not sure what main plots etc you might have so not sure how they would feed in.
Well if you are worried about DMing why not try something a little smaller than a full scale campaign.
I would recommend trying the free module available on paizo, Masters of the Fallen Fortress. Link here
This can be played literally anywhere in the Inner Sea and can lead into a fuller game if you desire.
If you really wish to run an AP I suppose it depends on the style of Campaigns you enjoy but I currently run both Rise of the Runelords and Reign of Winter and play in Jade Regeant, all of these are absolutely excellent.
I would probably recommend ROTRL, as the first book in particular is quite friendly to beginner GM's.
EDIT: Do you mind if I ask, how you have not been pleased with your performance as a GM, then we might be able to give you some extra advice/reassurance :D
I have not been really successful in DMIng before. And I am doing a 1 on 1 campaign with a friend.
I am not sure what to do with this, and I am feeling a little overwhelmed as the the clock clicks closer to the date where we are pose to start. ...
I am not sure what you are asking for with the character description. I don't immediately see a class in there. But I can't hardly imagine any PC surviving solo with a con 7. Well maybe synthesis summoner, but that's about it.
- Adventure paths are actually more difficult. They often assume a lot of GM modification and improvisation. I would actually recommend starting with some PFS scenarios.
- There are several free ones available by PDF.
- They tend to spell out everything for the GM very specifically.
- Personally, I think 1 on 1 is fairly difficult.
- Lack of preparation is also a common cause for GM fail. A lot of people on these boards will tell you not to prepare very much, do every thing off the cuff, improvise... That doesn't work for all/many of us. I always read through all the material several times. Try to imagine multiple things the PC's are might do and how the opposition will respond. No, they will not always do those same things. But it is easier to adapt if I have tried to cover some of the things it seems likely they will try.
Black Lotus: calm down, breathe. No need to plan out a whole campaign for a one-on-one game. This will end up being a very intimate experience, like a conversation, so instead of plotting out everything, start off with one adventure.
Now let's look at Quellon. He's got no stated PC class but the skills of either a bard or rogue, so let's figure a bard. He also has TONS of detail for developing an adventure.
Scene 1: Craps on the dockyards - the game opens with Quill at a game of chance with his co-workers. You can have him make some rolls with d6s, or just have him use Profession: Gambler or whatever. Then up comes the harbor mistress; a stern, lawful woman who runs the docks like she captained her vessel - a tight ship. The other workers look to Quill to sweet-talk the mistress so they don't spend a night in the brig.
Scene 2: After Hours - so after a brush with the harbor mistress Quill and his mates are back to work. A few hours more sees them knocking off for the night and headed for the Thirsty Whale; a local grog shop catering to the salty dawgs and dock grunts. Quill's packing his tools and such and one of his trinkets (the wooden key) fumbles out of his pocket and into the brine. He dives in (Swim check) and finds it. In the process he attracts the attention of a minor underwater threat (re-skin a fire beetle as a crustacean with a glowing bobber) and he fights the thing.
Making it back to the docks his buddies have gone ahead and he's on his own. Quill sets off into the winding streets and notes a bizarrely pretty girl skulking in the shadows. She bares a book with a weird, wooden lock on it. No sooner does he see it than he also spots some zombies after her. Regardless of the outcome his still-wet wooden key just HAPPENS to fit the woman's book and, if she's still alive she seems to know him but she's an outsider and uses magic to vanish/teleport/escape before she reveals too much. The book is left behind.
From there you can fill in the blanks. Maybe there's an evil necromancer who wants to use the book to enslave outsiders. Maybe Quellon's other artifacts can help him decipher the thing. As a plot twist, what if the necromancer is his brother and the plot is to use this book to return the mother to life?
Anyway, the point is for you as the GM to work 1-on-1 with your player, develop a plot, and then run it with your audience. You play off their responses and build this thing up together.
Just FYI. If you're sticking to RAW his age is somewhat nonsense. If he is 35 years old, as a human he's an adult going on middle age. As an aasimar is not even an adult yet, he would resemble a 12 to 14 year old. He would surely know he is not human, or think he's cursed or something.
An "intuitive" class Aasimar (sorc barb etc) is around 70 years old when he starts adventuring.
Nit picking aside, I'd stay clear of a full adventure path. Start small. I think Hoover laid out a nice starter path. You get to play some skill games, easy combats, and then lead in to "more things going on in the world."
Naaah...set his apartment on fire...put a quasit in his hidey hole for trinkets, and have him assaulted by a mob of undead halibut he has murdered over the years...
That'll teach him to give you to much info.
Oh and give him a cold..with a 7 con that should be life threatening . :)
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Oh yeah, FYI with a 7 Con he'll probably die sooner than later. Just sayin. He might want to dump ANOTHER stat.
Unless you 2 are playing some kind of artsy, new-age kind of free-love Pathfinder where the goblins are crazy for FLOWERS, not FIRE and all the BBEGs are really just angst-filled sparkly vampires...
If its a solo campaign, have no qualms about letting him use a 25 point buy for ability scores, or even more than 25 if you like.
Actually, thinking back I remember doing a 1-on-1 game with a max stealth and evasion rogue. Rarely had to fight. I snuck past most everything or just ran away.
It was interesting, but I think it was very hard on the GM to write material.
Ooh! A stealthy, cat and mouse type combat would be fun in a solo game.