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Jarren Longblade
Seeker
USA
54 Posts |
 Posted - 29 May 2004 : 13:01:01
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Is it jus tme or is running solo adventures alot harder than running multi-player games? Also why are their no solo adventure modules made up anymore? I know there was the 2e chalanges but nothing since.
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One of the few thing you don't want to hear while deer hunting with your brother-in-law "DUCK" |
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Rabilard
Acolyte
USA
23 Posts |
Posted - 29 May 2004 : 13:36:05
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| The only reason I see it being harder to run a solo adventure than a party adventure is because the DM ends up needing to talk a lot more in the solo adventure. In the party adventure there can be long periods where the DM just sits twiddling his pencil, or working on stuff that has yet to occur, while the party argues what to do next and how to do it. In a solo adventure, it's just you and the player, and the player demands interaction so that he can keep interested. IM experience. |
By heart and hand |
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SiriusBlack
Great Reader
USA
5517 Posts |
Posted - 29 May 2004 : 14:46:20
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quote:
Originally posted by Jarren Longblade
Is it jus tme or is running solo adventures alot harder than running multi-player games? Also why are their no solo adventure modules made up anymore? I know there was the 2e chalanges but nothing since.
A lack of demand is most likely the reason the 2e solo adventures haven't found life in 3e. I know there was a D20 company that published one or two solo adventures. However, to my knowledge, after publishing these PDFs, the company went out of business. |
Edited by - SiriusBlack on 29 May 2004 14:47:05 |
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AlacLuin
Learned Scribe
131 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jun 2004 : 18:02:09
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One of the hardest things in running a solo adventure is keeping the charicter's weaknesses remembered.
A lone low-mid level rouge running into a 10 x 10 room full of kobolds can take a beating, but a fighter has a good chance of clearing that room.
On the same token, that lone fighter in plate mail may have a hard time climbing that 30' cliff.
The addition of varied classes helps down play the weeknesses.
Under these situations, I allow the player to have several (more then one) charicters, and sometimes add a "DM PC" to allow an ingame sorce of another point of view (altough not always healpfull)
In fact, I've been in this situation more then not, so I have a harder time with several players |
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Elrond Half Elven
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
322 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jun 2004 : 23:07:55
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I have never really enjoyed running Solo adventures. But this is just my preference. I found them to be challenging in different ways. One of the harest is in a roleplaying situation. These can be alot more alkward and additionally the player only has the DM to talk to... Not that the Dm is a boring person! But when they are trying to prepare for the next scene this can be a little difficult. On the other side however you don't have a rabble of players shouting "I do this", "I do that", "how many Ogres?", "Did you say that, that last room was empty?", "what ogres? What dungeon? Sh*t I thought we where still in Shadowdale".
I feel that D&D is very much a social game where a group (generally comprising of more than two players) get together and play- but also catch up on.
Any way... I seen some of the Challenge Series on Ebay recently... Are they worth buying and fleshing out for a normal group of players?
Hanx
Elrond
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Once upon a midnight dreary, while i pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore-
While i nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
-The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe |
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SiriusBlack
Great Reader
USA
5517 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jun 2004 : 23:50:11
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quote:
Originally posted by Elrond Half Elven
Any way... I seen some of the Challenge Series on Ebay recently... Are they worth buying and fleshing out for a normal group of players?
Hanx
Elrond
Are those the ones from Second edition? If so I recall the solo fighter adventure was a pretty solid adventure. If memory serves it is something that can be adapted to FR. |
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tauster
Senior Scribe
Germany
399 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2004 : 11:03:09
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quote:
Originally posted by Jarren Longblade
Is it jus tme or is running solo adventures alot harder than running multi-player games? Also why are their no solo adventure modules made up anymore? I know there was the 2e chalanges but nothing since.
solo adventures are important parts in the campaigns i dm. after coming out of the dungeon, most of the time our party (consisting of 8 pc´s) disbands for some days/weeks while everybody deals with his own affairs. that gives time for learning new skills and training old ones, dig up lore about found items, do a little socialising... and more often than not getting into more hair-raising trouble that sure will return sometime later to haunt either the pertaining player or the party as a whole.  i often use solo´s to adress aspects of the particular character that neglected during the regular campaign.
for example, the halfling burglar who, after several month of adventuring found himself wandering through the underdark with his fellows where many of his skills are next to useless:
when back in town, thanks to his growing reputation among the members of the thieves guild, he gets the commissions that no other thief in his right mind would take. retrieving a certain item, teaching some snooty merchant a lesson better to pay the "insurance contribution" that his guild offers, obtaining a certain piece of information, you get the point... against all odds, he generally comes back triumphantly with some trinkets late at night - and sometimes an angry robbed houseowner at his heels!
we found out that solo-adventures often yield the most intense roleplaying experiences. in contrast to regular roleplaying, in solo-sessions there are no other players drawing off attention. likewise, sometimes even people who roleplay for years refrain from roleplaying because they fear embarrassment by what they intend to do. not so in solo-sessions. in short: solo-sessions are well worth their effort. [/rant] 
some tips about solo´s ca be found at that great site:
http://www.roleplayingtips.com/readissue.php?number=194
http://www.roleplayingtips.com/readissue.php?number=195
...and be sure to at least glance over the archive:
http://www.roleplayingtips.com/archives.php
i found that many adventures from both "the book of lairs 1&2" (2e accessories can easily be adapted.
should you need adventure-ideas for thieves, try to get the old 2e lankhmar- series! some of the modules had really good suggestions in. ottomh, "lankhmar, city of adventure (tsr2137) or "thieves of lankhmar (tsr9276).
as well, non-combat adventures with focus to riddle-solving or lots of socialising can be solo-played at almost any level.
tauster |
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Jarren Longblade
Seeker
USA
54 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2004 : 11:10:56
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| Thanks for the information Tauster. I will look at those websites when i get home for I am at work... |
One of the few thing you don't want to hear while deer hunting with your brother-in-law "DUCK" |
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Running a Solo adventure
