Solo Campaign, 1 gm 1 player game advice please. Options

[Jame J]

I have been thinking of running my fiancee solo in Shadowrun; we would use SR 4 most likely and she would play a weapons specialist.

Does anyone have any suggestions for adventures or campaigns I could liberally borrow from?

[Raiden]

uhh, assassin type missions mabye? really dont know, mabye a different game for 1 on 1?

[Bearclaw]

The nice thing about a solo is it can be much more of a story telling thing. You have a protagonist. You don't have to split focus and stuff. Start out with a character from any of the books, maybe a small character, and play out the part in the book, then go on. Spells and Chrome has the start to a lot of adventures, just waiting for some one to pick up a thread and go.

[Raiden]

you could def form a story around her one char. make a bunch of NPCs that show up from time to time, make it like a book where her actions decide the outcome. (hey, even write about it after! lol)

[tsuyoshikentsu]

Has she played Deus Ex? If no, run her through Deus Ex.

[Miri]

Another good place to look for some hooks is in Dunkelzahn's Will.

The Will

[Neraph]

You could also simply run the Missions. I'm trying to convince my brother to let me solo the Missions with him at the helm.

[Byrel]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) You're the lucky one; I'm trying to talk MY brother into letting him solo the missions with me at the head...

[Midas]

I think solo runs really need to be tailored to the skillset of the character. A matrix heavy run won't end well for a combat type with a cheap commlink, and magical opposition could ruin a mundane's day. This doesn't mean that the GM removes maglocks from the target facility for a character that doesn't have the Hardware skill, just that they are gonna have to do their research and be creative in solving problems that fall outside their sphere of expertise.

The player will also have to bear in mind the fact her character will have to be a lot more self-reliant than your average shadowrunner at CharGen. As well as her primary area of expertise, she will probably have to spend a lot of BP on being able to cover other bases as well as she is able. Think generalist build with a focus on a "speciality" she is known in the shadows for. Cash will likely be tight, as she will probably need to spring for a lot of gear such as a decent commlink, B&E gear such as maglock passkeys, and she would also be well advised to get a number of useful contacts that she can lean on for help.

The flavour of the campaign will depend on what speciality she chooses. Take Burn Notice as a "standard". Her character is Michael Weston just after he has got burned. The other cast of the show are her contacts, who she goes to for help when she gets in too deep or the job requires their expertise, and who might come to her for a favour if they need it. Possibilities include:

1) Assassin ("Nikita")
2) Social infiltrator
3) Master thief
4) Bodyguard
5) Noir detective ... etc, etc.

[sk8bcn]

I have been thinking of running my fiancee solo in Shadowrun; we would use SR 4 most likely and she would play a weapons specialist.

Does anyone have any suggestions for adventures or campaigns I could liberally borrow from?

Make it full of sex. Increase your chances that the game derails (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[MADness]

Firstly, I almost had my bacon habit undercontrol. Now your (^) name has me wanting some.

Secondly, I think I may use it for a game with my wife. "Require" "roleplaying" and such. Hmmm, I need to go plan this.







And take a cold shower.

[Neraph]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) You're the lucky one; I'm trying to talk MY brother into letting him solo the missions with me at the head...

... I'll be your brother. /puppydogeyes.

The player will also have to bear in mind the fact her character will have to be a lot more self-reliant than your average shadowrunner at CharGen. As well as her primary area of expertise, she will probably have to spend a lot of BP on being able to cover other bases as well as she is able. Think generalist build with a focus on a "speciality" she is known in the shadows for. Cash will likely be tight, as she will probably need to spring for a lot of gear such as a decent commlink, B&E gear such as maglock passkeys, and she would also be well advised to get a number of useful contacts that she can lean on for help.

Combining elements from my Fun With Free/Ally Spirits guide and my Vehicles, Drones, and Agents greatly increases a solo player's versatility - even a mundane, through Calling and a Spirit Pact (Formula Pact).

[Byrel]

... I'll be your brother. /puppydogeyes.


Combining elements from my Fun With Free/Ally Spirits guide and my Vehicles, Drones, and Agents greatly increases a solo player's versatility - even a mundane, through Calling and a Spirit Pact (Formula Pact).

Too late, we're actually playing! His primary exposure to shadowrunverse is the Genesis game, so he used one of the Archetypes posted on here (Spook) with a handful of modifications for a single-runner-team.

[ravensmuse]

I'm on again off again running a solo game for my wife, based around the European Grand Tour.

It's okay to give her NPC helpers; in fact, we created three characters she can switch between as needed, so that the most important bases are covered.

Opposition wise, just keep stats simple and be willing to roll with whatever punches come at you. It's not that hard a game to solo, honestly.

[Jame J]

Has she played Deus Ex? If no, run her through Deus Ex.

One problem - I have never played it, either.

[Xahn Borealis]

I've been running a small campaign with a friend now for a while, I used a healer shaman GMPC to watch her back. I also have a plan for a hacker to be available for her to hire as and when she needs it, like a team member who actually never accompanies her. The first session is here.

[phoenix182]

I've only run two solo campaigns in SR. The first I ran more or less straight, but it didn't work out too well. For the second I tweaked the character a bit to allow some magic, some decking, some fighting, etc...basically a jack-of-all trades type. That worked out MUCH better than the first time. Of course, they were weaker overall than if they'd focused on one thing, but then we tend to prefer lower power games anyway.

[tsuyoshikentsu]

One problem - I have never played it, either.

Then STOP WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING AND PLAY DEUS EX.

[All4BigGuns]

Has she played Deus Ex? If no, run her through Deus Ex.

What is this "Deus Ex" of which you speak?

[Lionhearted]

Then STOP WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING AND PLAY DEUS EX.

Dont forget the HD texture pack although... That game is rather painful on the eyes nowadays...

[Inu]

The main thing about single-player games is that they actually aren't easier than five-player games -- in the latter, you have more characters to plan for, but a lot of time gets spent with the players interacting with each other. With one player, the GM has to be a lot more active (this, of course, varies from group to group).

I also tend to make a solo character a bit more powerful, to let them cover some more bases.

And don't bother with Deus Ex -- it was a groundbreaking game in its day, but its story is actually pretty terrible.

[tsuyoshikentsu]

And don't bother with Deus Ex -- it was a groundbreaking game in its day, but its story is actually pretty terrible.

Pistols at dawn, sir!

(JC's voice acting, on the other hand...)

[FriendoftheDork]

Has she played Deus Ex? If no, run her through Deus Ex.

Hehe I'm doing this with a group in Pathfinder - would be much easier if there was only one player!

[FriendoftheDork]

The main thing about single-player games is that they actually aren't easier than five-player games -- in the latter, you have more characters to plan for, but a lot of time gets spent with the players interacting with each other. With one player, the GM has to be a lot more active (this, of course, varies from group to group).

I also tend to make a solo character a bit more powerful, to let them cover some more bases.

And don't bother with Deus Ex -- it was a groundbreaking game in its day, but its story is actually pretty terrible.

For a computer game, the story is very good. It's the graphics and even game-play that is outdated.

The fact that I even converted the story for an RPG for people who never played it before tells me it is better than average.

If someone made the story into a movie it would probably suck like Doom though.

[Prime Mover]

I've run two solo in the past.
One an adept I let travel with a Mage NPC.
One a Decker/Hacker game mostly centered around the hackers moms basement with lots of virtual action.

Both had there high and low points, as a GM I enjoyed running a matrix campaign without having to worry about cutting time from the rest of the team. It also allowed the creativity and skill of the hacker to really shine.