Community

Hello!

I've been running a few D&D 4e games for a year or so and since I want to play more often, I would like to run a 1-on-1 adventure for a friend of mine. I've been looking around the web for published 1-on-1 adventures and haven't had any luck at all. Everyone is just giving advice about creating them from scratch. So I would like to ask if there's an actually published adventure/campaing for just one DM and one PC?

I usually modify and tweak published adventures to extreme extents, but still, I'm not confident enough about building an adventure from scratch, because I would be afraid to mess up the overall balance.

Thank you in advance!

Nov 20, 2012 -- 10:06AM, CrippleYourself wrote:

I usually modify and tweak published adventures to extreme extents, but still, I'm not confident enough about building an adventure from scratch, because I would be afraid to mess up the overall balance.

Don't kid yourself: they're not that balanced.

What is your concern with "messing up the overall balance"? What do you think will happen if you do? If your concern is with the player's character dying a lot, there are ways of dealing with that, which you'd probably have to explore even with a published, "balanced" module. If you're worried about the player's character not being challenged (which can also happen in published modules), you can increase the challenge as you go, until you have a feel for setting the "balance" how you like it.

Nov 20, 2012 -- 10:11AM, Centauri wrote:

Nov 20, 2012 -- 10:06AM, CrippleYourself wrote:

I usually modify and tweak published adventures to extreme extents, but still, I'm not confident enough about building an adventure from scratch, because I would be afraid to mess up the overall balance.

Don't kid yourself: they're not that balanced.

What is your concern with "messing up the overall balance"? What do you think will happen if you do? If your concern is with the player's character dying a lot, there are ways of dealing with that, which you'd probably have to explore even with a published, "balanced" module. If you're worried about the player's character not being challenged (which can also happen in published modules), you can increase the challenge as you go, until you have a feel for setting the "balance" how you like it.

Well, I suppose what I meant could be closer to "flow" rather than "balance". I know that published adventures are not perfect too, I've seen some big flaws and gaps in a few myself. But what I am concerned about is the flow of the game, the amount of combat encounters and quests. Because I am usually very keen on storytelling elements, so I can get carried away with creating various storytelling devices and non-combat quests, which can be not that engaging for the player.

Also, I don't really know how to handle a single player being in the spotlight, not the whole party.

Nov 20, 2012 -- 10:17AM, CrippleYourself wrote:

But what I am concerned about is the flow of the game, the amount of combat encounters and quests. Because I am usually very keen on storytelling elements, so I can get carried away with creating various storytelling devices and non-combat quests, which can be not that engaging for the player.

If the concern is with player engagement, I would like to advise you not to use a module at all. Instead, sit down with your player, and talk about the kind of adventure you both want to have, and then create that together. Be aware of your player's level of engagement during play, and be ready to switch gears to something the player finds more engaging, even if that means setting aside or drastically modifying something you had planned. You can always do this with a module to, and may have to, but especially with only a single player it will be easiest just to do something you both enjoy, maybe just with inspiration from an existing module (even one meant for more than one player).

Nov 20, 2012 -- 10:17AM, CrippleYourself wrote:

Also, I don't really know how to handle a single player being in the spotlight, not the whole party.

I don't know what to tell you. I would think dealing with a single player would be trivial, compared to having to manage several players.

Nov 20, 2012 -- 10:24AM, Centauri wrote:

If the concern is with player engagement, I would like to advise you not to use a module at all. Instead, sit down with your player, and talk about the kind of adventure you both want to have, and then create that together. Be aware of your player's level of engagement during play, and be ready to switch gears to something the player finds more engaging, even if that means setting aside or drastically modifying something you had planned. You can always do this with a module to, and may have to, but especially with only a single player it will be easiest just to do something you both enjoy, maybe just with inspiration from an existing module (even one meant for more than one player).

I don't know what to tell you. I would think dealing with a single player would be trivial, compared to having to manage several players.

I guess I will just have to go your way and create it myself. Thank you for the advice!

Nov 20, 2012 -- 10:29AM, CrippleYourself wrote:

I guess I will just have to go your way and create it myself. Thank you for the advice!

Give it a try at least. Work with the other player, take inspiration from wherever you find it, and stay flaxible. Good luck.