due to the fact that I live in an area where hardly anyone plays Dungeons and Dragons, I am very often forced to play D&D solo. One problem i have with this, aside from the usual problems of playing solo, is the amount of treasure and experience I recieve from a single encounter. Since I like to play D&D 3.5, the experience and treasure awards can be quite substantial for a single PC. However, I have found a few helpful solutions to this problem for those who experience the same "vast award" woes.
When it comes to dishing out experience, I found, after performing research and trying a few homemade tips, a few things that will help. Unless you want your character to get really powerful really fast, try these helpful tips to maximize your D&D experience. One thing you can do is to lower the challenge rating of encounters to 1/4 of your level. This way you will be able to handle the challenges thrown at you, yet not have to "fudge" the dice alot in order to survive an encounter at level 1 against a single goblin or kobold. Another thing is that for those with access to early editions of D&D books, such as the 2nd edition like I have, reference the experience awards there. They have excellent ways in which to base experience points on monsters (though they will be extremely low. An orc, for example, is worth only 15xp) and bonus experience earned based on class. For example, in the column about the rogue, additional experience is earned based on the following: Per successful use of a special ability (only in times of danger), per gold piece value of treasure obtained, and per hit die of creature defeated (obviously these awards will be handed out after the adventure is over).
Treasure is another matter that must be addressed for solo play. You have no idea how many times I would pass a level 1 encounter only to obtain something related to the following due to high dice rolls: 5000cp, 1 gem worth 150gp, and a masterwork dwarven waraxe. Personally I see no reason as to why, after a single encounter with 2 orcs, my character should retire to a tropical island, set for life. One thing I like to do is limit the amount of treasure significantly. Rather than get excessively rich after one encounter (because the 3.5 treasure table is based off a single encounter rather than the adventure entire), I limit the amount of treasure earned (for homebrew adventures and not published ones) by rolling on the treasure table and using that as the treasure for the entire adventure (unless I face a dragon, then I roll again). I then divide the amount of treasure by the number of intelligent living creatures in the adventure and divide accordingly. Obviously leaders get a larger share and the best equipment than their underlings.
Using the above examples, anyone engaging in solo play will enjoy the game more and avoid the "monty haul" style.
