Although it's more FUN and more usual
to adventure with a good-sized party of
PCs, sooner or later every
DM needs to work out a scenario
for a single player. At times, only
1 player of an established group will be
able to play in a given session. At others,
a new player may want to transfer in
from another campaign and will need to
learn the ways of the new game world. <cf. Integration of Experienced or New Players into an Existing Campaign >
Most commonly, a single-player scenario
can benefit the rank beginner, bewildered
by the rules and starting up a player
character far below the experience level of
the ongoing party. The DM also benefits
from running a single-player scenario:
Without a large party to keep track of, the
DM can do more actual role-playing and
less record-keeping.

Given an opportunity to go through a
solo adventure, the experienced player
has a chance to act independently, making
all the decisions (as most of us have
always wanted to do). The beginner can
learn the basic rules without feeling that
he or she is an object of scorn or a frustration
to the other players.

Yet despite all these benefits, planning
a solo adventure presents certain difficulties
for the DM accustomed to group
play. A single player character will have a
specific and very limited (compared to a
group of characters) set of abilities and
characteristics, and thus will be unable to
deal with all the usual circumstances of
the game world. What?s more, even a very
high-level player character can?t be
expected to conquer a vast crowd of enemies
single-handed. Thus, if the DM
wants the scenario to be fair as well as
challenging, he or she will have to look
beyond the usual sort of adventure ? the
pre-set area crammed with monsters that
is the staple of gaming aids. This article
discusses the general principles of designing
single-player scenarios, as well as
some specific suggestions and ideas for
one-player adventures.

Consider the character . . .
The key to a good scenario lies in
thinking about the PC for
whom the DM is running the adventure,
rather than thinking only in terms of the
opposition. The DM must consider who
and what the PC is, then tailor the adventure
to take advantage of the PC's
strengths and prey on his |or| her weaknesses
-- without being so unfair that
challenges become either frustrating
impossibilities |or| tedious pushovers.

The obvious considerations are the
PC's character class and experience level.
The problem to be solved or the dangers
to be overcome should be compatible
with both. Although there must always
be real risk in a scenario, the risk must be
one that the PC can overcome with good
gaming skills and a bit of luck. The DM
needs to remember that the single PC has
limited skills and cannot fall back on
other members of a party to make up for
his or her deficiencies. A magic-user will
be at the mercy of armed brigands without
a fighter or two along; conversely, a
fighter has no way of detecting cursed
objects without a magic-user or a cleric.
 

. . . and the player, too
Not so obvious a consideration is the
character of the gamer behind the PC, but
by taking this into account, the DM can
create interesting situations beyond the
scope of normal group play. If the player
is a rash hack-and-slash type, the DM can
present a problem that requires thought
to solve, |or| enemies that might TURN into
allies if the player can compromise.

If, on the other hand, the player is
unduly timid, the DM can build up his or
her self-confidence by presenting enemies
whom he |or| she has a good chance of
overpowering. Without other players
around who might get annoyed, the DM
can also use these 1-to-1 sessions to
get the upper hand over that constant
bane of gaming, the loud-mouthed rule
splitter. The trick, in any case, is to
develop an adventure that goes against
the player's natural grain, thereby
expanding his |or| her gaming skills.

2 kinds of plots
BASICALLY, the plot of the scenario
should grow directly out of the character
of the PC. Thieves should be given the
chance to steal; fighters, to fight; and so
on through the character classes. From
this basic slant, the DM can develop a
plot for the scenario. Most plots and
situations fall into one of two categories:
1) a series of random encounters, and 2) a
simple goal with opposition in the way.

The first category is of course the easier.
The DM merely picks a situation ? a
dungeon, village, forest, or whatever ?
and fills it with monsters or NPC?s with
whom the PC interacts randomly. If the
gaming session is going to be short, or if
the DM is pressed for time, this solution
may be the better.

The second category of scenario, however,
is a lot more fun to run and to play.
Here, the DM invents a goal for the PC to
reach ? an object to acquire, a task to be
done, or a place to visit ? and then proceeds
to put difficulties in the way of
reaching the goal. The difficulties can be
natural dangers of terrain or landscape,
direct opposition from hostile NPC?s, or
even a random element of wandering
monsters.

The goal should be consistent with the
PC?s character class, alignment, and personality,
but other than that, the DM can
make this goal-plus-opposition pattern as
simple or as complex as he or she wants.
For instance, a simple pattern might be
the goal of retrieving stolen property
from an orc in the same town; a complex
one, that of recovering a holy object from
the ruins of a temple, now the home of a
mad hermit who wants the object for
himself.

Opposition, passive and active
Developing the opposition for a single
PC can be tricky if the goal is to be both
challenging and attainable. The DM
must consider passive opposition as well
as actively hostile NPCs. If, for example,
a PC has to ford raging rivers, climb dangerous
cliffs, and evade traps just to reach
a goal, the active opposition waiting at
the end of the journey should be less formidable
than if he or she merely strolls
out of town to a meadow to meet the foe.

The opposition should also be of a type
that gives the PC a chance. To put a lone
fighter up against a pair of high-level
magicians would be most unfair, for
instance, as would the converse. As a general
rule of thumb, consider the experience
levels (or the hit dice, for monsters)
of the NPCs who will be actively opposing
the PC. One of those NPCs should be
of the same experience level or higher
than the PC, but the total of experience
levels of the group of opponents should
not be greater than twice the PC?s experience
level, nor should it be less than the
PC?s experience level. The DM should
also provide the PC with an opportunity
or two to learn about the forces set
against him or her.

Some DM?s might think that this level
of opposition is too low, but remember
that a large number of weak opponents
can be deadly in a mass, and that the PC
has no one else to fall back on if he or she
is injured early in the adventure. As an
example, I once ran a scenario for a thirdlevel
fighter who was hired to guard a
temple treasure against thieves. The
sticky fingers in question belonged to a
pair of gnome thief/illusionists, one third
level, the other second. Although this
doesn?t sound like much for a well-armed
fighter to face, the gnomes nearly succeeded
in killing the PC and stealing the
treasure, simply because there were two of
them. While one made noise in one area,
the other attempted to slip into the temple
through another location ? on and
on until the fighter was run ragged. By
the time he subdued the gnomes, he?d
been backstabbed and was down to 2 hit
points.

Once the DM sets the goal and develops
the opposition to reaching it, there arises
the question of motivating the PC to
reach the goal in game terms. If the goal
is something that the PC would normally
seek on his or her own, the DM can use
NPCs to spread the news that it exists in
the given area. If a druid heard of a particularly
rich cache of mistletoe, for
instance, he or she would doubtless go to
cut it. Or, a thief would love to hear
rumors about the richest man in town.
On the other hand, the DM can also
invent an NPC to hire the PC to perform
a task, or request the PC to solve some
problem. The standard example is the
local worthy who begs a paladin?s aid,
but the game milieu offers many other
possibilities, some of which will be discussed
later. If the DM chooses to offer
the PC a job for hire, the DM should keep
other booty to a minimum, because the
PC is already gaining gold (and thus experience
points) from being hired. Into the
category of hires, of course, falls being
quested or geased by an NPC, but in this
case the booty can be more generous.

New players have special needs
If the DM is designing a scenario for a
player from an ongoing campaign, he or
she will know the player well enough to
have a fairly straightforward time of
planning and running the adventure.
Two other groups of players, however,
have special needs: the experienced player
coming from another campaign, and the
raw beginner.

Adding a new player to an ongoing
group is a delicate matter, particularly if
the new player is a stranger to the other
gamers. Since all DMs have quirks and
personal definitions of ambiguous rules,
the new player may be counting on possibilities
that don?t exist in the new campaign
or, conversely, may be unaware of
stringent interpretations of certain rules.

A one-to-one game between the new
player and his or her new DM is the best
way for both to learn each other?s style of
play. By working things out in private,
the DM and the player spare the rest of
the group the annoyance of hearing them
argue things out. Also, if the new player
is simply not going to work in properly,
the DM can get this across to the player
without embarrassing him or her in front
of the others. In a sense, then, the DM is
putting the new player through his or her
paces; at the same time, the player
deserves a chance to see how the new DM
handles various aspects of play.

A scenario for this kind of player, then,
needs to be as varied as possible, moving
through different kinds of situations and
encounters rather than concentrating on
one. It should include both indoor and
outdoor movement, plenty of NPC
encounters of varying emotional levels,
and of course combat. Although a random
encounter series might seem best, the
DM should introduce some simple goal
to be reached in order to see how the new
player handles problem-solving and
planning. (If the new player can handle
neither, it?s best to know this right at the
beginning.)

At all times, the DM should encourage
the new player to say what he or she feels
about the DM?s conduct of the game;
likewise, the DM should be open about
what he or she is thinking of the new
player. If both parties consider their differences
as friendly problems to be solved
rather than matters of life and death, their
future play together will be much
smoother and more enjoyable.

The absolute beginner represents a different
kind of problem. It?s too easy for
DMs and experienced players alike to
forget just how bewildering the rules,
mechanics, and minutiae of the AD&D
system appear to someone who's watched
a game or two and thumbed through a
single book. The key word here is
patience, and it?s much easier for a DM to
be patient in a solo game than in a game
with a group of players who are eager to
get on with the adventure.

By designing the right kind of scenario,
the DM can guide the beginner through
the rules in graded steps, rather like a
teaching-machine program. The DM
needs to remember that such a scenario
can -- and should -- be so simple that it
would bore experienced players. Killing a
giant rat is strictly ho-hum for a highlevel
paladin, but for a beginner it?s a real
thrill.

The very first game a beginner plays
should never end in the death of the PC
unless the DM has placed a convenient
resurrecting cleric or some such thing
close at hand. Rolling up a character for
the first time requires too much work for
the beginner to take the sudden death of
that character with any kind of sportsmanlike
attitude. Even the first adventure
can have risks, such as being beaten up or
robbed, but the DM should remember
that the point of the game is to have fun,
not to be bitterly disappointed in the first
twenty minutes of a playing career. If the
DM has the time, the ideal way to introduce
the beginner to the campaign is in a
series of single-player scenarios, starting
with a simple walk-through situation and
progressing to an adventure that does
indeed carry potentially fatal risks. The
DM is also perfectly justified in warning
the player that soon things will get much,
much tougher.

Back to basics for beginners
To design these simple scenarios, the
DM must keep in mind what the player
needs to learn: everything. The beginner
has never entered a strange town, cast a
spell or swung a weapon, or even walked
down a corridor with a torch as the only
light. The DM must start by explaining
the simplest mechanics, move on to interactions
between the PC and NPCs, and
finally present combat and complex setups
like crowded taverns. The first minutes
of the beginner?s first game in particular
need to be stripped down to bare
essentials to avoid confusion, frustration,
and ultimately irritation between player
and DM.

An example of such a beginner?s game
should make things clear. After the new
PC has been rolled up and fleshed out
with some kind of background and personal
history, the DM should give the PC
some reason for being in the part of the
game world where the party that the PC
will ultimately join is staying at the
moment. Suppose we? have a young fighter,
just discharged from the local militia
with some pay in his pocket (the rolledup
coin). The DM tells the player that his
character hears that adventure and profit
can be found in a nearby town.

During the journey to town, the player
can learn about movement rate, the need
for rest, the passing of game time, and
other such things in a very simple way.
The road can present NPCs and random
encounters in simplified outdoor conditions.
Along the way, the DM can place a
situation to explore: a simple abandoned
hut, say, to be explored in daylight,
where indoor movement and the indoor
turn can be introduced. From there, the
PC might find a dark place (a ruined
house at night) in order to learn about
torches and mapping in the dark. In these
simple settings the PC can have low-level
combat experiences -- a giant rat, a large
spider. The PC can also find his first treasure,
say a hoard of ten copper pieces or a
bit of cheap jewelry.

After this, the PC will understand the
basic mechanics well enough to try a
simple scenario. Perhaps a farmer offers
food and shelter in return for our fighter?s
help in killing a bothersome wolf, or a
hermit might ask a young neophyte cleric
to dispose of a single animated skeleton
in a shrine. Such scenarios will introduce
clear goals and non-hostile interactions
in order to train the new player to plan
ahead, think through the consequences of
his or her actions, and to see beyond looting
to the possibilities of life in the game
world.

Ultimately, these beginning scenarios
should integrate the new PC into the
ongoing group playing in the campaign.
By using imagination, the DM can introduce
new players in game-world terms
rather than falling back on the mundane.
In our example, the new player finally
reaches town, has a few encounters on his
own as he buys equipment, then hears a
rumor that an adventuring party is drinking
in a certain tavern. There the new PC
meets his party for the first time, and it?s
up to him to think of ways to introduce
and ingratiate himself. Perhaps the DM
can arrange a brawl with the local yokels
in which our fighter pitches in on the
party?s side, or some other such dramatic
moment. The approach of "This is Joe,
he's a fighter, and is it okay with you
guys if he plays with us?" may work, but
it?s a lot more fun to have Joe show off
his fighting skills in a situation where the
admiring adventurers can watch.

Specific scenario ideas
With both the general principles of
designing scenarios and the specific needs
of the player in mind, let's consider some
specific ideas that can provide the seeds of
scenarios for the overworked DM. Each
group of suggestions that follows starts
with a generalized goal, then shows how
the general can be turned to the specific
for various character classes. From these
starting points, the DM can work out particular
plots for individual players.

1. Acquiring a desirable object: Somewhere,
on a lonely hill or in a ruin, is just
what the PC yearns for. This particular .
goal is perhaps the most useful scenario starter,
having vast numbers of variations.

For instance, fighters will desire magic
weapons and magic armor, which may be
hidden in a ruin, lost in the wilderness,
or in the possession of an NPC of opposite
alignment. An interesting variation
for a ranger is a valuable horse, running
half-wild, that has to be tracked and
tamed.

Thieves want riches, and the singleplayer
scenario is a good way for them to
steal without having to muck about in
dirty dungeons. A big-mouthed NPC
could brag about his riches, or gossip
with the thief about the local miser in his
lonely villa, or perhaps the thief merely
sees a wealthy individual walk past in
town and sets his or her heart on stealing
said individual blind. Assassins may hear
of a rare poison or a particularly fine
knife to be had.

Magic-users yearn for magic items and
spells, but remember that they also have
to gather material components, some of
which are rare and can be made hard to
obtain by the clever DM.  Consider the
small canine statuette needed for a repulsion
spell, for instance: The DM might
announce that the only pair to be had in
the entire area were lost in a ruin some
years ago.

Druids need mistletoe, which the DM
can ensure must be harvested in dangerous
conditions. For other clerics, the
desired object might be a particular
blessed mace or an important holy object
that the cleric seeks not for him or herself,
but for the sake of his or her temple.

The obstacle(s) standing between the
PC and the desirable object can vary
greatly, from mindless wild animals to
NPCs actively seeking the same object
and determined to keep anyone else from
having it. The DM should remember to
make the rewards as well as the dangers
dependent on the PC?s experience level.
For example, allowing a second-level
fighter to acquire a +5 sword would
seriously unbalance a campaign; a +1
dagger would be more suitable and more
likely to be guarded by the kind of enemies
that this level of fighter could overcome.
A low-level thief had best be restrained
to robbing the weak and the
helpless for a few gold pieces, but a highlevel
thief could be introduced to the
local miser's villa, filled with traps,
alarms, and armed guards, with a vault
containing jewels and bags of gold.

A good variation on the ?desired
object? theme is to have the PC quested,
geased, or simply hired to obtain the
object for someone else. In this way (if the
DM is dealing with an honest PC, at any
rate) the DM can have the desired object
be most magical and wondrous without
introducing it into active play later in the
campaign. Another variation is to have
the desired object be an item of stolen
property which the PC is retrieving,
either for him or herself or on hire. The
opposition (the original thief or thieves)
can be easily adjusted to the PC?s capabilities.
Still another variation is the rescue,
where the desired object is another character.
Fighters can be hired to free someone
being held for ransom; magic-users,
to break evil enchantments; clerics, to
exorcise evil spirits; rangers, to track
down a missing person in the wilderness.

2. Guard duty: This goal of keeping
someone or something safe can also be
widely varied. Fighters are the most
obvious choice for guards, either as personal
bodyguards or watchmen over
threatened property. A rich merchant may
worry about thieves, or a lord a sworn
enemy who seeks blood vengeance. A traveler
going through wilderness may pay a
ranger a pretty penny to accompany him.
A paladin might volunteer to guard a
cleric from evil enemies. Other classes,
however, can also do guard duty if the
circumstances are right. A cleric or druid
might be sent to guard a holy spot
against desecration by undead or an evil
cleric; likewise, some treasure of their
temple might be threatened. A magic-user
might be hired to turn back a magical
attack against an NPC. The magic-user
might also have a particular magical item
that others want to steal from him or her.
Thieves, by their nature, do not usually
make reliable guards for someone else,
but if they have booty, it might attract
other felonious sorts who want an
unearned share of it.

In all of these cases, the opposition
wants the property or the person that the
guard is looking after. If property is at
stake, thieves are most likely the ones
coming after it, either on their own or
hired by an NPC of another class. If the
item being guarded is a character, the
opposition may be a hired assassin, or the
danger may be a band of unskilled brigands.
The assassin makes a good enemy
for a rash hack-and-slash type player.
Part of the player?s job in this case is to
use thought and guile in an attempt to
figure out the assassin?s disguise and to
anticipate where the attack will come ? a
real learning experience for the unthinkingly
violent.

3. Acquiring info: This goal is
most suitable for a player in a long-running
campaign. If the game world has
a highly developed political situation or a
war in progress, the PC can be hired by
one side or another to spy. Although
thieves and assassins make the best spies,
a magic-user or cleric might well take on
a temporary job of this sort if he or she
feels the cause is worthy of it. Since heavily
armed strangers look too suspicious to
be successful spies, fighters are unsuited
for this kind of job unless they can successfully
convince the spied-upon that
they are mercenaries with no attachments
to either side.

The opposition to a player who is spying
will consist of anyone who discovers
the truth about the spy. The warlord or
ruler in question will be highly aware of
the danger from spies, as will his loyal
subjects. Strong rulers will probably have
their men check out any strangers in their
territory. The spying PC may well meet a
counterspy, too, who will entice him or
her with bits of false information, then
ultimately turn the PC over to the authorities
if he or she doesn?t figure out what?s
going on.

Besides political spying, the player
from an ongoing campaign can also
undertake a scouting mission for the rest
of the party. The party may have heard
an interesting rumor of treasure to be
gained or a wrong to be righted; on his or
her own, the single PC can check out the
rumor and scout out the possible dangers.
The single player can also hear the rumor
for the first time and do the scouting for
an adventure that the DM has planned for
the whole party.

For example, a cleric or magic-user of
good alignment might hear reports of evil
activities in some nefarious temple, or a
paladin might hear of a lord who is
oppressing the poor and generally
engaged in wrongdoing. After tracking
down rumors of treasure, a thief might
decide that he or she needs the party?s
help in obtaining it.

In these cases, the opposition consists
of those who have something to hide. An
evil warlord, for instance, would be generally
displeased to hear that a paladin is
hanging around his fortress, and will no
doubt take steps to have the do-gooder
removed.

4. Vengeance: If a trusted friend or
henchman of the PC has recently been
murdered, or if the PC is foully insulted
by an NPC, then vengeance is in order.
The PC will have to track down the
enemy, then challenge him or her to
honorable combat (if the PC is one of the
good alignments) or merely dispatch him
or her (if the PC has a more flexible sense
of honor). The enemy should be on guard
against such an attempt, and would have
guards and other obstacles around his or
her person. Vengeance makes a particularly
good single-player scenario for an
assassin PC. The master of the assassin?s
guild can announce that someone has
cheated the guild and send the PC off to
avenge the insult. Of course, the assassin
may simply be hired to do away with
someone as a single-player adventure, but
adding the vengeance theme dignifies the
craft.

5. The random encounter series: Aside <DMG> <>
from the goal-plus-opposition pattern,
discussed in detail above, the other typical
category of scenario is a series of random
encounters in a given AREA. If the
DM has little time to plan a plotted scenario,
such a series has much to recommend
it, but even here the DM should use
imagination to avoid the ?just another
dungeon? syndrome. Underground settings
offer too many unfair difficulties for
even a very high-level PC operating on
his or her own. Besides having to fight
enemies, the PC is responsible for all the
mapping, lighting, and hauling of either
supplies or booty, which adds up to more
than a single person can handle while
still enjoying the game. The DM who
wants a dungeon-like setting for a singleplayer
game should choose above-ground
ruins to be explored by daylight. There
can still be a dark corner, or a tunnel or
two, in the environment, but the mechanics
of such a setting won't interfere with
play.

Perhaps the best setting for a series of
random encounters for a single PC is the
town or village, simply because towns are
full of people of varying races who may
or may not give the PC trouble. The PC
may find him or herself cheated by a dishonest
merchant, involved in a tavern
brawl, challenged to a duel by an insulted
noble, falsely imprisoned by a scurrilous
sheriff, seduced and then robbed by a
handsome thief of the opposite sex, and
so on. On a brighter note, the PC may
also meet assorted variant-class NPCs,
like alchemists or astrologers, who may
offer good advice and friendship. Another
interesting idea for the DM is to set up
the town gaol and have the unfortunate
PC thrown into it for a night. The
medieval-style gaol was generally one
large room where criminals and vagrants
of all descriptions were shoved in
together. Any number of interesting
encounters can arise from such a
situation.

The wilderness is another good setting
for a random series of encounters for a
single player, as long as the DM keeps the
opposition and dangers fair and compatible
with the PC?s experience level and
character class.

The DM can also give the adventure a
bit more meaning by suggesting a reason
that the PC is in the wilderness, such as
traveling or a hunting expedition. A
druid gathering mistletoe or a magic-user
searching for material components might
meet all sorts of interesting things in the
woods besides wild animals and monsters:
brigands, madmen, hermits, evil
spirits, and so on. A cleric might go to
visit a holy (or unholy) spot and find it
inhabited by hostile beings. In short, even
when the DM has no time to plan an
elaborate scenario, the adventure should
have some purpose and some game-world
"reality."

Set your standards high
Although IMAGINATION and consistency
should be vital parts of every scenario,
they are especially important in the
single-player version. The interaction of a
group of PCs creates plot
and conflict within even the most routine
scenario, but with only 1 player and
the DM involved, the scenario has to be
strong to avoid a kill-and-loot tedium. If
the DM starts by considering the character
of the PC, then keeps in mind what
the game world has to offer for an adventure,
the task of designing a single-player
scenario will be easy -- much easier than
it might seem! -- and the result much
more FUN to play.

MAY 1983
 

THE FORUM
I disagree with the letter from Craig Sheldon in
#102, which said ?it is very hard to role-play with
one character and a DM.? I have played in both
situations, with a big party and then just as a
single player with a DM. I?ve been playing the
second way for five years, and I think it?s easier
and more fun. The player is pushed to think
more on his own, and his character is limited to
his special abilities only.

I have been playing a monk character for over
a year as a single player with my DM. Most large
parties will run from nothing short of a deity, and
some even then will not run. My character is
forced to run all the time from pursuing monsters
and even border patrols. This adds much flavor
to the game. Sure, I could be a 20th-level fighter
with several other 20th-level characters, and we
could be a walking meat grinder. But running
now and then can be fun.

With the right DM and player, this kind of
gaming can be even more fun than large parties
of PCs.
    Cole Langston
    Rockport, Tex.
    (Dragon #105)