Comments

• 

  Kallak

  Posts: 1,090 March 2012

  IMO you'd be better off trying to get other players and let her actually get immersed into a full gaming group, but with the solo approach, you'll likely need to have an NPC or two that goes with the characters to help out on adventures, basically just 'filling in' the rest of the party with classes that can help. Given that you'll be playing all of those as well (unless she wanted to play one also) you'll essentially just be narrating the bulk of combat anyway, otherwise she'll end up waiting around while you make 500 rolls for your dude, your friendly NPCs and enemy NPCs.

  All the best,
  - Kallak
  
• 

  Black_Vulmea

  Posts: 277 March 2012

  I strongly suggest checking out the "Mythic Game Master Emulator":http://www.mythic.wordpr.com/page9/page9.html . It's designed for referee-less play, and it sounds like exactly like what you may be looking for.
  
  I've used it "when refereeing a game":http://black-vulmea.blogspot.com/2012/03/using-mythic-game-master-emulator-as.html and "for playing solo":http://black-vulmea.blogspot.com/2012/03/solo.html - follow those links and you'll get some idea of how it works from actual play - and I have nothing but good things to say about both options.
  
  Mike aka Black Vulmea
  "_Le Ballet de l'Acier_":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/le-ballet-de-l-acier - swashbuckling adventures in the age of the Three Musketeers and Captain Alatriste
  Featured Campaign of the Month - August 2011
• 

  optimus_mush

  Posts: 28 March 2012

  I think that it can be possible to run a game with one PC, so long as you keep it combat low (or single combat oriented) and focus more on skill or problem solving-based encounters. You would probably also need a group of dedicated NPCs to provide things like healing, potions, minor magic items and such.
  
  Actually a single roguish character working for a powerful patron could make for a really cool campaign. I have played and GMed a few campaigns where the party's rogue went off on so many solo missions that we ran the risk of the rest of the party becoming bored. In this case, the whole adventure is a solo mission.
  
  As for playing a PC, I recommend against taking too much ownership. If you do, it will be hard to avoid metagaming and thus ruin the experience for your wife. I have often used NPCs that have been around for a long time and level them along with the party. Considering them an NPC and thus a tool for telling the story, instead of a PC who is the one interacting with the story, will give you more flexibility.
  
  Anyhow, I'm off to check out the Mythic Game Master Emulator that Black Vulmea suggested. I've never heard of it and my curiosity is piqued!
• 

  vstraydogstrutv

  Posts: 209 March 2012

  It's definitely important that you coax her into the leadership role. She may not know the rules, but that's okay. Let her fudge stuff and tell her every step of the way "it's an open world, do whatever you think your character would do. Everything is fair game."
• RPGWench

  Posts: 3 March 2012

  Thanks for the advise. I don't normally have much of an issue, meta-gaming, but it is definitely harder as the GM. We ran through the starter box together with me GMing and playing a fighter. I found it pretty hard to not meta-game, though part of that was that she has never plaid at all before. Maybe I need to try and get her in on a weekly game, for at least a couple sessions to get an idea of what to do.
• 

  kernal

  Posts: 4 March 2012

  One of the most fun I've ever had playing was in a campaign with only two players and a DM (not quite 1 player, but close!). The two players had roguish characters and did a fair amount of problem solving, but more importantly were able to decide when and where combats occurred. While we would have gotten destroyed in any typical dungeon crawl, there were no dungeons and we were able to use stealth to avoid encounters which were not to our advantage (which was most of them).
  
  Cheers,
  Kernal