Novice GM, one player... any tips plz?

[J-Star]

I'm going to be showing the Conan RPG to a friend of mine who used to play D&D in the 80's. It'll just be the two of us b/c I don't know any other gamers in my area, and Conan is much better for solo & duo play than D&D.

This will be my first time as a Conan gamemaster. My previous experience with the game is limited to a few online sessions using some form of digital gaming table. Again, no fellow gamers in the area

In the distant past I've played D&D and GURPS, and back then I ran a few games with my brother and few other players, but it's been a LONG time.

If anyone's got some experience and/or advice for 1-on-1 or hero-and-sidekick adventures (where I as GM would play the sidekick as a PC-like NPC) or even a couple low-level scenarios they wouldn't mind sharing, it would be much appreciated.

 

[Scorpion13]

Well, you could just use the old Conan stories as your adventures. Little work on your part, but you could easily do it. I mean, the majority of Conan's stories feature only one hero.

 

[J-Star]

Well, my friend hasn't read the stories, so that's idea... especially at higher levels. I had planned on starting at 1st level, 2nd or 3rd tops, in order to ease into the game. I've got comics to plunder for ideas too.

Still, tips are always welcome.

Thanks.

 

[Clovenhoof]

I'd begin the game at 2nd or 3rd level; actually more likely 3rd for a "Hero and Sidekick" setup. But be sure to give him hints what feats to take if he doesn't know the system.

 

[J-Star]

That I can do... I may not have played a whole lot but I have a lot of the books, with more on the way, and I know the system pretty well.

 

[Style]

There is a series of 1 on 1 modules designed for this type of play. Clearly this one is the best of class:

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=3834&it=1

Be forewarned, this adventure is, quite frankly, too strong for the mere hobbyist gamer!

 

[Krushnak]

I'd start at lvl 3, decent amount of competency without wildly overpowering every mook around you. and fear of girls is funny.

 

[DaveNC]

We've often played with only one or two players. I actually think that Conan plays better with a smaller number of characters. If you think back to the old D&D days, you needed a large party to cover the necessities of a dungeon crawl - two or three fighters/rangers/paladins for the physical confrontations, a theif to open locks/detect traps, a cleric to magically heal everybody, and a magic user for the powerful attack spells. In Conan, there isn't any magical healing, very few offensive spells, and with feats, you can cover the open locks/detect traps thing. There isn't really the dungeon crawl mentality either, so you don't need all those characters most of the time.
Anyway, you could also have the player create/control two characters and play them both. More than two gets difficult, but this also allows the player to experiment with different builds, feats, races, etc.
Or, if they only want to play one character you can just cater your adventure to fit that character and their feats, stats, etc. Most of the REH Conan stories were solo anyway, so having a large party wandering around doesn't always feel very authentic to me.
Or, have the character be part of a larger group, but tell your story around HIS/HER experiences. "you are a soldier in a scouting party sent into the Pictish wilderness to search for XYZ", "you are a guard in a caravan train going to ABC", "you are a pirate hand on a ship raiding 123". Whether the larger group makes it through the entire adventure doesn't matter, the character's perspective is what matters. This way, if your character needs a little help along the way, there are others there to help them without it seeming too intrusive.
My 2 cents, and I'll stop rambling now...

 

[Hervé]

There was this old S&P article, "Dual & Solo Play", reprinted in the Conan Compendium. It might help you for small party games.