Hello I'm new/Running BASH 1-on-1?

[Smashismo]

Hello all,

I have recently gotten back into roleplay and would like to run BASH as my first campaign as a GM. I have never GM'd before! How exciting.

I'm wondering whether anybody has experience running games for a single player. As I have recently relocated I will initially be running the game for one friend, partly out of necessity and partly to test the water before finding other players.

Does anybody have any suggestions on how to make the game work? Should I increase my players power level compared to that of his NPC team mates in order to focus on him?

We'll be running a teen Supers setting where the character will be juggling school life in a mundane city with extra-curricular activities fighting crime. Initially (for the first adventure or two) he will primarily be working solo, although I plan on introducing a regular cast of NPC's to drop in and out and perhaps a regular partner or team.

[BASHMAN]

Superheroes is a great genre for 1-on-1 games, but a Teen supers game may be more difficult as those tend to be more team-based.

I'd recommend checking out some shows and comics where there is a single protagonist teen super.

Spider-Man or Batman Beyond would be some good examples.

[Smashismo]

I'm very much taking inspiration from the old 90's DC comic Impulse and from the recent Image Invincible series.

The system looks like great fun to use. Very impressed at both the simplicity yet also the depth- it appears to allow for quick and simple play, yet with greater scope than some other lite systems I've looked at.

I'm almost a little upset that I don't have anybody to run an adventure so I can get to experience the joys of being a player before I settle into my role as GM.

[Baelor]

I have bee running an on again, off again solo game set in Victorian London. I have to say, Supers, and especially BASH, is great to run solo.

I tried to envision the character and her adventures as a comic, to figure out the dynamic with other heroes and villains. Was she a solo hero? Or was she a member of a super team in a campaign with one player.

For my game, the player wanted to be a solo crimefighter, like Spiderman, Batman and Moonknight [those were the examples she gave me]. So I did her origin story with her as the only character, and a few completely solo adventures to set the tone. Then I started introducing other heroes, and paid attention to the ones she liked and did not like to hang out with.

In her case she stayed a solo character with regular team-ups with other heroes.

I think it should be pretty easy to keep the focus on the player character in a team. The NPCs don't get hero points or hero dice, so the PC will stand out for that alone. You can also place NPC heroes in tough spots, using them in the way you might use a sidekick, without making them a true sidekick. I would even award a hero point if the PC rescues his comrade. You also have some insurance along if your PC gets into more trouble than you expect, another hero can intervene.

The problem that I had with running a solo player in larger groups has more to do with the social angle. I dislike having NPCs spending too much time talking to each other or just doing too much, so I tended to keep the gathering small, or larger ones split up into smaller ones.

And I totally get wanting to play too. I am the only one running BASH in my group and I would really like to play a bit.

[bigsteveuk]

So what Adventures has your lady heroine had?

Also have you posted her in the builds or any of her pals or enemies?

Off topic I know, but I love Victorian adventures?

[urbwar]

Superheroes is a great genre for 1-on-1 games, but a Teen supers game may be more difficult as those tend to be more team-based.

I'd recommend checking out some shows and comics where there is a single protagonist teen super.

Spider-Man or Batman Beyond would be some good examples.

Don't forget Static Shock!

For comics, check out Spider-Man (and Ultimate Spider Man), Static, Firestorm, Nova & Speedball

[Baelor]

Bigsteveuk,

I haven't posted her, but I will. Her name is DEATHNELL and she is mutated human in the xcvein of Spiderman, except that she was the subject of experimentation at the hands of amoral scientists researching some of the Martian red mold that the Martians drop in War of the Worlds. She is tough, fast and strong, but not overwhelmingly so. She has dark vision and can regenerate, and can fight like the devil. Not bad for the maid who worked for the nasty science cabal.

I will post her, and some of her friends and enemies soon as I can.

If anyone is reading this who knows - what is the policy of posting pdfs, or published art from other sources. I have many enemies as pdfs and I often use art that I find on the internet as character art on character sheets. I don't intend to publish any of this [certainly not to profit from it] but I find it very evocative for the player[s].