Playing Rifts with One Player and One GM

[plotulus]

Is it possible? Has anyone done it?

[TeeAychEeMarchHare]

Yes and yes. It just requires a certain level of skill on both parts. And less combat than is typical of most Rifts games. A lot depends on the class of the character. It seems a bit easier for a magic user or sneaky or talky type than for a combat cyborg, power armor or robot pilot, or juicer.

[dreicunan]

One of my friends and I ended up doing this for substantial amounts of time (months in the real world) when my character's story line sharply diverged from the other players in the group.

If you are concerned about a lack of overall capability, one solution is to let the player run an extra character or two.

[plotulus]

Would it help if I played some characters to help my player out?

[Shorty Lickens]

its very doable. in fact its kinda fun to invent scenarios for one player. Maybe we should make a one-player pool.

[dreicunan]

Would it help if I played some characters to help my player out?

Well, I'd normally say that a PC should be run by a player, hence my suggestion to let the player run an extra character or two, but giving him some NPC henchmen is another option. Just be careful to not let the henchmen outshine the player.

[dreicunan]

Another suggestion for addressing the issue of "what if the single player can't do enough things" is to have the player roll up a born on Rifts Earth superhero per Conversion Book 1. You are using Scholar and Adventurer classes, so they'll have a decent number of skills (An RUE Rogue Scientist would let you have an incredible number of skills to be able to cover a lot of bases, just so long as you don't need cowboy skills). It certainly isn't the only way; just an option.

The Super-Spy OCC from Rifts Mercenaries is another option that lets you cover a bunch of bases with both espionage and the option for magic or psionics, though without quite the breadth of skills. It also is a built in reason for the character to often work alone. As a variation on that theme, the Psi-Ghost's intangibility is a nice boost and they are decently skilled.

The Mystic class gives you a decent ability to cover bases with one character as well; techno-wizards can be amazingly versatile. It is worth noting that unlike many other games, in Palladium system games a magic user with Hand-to-hand basic and a WP in the weapon they are using is often not far off the ball, if they are behind at all, from a grunt with the same skills.

Another option is to just have the character be part of a larger organization, so that there is an in-story reason for him to get support.

[Jorick]

I imagine that this situation would require two people who were both invested in the story of the one character.

I remember when I was a kid, my friends and I would spend even time away from the table "playing" the game. No dice, just story. It was very doable even with two people, because both people wanted to see what the character would see and do next. The dice do add an element of suspense. I'm simply saying that the most important part, in a two person situation, is probably gonna be the story, and that is doable.

Combat is not necessary to story, even in a world as violent and chaotic as rifts. Combat is doable with two people, but the GM is either going to have to tailor combat to that one character, or the GM is going to have to allow the character to make friends. Being saved by the cavalry, even if the group is large, can also be fun.

You're probably not going to have fun being a lone murder hobo or dungeon crawler for long. Think about the character you want to tell a story about. Princess Leia, or Macguyver, or Batman, or an emt/combat medic, or a spy (etc. etc.) are all things that lend themselves to single person stories, where combat requires help or very careful planning.

On of the strengths of the Palladium system is the long and deep character creation. I find people get really invested in the character, not just as a toon to move around the world collecting loot, but as a guy who can use the gun, but can also take care of livestock and build things out of wood and play sportsball. You had to fill those skill slots with something. Why? The process begs the question "Why does the character know these things?" From those questions comes a relatively rich backstory (even beyond whats provided by the world/location/environment, and the race/class combo).

So maybe you're the farmhand (with a high piloting skill in something--power armor?--cause you're a natural who's had dreams of being more than a farmhand) who survives an attack by the Coalition (by being at the right place at the right time), and falls in with a cyberknight who rescues you, and you get into some bar fights by accident in Merctown, and you and a few smugglers you hired have to go into the FoM to save a person for whatever reason. And maybe the GM gives you a great magic sword and you train to become a cyberknight on the way (or, you know, everyone can shoot a laser rifle). Even so, it's really the cyberknight who takes care of the bar fight (after you get tossed around a bit), and the smugglers get you through the forest. But you end up in a demons castle and you have to sneak your way out after rescuing the person.

Awesome story! All of this is really fun to live through and you're probably asked to make some relatively difficult strategic and moral choices (again, even if the muscle, or the majority of the muscle, isn't you).

Or something. Just don't do the murder hobo/dungeon crawler thing. Don't do that in Rifts even if you're have a group. 90% of the problems people have with this game in terms of play experience ("balance," long character creation, long combat resolution), are born of trying to play DnD in Rifts.

[Killer Cyborg]

Totally doable.

[Willy Elektrix]

I sometimes play alone using the Mythic Game Master Emulator. It works great! Spell casters, psychics, and characters with lots of skills are the most fun to play.

[Sir Dellis]

I am currently running a campaign for my wife where she is the only player. I created a merc unit that patrols Lower Michigan and has bases setup in the Flint area (and no, they don't drink the water). She rolled up an operator that has since been hired by the unit.

When we have combat, it is broken down into small sections. The most recent combat had a bandit group attacking their warehouses. 4 NPCs and 2 vehicles attacked one warehouse while the same numbers attacked the other warehouse. Her operator has elite PA combat so she jumped into her Midas and defended Warehouse 1 with some infantry grunts. She assigned more of the merc units infantry NPCs to defend the other warehouse and we did the combat based on warehouse so combat was approximately 6v6 which was manageable for her as we are both new to Rifts ranged combat but not the Palladium system as we have played PFRPG for years

[GundamChief]

I do it all the time.

In my experience you don't have to have alot of NPCs or references ready, unless you are planning out an actual campaign which is still minimal compared to a group game.

The good is that games are easy to keep track of, and games that are more "Slice of Life" are very easy to run and legitimately enjoy due to simplicity. The bad about it is that the player ultimately determines the kind of game you ultimately play unless you force things to be on rail or two.

It also allows for both people (as mentioned by Jorick) to be focused on the events of one character and be invested in it.

[Blue_Lion]

Would it help if I played some characters to help my player out?

Um Gms play all NPCs so if you where not playing some characters it would be just him in a room by them self.

If the operator has the right skills they could find a catch of robots that the can use as part of a strike force. (posibally something like a rigger for shadowrun.)

If it was one of my games the operator might be tasked with developing, modifying and testing gear for the merc unit.

A operator only group can easily be a game that focuses on building and modifying things for missions rather than fighting.
Examples would be Jordy laforge creating or modifing something in an episode of star trek the next generation.
needing to make a special weapon for a creature that is immune to normal attacks and can only be hit by X(such as sonic attacks or UV weapons).
Design and building forward base camp and fortifications.
Turn some Light MDC vehicles in to souped up combat vehicles, rebuilding a tank with new weapons.
Turning several salvaged suits of PA into a few working units.

Operators (and TW) can be the toy makers of a group if it just an operator having the focus be creation of toys for an origination makes sense.

[Eagle]

Solo campaigns can be great. You can focus all your attention on one character. Nothing has to be balanced, you don't have to worry about splitting your attention between different players. The one guy gets to be the star of the show.

I'd use it as a chance to play things that don't always work in large Rifts games. You can go super-low powered or super-high powered. Has the player ever wanted to play a Cosmo Knight? Now is his chance. Or what about just a regular old City Rat? Either one can make for a tremendous game.

I played in a solo superhero game once. Most of our group had disintegrated and it was just me and the GM. We had about three or four months where there were going to be no other players around, so I got to play Superman. Silver Age, strong enough to move the Earth with one hand, nuclear bombs don't mess up his hair, real deal Superman (most powerful character I've ever played, in any game system). It was a blast. But half the time, we were roleplaying adventures like "you are hanging out with Jimmy Olsen". Or "Lois Lane is trying to discover your secret identity. What do you do?" Sometimes we'd have like one dice roll the whole night. Lois would come up with some silly scheme to "prove" that Clark was really Superman, and I'd come up with some equally ridiculous use of my powers to prove that I wasn't. It was great fun, but it's the type of game you can't really do when there's a big group of people around. Other folks don't want to watch as you spend all night interacting with your character's NPC buddies.

But with a solo game, there's no one else around to be bored.

Want high powered? How about Zeus goes to Atlantis because he's looking to bang some Blind Warrior Women? Of course, things go wrong and some hilarity ensues. You end up with a Thor: Ragnarok style game where one overpowered hero smashes his way through a hostile alien city. In the end, Zeus returns to Olympus, Atlantis repairs the damage he caused, and nobody else finds out about it. Net effect on the outside world is basically zero, but it's fun to play.

Want medium powered? How about the PC is a Line Walker on some type of mission. He carefully uses his magic spells to pull off some daring raids (no need for combat, if his plan is good enough he'll be able to succeed). Then he sells his ill-gotten gains, buys some more magic spells, and continues with his scheme. He'll avoid direct combat because it's dangerous, but if he spends all night sneaking around some Coalition base, that's fine because the one player is entertained. The character can become quite powerful, and that's no problem because it's just you and the player.

Want low powered? A City Rat game could work too. Think of the anime Akira if you've seen it. The PC is some teenage nobody in a militaristic megacity. A single Coalition Grunt can push you around with no consequences. He's wearing armor you can't hurt, with a gun that will vaporize you. But you're also virtually beneath his notice. Something like a simple Burster is a terrifying fight for your little SDC hero. Even getting a megadamage weapon can be an adventure by itself. So when the Dead Boys kidnap one of your buddies when he starts displaying some kind of strange power, it's up to you to figure out where he went, and how to get him back. Think your way around problems. Get forged IDs. Find a way to sneak inside Chi-Town from the Burbs. You can't change the world, but you might rescue your buddy.

Solo games let you get really in depth as far as character development goes.

[zexsis]

I do this regularly with a friend. We find it quite fun because we use it as a testing scenario of different characters that you don't usually get to play (multi classes high level, dragons, etc). We usually each play a character also.

The most important thing we find is to focus more on player motivations instead of the typical campaign style.