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New player, One-on-One play questions

Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2018 3:43 pm
by jpeters
Hi, folks! New to the game ("book ordered but not arrived yet" level new), hoping to get started soon.

My current schedule makes gaming with my regular groups, or finding groups at nearby shops or whatever, pretty much impossible, so I'm looking to start up a 1-on-1 style game with my significant other. Based on my reading of the player booklets, it seems like OVA would be a great fit for us. Are there any particular things I should be especially on the lookout for in the rules when preparing this, or anything to emphasize or deemphasize? The other games I've run 1-on-1 (DnD, Vampire, and Savage Worlds) seem to be very mechanically and tonally different, so I don't know how much of that experience will carry over.

I'm sure I'll have more questions once the book arrives- I may have to nab the PDF, to tide myself over- but thanks in advance for any and all advice!

Re: New player, One-on-One play questions

Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2018 5:39 pm
by Clay
Welcome to the forums! I hope you've been having a lot of fun with your book by now. :)

The vast majority of the games I've played in my life have been one-on-one, and I think a lot of OVA's design sensibilities reflect that. Especially with the Revised Edition, characters can have a lot of options in combat to keep things interesting, and the focus on role-playable qualities with the game's massive collections of Weaknesses help. too.

As for actual adviceā€”I think it's important to have characters for the Player to interact with. Sure, mopping the floor with wave after wave of enemies can work, but I think introducing a recurring NPC, or even a GM-controlled party member, can go a long way to filling the void left by a lack of additional Players. Players can control multiple characters, too! And with OVA, that's way more manageable than, say, some of the later editions of D&D.

Re: New player, One-on-One play questions

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2018 12:55 pm
by sniffycrab
There are books that suggest how to GM for one on one role plays. But the same advice always applies. One give them characters to interact with.

Two, be on your toes. Unlike a group of people, a lone player makes decisions on where to go and what to do much faster. They can just turn tale and abandoned the planned dungeon you have set for them. Or finish it far quicker then intended.

As a system OVA can easily accommodate one player to one gm. But make sure they spend their xp to get no abilities or buy off flaws. A problem I had with players is they make a character once and never spend xp to change them. They are just lazy.