Sadly from posts on this group, and my gut feeling, its going to be very difficult to run this game with a group of one player.
I would love to see a Cthulhu Confidential version of the setting. If there was a big enough market. It could be used by Refs with normal player groups as a background mini game for players, before they band together.
Or when the other players cant turn up.
Allan
Haven’t run the game yet, only read through it, but it seems as if it would be possible with the tools available, with a little work.
Only the beginnings of an idea on this, but I’m picturing taking extra crew members almost like your gear, so fictionally you could say you have different types with you. Any time you need someone’s skill set that you don’t have, you could roll a fortune roll for that character.
If you have them in harm’s way, and you don’t take the hit for them, that character type is out for the rest of the scene.
Nothing too formal yet, just some framework ideas.
It creates a difficult stress economy. The economy as it stands is balanced for 3-4 players. A few people in the past have tried multiple pcs to offset this.
The stress economy will be harsher, but somehow it’s kind of logic : one scoundrel against the world is not easy.
An advantage is with only one scoundrel, the score could be quieter, so if stress is more problematic, heat could be less. Also no need to share the payoff, so more coins to downtime actions like recover or indulge vice.
Also BitD is easy to manipulate and if the scores seem too hard, the GM could adapt : smaller clocks for example.
I think it could totally work. Yeah, it would be tougher, but that’s fine. There is an easier stress economy with more players, sure, but it’s just different with one player, not worse. It’s not like D&D or something, where you’d be totally fucked without a full party. There’s nothing that multiple characters can do that a single character fundamentally can’t do, it’s just tougher.
This game is totally playable with one character! All that’s required is an adjustment of the ambition.
Thinking about this, and some stuff I’ve been thinking about in the campaign I’m currently playing in, playing a single player campaign and becoming a ghost would be really fun.
I’ve been playing in a 1-1 campaign of BitD. I’m playing which is a nice reversal of the usual. The hits hurt a bit more but its totally doable. I’m playing as two characters tho. Lots of smash cuts between the two as they set each other up.
Last week I had my slide rat out my lurk so he could secure transportation into this inner sanctum. Then when the Lurk faced opposition he just beat up the guys and snuck into a side window.
You’re less likely to want to go into a score with stress on the meter. So having a large cast can be helpful to give some other characters a break.
I think of it as if there were actually two PCs how many times would they be able to push themselves or resist as a group? How can this be simulated with one player?
Give the PC a custom move at character creation:
Only pay half stress to PUSH YOURSELF. When you RESIST take 3 stress & recover 1d3 stress.
So other than the stress costs, I don’t see anything else that needs to be manipulated. Not having to split coin rewards with another player automatically provides enough resources to buy extra Downtime activities to recover anyway.
There are already mechanics for recruiting cohorts/experts to fill in skill gaps and provide help and backup.
If Ulf Ironborn can be a singular force of nature then so can a PC.
Also consider coming in from a different angle: A single vigilante. Batman, Daredevil, The Arrow, they can put in work on the bad guys all by themselves and teamup with highly specialized friends when they need to.
I think it would be challenging but interesting. It would be neat to take a character from a low position in an established gang to forming their own gang through their own scoundrel network and building on the relationships we will see them develop.
Also, time in an established gang will mean they will get to see the grind that heat and entanglements put on the gang’s leaders from a grunt’s POV, not seeing the real pressure of it until they have a gang of their own.
Shit, I might even set it back from the game’s usual starting point, back when Roric was alive and in charge of Crow’s Foot.
I’d start as a character with no playbook moves to start off with, I think and build from there.
A GUMSHOE One-2-One hack would be amazing. You saw that they’re going to make the engine open, right?
I DM a couple of normal sized crews, but I’m the only player in my wife’s game. I do play two PCs though, and it works just fine. Like Andrew Shields said, my scores are just less ambitious, but no less fun.
Thanks all, inspiration to put it back on the list. My player is a bit of a special case, not your normal player. Put quickly, he is less interactive with no fiction interaction except via movies. Games ok but does not push the story
Having 2 PCs still works. I’ve been running with two regulars and one off-and-on player. Maybe do it with you running one GMPC to support your player.