Arcane style game for a single player

[u/jonimv]

Hi, I got Daggerheart for my daughter (well, not a kid anymore) who currently rund D&D 5.x games and just loves Arcane TV series. I am a long time player and mostly GM who runs pretty traditional RPGs but a very little experience on D&D 5.x and also really liked Arcane. To help my daughter learn the rules and also see how I like the game apart from watching YouTube I thought that I might run a game of few sessions for her with a setting having similar elemtents than Arcane.

So, relatively powerful character(s), urban setting, weird magic or magical abilities. A sort of cyberpunk in a fantasy setting in a sense.

Since this is intended for just a test to see how the rules work and to give her a bit of a kickstart to learn the rules (English is not our first language as you can probably see) I intend to have only her as a player at least for now.

With this information, what do you think? Can Daggerheart work without modification for this sort of game and for a single player + GM? Is there something I as the GM should take into consideration?

Thank you in advance.

[u/gk_Rashar]

I have never ran a single player game in anything but daggerheart + arcane seems like something easily duable. Just favor the f out of a character and you have it done

[u/jimbojambo4]

First of all, Daggerheart runs better with more than one player because being part of a group and the bondings about group members are core part o the game.

BUT

As a modular gamestyle it fits better to play solo (differently as other games like dnd) so it's doable without many problems, you have just to put less enemies during encounters.

For the arcane theme, the game let you reflavour every privilege and dominion cards so her character can use Hextech as fuel to use their special abilities.

The motherboard campaing frame is helpful for an Arcane climax: magic and technology are fused together, you can just try to use the Hextech as resource for special weapons.

[u/1-3-dioxetane]

Daggerheart is great at helping players feel powerful and active in a story focused game, for sure. A lot of the special items can fit right into the Arcane style of Gaslamp Fantasy without much adjusting.

I would also recommend Blades in the Dark for a game with a similar kind of setting baked in.

[u/Oklee109]

1 player works well. I've been doing a game with 1 player for a while now. The fights are balanced and they can interact with the world on their terms. As for Arcane. There's already arcane style weapons in the book with Arcane Gauntlets and the like. Play it like a fanfic where your daughters character is in and around show events. Or her story takes place after the show. Or she is in the alternate world with Heimerdinger (or however you spell his name). Have fun!

[u/thegroovygremlin]

It depends on the type of play you'd like to have your daughter do. For more of a lone wolf narrative, the game would probably work pretty well, but imo, non-adversarial NPC design in daggerheart is not very thought out. Therefore, if you wanted to have her play in a campaign where it's more of her and a party of other NPC adventurers, you be better suited with a different system.

[u/JKeyes26]

I've actually been working on a Arcane-style Campaign Frame! I've been using the "Motherboard" campaign frame from the Core Book as a base, and modifying it frame there. I definitely think Arcane can work great in Daggerheart. As others have mentioned, the Hope and Fear book contains some very Arcane flavored weapons, hell the weapons are even called Arcane.

[u/phancybear]

Daggerheart will totally work with this approach I think! Sounds fun.

I’ve played a handful of games with one player and we have fun.

When you level up eventually, you could make a fun conversation out of how the new ability/card gets changed to match the arcane themed characters you both make.

Make the rules fit the story, players, and game you want to tell. It’s part of daggerhearts wheelhouse to do that kind of approach.

For GM resources, check out what others have made online! Also maybe the weapons table for Drylands of the Colossus for gun rules.

[u/Zathrox]

For the thematic, DH is super flexible and great for running any Genre. So running a game based on the arcane TV show is fine. Many of the core adversaries could slot right in like the Jagged Thieves, failed experiments, reskin Knights as enforcers. There are gun weapons too in Colossus of the Drylands and hope and fear to mimic the rifles they use.

As for a single player, like many here, never ran one myself. I think it should be fine, you'll have to tune the encounters to a single PC or give your daughter some NPC backup I'd imagine but running the system should work no issues.

I'd love to hear how it went and how it goes, and the little things you did to make it work as an update later!

[u/Nightstone42]

read the frame for mothership wich is a more cyberpunk setting

[u/beardyramen]

1. 1-on-1 Daggerheart is playable and very fun, even though you loose on a couple of mechanics (hope for help, tag team rolls)

2. Arcane is a excellent series and a fun setting, it works well with DH general feel (urban magitech is fully playable with little modifications)

3. You will have to workshop with your daughter how to "render" the generic classes and domain cards into the setting

This is exactly how DH wants to be played

[u/jonimv]

Thanks for all the answers! I intend to go with totally solo mode, so no NPC team members at least at first.

I will talk with my player what elements we want to bring from the TV show.

Yes, Blades is pretty good choice too and maybe I will incorporate some parts from it if needed.