Handbook of Erotic Fantasy: Team Building Exercise (Patreon)

Session 61:

Dear Diary,

I have something to confess. I’m not proud of it, but I’ve been just a little bit selfish.

You see, Fighter and I have been doing great lately. Ever since we won the Games of Chaos, the fire of our passion has burned brightly through each and every night (and twice a night on weekends). I never thought I could have this much fun with a romance subplot! My beloved still wears her wood nymph outfit for me, and I think she enjoys it nearly as much as I do.

But a few sessions ago I began to notice something. It was small at first, and I wanted to believe I was imagining things. But more and more, Fighter was talking about her old group. She would drop little hints about missing “the old party dynamic” or “my original build.” It was frustrating, because she would never come right out and say what that other group was like. I don’t even know who they were! And whenever I pressed she would just clam up and dart nervous little glances back at the others.

Me and my one Sense Motive rank began to get suspicious. You see, I thought at first that Fighter was scared of Inquisitor for some reason. Quiz is like a big sister to me after all, and you know how she can be super protective. So in my imagination, if Fighter was gently hinting about a breakup… Well, Intimidate is a class skill for Quiz.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized what those nervous little glances were about. Fighter was trying to tell me something. But it wasn’t about us. It wasn’t even about Quiz. It was about  ̶V̶e̶n̶g̶e̶a̶n̶c̶e̶ Anti-Anti-Paladin!

All those subtle hints about nostalgia and “how it used to be” were directed at our poor, tragic genasi! I never stopped to think how hard it must be for him to quit his old group and sign on with a new party. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I had been horribly self-centered in my RP. Just look at my recent entries, Diary! It reads like a self-insert romance fic, with detailed descriptions of trysts and date nights and sweet nothings. Reading back through that page and a half of onomatopoeia about “the sweet sounds of my beloved’s climax…” Ugh!

And all the while, Fighter was too kind and considerate to just come out and say what she was really thinking. As good partymates, we had to do something for Anti-Anti-Paladin!

Well, let’s just say that opening up our relationship has been a fantastic move. It took a lot of trust, and I know that we both felt vulnerable in that first moment of awkward RP. But putting in the effort to become “more like Anti-Anti-Paladin’s old party” has brought us all closer.

I continue to learn more about the art of roleplaying every time I adventure with Fighter. She dropped those subtle hints, but she let me figure out the lesson for myself: It’s up to each of us to make our partymates feel welcome. And even if I have a preferred partner, it doesn’t mean improvising a larger collaborative scene is out of the question.

Thanks for helping me think this through, Diary! This party dynamic keeps getting better with every session.

— Ranger