I was surprised when my girlfriend decided to host a Pathfinder campaign out of the blue. She said she wanted to do something new yesterday, and I thought she was talking completely different. Instead she came over with a book that I thought was from her college’s library. Still, I’m always up for new things, what have I got to lose?
“So that’s how a Round in Pathfinder works!” She closed the display on the desk, grinning ear to ear. “What do you think?”
I put down my drink and smiled back. “I don’t know, I’m still dizzy from all the numbers you threw at me.”
“I meant the story, silly!” she huffed. “Did you like it or not?”
“Well, I just killed a ten-foot giant and saved the lord of a castle, so from my standpoint, this was the best story ever!”
 “Glad you like it! Because now comes the really difficult part!”
I raised my eyebrow at her “There’s something more difficult than saving the lord?”
“Yup! Now you get to save the rest of the kingdom!”
“Well I can’t do that by myself, do you have friends to play with us?”
“Actually, I was thinking if we could bring your friends in. My friends aren’t exactly familiar with games…”
So that’s her angle, I thought to myself. Sarah had girl friends, but none of them are as… nerdy as she is. My girlfriend has a special way to deal with social situations. When she goes out with her girlfriends, she’ll put on some make up, get dressed, and look like an actress going to a premiere. And when she got home, she’ll change into her sweatpants and pajama shirt, and snuggle up to me in front of the TV. Somehow, whatever she wears, it always looks good on her.
I looked at my phone and checked my contacts. I haven’t exactly kept in touch with most of my friends after graduation. Life happens, and most of us drifted apart. I had almost given up when I checked my list of contacts when I remembered something. She didn’t want any old friend, she wanted gamers.
I closed the contacts app and checked Steam. When I was in high school, I had some friends that used to play MMOs with me. I messaged a couple of them, and an hour later, I got three names.
“So? Did you find anyone?” Sarah asked.
“Yeah, looks like I’m not going solo on this adventure.”
“Great! Now tell me what they’re like so I can make their characters.” Before I can answer, she scrounged up new character sheets and a pen, ready to write every detail down like it was one of her college classes.
“First, we have Teddy. He’s a big guy, but a real softie when you get to know him. When we play anything together, he always plays the support character. Either the guy with heavy armor in front of everybody else, or the healer at the back.”
“He can be a Cleric then,” Sarah wrote down on a character sheet. “Who else?”
“Andrew’s next.” I continued “He’s a straight-up jock, so he can be annoying at times. He’s even broke some hearts when we were in high school.”
Sarah looked up from the sheet. “Do you really want someone like that in your party?”
“Absolutely. He’s always had my back since high school, and there’s nobody that could talk as smooth as him. He might be a player, but he’s a reliable friend.”
“I’ll make him a Bard then. Now we only need another person.”
“I saved the best for last. His name’s Tim. He’s the kind of nerd that really gets deep into the story in the games. He’s a bit standoffish, but he’d warm up to you when you get to know him long enough.”
“I’ll make him a sorcerer, so he’d fit right in.”
“Actually, make it a sorceress if you can. He always plays female characters for some reason.”
“Gotcha. We have a full party! This is so exciting!” She put down the sheets and hugged me tight. “You’ll go on an adventure! and with your friends, too!”
“Yeah, I can’t wait.” I looked down on my girlfriend, who is positively giddy. “Let’s hope they get to have as much fun as I did,”