After a nearly 2 month hiatus, my DnD group finally got back together this past Friday night for a game session. I was extremely happy to hear that we would be playing once again despite my frustrations with magic in the 3.5 system (Right now I am playing a spellscale bard/sorceress hybrid and have serious problems with the fact that the DC for my fascinate and other bard abilities would be no higher than they are now even if I had all 12 levels as bard instead of just the 6 I currently have). But regardless of that I was looking forward to helping my group slay monsters and healing their wounds. That is, until we actually started playing…
To be clear, I want state that I like the three people I play with. They are all good guys. You see, there’s just this one, though. He has a habit of underestimating me. I wish it was just limited to our game sessions, but this guy was surprised to hear that I had college degree, and a bachelor’s of science, no less. Strike one. What gets under my skin the most, however, is when he says, ” I think you’re over thinking things,” before I even get the chance to get three words out! And in defense of my “over thinking things” when our (or most any) DM takes the time to write down, and then read directly from, what an NPC says, which is cryptic to begin with, I don’t believe there is such a thing as over thinking things. Strike two. Many times during lulls or breaks in our game sessions, we all stand out side talking while the guys smoke pipes. Often the topic of conversation is politics or something closely related. There have been several occasions where I have made a statement relevant to the topic at hand like “Monsanto pressures the government to put more pressure on private farmers through fees and regulations.” only to have him say that can’t be true until one of the others confirms what I said. Strike three.
I wish I could just chalk this one up to him discriminating against me because I’m female. I really don’t believe that’s the case, though. I don’t even think he has a sub conscience dislike of me. It’s times like this when you look inward and start to question if there is any merit to the label on your folder of which you have been assigned in your friends’ and acquaintances’ mental filing system. Am I a ditz? Am I doing something that makes me come across as a ditz? I don’t think so, but I can’t exactly be objective about the whole thing.
At this point one of two outcomes is likely. Answers will be revealed as to his behavior or I will adapt and ignore it. Seeing as how blogging is the most confrontational I will ever get, I’ll wager that the most likely is that I’ll learn to ignore it and keep plodding on.
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