Issue #2: Frustrated Front Line Fighter
Dearest Zarine,
I am a front line fighter, and have been one my whole adventuring career. It’s a job that I enjoy, so I make no complaints about it at all. We all have roles to play in a functioning questing party and, of course, the role of the front line is to do the bulk of the work killing the most consistent assault of monsters toward the group. Of course this job would be impossible without an effective dynamic of fighters and support casters working together and because of that there are a number of people that are stationed on that front line killing monsters for most of the quest.
This role necessitates being in long sustained engagements with bad guys and as the quest nears it’s inevitable end and those bad guys get tougher, even to the extent of the Big Bad, those fights get longer and require more sustained effort to win. Most of the questing party at that point are focused on those last few fights, but not everyone.
More times than I can count, right at the end of the quest while most of the party is fighting that final conflict, a few self-motivated individuals slip past that engagement and are the first to make their way to the inevitable magic item that lays at the end. They are then, of course, the first to lay hands on that item and therefore claim it as their own.
For many, many years that was just the accepted order of things. Of course many people did not like it but it was a social norm. What could you do? Then one day I decided to do something.
After the Big Bad was defeated while the sneaky crew was holding the item in their hands, I made the proclamation that I was not going to let the situation alone and I told them that under penalty of death they were going to hand over the item and that the entire questing party would then decide through democratic process who most deserves to walk away with the item.
This resulted in some argument. The sneaky crew did not want to hand over the item. Several other members of the party agreed that although they did not like it, that was the social norm that needed to be stuck with. But most of the group stood behind my declaration and under fear of death the sneaky crew handed over the item and a discussion and vote was held. The item ended up going to a support caster that had worked hard on the front line all day.
So what do you think? AITA for flaunting the norms and threatening members of my own questing party with death over material goods?
- Frustrated Front Line Fighter
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Dear Frustrated Front Line Fighter,
You asked ‘ AITA for flaunting the norms and threatening members of my own questing party with death over material goods?’, but I don't see this as being about material goods. This is about entitlement. In this case, retrieval of the item isn’t the problem, it’s the feeling of entitlement gained by years and years of bad precedent.
Could the sneaky crew have retrieved the item without the help of the rest of the party? Likely not. If they were truly sneaky, would you have ever even known about the item in question, also likely not. So assuming that these despots couldn’t have gotten the item without the help of the frontline fighters, support casters, puzzle solvers, etc, in my not so humble opinion the item does not belong only to them but to everyone who played a part in retrieving it.
Just because we’ve always played by the ‘finders keepers’ mentality doesn’t mean that we need to continue in that vein. Maybe twenty years ago that attitude was fine, but the Realms has changed since then. Magic items have no real value beyond their actual magical ability, most of which is only situationally useful. There is no reason for someone to walk around with thirty seven magic items that provide them no benefit. Congratulations, you were opportunistic and your reward is you get to carry a bunch of useless crap on your belt. Or better yet, lock it away in a closet where no one gets to use it. That’s your right per the status quo, right?
Wrong. Status quo means ‘the existing state of affairs’. Well, the existing state of affairs can change any time we want it to. Perhaps we’d now like the societal norm for dealing with loot found on our weekend quests to be ‘giving it to the person who would benefit most as decided by the entire adventuring party.’ But the only way for the status quo to change is for someone to challenge it.
While your chosen tactic for dealing with the ‘sneaky crew’ might have been a bit harsh, I’ve been around enough to know that sometimes death threats are the only way to get through to people that you are serious. I’ve also never owned a magical artifact, so maybe it’s time to start employing this tactic. Death is cheap in these lands anyways, so if I were them and was truly intent on keeping the items I would have just said ‘alright, stab me then and see how that goes.’ But clearly the sneaky crew either hasn’t been around that long or doesn’t have an angry mob at their disposal. You were willing to kill for your beliefs but they clearly weren’t willing to die for theirs, so you win.
So are you the arsehole for forcing a change to a bad precedent? No. I’d say they are the arseholes for skipping ahead on the quest and grabbing the item for themselves. You are, however, an arsehoel for mixing up ‘flaunt’ and ‘flout’. I mean, unless you truly meant you were flaunting your norms, in which case, flaunt away.
Verdict: Not the Arsehole
So, general plebs of the land, do you think they are an arsehole? No? Maybe? Well, don’t hold back, we all want to know! Feel free to weigh in in the comments.
Have a query about your potential arseholishness? You can send your questions directly to me (sarajjessop@gmail.com if you have no other contact information for me) or you can reach me through the View’s offices at areni.daru@gmail.com .