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“Are you sure that this is gonna work, Coach?” Beard asked sceptically. He was sitting in his chair, looking at the team formation on the whiteboard in the shared office, a book lying open on his desk. Ted was sitting at his desk opposite, eyes shining optimistically.
The pair were among the few members of staff till inside AFC Richmond, other members of staff having left a long time since. Training had been a miserable affair since the very recent departure from Zava, and Ted was desperately looking for ideas to help the team relax and raise morale.
Then the idea hit him; Dungeons & Dragons. Though little he knew of the game itself, he knew in a few cases D&D had been used in industry to help teams, and in the film industry crew come together. Also, Ted knew that Beard had definitely played in college as he’d accompanied his friend many a time to the local games shop.
“Well it works for the fellas of the Cleveland Browns.” Ted offered with a smile. “Aw c’mon, Coach,” he resonated, seeing an even more doubtful look from his friend. “Even if it’s just one time. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. What's the harm in trying?”
A quiet sigh in resignation from Beard told Ted that he agreed.
It was not much harder to convince Rebecca that the idea would work, but being desperate to secure a win for Richmond, she was willing to try anything, and Ted was able to win her over. She just hoped that Ted knew what he was doing. Thinking back, she hoped that the players would be much more open to it. She knew that the players from a few years ago would have definitely laughed at the idea of playing. The players and the team had come so far
It was even easier finding someone who actually could run a game too. After a small google search, Ted had found the website of Ezra Kirton, a D&D streamer and Youtuber, and most importantly, was a Game Master. Emails had gone between them, and it wasn’t long before Ted was ready to drop the news to the team.
To say that Ezra Kirton was surprised when he received an email from Ted Lasso from AFC Richmond was an understatement. He’d never played football as a kid, more interested in creating stories, and roleplaying games, namely Dungeons and Dragons. So then as he grew up, he went into the creative industries, creating his own YouTube channel in which he played Dungeons & Dragons really took off. He worked on getting a deal on publishing his own Dungeons & Dragons play book, based on the very world he created and had produced and streamed. He’d had some incredible experiences, and right now was extremely happy and content in life.
The world of football still really remained much of a mystery to him. He knew very little about the sport, most of what he did know was because of actually living in Richmond, so it meant that he heard all the talk about the Greyhounds most places he went; from Ms Welton winning the club in her divorce from Mr Mannion, to their demotion from and promotion back to the Premier League, and then the arrival and sudden and current departure of football player Zava.
So it was still a mystery to him as to why Ted Lasso of all people had emailed him. When he found out it was the Coach asking him to run a Dungeons & Dragons session for the team to help with team building, he was more surprised than before. Sure, it was fairly uncommon for spots to coincide with football, and his high school experience reminded him of that. However, it had worked in the case of Johnny Stanton, Cleveland Browns players, Chris Kluwe, and Joe Manganiello to name a few. Even celebrities like Vin Diesel, Jon Favreau, and even Dame Judi Dench enjoyed the game. Still he couldn’t help but feel a little apprehensive about the way it was going to turn out, especially running a session for Premier League footballers.
Nevertheless, Ezra responded to Ted, agreeing to run a game, and Ted had given a short brief to be as creative as he wanted, giving Ezra total control over everything. That, Ezra could do with. In the days leading up to his trip to Nelson Road, Ezra worked on getting the final pieces ready. He worked on creating character sheets, procuring dice sets and boxes, and gathering the minis he needed for the game he was going to run. He decided to run a game set in the world he created. It meant a lot to him, and he loved sharing it with other people.
As it turned out, Ted Lasso was just a lovely as he’d come across in email correspondences, and having arriving a little earlier to get set up, he’d been introduced to Coach Beard, Coach Roy, the Director of Football Operations, Leslie Higgins, Ms Welton herself, and the kit man, Will, who had been starstruck to say the least.
Near the time where the players were going to be arriving, Ezra found himself in Roy and Trent Crimm’s shared office, which was where he met the journalist. Though Trent had neve played the game, he seemed interested in whether it would help the team. Ezra was hoping that it would. His heat hammered in his chest as he began to hear the buzz in the changing rooms getting louder and louder.
“Alright, team,” Ted clapped his hands together as he stepped cheerfully into the changing rooms. “We’re doing something a little different today. Now, I know y’all probably all wondering, ‘Coach? Why did you ask us to be here on a non-training day?’ and I’ll tell you now that I’ve got a surprise planned for y’all. Now, there's someone who I'd like y’all to meet.”
Ezra had been following what Ted was saying and had slipped into the locker room as Ted had begun to introduce him. “I’m Ezra Kirton. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”
Confused murmurs rippled amongst the team. He continued, “So Coach Lasso told me you’ve been a little down since Zava left.” Ezra swore he heard Dani try to stifle a sob. “And he got in touch with me to help take your minds off it. So I’m going to be running a Dungeons and Dragons session for you all.”
There was a brief silence in the room before Moe piped up, a huge grin on his face. “No way, that’s so awesome.”
“You’ve played before, Moe?” Ted asked.
Moe nodded, “Yeah, as a kid. Don’t do it anymore though. My party stopped playing. Seriously guys, Ezra is a legend.” Moe turned to Ezra. “I love your stuff, man.”
“Thank you so much,” Ezra replied. He definitely felt a weight being lifted off his shoulders knowing that someone else knew how to play, as well as liking his content.
“Why don’t y’all go on upstairs to Ezra’s set-up,” Ted enthused and rallied the team to one of the larger meeting rooms in Nelson Road. Everyone who was playing had taken a seat and were rifling through the character sheets and cheat sheets that had been left out.
Will was now also sitting at the table, as a spare space had popped up, and the young man had been desperate to play a game with his idol, the rest of the team excited to also have him there. Him and Moe were already scribbling away at the character sheets, and Ezra was content to let them be. He began to explain to them the basic rules and that they were going to come up with characters.
“Why can’t I just be me?” Jan asked. “Do were really to need to-”
“It’s for the game, Jan Maas.” Jamie groaned, “Just create a character, yeah?”
After a while of going through all types of classes and characters that were available in his world, the team had come up with their characters. Jamie had picked a Variant Human Paladin, Isaac had chosen a Half-Orc Barbarian, and both Dani and Jan Maas had eventually chosen to play as a Druid. Moe had chosen to be a Wild Magic Sorcerer, and Will had picked an Artificer. O’Brien, who sat next to Moe had chosen Wizard, with Moe’s promise of support with spell action economy. Sam was a Cleric, and with some slight deliberation Van Damme and Richard had chosen to be a Fighter and Bard respectively. It left Colin, who’d been sitting quietly to introduce his character as a Changeling Rogue.
Needless to say, the game was going to be very chaotic.
Ezra sat at the head of the table, shrouded by the shadow of his GM screen, and began. “In times where there were tales of dragons…”
Overall, the game had run smoothly. It had been rather nice to watch the team work together as a party, as they completed a quest given to them by the Prince and Princess of Akisea.
He had been worried that they weren’t going to take to it and find it boring, but he needn't have worried at all. They had been laughing, and joking with each other, and had slipped into their created characters very easily. Of course, things wouldn’t be right if the quest didn't end up turning the slightest bit chaotic; as halfway through Jan’s character had made weed using his herbalism proficiency, and the entire party got high and almost set a tavern alight. All in all, Ezra would’ve been a little disappointed if something like that hadn't happened.
The final fight had occurred, and he grinned to himself as he shocked the party with a twist of his own, as one of the NPCs he created had infiltrated the party, and had been working for the BBEG the whole time. It had been a spectacular combat, and it had been really nice to see that the team had picked up the game so easily. Moe and Will supported people who were still getting to grips with the rules, and they worked together to make sure everyone was standing strong. Ezra noticed that Ted was smiling, and realisation had burst in his chest, knowing that Ted’s desired outcome had indeed happened and it was a job well done.
He animatedly described the fall of the BBEG as well as an emotional but tragic ending for the traitor. As the BBEG fell, following a deadly killing blow from Lore, Colin’s Changeling Rogue (with whom Lore had a dark history with), loud cheers erupted from the table. He didn’t miss the breathless smile on Colin’s face, and he quickly turned his gaze back to the group.
“And so, your party, weary but victorious, head back to the Akisea, to the Prince and Princess, who pay you as promised, and grant you safety in their country, should you ever need it.” Ezra went around the table, helping close off the story for each of the players, and once they had, Ezra continued. “And that is where this tale comes to an end. With the quest done, you continue on your journey, driven by the lessons learned from Akisea 一 a world where friendship, courage, and the willingness to embrace yourselves would always lead to victory.”
Out of his role as GM, and now just as Ezra, he smiled. “Thank you so much to Ted once again, for inviting me here today, and I really hope that you enjoyed it.
“Now fellas,” Ted took this moment to speak up. “What do y’all say to Ezra over here for running that game for you?
A chorus of thank yous bounced around the room. Will had also clapped in appreciation, and Moe and a few of the others had joined in.
“Will we do this again?” Dani asked hopefully. “I would really like to play some more.”
There were hums of agreement and the team looked expectantly at Ted.
Ted chuckled softly, “Well, I don’t why we shouldn’t continue this. I’m sure we’ll be able to schedule it in for y’all.”
A cheer went around the room. Then Ted had dismissed the team and they slowly started to trickle out of the room. Ezra stayed behind as he packed up the sheets and dice sets. Now that he knew what characters people were, it would definitely give him something to go off for creating their next adventure.
Ezra just hoped that the trust and cooperation the team had experienced in their quest would carry on in the real world, strengthening their connection on and off the field.