[RPG] do about the guys being distracted by a new girl in D&D group

gendergroup-dynamicssocialteenagers

We recently got a new party member, and she is … well, extremely distracting if you catch my drift. As the DM it is frustrating, because all the guys are trying to flirt with her, and shower her with items in game. The whole thing is quickly becoming a mess. (One even attempted to grope her, In the game and real life, an issue being addressed in a separate question) Seriously, I have no freaking idea what to say to the guys, and how to do it, the whole thing just seems so … awkward. Not only that, but I too have found myself attracted to her. How do I get my own, and my group's hormones to be put away so we can play the game and have fun; which is what I’m sure she is trying to do also. We are a bunch of 8th and 9th graders and we are all friends.

Can someone help me?

Best Answer

I want to second Longspeak's answer of just play the game. The bigger deal you make of it the bigger deal it will become. You will all get used to it over time. The exception of course is the player who assaulted the young woman, but that is being discussed in the other question. That behavior cannot stand.

I also want to add that you should probably try to minimize the role of sex in the game. If having a pretty young woman in the group is enough to derail play, describing sexual encounters in detail will cause a mess. Teens playing DnD will frequently use it as an opportunity to talk about sex and flirt without it being "real". When I was young, this was a common cause of in game distractions that led to out of game tension. Then I started playing with a GM who didn't stop us from including sex in the game, but kept it very dry. Example:

Player: "I start going around bars looking for a prostitute."

GM: "Ok, do you go to the nice part of town or the sketchy part of town?"

Player: "The sketchy part"

GM: "That will be 5sp, make a fort save."

Player: "I got a 9"

GM: "You got oral herpes. You take -2 to charisma for 3 days each month. What's everyone else doing?"

By keeping it super dry and boring (and with potential consequences) people didn't really want to engage in it as much, and that helped keep focus on the game. Make it like shopping or traveling between locations, it is part of the game, but it isn't super fun so most of the time you just announce that it happened an move on.