Kamal

Overview

Player: Kevin Dahm
Campaign: Under the Bus
Class: Paladin
Level: 14
AC: 30
HP: 146
Affiliation: The Chosen

Kamal was a Paladin played by Kevin Dahm who joined the Under the Bus adventuring party relatively late in the campaign.

Kevin initially appeared as a guest player. By January 2010, the campaign reports described him as one of the party's newest members, and he subsequently became a regular enough participant to be involved in major adventures including the Dragon Hunt and Lich Temple.

Kamal was a heavily armored Paladin with a Celestial Dire Lion as his mount. He appears to have been a capable front-line combatant and became particularly notable for his role in the party's later adventures.

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Campaign Participation

The surviving reports indicate that Kevin was a relatively late addition to the party.

On January 6, 2010, the campaign report described Kevin as having guest appeared for the previous couple of sessions as a Paladin. At that point, his character's name had apparently not yet been recorded in the campaign notes.

On January 15, the report still identified him simply as Kevin, alongside Malachi, as one of the party's Paladins.

By January 20, Kevin was explicitly described as one of the newest members of the group.

By February 2010, his character was consistently identified as Kamal.

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Class

Paladin

Kamal was a 14th-level Paladin according to the surviving character snapshot.

His deity is not currently established in the surviving notes.

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Chosen

Kamal was a member of The Chosen.

12th-Level Chosen Power

Aura of Resolve

This is recorded as Kamal's 12th-level Chosen Power.

15th-Level Chosen Power

Unknown

The 15th-level entry on the character snapshot is blank.

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Known Abilities

The character snapshot records the following:

• Diehard
• Oath of Wrath
• Heroic — recorded on the snapshot, but its meaning and mechanical source are unknown.
• Shield — recorded on the snapshot, but it is unclear whether this was an ability, a shorthand equipment reference, or a note concerning his legacy item.

No attempt should be made to assign mechanical meanings to the unresolved entries without additional evidence.

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Celestial Dire Lion

Kamal had a Celestial Dire Lion associated with his character.

The most likely interpretation is that this was his Paladin mount. The campaign reports independently refer to Kevin having a mount: during the Lich Temple encounter, the purple ray of Prismatic Spray sent Kevin's mount to another plane while Kevin himself was struck by the indigo ray.

The character snapshot specifically identifies the creature as a Celestial Dire Lion, making it very likely that this was the mount referred to in the campaign report.

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Combat

Kamal served as a front-line combatant alongside Malachi.

Dragon Hunt

During the fight with the adult Red Dragon, Kamal delivered the critical hit that killed the dragon.

This was one of his most significant recorded combat contributions.

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The Lich Temple

Kamal's most substantial character event in the surviving reports occurred during the party's encounter with the lich.

The lich used Prismatic Spray against the party. Kamal was struck by the indigo ray and failed the associated save, causing him to become insane. His mount was simultaneously struck by the purple ray and transported to another plane.

The insanity caused Kamal to become a danger to the rest of the party, requiring the other characters to restrain him.

The party eventually used a Limited Wish scroll recovered from the lich's possessions to cure Kamal's insanity.

Afterward, Kamal sought Atonement. The campaign report notes that because his actions had resulted from magical compulsion rather than voluntary behavior, only a lesser form of Atonement was required and the clerics did not have to spend XP.

The incident is significant because Kamal apparently felt personally responsible enough for his actions to seek religious restitution even though his behavior had been magically imposed upon him.

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Battle Chess

Kamal was involved in the party's encounter with the mysterious dwarf at the End of the World, who challenged the adventurers to Battle Chess.

Bo Duke was selected as the party's champion. In the interest of fairness, members of the party were divided between the two teams.

Kamal joined Bo's team along with Smah Tepants. They faced a team consisting of Tim, Tashiro Sunshine Eastforest, Malachi, and Clowe.

Kevin had never played Battle Chess before, but immediately adopted an aggressive strategy. He put his queen in a position where it could be taken by a pawn, apparently intending to use the resulting opening to attack the opposing king.

The tactic worked.

The game ended extraordinarily quickly, with the dwarf remarking that it was the fastest game of Battle Chess he had ever witnessed. Tashiro was apparently less impressed by the strategy than Kevin was.

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The Dragon Hoard

Following the Dragon Hunt, Kamal took a +5 Shield of Arrow Deflection from the dragon's hoard.

Because he selected the shield, he did not receive a share of the cash portion of the hoard.

Possible Legacy Item

The character snapshot contains the shorthand entry “shield.”

It is possible that this refers to the +5 Shield of Arrow Deflection and that the shield was Kamal's Legacy Item. The timing is plausible: Kamal had only recently joined the campaign when the Dragon Hunt occurred, making the dragon hoard a possible point at which his significant equipment was established.

However, the surviving campaign report describes the shield simply as an item Kamal took from the dragon hoard. It does not explicitly identify it as a legacy item.

Status: probable but unconfirmed.

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Fire Flower

During the exploration of the Fire Flower cavern, Kamal stayed behind with Dugan Lifebrew to pick flowers and study them while Bo Duke crossed the dangerous cavern first.

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Demetrius

Kamal occasionally attempted to deal with Demetrius's increasingly intense beliefs concerning the coming Messiah.

When Tim's attempts to reason with Demetrius failed, Kamal tried distracting him by playing Battle Chess. Demetrius continued preaching despite the attempted distraction.

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Relationships

• Kevin Dahm — player.
• Malachi — fellow paladin.
• Dew Gooder — fellow Chosen and cleric of Demmazon.
• Bo Duke — fellow Chosen.
• Tim — fellow Chosen.
• Smah Tepants — fellow Chosen.
• Dugan Lifebrew — fellow Chosen.
• Tashiro Sunshine Eastforest — fellow Chosen and Battle Chess opponent.
• Clowe — fellow Chosen.
• Demetrius — played Battle Chess with Kamal.
• Orinder — involved in the party's magical affairs.

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Characterization

The surviving material does not provide enough information for a detailed reconstruction of Kamal's personality.

What can reasonably be observed is:

• He was willing to take an active front-line role.

• He apparently had a strong enough sense of Paladin responsibility to seek Atonement after being magically compelled to attack his companions.

• He could be playful or impulsive, as illustrated by his aggressive and unconventional approach to Battle Chess.

• He appears to have been comfortable taking on significant equipment responsibilities, including the +5 Shield of Arrow Deflection.

These observations should not be expanded into broader personality claims without additional player notes.

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Known Statistics

Open Questions

• What race was Kamal?
• What was his alignment?
• Who was his deity?
• What was his complete Paladin progression?
• What was his 15th-level Chosen Power?
• What does Heroic on the character snapshot refer to?
• What does Shield on the character snapshot refer to?
• Was the +5 Shield of Arrow Deflection actually Kamal's legacy item?
• Was the Celestial Dire Lion definitely his Paladin mount?
• What other feats and abilities did he possess?
• What was Kamal's character concept and backstory?
• How exactly did Kevin transition from guest player to regular party member?
• What happened to Kamal after the last surviving reports?