Taman Helder's page

I've got some bad news. For the past few months, my real-life circumstances have been shifting in such a way as to make it harder and harder to keep up with my PbP games. I kept thinking things would settle and I'd get back to the level of availability I had a year ago (or even six months ago), but it's become clear that my lack of regular availability is the new normal. It seems I can't even rely on my own lunch break as a chance to get my games updated (I'm actually pushing some things aside just to be able to tell you this).

Unfortunately, this means I'm taking a hiatus from all PbP gaming for the foreseeable future. I don't know if I'll get to try it again at all, let alone when that might be. Sorry to add to the upheaval. Thanks for the game; it was fun. :)

Taman perks up. "Say, friends! You know Aleanor? Do you know where she is?"

Huh, totally thought I'd already posted; maybe the forums ate it?

"Greetings!" Taman declares bouncily. "Let's get started with some drinks and bread for the group!" Taman tosses a gold coin in payment.

So do we manage to finish a short rest?

Arcana: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15

Taman keeps eyeing Krieger on the way back. Once Johana has left the room, he says, "I think Krieger's left his body somehow, and I don't know if he's coming back." Taman begins flipping frantically through his book of adventuring notes as he says, "I'm sorry, I don't know if I have anything on this..."

Then, as if struck by inspiration, he announces, "Perhaps our meeting tonight will be related and we'll learn something useful! We should rest up and make sure we're ready." His face returns to a happy, beaming smile.

I probably won't get to post again for about a week. Happy holidays, everyone!

"And did it...it... is Krieger dead?"

Did he get up after I cast Cure Wounds on him earlier?

"Well done, friends!" Taman declares in his usual, chipper tone. "Now, shall we take a breather before trekking back?"

I recommend a short rest.

Taman stands warily between the action and the two civilians, hoping to protect them if anything goes wrong.

"Maybe we should all get out of the room first, and do this cautiously. How about I stand just outside the doorway and blast it from a distance until it's destroyed?"

"Maybe someone strong could break it...?" Taman wonders aloud, looking warily at the pulsing stone.

Arcana: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15
Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

Seeing Jordan revive, Taman breathes a sigh of relief, then notices that Krieger is still breathing as well. He rushes over and expends his last bit of healing magic:

Cure Wounds: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

"I think we could all do with a breather," Taman suggests, "But afterwards we should probably report the presence of this strange rock to someone."

Taman anxiously approaches Jordan as well, waiting to see the results of the healing before acting.

"You won't escape Mordoloth's righteous wrath, fiend!"

Sacred Flame (DC 15 DEX negates, no cover): 2d8 ⇒ (2, 8) = 10

Alarmed, Taman calls out, "Kjell! Shake it off, Mordoloth will help you!" Bardic Inspiration: he's got a d6 he can add to one d20 roll, after seeing the d20 roll.

Then, not wanting to send his back-climbing friend flying, Taman switches to a different magical assault against the creature:

Sacred Flame (DC 15 DEX negates, no cover): 2d8 ⇒ (1, 2) = 3

/facepalm

Taman shoots Maeltheron a wicked glare when Jordan falls silent—the first harsh look to ever appear on his face in recent memory—then switches back to a look of optimistic determination as he sidesteps a bit, extends both hands, and says, "May the power of Mordoloth smite this abomination!"

Moving a little bit to the side along the edge of the room, just enough so that the monolith isn't directly opposite the fish-stick from me, then casting eldritch blast.

Eldritch Blast: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13, Force Damage: 1d10 ⇒ 7
Eldritch Blast: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18, Force Damage: 1d10 ⇒ 8

Each hit pushes him back 10ft directly away from me.

Um... approximately how many zombies are we looking at, here? Or are the grabby bodies more of a hazard than a set of creatures?

I'd have been 5+ feet into the room, so that my 30ft-radius detect magic could get the whole room.

"Creaker! Are you okay?!"

I'm fine with the dagger of warning spreading its benefit to the whole party instead of just me. :)

2) Taman hasn't checked in yet, but will hopefully bring his "divine light" back. I will PM him.

"Wowie! We're getting the gang back together? Fantastic!"

5) Related to that, I would like to do group initiative. I will roll for all of you and then all of the enemies, and the group with the highest average goes first in whatever order they want. Hopefully that doesn't tweak the game too much, and at a glance I don't think anyone has any initiative-related special stuff. I figure then people don't have to wait on each other, or wait for me to post some enemies, and then other players, and then more enemies, etc. Just all of you first and then all of the enemies, or vice versa. In my bit of experience so far, it seems PbP with some form of group initiative move faster and smoother.

Thanks to my dagger of warning, I have advantage on initiative checks. If you're wanting to average our initiatives together, I recommend stealing the PHB's suggestion for when someone has advantage on a "passive" score: instead of a second roll, just add +5 (IIRC) bonus. That way there wouldn't be as many steps in your math as there would be if you had to roll 2d20 and then remove one of them. But it's up to you; that's just an idea. :)

Dang, I really liked this character.

It's been a week or more since anybody but me or Krieger has been heard from. Is this game still happening?

"Well," Taman says, furrowing his brow, "I don't really know much about sigh-awnings or whatever you called it, Krieger; do you know what the rock does?"

I'm wicked sick right now, so please bot me as necessary. Sorry I wasn't able to let you know yesterday.

"I'd better scan the big glowy rock while you check the bodies," Taman says.

Casting detect magic to locate all magical auras within 30ft of me (which should catch the stone in the center of the room without me having to approach, if I understood the description correctly). Assuming I find some auras, I'll start using actions to learn their schools of magic.

"Certainly!" Taman responds. "Though this is the last major miracle I can perform until we take a breather, so be careful."

Cure Wounds (Warlock slot): 3d8 + 4 ⇒ (6, 2, 6) + 4 = 18

FYI, I'll be traveling out of state for a wedding this weekend, and therefore might not be able to post between today and Monday.

Sounds like nobody's eager for healing/resting, so should we resume our right-hand-rule exploration?

Arcana: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

"Does anyone require an additional healing miracle of Mordoloth before we continue?" Taman asks with genuine concern.

No worries on the initiative thing; I think all that happened was that you had the monsters go before me, which I don't think really changed much of how things are playing out. Happens to the best of us. Heck, in my last big fight as GM, I left out two mages from the description of the enemy forces, and kept accidentally flipping a dragon between green and blue. :/

"You're in trouble now!" Taman calls out, then summons the same divine fire as before.

Sacred Flame, DC 15 DEX negates: 2d8 ⇒ (2, 4) = 6

Seeing one of his companions hurt, Taman calls out, "May the goodness of Mordoloth heal your wounds, Lilly!" And amazingly, it happens.

Bonus action: healing word on Lilly, out of a warlock slot.
Amount healed: 3d4 + 4 ⇒ (3, 2, 1) + 4 = 10

Then, Taman raises his hands and glares at the creatures. "May the righteousness of Mordoloth smite you, foul creatures!" A blast of holy light flares up around the creature that grabbed Lilly.

Casting the Sacred Flame cantrip. Deals radiant damage, DEX DC 15 negates. Cover does not apply.
Radiant damage: 2d8 ⇒ (5, 4) = 9

Dang, too small for fireball. ;)

Taman calls from the back: "May the light of Mordoloth guide our blades against these hideous foes!" He extends his hands, and a burst of happy purple light envelops the area where the monsters stand.

Casting faerie fire out of a bard slot. DC 15 DEX save; any creature that fails is lit up for the duration, making it unable to benefit from invisibility and giving all attack rolls against it advantage.

"Wait, wait!" Taman says enthusiastically. "I've got something for this!" He pulls his notebook out of his backpack and flips through it a moment, before putting his finger onto a page and reading:

"The 'Right-Hand Rule' — If you think you might get lost in a dungeon or maze, turn right at every intersection."

He closes his book with a proud smile and puts it back in his pack.

Looks fine to me. Also, my light cantrip lasts an hour at a time, so I would pause the group for a quick refresh about every 45min, so we're never caught with an about-to-expire light source in an emergency situation. This rule is undoubtedly recorded, underlined, and circled in Taman's notebook. ;)

That order sounds fine to me as well. Also, I can cast light on whatever object would be the most convenient for the folks up front.

Seeing the heavy grate, Taman looks around at the party. "Kjell!" he says. "You look strong; think you could lift that grate? I'll help you with the blessing of Mordoloth."

Casting guidance to give Kjell (or whoever tries it instead of him) an extra 1d4 to add to the check.

"Besides," Taman adds cheerfully to Kjell's comment, "We've got the light of Mordoloth on our side! What could go wrong?"

After verifying a lack of active magic, Taman references his list of new friends that he wrote last night, then smiles and addresses the unhappy-looking wizard.

"Don't worry, Maeltheron!" he says, giving him a friendly slap on the back. "The good and noble Mordoloth offers me many useful magics, including the ability to clean and scent our clothes! No sewer will be a match for the light of Mordoloth!"

He turns to Johana. "Well, friend, you might want to stay behind. Things could get dangerous, and we need someone to bring Jordan back home to!" Then, to the rest of the group, he adds, "Shall we?"

If people have other investigations to do, you'll probably want to speak up, as whatever you have in mind likely hasn't occurred to Taman. ;)

After several iterations of lighting and snuffing his candle, Taman finally takes a deep breath and stows the (unlit) candle back in his bag. By the time he and the others have finished breakfast, his usual smile has returned.

Looking around the room, Taman scratches his head, then says, "Perhaps the good and kind Mordoloth will reveal magical secrets to me. Just a moment."

The young half-elf stands in the middle of the room and extends his arms before uttering a handful of arcane phrases.

Casting detect magic, which I can do at-will via one of my warlock invocations. I detect all magic items and active spells within 30ft of me, and if an aura is within line of sight, I can (and will) use an action to determine what school of magic it is.

The morning finds Taman quieter than usual; almost somber. He holds a small candle in one hand, and seems deeply focused in repeatedly using a cantrip to ignite and then snuff it over and over and over again. Quite uncharacteristically, he hardly speaks a word to anyone.

"Speaking of tomorrow," Taman interjects, suddenly looking up from his impromptu roster, "Does anyone know what time we're supposed to meet Ms. Pathsteader here?" The young half-elf produces another piece of paper and skims it before adding, "My note just says 'on the next new moon', and I'm not sure whether that implies nightfall or not."

"Neat!" Taman says once Johana has left. "I got a kiss! Now then, I'd better start writing down names..." He produces a notebook and starts writing again, occasionally asking folks for repeats of their introductions.

Taman throws his hands upwards and beams with elation. "New friends! More help! Everybody wins!"

He gives Johana an affectionate pat on the shoulder and says, "You just get some sleep; I'm sure you've probably not had enough of it lately. Just relax and leave it to us, alright? Oh, and good job not getting drunk; that's a good show of your inner strength!" <--- Totally believed what she said.

Turning to Mael, Taman introduces himself. "I am Taman Helder, wandering cleric of Mordoloth, lord of goodness and light! And yes, I was indeed summoned by Ms. Pathsteader." He oozes excitement as he adds, "I wonder what adventures await us all tomorrow?"

With an expression of determined focus on his face, Taman diligently records all the details, though he take a couple of tries to improvise the spelling of the haunting entity: "fish stick psoriasis fuh-THIS-ick".

"There!" the half-elf declares. "Now, Ms..."—he consults his notes—"Grethe, what does your brother Jordan look like?"

Hope you do not mind Duncan having heard of Taman from the locals. Being part of the town and keeping his ears open to the coming and goings around, I am sure he would have heard of the "crazy" priest from friends and acquaintances...

He's only "crazy" if you know who Mordoloth is (or rather, isn't) or if you can tell the difference between a warlock and a cleric. To anyone who knows no better than to think Mordoloth is just some other god/celestial they hadn't heard of before, Taman would be merely an enthusiastic priest. ;)

"Your brother Jordan is missing, you say?" Taman confirms, still smiling. "Not to worry!"

The young half-elf then sits next to the woman, and produces from his backpack a pen, an inkwell, and a couple of sheets of paper. His past mentors made it clear he wasn't very insightful, so he's trained a habit of taking notes to compensate.

"Now then, what do I need to know in order to find this missing Jordan?" he asks, pen at the ready.

Mine was a gift from the great and noble Mordoloth, probably to keep me from dying the first time I fail to notice impending danger. I figure I'm basically like hell's version of "The Truman Show" so Mordoloth wants to keep me alive. ;)

Finished! I should point out that my magic item is a weapon of warning, which gives me advantage on initiative and gives the whole party immunity to being surprised. (If we're sleeping naturally, it'll wake us up; but if we've been incapacitated by some other means, we're still boned.)

I think all I've got left is two more warlock spells and my uncommon magic item. Any requests? Not promising anything, but it might help me narrow things down.