Dopplegangers... How do you pull 'em off against PC's?

[magnusmalkus]

I know Doppelgangers make great spies and masterminds of grandiose, deceptive schemes. But, is that all a doppelganger can be? How can a doppelganger interact with a humble adventurer that doesn't rob the player of his character?

I've always been fascinated with using a Doppelganger in an adventure targeting a party... perhaps a scenario where they PC's come across a wounded old man, whereabouts in truth it's a wounded doppelganger fleeing it's last situation after being discovered.

Or maybe the PC's are a target for 'doppelganging' because they are so highly regarded as adventurers and the Doppelganger is seeking to get close to someone close to the PC's! So, maybe, the doppelganger is introduced as the relative of one of the PC's trusted NPC allies whom the NPC has asked to take under their wing. I can imagine a number of innocuous ways to sneak a doppelganger next to the PC without suspicion.

And so...

By the book, in order to establish an identity, it needs to take over one of the PC's... but how do you pull it off where the PC is not robbed of his character? What does the doppelganger do? Wait until the PC is asleep and coup de gras his intended target? How unfair is that?

And... just say the party gets into a fight with a doppelganger who's currently mimicking an opponent it's in melee with... how do you do the whole "Who do I attack? Who's the real so-and-so?" game?

Is a doppelganger not meant to be used in this way directly against the NPC's?

Thanks for your time, folks!

 

[Ahnehnois]

Why do I need to do it without robbing the PC of his character? Once I told a player outside of a session that his character was replaced by a doppelganger and gave him some new stats and told him to run wild. That was fun. I brought the old character back eventually.

 

[delericho]

Personally, I have the player run the doppelganger. And likewise, when a PC is dominated or otherwise mind-controlled, I'll generally leave the player in control, just handing them notes as required.

But then, I'm very lucky in that I trust my current bunch of players. Unfortunately, not every DM is so lucky.

 

[Kinak]

My experience matches [MENTION=17106]Ahnehnois[/MENTION] and [MENTION=22424]delericho[/MENTION]. My players love chances like that. I actually have one player that's sad everytime she saves against a mind-affecting effect (especially confusion).

Many, many years ago I had a doppelganger replace a PC who's player couldn't make the session. Ironically, that was the same session, the other players decided to take their frustrations out on the PC in question.

That was, as you might imagine, a rather dysfunctional group.

In general, though, I'd say that if you don't have players that are able to handle playing the doppelganger, their character being taken away is an even more bitter pill.

Cheers!
Kinak

 

[amerigoV]

I know Doppelgangers make great spies and masterminds of grandiose, deceptive schemes. But, is that all a doppelganger can be? How can a doppelganger interact with a humble adventurer that doesn't rob the player of his character?

I've always been fascinated with using a Doppelganger in an adventure targeting a party... perhaps a scenario where they PC's come across a wounded old man, whereabouts in truth it's a wounded doppelganger fleeing it's last situation after being discovered.

Or maybe the PC's are a target for 'doppelganging' because they are so highly regarded as adventurers and the Doppelganger is seeking to get close to someone close to the PC's! So, maybe, the doppelganger is introduced as the relative of one of the PC's trusted NPC allies whom the NPC has asked to take under their wing. I can imagine a number of innocuous ways to sneak a doppelganger next to the PC without suspicion.

And so...

By the book, in order to establish an identity, it needs to take over one of the PC's... but how do you pull it off where the PC is not robbed of his character? What does the doppelganger do? Wait until the PC is asleep and coup de gras his intended target? How unfair is that?

And... just say the party gets into a fight with a doppelganger who's currently mimicking an opponent it's in melee with... how do you do the whole "Who do I attack? Who's the real so-and-so?" game?

Is a doppelganger not meant to be used in this way directly against the NPC's?

Thanks for your time, folks!

If you are going to use one to infiltrate the party, you need to know the players. Most groups have a player that might dig going along with this (likely that player GMs as well - we GM types love to screw the players even when we are one). So approaching them beforehand may allow you to do this seamlessly. And then they are likely to run with it for quite awhile. Its also good for that one player that always wants to try a new character - here is the perfect opportunity to get the PC out and cause paranoia at the same time ("win-win")

Another approach might be what I call The Thing approach (I'm talking the 1980s version of the movie). The movie implies that one can be infected and not know it. You could play that to the point that everyone is paranoid about the other players (which is the whole goal of dopplegangers - you never know who is who). Of course, that is more of a one-shot approach than a long-term game. But it might be a fun why to start a campaign - the survivors continue on but there is always a bit of mistrust thereafter.

 

[steeldragons]

Pretty much what everyone else has said. Though I do not use dopplegangers in the party often, the best way is to let the player run it.

Now, this does require a palyer with some decent rpging skillz. Who understands the situation, what you wnat them to accomplish and capable of running the doppleganger without "giving it away."

I am reminded of the first time I tried (waaaaay back in the day) when a regular player was feelign badly that everyone else's characters were more "cool" or had more "special stuff" than she did. Now, granted, I was a fledgling DM and she was the younger sister (I'd say around 10 or 11 while the rest of us were 15-19) of one of the other players...whose home we played at often, so she got included. No problems and she was quite adept, but she was the resident halfling thief. So when not "thiefing stuff" she got kinda bored.

I decided it would be cool...and she was so unassuming in real life, that she could be this doppleganger who was sent to get close to the party and lead them into a trap because the bigger evil guy who'd sent her wanted X PC dead. So the halfling thief was replaced with DG in disguise...I explained how she could shapeshift and read minds and stuff (she was a bright girl). She was very excited that now she had these cool powers.

We made it through about half a session...and she attacked the PC I'd said was the target of her boss. She missed on what I determined would be a surprise round. The rest of the party was like, "What are you doing?!"

Before initiative could be rolled, she says, "Well, I'm a doppleganger now. So I'm trying to kill [whatever the target PC's name was. I don't remember anymore.]"

I believe my facepalm was audible.

So ended my first foray into using dg's in the party.

 

[Will Doyle]

The best doppelganger scene I've run came a surprise even to the player running the doppelganger.

The wizard in our party was captured by the evil mastermind and his disguised doppelganger minion, beaten unconscious, and then released with orders to steal some information for the mastermind. Sometime later (as in a session or so), a magical effect revealed that the wizard was actually the doppelganger - even though the player running him hadn't known.

I hadn't actually planned it - I just realized at the end of the first session that the player hadn't cast any of his character's spells, and had at times described himself as just "studying his books" (which seemed appropriate for a snooping doppelganger). It was a bit of a fluke, but it worked well at the time

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I know Doppelgangers make great spies and masterminds of grandiose, deceptive schemes. But, is that all a doppelganger can be? How can a doppelganger interact with a humble adventurer that doesn't rob the player of his character?

I've always been fascinated with using a Doppelganger in an adventure targeting a party... perhaps a scenario where they PC's come across a wounded old man, whereabouts in truth it's a wounded doppelganger fleeing it's last situation after being discovered.

Do the doppelgangers have to clone the PCs? There was an interesting doppelganger scenario in an Eberron novel where the doppelgangers copied allies instead. Interestingly, the doppelganger had its own ally and frequently duped the ally's appearance. This was known to the protagonists and the inevitable victims ahead of time. Yes, you saw X, but was that the human, or the doppelganger?

Copying a PC tends to instill paranoia in the other PCs, much like poor trap design. It's a short-term gain for long-term pain scenario, so I avoid that.