Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Loonook" data-source="post: 4097529" data-attributes="member: 1861">Good Gaming Supplement: Doppelgangers and the Agent Hypothesis.Well, welcome back my friends… it’s been a long time since I have had the energy to post a new article, but a good dose of sleep combined with a nice, warm place to sit out the winter storms has rejuvenated me, and so I decided to take a stab at the Agent Hypothesis.As stated in the initial Supplement article, the Agent hypothesis goes something like this:Now, this sounds promising.  Doppelgangers being agents of divine, celestial, infernal… any sort of group.  The Doppelganger serves as a great overall character; they have no truly ‘bad’ stat, they can use detect thoughts, and in their base form can change themselves into other creatures as long as they follow the rules of the ability (small or medium humanoid).  Now, the different humanoids may not seem too much, but they are useful in their own ways; doppelgangers can give themselves some small extraordinary benefits, but the real pull is their ability to disguise.  The disguising oneself as an enemy, friend, compatriot. . . the possibilities are endless.  While this provides them with some very useful abilities, most doppelgangers of the Agent type will be better served by having additional talents.  The Warshaper class from <a href="http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=1750&it=1" target="_blank">Complete Warrior (p. 89-91)</a> will serve a great step up for the abilities of any Agent.  Harder to kill, stronger hitting, specialized weapons . . . he’s got them all Johnny.  <a href="http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20041210b" target="_blank">Chameleon</a>, as mentioned in an earlier article, also serves as a good steppingstone class for the Agent on the go.  But when you’re looking at Agents of powers beyond mortal ken, we may want to spice them up a bit.  Unique abilities, akin to those found in the <a href="http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=25841&it=1" target="_blank">DMG 2 (p. 157-160)</a> are a good start, but there are always other things you can add on.  Doppelgangers who serve their deities or powers well should have additional training to improve themselves.  Perhaps Agent doppelgangers have a freer choice of abilities to pull from, at the cost of appearing the same no matter what.  Granting additional natural weapons, improving their effect, and similar boosts would make for a frightening foe.  But such a creature would most likely be a bestial aspect of Chaos, brutish or cunning he will lack the essence of being a doppelganger; the ability to blend in.  <a href="http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2765&it=1" target="_blank">The Book of Templates</a> offers other intriguing choices for the doppelganger, but too much mixing may create a creature too far gone to really fit in anywhere.Such a creature would make an excellent leader for a group of Changelings who are considered Reality Seekers (as discussed in <a href="http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=27954&it=1" target="_blank">Races of Eberron p. 44).</a>  The perfection of the Changeling form would draw some to such Agents the worlds over, and provide the Agent in turn with a possibly powerful force to defend itself and its interests.In the next article, I hope to discuss the possibilities of non-humanoid shapeshifting, along with the possibilities of using these shapeshifters in your own game.  The article itself is more of a cribwork, but I am always willing to look at interesting new ideas.  Just remember, the email address is my name @yahoo.com.Until Next Time,Good Gaming,Slainte,-Loonook.</blockquote>

Verification