how do you use your doppelgangers?

[jester47]

Recently I ran a game where one of the player characters got replaced by a Doppelganger. While it was fun because the player role played both versions of his character very well, it was obviouse to the other players that somthing was out of the ordinary long before the confrontation between the DG and the PC occured. In retrospect, it has occured to me that the DG would not attack anyone in a PC party. Rather, he would try to neutralise the party through subterfuge. This does two things, it allows for you to replace the NPC with a DG without the party being imidiately informed that somthing is not right, and it makes for more realism, replacing a person in a group that is together almost all the time is a hard thing to do, but replaing public figures is easier because they have a public personality. So here is the question:

How do you run your doppelgangers?



Aaron Webb.

 

[Wicht]

I run my dopplegangers as individuals. Each one has a different MO.

 

[Sigma]

I don't tell my player he's been replaced. No one suspects anything that way. It's a bit tough if you want them to do specific things, but if you've got a good player, you can give him some heavy hints to do what you want.

So, let's say the party is planning on entering a room. The DG knows there's an ambush on the other side. The party is making a plan and considering spelling up. Start telling the DG player that he realizes that there couldn't possibly be anyone behind the door for reason X. Work on the player, giving him false information to relay to the other players but under the guise that is the truth.

Then, when the ambush is sprung, the DG pops up and attacks.

I tend not to use DG's, but when I do, that's how I run them.

 

[alsih2o]

wicht is right here, dopplegangers are individuals and do vary, but...

to be more helpful, i have used the dg aas a theif more than once, once he has replaced the party member he offers to "hold the loot sack while you clmb that wall"..and he often splits with said loot while noone is looking.

also as spies, this would seem to come naturally to a dg, and can be a lucrative source of income. also as diversionary in-party forces, while the party is making plans a dg can say "no,no, i think we should go ove the NORTH wall" knowing the evil wizard inside has special defenses ready there

 

[DSC-EricPrice]

Doppelgangers have lots of possibilities but it seems to me that a) they are always used for evil (when in face they are listed as neutral) and b) they often come across as one dimensional. I for one am eager to see the Complete Guide to Doppelgangers book coming out from Goodman Games this fall. Perhaps it will invigorate our minds on new ways to use these tried and true monsters.

 

[Valmur_Dwur]

The Dragon cd-rom has an ecology of the Doppelganger and from what I remember the only killing a DG would do is the initial to assume the form of an influencetial person then kill only if someone was coming too close to the truth. DG's want the easy life and so are not found adventuring or killing pc's unless the pc's is a "Star" IMHO. So I run them only as NPC's <sorry>

 

[Wicht]

In line with the thought that they are not necessarily evil - it would be interesting to develop a doppleganger who tried to emulate the life of another, not for personal gain but simply to have an identity. This doppleganger would not switch from face to face but would kill a person and adopt that guise trying to be as true to character as possible for as long as possible, fleeing only when discovered. If he killed a villain he would act villanous. If he killed a hero he would act heroic. In this way, such a doppleganger would be the ultimate role-player.

 

[Richards]

The first 3E adventure I submitted to Dungeon dealt with a male human transmuter and his three doppelganger assistants. They served him only because they wanted his knowledge on magical interspecies crossbreeding, but were confounded by the ring of mind shielding that he wore. Unable to read his thoughts, they each took on the form of a voluptuous young woman and tried seducing the knowledge they wanted out of him. He was having none of it, though, although he allowed them to serve as lab assistants and gain their knowledge the old-fashioned way. (He got plenty of work out of them that way.)

The three doppelgangers ran around in slinky outfits, each hoping to eventually wear down the wizard's resolve. In an unconstrainable fit of whimsy, I had the doppelgangers go by the names "Miss April," "Miss May," and "Miss June."

Oddly enough, the adventure was rejected.

Johnathan

 

[CRG]

(1) depends on the doppelgangers MO
(2) depends on the quality of the player that was replaced

The first is entirely dependent on the motivation and goals of the doppelganger. More often than not, I've had doppelgangers go in and out of the party's experience without killing anyone. Spies, informants and general pests are the most popular.

For the second, this holds for characters who are possessed (magic jar, for instance), charmed or replaced via doppelgangers. If the player is a good roleplayer the party may notice a change but it could take a very, very, very long time for them to figure it out. In general, this option only works when the player being replaced hasn't also just had his character killed (ie, they are not bitter about having just died). If the player isn't as savvy I don't let the player know...just push them or guide them for the important actions.