Who’s Played in a Doppelganger Murder Scenario?
- Thread starter Samuel Leming
- Start date
blargney the second
blargney the minute's son
Doppleganger rogues are great. In the middle of a pitched battle on their ship, the "captain" comes out of his cabin.
He walks up beside an embattled paladin and whacks him. The player yells "WHAT?!?" and I said "I think that means you're surprised... incoming Sneak Attack damage!"
Whee!
-blarg
He walks up beside an embattled paladin and whacks him. The player yells "WHAT?!?" and I said "I think that means you're surprised... incoming Sneak Attack damage!"
Whee!
-blarg
Luthien Greyspear
First Post
I ran a game where a doppleganger murdered the governor of the town, and pinned it on a rival assassin. He had been hired by a corrupt councilman to do the deed, and had delivered the heart of the governor to the councilman to prevent raising the dead (house rule: brain and heart had to be present for resurrection -- 2nd Ed. rules otherwise). The party (friends of the deceased) rushed to investigate his death, and through a variety of magical and psionic inquisitions, managed to discover that the assassin was a female (the assassin had taken the form of his rival, a female).
THe party also (psionically) discovered which councilman had hired the killer, so they put word out that the councilman was going to turn the assassin in. They then locked down the councilman and posted a 24-hour watch on him. The female assassin (the framed one) broke in to question the councilman and find out who was framing her. She was a "kill-only-the-evildoers" kind of assassin, and was actually neutral in alignment. After she fought the party and tried to escape, the party caught her and found out that she was the paladin's girlfriend! (That was a great reveal!)
After the interrogation, they decided that the real assassin was still out there, and they sat tight. During the inevitable poker game (why do guards, even PC's, always wind up playing cards?), one of the NPCs went to the privy, then went to check on the prisoner. Unfortunately, while in the privy, he was murdered by the doppleganger (which had plastered its malleable body against the wall of the privy -- I used a more enhanced demonic doppleganger that could conceal itself like a cloaker). He went up to "check on the prisoner" and killed him.
The weird thing was, I was playing the NPC as normal, making bad jokes, and verbally worrying about when this assassin would show his hand. He was the nookie of my wife's character, and she gave him a quick kiss just before he went up to the prisoner's room. From the way that I kissed her, she figured out that he wasn't himself, and she got the party on their feet and chasing after him. They were too late, of course, but she figured it out without a word from me. That was pretty cool.
THe party also (psionically) discovered which councilman had hired the killer, so they put word out that the councilman was going to turn the assassin in. They then locked down the councilman and posted a 24-hour watch on him. The female assassin (the framed one) broke in to question the councilman and find out who was framing her. She was a "kill-only-the-evildoers" kind of assassin, and was actually neutral in alignment. After she fought the party and tried to escape, the party caught her and found out that she was the paladin's girlfriend! (That was a great reveal!)
After the interrogation, they decided that the real assassin was still out there, and they sat tight. During the inevitable poker game (why do guards, even PC's, always wind up playing cards?), one of the NPCs went to the privy, then went to check on the prisoner. Unfortunately, while in the privy, he was murdered by the doppleganger (which had plastered its malleable body against the wall of the privy -- I used a more enhanced demonic doppleganger that could conceal itself like a cloaker). He went up to "check on the prisoner" and killed him.
The weird thing was, I was playing the NPC as normal, making bad jokes, and verbally worrying about when this assassin would show his hand. He was the nookie of my wife's character, and she gave him a quick kiss just before he went up to the prisoner's room. From the way that I kissed her, she figured out that he wasn't himself, and she got the party on their feet and chasing after him. They were too late, of course, but she figured it out without a word from me. That was pretty cool.
Luthien Greyspear
First Post
diaglo said:
No, no they weren't. They were pretty definitely evil. Alignment restrictions and everything.
jdrakeh
Front Range Warlock
I used to run a 'doppleganger murder scenario' based loosely on John Carpenter's The Thing that took place at an old, isolated, manse during a raging snowstorm. By the time that the PCs actually arrive on the scene, the 'thing' (not exactly a traditional D&D doppleganger, mind you) has killed and assumed the form of its creator (a misguided and incredibly unlucky mage). It's not terribly original or well-suited for camapaign play, but it's good for a one-shot or short series of linked adventures - and just different enough from the typical doppelganger murder scenario to be worthwhile.
WayneLigon
Adventurer
I've seen it several times.
I haven't run the "doppelganger murder scenario" but I have run the "kidnap a PC and replace him with a doppelganger" scenario. The player played the doppelganger for me, and the end result was almost the entire party being captured by the bad guys. They never really trusted him after that (the player, not the pc)...
Something I pulled in a game was the "doppelganger password!" gambit, 3.5 style:
1) Make up a "doppelganger password" but don't tell anyone else what it is.
2) Ask someone what the doppelganger password is and think hard about the password.
3) If they give you the password, they are obviously a doppelganger.
(It never actually worked, by my character thought it was pretty clever)
Something I pulled in a game was the "doppelganger password!" gambit, 3.5 style:
1) Make up a "doppelganger password" but don't tell anyone else what it is.
2) Ask someone what the doppelganger password is and think hard about the password.
3) If they give you the password, they are obviously a doppelganger.
(It never actually worked, by my character thought it was pretty clever)
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