The Complete Guide To Doppelgangers.pdf

Credits

Writer: Keith Baker · Cover Artist: V. Shane · Interior Artist: Andy Hopp

Copy Editor: Joseph Goodman · 3.5 Editor: John Cooper · Graphic Designer: Duncan Fielden

Special hanks to Lee Moyer

Introduction 2

Physiology 2

Youth: ‘Doppelganger’ 3

Adult: Mimic 3

Elder: Doppelstadt 4

The Mechanics of Shapeshifting 4

Body Weaponry 4

Social Structure 5

Doppelstadte 6

Spawning Chambers 6

Mental Communion 6

Memory Wells 7

Avatars 7

Gestalts 8

Orphans 8

Cultural Habits 9

Language and Telepathic

Communication 9

Motivations 9

Doppelganger Myths: The Zeitgeist 10

Rites and Rituals 11

Crime & Punishment 11

Memorials 11

Testimonials 11

The Many Faces of the Doppelganger 11

Urban Doppelgangers: Living Cities 11

The Urban Lifecycle 12

Urban Doppelgangers 12

Urban Mimics 12

Urban Doppelstadte 13

Interactions with Humanoids 13

Botches and Scapegoats 14

Shadow Wars 14

The Process of Expansion 15

Exploring a Living City 15

Character Classes 16

Rustic Doppelgangers: Groves 16

The Rustic Lifecycle 16

Rustic Doppelgangers 16

Rustic Mimics

Interactions with Humanoids 17

The Process of Expansion 18

Exploring a Grove 18

Character Classes 18

Dungeon Doppelgangers 18

The Dungeon Lifecycle 18

Dungeon Doppelgangers 19

Dungeon Mimics 19

Dungeon Doppelstadte 19

Interactions with Humanoids 20

The Process of Expansion 20

Character Classes 20

Doppelganger, Dungeon 20

Other Subspecies 21

Combat Strategies 21

Natural Abilities and General Tactics 21

Blindsight 21

Shapeshifting 21

Sticky Situations 22

Telepathy 22

Caution and Self-Sacriﬁce 22

Urban Doppelgangers 22

Advanced Telepathy 22

Life’s a Stage 22

Psychological Shapeshifting 23

Unarmed Combat 24

Expansion Massacres 24

Forest Fires and Gang Warfare 24

Rustic Doppelgangers 25

General Tactics 25

When Nature Comes to Town 25

Doppelganger Characters 25

Urban Doppelgangers as a

Character Race 25

Doppelganger Racial Traits 26

CharacterClasses

Protean Warrior 29

Requirements 29

Class Skills 29

Class Features 29

Skills 30

Feats 30

Campaigns 32

Settings 32

Adventure Hooks 33

Conversing with Doppelgangers 34

Designing Doppelganger

Communities 34

Sample Node: Blackborough 35

Blackborough NPCs 35

Blackborough Adventures 37

Appendix I 37

Doppelganger Variations 37

Doppelganger, Rustic 37

Doppelganger, Urban 38

Doppelstadt 39

Fighting Doppelstadte 40

Mimic, Gestalt 41

Appendix II 42

The Firebrand 42

Requirements 42

Class Skills 42

Class Features 42

Dealing with Firebrands 43

Geistspeakers

The Zeitgeists

Gestalt Domain

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Introduction

and stories. What adventurer doesn’t have a tale

about the time he fought a doppelganger assassin,

stopped one from impersonating the duke, or was

surprised by a doppelganger disguised as his friend? But

these accounts leave many questions unanswered. What

do doppelgangers do when they aren’t assassinating

or impersonating people? Why do they work for

humans — and how do prospective employers ﬁnd them,

anyway? Are there Doppelganger communities?

his book examines the psychology and motivations

of these mysterious creatures. It looks at the lifecycle of

the doppelganger, and reveals the existence of biological

variations of the creature. For the fact of the matter is

that there are doppelgangers all around — that they are

far more common than people believe.

A point of clariﬁcation: the word “doppelganger” is

used for two purposes in this book. As you will see in

the next chapter, the doppelganger is a particular stage

in the lifecycle — the stage at which the creature is the

most active and during which it impersonates living

creatures. When capitalized it is used as a general term

to describe the entire species, including mimics and

doppelstadte.

Complete details on the new feats, skills, and classes

mentioned in this book can be found in the chapter

on character creation. Statistics for the new forms of

Doppelganger can be found in Appendix I.

What do you truly know?

Here we sit, surounded by guards. You believe that

I will tell you the mysteri f my people, and you will

rord them with parchment and ink. hat is your

ﬁrst miﬆake — your reliance on words, your belief

that you can ign a shape to the world. You have but

one form, and you want all qutions to have a single

answer. But thy don’t. Life is about change — about

mysteri that you cannt understand. Look at me

now. Am I your lover? Look at me now. Am I your

riend? No, you are thinking. I have simply stolen his

aearance — I am trying to trick you. But can you be

certain? Is your riend still at the inn? Or am I the one

you have known for years? Am I the one o guarded

your back in the batle at Balen Moor? I can tell you the

words you said at the end f that batle, en we were

alone in the dark drenched in sweat and blood. But was

I there? Was it real? How can you know?

I can see your thoughts. How simple and ﬂat thy

are — as two-dimensional as the words you are writing.

You believe that you and your companions captured

me, that you foiled a lt against the leader f this

city. But at if there was no lt? What if I was the

duke all along — and the man you “rtored” to power

was just anther f my kind, standing in the shadows

and waiting to take my lace? Is there anyone in this

city o you truly know — about om you have no

doubts atsoever?

What about the city itself? Has it ever occured to

you that the city might have its own thoughts, its own

ideas? What if I was simply part f the city — laying

a role and waiting for the nt act to begin? I see you

don’t believe me. Is it harder to accept this than to

imagine that the guards o stand around us are also

part f the city, and that in a moment thy will kill

you? Bause bth f the things are true…

Physiology

A Doppelganger is a telepathic, asexual creature that

possesses the power to change its shape. Doppelgangers

are fundamentally magical creatures that have evolved

through the interaction of arcane and natural forces.

A Doppelganger’s body is made up of undiﬀerentiated

cells that shift form to meet the needs of the moment.

It forms bones, sensory organs, and anything else it

requires from its general mass. A Doppelganger has

nothing that a human would recognize as a brain; its

consciousness is a ﬁeld spread throughout its entire

being. his ﬁeld cannot be split; a piece removed from

a Doppelganger becomes dead ﬂesh, and will not revert

to its original form.

he lifecycle of the Doppelganger is more complicated

than most people realize. A Doppelganger goes through

three stages of development. In addition, there are a

number of distinct subspecies of Doppelganger, each

— he last entry in the journal of loremaster Kenta Barri

D oppelgangers have spawned hundreds of rumors

adapted to a speciﬁc environment. he three most

common varieties are the urban Doppelganger, which

has adapted to live around sentient humanoids; the

rustic Doppelganger, which blends in with the natural

world; and the dungeon Doppelganger, a more primitive

subtype dwelling underground. All subspecies go

through the same three stages, but vary in appearance;

the pictures in this chapter are of the urban

doppelganger.

Regardless of subspecies or

stage of development, these

creatures have a number of

shared abilities. he dis-

associated conscious-

ness of a Doppelganger

renders it immune to

sleep or charm eﬀects.

Doppelgangers can

operate freely even

in complete darkness.

Many believe that the

creatures can see in the

dark, but in fact their sens-

es are more highly evolved

than that. A Doppelganger

“sees” using its telepathic sense,

perceiving inanimate objects by their

lack of thoughts. his provides the creature with

blindsight with a range of 60 feet. It should be

noted that these telepathic abilities are magical in

nature — not psionic powers.

a doppelganger is telepathy; it “sees” through telepathy

and mentally communicates with other doppelgangers.

A doppelganger can hear sounds even without visible

ears; it feels the vibrations against its skin. As for

the missing mouth, Doppelgangers of all ages

consume food by engulﬁng it; a doppelganger

simply creates a “mouth” as necessary, then

absorbs and dissolves the food. Doppelgangers

are omnivorous.

After a certain amount of time has

passed, doppelgangers become more

introspective. Eventually, their abil-

ity to maintain a mobile form slips

away. For most doppelgangers, this

occurs after about twenty years.

his process can be voluntarily

triggered, and many dop-

pelgangers choose

to advance to

the next stage

to meet the

needs of

their com-

munity.

A doppel-

ganger does

not sleep; in-

stead it enters

a meditative state

similar to the trance

employed by elves. A dop-

pelganger requires four hours of

trance per day.

Youth: ‘Doppelganger’

his is the ﬁrst stage of the Doppelganger lifecycle.

As it gestates, an embryonic doppelganger

adjusts to a particular environment. It adapts

to interact with the other creatures that share this

environment; its telepathic and shapeshifting abilities

are honed to focus on these creatures, and even its

natural form is altered to a shape more suited to its

new home. he urban doppelganger is designed to

interact with sentient humanoids. Its natural shape

is a bipedal mockery of human form — completely

hairless and covered with gray, oily skin. A typical urban

doppelganger is about ﬁve and a half feet tall; it appears

to be spindly and frail, but it is pure muscle and bone

beneath the skin and is surprisingly strong and fast. he

only facial features it possesses are two large, white eyes

that lack any visible pupil. his lack of features does not

adversely aﬀect the creature. he primary sense used by

Adult: Mimic

he second stage of the Doppelganger lifecycle is

familiar to adventurers — but few make the connection

to the doppelganger. his is the mimic — a slow-moving

shapeshifter that can assume the form of inanimate

objects. Most adventurers know of the dungeon mimic,

which is more aggressive and less intelligent than its

urban and rustic relatives. In its natural state, a mimic is

a blob of oily gray ﬂesh with a mass that can range from

three hundred to two thousand pounds. It usually relies

on its telepathic senses and vibrational hearing, but it

can create eyes if necessary.

Mimics are sedentary creatures. A mimic cannot

assume the forms of living creatures, and it cannot

move quickly. It spends most of the time in a state of

trance, communing with other members of its gestalt

and listening to the thoughts of the creatures around it.

A mimic must attain a certain level of mental discipline

before it can progress to the next stage of life; this can

take anywhere from a few months to a few decades based

on the individual mimic. As a result, a community of

Doppelgangers may contain dozens of mimics scattered

around striving to advance to the next stage.

It does not recover damage when it shifts form. Finally,

it is limited in the range of forms it can assume. An

urban doppelganger can assume any humanoid

form — but it must actually copy the appearance of an

existing creature; it cannot simply add an extra pair of

arms and a set of wings, as a sorcerer could using alter

self . Rustic doppelgangers are limited to animal shapes.

he act of changing shape is a supernatural ability and

cannot be performed in an antimagic ﬁeld . However,

maintaining a shape is not an actively supernatural

eﬀect; a doppelganger that enters an antimagic ﬁeld

will not revert to its natural form. See Appendix I for

more details on the limitations of speciﬁc types of

Doppelganger.

With training, a doppelganger can develop additional

abilities; see the chapter on Doppelganger Characters

for complete details on new feats, the geistspeaker class,

and the protean warrior prestige class.

Elder: Doppelstadt

he doppelstadt (plural doppelstadte) is the ﬁnal stage

of the Doppelganger lifecycle. It is a communal entity,

formed when multiple mimics fuse together into a

single mass. A doppelstadt duplicates the forms of

vast inanimate objects; urban doppelstadt typically

assume the forms of buildings, while rustic doppelstadt

mimic groves of trees or other natural formations. he

physical abilities of a doppelstadt are extremely limited;

it can shift its internal structure, but this is a painfully

slow process. Its power is its mind; a doppelstadt

possesses impressive mental abilities and maintains a

telepathic network that acts as a psychic anchor for the

community.

A doppelstadt relies on its oﬀspring to fetch the food

it requires. A doppelstadt that is spawning needs a

considerable amount of protein, but if it is not engaged

in reproduction it can survive with less sustenance. With

proper support, a doppelstadt can live for hundreds of

years; the maximum lifespan of these creatures has yet

to be determined.

Body Weaponry

Doppelgangers avoid material possessions that interfere

with their ability to shift form. A doppelganger wearing

armor can shift its facial features and the color or texture

of its skin, but cannot change its overall shape. Further,

it cannot use any of the following feats: Adhesive Slime,

Chameleon, Extend Limb, Slippery, Springheels, or

Wings. As a result, most doppelgangers form armor

and clothing out of their own ﬂesh. If the AC bonus

of the armor does not exceed the natural AC bonus of

the doppelganger, this synthetic armor will pass close

inspection. hus a typical doppelganger can replicate

any form of light armor, hide armor, or scale mail.

Protean warriors or doppelgangers with the Improved

Natural Armor feat can reproduce heavier armor. If

the bonus of the armor exceeds the natural AC bonus

of the doppelganger, the armor may look convincing,

but someone who touches it may notice that it feels

thin. his requires a successful Craft (armorsmithing)

check (DC 13). Synthetic armor does not hinder the

doppelganger’s motions in any way, and it does not

inﬂict an armor check penalty or a chance of arcane

spell failure. A doppelganger always receives its full

natural AC bonus; normally, this bonus comes from the

thickened muscles and bones that lie beneath the skin.

Doppelgangers can also create weapons and shields.

Such a weapon is an extension of the doppelganger’s

body; when it appears to be holding a sword, the hilt is

fused to its palm, and when the blade is returned to its

scabbard it merges with it. A doppelganger “holding a

weapon” cannot be disarmed, but cannot use that hand

The Mechanics of

Shapeshifting

A Doppelganger embodies the phrase “mind over matter.”

he intelligence of the creature is a ﬁeld that suﬀuses its

ﬂesh; when it concentrates on a desired form, its body

shifts to match its thoughts. For doppelgangers and

mimics, this is a standard action that does not provoke

an attack of opportunity.

his power has many limitations. Magically, it has

more in common with alter self than polymorph . A

doppelganger can adjust its muscle and bone structure

and even alter its mass, but its statistics do not change

and it does not gain any of the inherent abilities of

the creature it copies (with one exception: it can form

working gills when in the shape of an aquatic creature).

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