How the heck do you run a successful Doppleganger encounter?

[Deleted]

How the heck do you run a successful Doppleganger encounter?I've tried, but the players always know something's up, whether the Doppleganger wins the encounter or not. I either end up playing the assumed character or I'm passing notes to the guy who just got doppled.

How do you do it, or do you just skip over the encounter and say ****it?

[tetramorph]

The only time I ever encountered this was when the entire party was met by its party doppleganger.

Well, at least we knew what we were up against!

Scary.

Don't know if that helps.

[robkuntz]

You dissemble. Use a red herring by throwing attention upon something else (an object, a wall, etc) and then have the entire party, individually, roll some vacuous dice rolls for show, but maintaining a serious cast to your features like they may have discovered something of import. Seriously Note the numbers by asking them to repeat same. Ask the guy who is to be doppeled, "What did you roll? A seven?" OK, come with me, and explain the circumstance out of sight (away from the table, another room) and that he needs to role play through it. Have him come back with a smile on his face to help you in that regard. If it works the party will think that he's discovered something special which he is keeping secret. That's my best suggestion. You must outwit the game information by selling them with alternate game information. As I've noted in the past, DMs must also be magicians...

[Deleted]

Well ... and there you have it ... Thanks, Rob.

Oh, and you too Tetramorph ... the response was similar to what I've done in the past.

[finarvyn]

I have two solutions, each of which have caused many fun doppleganger encounters.

(1) First, find a time where the party is split, or at least a time when one character is left alone for a short time. When the group comes together, the doppleganger has taken that character's place but at this point you do nothing. The player continues to play as if nothing has changed, becasue for him nothing has. Some time later, either by note or verbal instruction, have the character attack the party without explaining to the player why. (Explain mind control or insanity if the player questions his motiviation.) When the character is finally killed, reveal to everyone that it's a doppleganger. At that point you can explain when the switch happened and shortly thereafter the real character can show up and explain that he was tracking the party and trying to catch up.

(2) Let folks know about the doppleganger pretty quickly, but only if combat is underway. I remind the players about the classic Star Trek episode with the two Kirks fighting each other and no one could tell them apart. The doppleganger and one character are locked in hand-to-hand combat and if anyone else tries to attack I have them roll the usual way, but on a hit I make a 50% chance that it's a hit on the character and 50% chance that it's on the doppleganger. Except that they are rolling around and the party can't easily tell them apart and both are shouting that you are hurting them and that they should be hurting the doppleganger instead. I don't even tell the player which one of them has been hit, but I keep track of HP for both. Again, confusion keeps the party on their toes and lack of information keeps them hesitant to do anything too rash.

I love doppleganger encounters, but I try not to overuse them.

[ripx187]

My doppelgangers are kind of cowardly, they don't attack anybody unless they know that they'll win (or believe that they will), they do other things, like spread lies, cause uprisings, steal things and frame others. They prize positions of authority, and living it up on wealth that they didn't earn and have no idea how to keep. They enjoy power, especially cruel power. They are spies and assassins. Lords and Guild Masters. Constables and inquisitors. Their horrors are psychological, they are opportunists, and master manipulators.

They are interesting monsters. Why murder when you can be a whore that becomes anything that the john desires? There is a lot of untapped potential there.

[Admin Pete]

That next to last sentence is a bit on the crude side, but it does seem to be an accurate description of a doppleganger. They are repugnant creatures.

[randyb]

Have them dopple an NPC that is accompanying the party.

[LouGoncey]

Nov 3, 2016 17:11:57 GMT -5 randyb said:

Have them dopple an NPC that is accompanying the party.

That is the only real way to do it. My personal problem with the doppleganger is that I am a huge fan of John Carpenter's THE THING. I mean HUGE. I had just ran a TRAVELLER campaign that was basically The Thing's sequel, so there was no way of pulling the whole thing again. So I had an NPC get doppled, then Chris M. hated his character and wanted a new one, so I just told him, "Don't show up next week, and I'll play your character." I played his character, but he was doppled. Then the two doppled characters jumped a lone player character who got away -- it worked.

[Von]

If I were to doppelganger a member of the party I'd do it Rob's way. I massively prefer doppelgangers as infiltrators of NPC authority structures though. (If any of you have played Baldur's Gate... yes, yes, blasphemy... the use of doppelgangers in that game kind of set their tone for me. I like to have full control over a doppelganger conspiracy and I'm not really that into them as an ordinary encounter.)