Creative ways to use a Doppelganger?

[KittenEV]

Hi guys.

I'm starting my first campaign as DM in a few weeks and I was playing around with a few different mission ideas. (I like to be prepared, although my players will probably take the campaign in a totally unpredictable direction lol)

I was toying around with the idea of a Doppelganger. From what I know, you can't really detect them and they can assume any humanoid form.

I was thinking of a plot line along the lines of a Doppelganger murders someone disguised as one of the party's NPC allies and the party must investigate to clear the NPC's name before the NPC's execution. And as a twist, when the doppelganger gets wind of it (if it gets wind of it, depending on how steathly and good my players are) it murders another person disguised as one of the party members so that they now have to clear their own name.

What do you think? Anything to add or change? I'm having trouble with the doppelganger's reasons behind the murders and how exactly the party could possibly figure out its a doppelganger and who its changed into. Any help? I've only been playing D&D a couple months now and still really new to creative solutions and monsters. I wanna be the best DM I can though and provide interesting plots for my players.

[bid]

They want a safe house in town, someone will help the NPC run away if he sell him the store.

The guy was killed with a left-handed kriss. How many people in town are left-handed or carry a kriss?

[Hrugner]

Give the doppelganger an end goal of taking over the city through military coup. In order to do this, he needs to build up reputation and influence but replacing an important person would draw too much attention. The doppelganger begins by calling secret meetings disguised as some very high up person and he uses these meetings to recruit secret police from among guards and locals too low class to be able to see through his disguise but high enough to recognize the dude he's copying.

The doppelganger eventually needs to make his group legitimate, he arrests the man he disguised himself as and publicly executes him for treason. He claims that the group will now be headed up by some higher up official from a different city or within the military. He disguises himself as this military outsider and runs a campaign to root out some treasonous cabal eventually deposing the leader of the city.

You can start the group at the recruitment phase, having the doppelganger attempt to recruit them, or you can have the person the doppelganger is replacing and later executing be this friendly NPC.

[darjr]

One of the D&D board games has a very cool mechanic that I want to use some time.

When a doppelganger is drawn the character who drew it has their miniature replaced by a doppelganger and they had been one all along. They are then laced at the start of the dungeon.

I'd love to try this in a game and give that character a new flaw, "not sure they are them".

[Asmotherion]

One of my proudest moments as a DM was when the party split in a mansion, and when they regrouped, one person was missing. They all focused so much on finding the missing person that they didn't notice they never really regrouped.

What really happened was that each one of the players met with 2 doppelgangers and as the doppelgangers shared what was being said with each other telepathically, they created 3 exact replicas of the same conversation (which was untracable RP-wise). They were even in similar rooms when that happened, and it made the players think of some teleport device that put them in the same room.

Imagine their surprice when they met the other 2 groups, and getting attacked by their allies instead of the other groups :3

Doppelgangers are all about causing mindf*cks, and rising suspicion among party members ^_^

[Little boy]

I once used a dipole hanger with a ring that merged people's thoughts together so a character who was stuffed in a barrel controlled the doppelganger without even knowing. Combine that with a dozen false copies on a ship and no one expects a plant in a plant.

Also, I plan to have a doppelganger bar scene where all the chairs and tables are mimics

[The Shadowdove]

I once had a king's advisor hire the party to investigate a murder.

Anyone who spoke of the murder up until that point had been killed, so the whole city was being kind of sketch.

The primary murdered person, and why the kingdom cared, was a diplomat who'd been staying at the castle.

In truth the diplomat and anyone murdered previously were doppelgangers (I didn't have their forms revert when dead)trying to take over positions of power.

The real killer was a good faction of dopples who'd been secretly trying to stop the takeover for their own reasons.

The kings aid turned out to be the main badguy, and his main bodyguard ( a quiet and kind of gruff, unfriendly renowned swordsman) turned out being found dead. The bodyguard was the good Doppler.


So lots of clues and murder mystery stuff going on. There were a lot of small things they picked up on that ran them around.

The diplomats Paige survived, the bodyguard went to finish the job when he found out, the party showed up in time to see a figure fleeing.

The doctor they suspected from the start because he'd been dismissed before the Paige was murdered (by a royal advisor who denied it). The doctor was innocent and murdered later.

The royal advisors ceremonial sword wasn't being worn. He had it sent to be cleaned. It was an ambush that he played victim in as well once his lackeys were beaten.


Lots of twists and angles you can work.

[Dr. Cliché]

Probably not the best use, but in one of my games I had a very long-lived individual masquerading as a human. To maintain the illusion, he used dopplegangers to create a family for himself (which could change as/when needed).

[Fishyninja]

A little off topic, in one of our campaigns one of our party members is a changeling (she kept it secret from us only until recently), she is playing a bard who runs a travelling show and plays all the characters (i.e. she runs of stage out of sight 'changes costumes' then reappears), actually has earned us a lot of gold.
Another thing I find amusing for her is if she has a cold and sneezes, some of her features change unexpectedly.

One thing you could use the Doppleganger for is to act as a ghost? I.e. it has found the location of a treasure or something of import and to scare people who investigate, it assumes their forms and chases them from the treasure. I feel this could work because some people would not believe them and others who did probably would not want to investigate.

[RumoCrytuf]

Hi guys.

I'm starting my first campaign as DM in a few weeks and I was playing around with a few different mission ideas. (I like to be prepared, although my players will probably take the campaign in a totally unpredictable direction lol)

I was toying around with the idea of a Doppelganger. From what I know, you can't really detect them and they can assume any humanoid form.

I was thinking of a plot line along the lines of a Doppelganger murders someone disguised as one of the party's NPC allies and the party must investigate to clear the NPC's name before the NPC's execution. And as a twist, when the doppelganger gets wind of it (if it gets wind of it, depending on how steathly and good my players are) it murders another person disguised as one of the party members so that they now have to clear their own name.

What do you think? Anything to add or change? I'm having trouble with the doppelganger's reasons behind the murders and how exactly the party could possibly figure out its a doppelganger and who its changed into. Any help? I've only been playing D&D a couple months now and still really new to creative solutions and monsters. I wanna be the best DM I can though and provide interesting plots for my players.

Have a Doppleganger replace a PC. Though this is easier to accomplish over something like roll20.

[Malifice]

Got a player you can trust?

Get them in on it before the session. They're playing the doppleganger (it has the same stats as the players character, and he gets XP for the session normally). Preferably a Rogue.

The PC in question was captured by the Dopplegangers (KOed while asleep and he has no idea whats going on), and appears later in the dungeon... chained up and naked (the doppleganger is using his gear). Better yet, when the other PCs enter the room the real PC is in, he's just escaped and is fighting a second doppleganger (who looks like another PC).

'As you open the door, you see Mark fighting Steve... what do you do do?'

Basically, screw with the party.

[Fishyninja]

Got a player you can trust?

Get them in on it before the session. They're playing the doppleganger (it has the same stats as the players character, and he gets XP for the session normally). Preferably a Rogue.

The PC in question was captured by the Dopplegangers (KOed while asleep and he has no idea whats going on), and appears later in the dungeon... chained up and naked (the doppleganger is using his gear). Better yet, when the other PCs enter the room the real PC is in, he's just escaped and is fighting a second doppleganger (who looks like another PC).

'As you open the door, you see Mark fighting Steve... what do you do do?'

Basically, screw with the party.

^
So much this! Do Dopplegangers gain the skills of the person they are emulating? That would make the fight much more interesting.

[KittenEV]

How can I be sure to make it so that my players figure out it's a doppelganger? I know i'm supposed to let them figure it out obviously, but what kind of clues can I leave that suggests a doppelganger?

[TripleD]

How can I be sure to make it so that my players figure out it's a doppelganger? I know i'm supposed to let them figure it out obviously, but what kind of clues can I leave that suggests a doppelganger?

Create a logical inconsistency.

The main sign of a logical doppelganger is a person being in two places at the same time. Does any of your party have a distinct appearance? Maybe a Dragonborn or Tiefling in a place without many of them? If so, have somebody identify those points in the assailant. Better yet, have the doppleganger commit the act multiple times as different, distinctive party members.

The town happens to have one other Dragonborn that no one has seen before or since? Odd, but possible. If it has a Dragonborn, Gnome, Woman with huge scar, etc. whom all happen to look exactly like the ones in your party and are all committing crimes though? That's too much of a stretch.

[Fishyninja]

Create a logical inconsistency.

The main sign of a logical doppelganger is a person being in two places at the same time. Does any of your party have a distinct appearance? Maybe a Dragonborn or Tiefling in a place without many of them? If so, have somebody identify those points in the assailant. Better yet, have the doppleganger commit the act multiple times as different, distinctive party members.

The town happens to have one other Dragonborn that no one has seen before or since? Odd, but possible. If it has a Dragonborn, Gnome, Woman with huge scar, etc. whom all happen to look exactly like the ones in your party and are all committing crimes though? That's too much of a stretch.

Another logical inconsistency is that the Doppelganger may not know the history of the character it is protraying or of the party members so it may act slightly differently which the party could pick up on.