Masquerading as a PC

[Nidgit]

The upcoming session I'm running has a shapeshifting boss that's intended to cast Fog Cloud and then warp around trying to cause friendly fire by pretending to be different PCs. How can you make this work?

I can make a DC 20 Insight/Investigation check to see if one PC can verify the identity of another, but once they start talking it feel like the jig is up. Trying to have the NPC say anything beguiling, even if can imitate voices well in-game, seems like a fool's errand. It's a lot to ask players to intentionally shoot themselves in the foot to fight metagaming and it's not really feasible to isolate each person physically to actually simulate it. What's the best way to have an NPC imitate a PC well enough to confuse the actual players?

[Emay Ecks]

Some things you can try:

-Only communicate with the players through notecards once the fog cloud appears. Hand the fighter a note "A firebolt streaks towards you. You take 3 damage" And when he retaliates you can roll a die to see who he actually targets.
-Have the area be in a silence spell (the shapeshifting boss knows the subtle spell metamagic). Ask that the players not communicate with each other while in the zone of silence.
-Have the boss be a kenku/doppleganger or anyone who could mimic players voices. If two players try to communicate, have the boss also communicate something, and tell the player that they can't identify which statement came from who/where.
-Talk to a few (but not all) players in advance and have them be in on the fight. When they communicate, they're actually the big bad communicating (though the other players won't know this).

This is a highly complex encounter, and it will be very difficult to achieve your desired result. I wish you the best of luck running it, hope it goes well.

[MarkVIIIMarc]

Some gamers can be in on it and rollplay honestly. Some can't. I loved scrimmage time in football and hockey practice. My Bard got posessed once and when the DM offered to run my character in the battle I told the DM I had it. Still ended up with the party waterboarding thd posessed little lady because they thought it sould get the ghost out but it was memorable.

Do you think any of your players are up for the roll play?

[Hyde]

Have him cast silence, as well?

Further, I'd recommend two shapeshifters, such that if someone walks through the fog, they can come upon a copy, while at the same time a different copy comes upon the real deal (OR DO THEY?) Have the second shapeshifter be a twist, ideally.

This would be vastly improved if you weren't using any sort of minis or map, then they would not be as precisely sure of their location.

[Nidgit]

It's via Roll20 and I probably won't bother with a map since the area is just a simple tomb. That could make for enough echoing that voices can't be located.

My thinking was to narrate to players that they can each see 1-3 people per turn and give them the option of attacking each other while they try to formulate a counterplan. Maybe I can get players to voice their character or the boss without knowing which one they're actually speaking for. A heads up before the session that things could get weird might help?

[Twizzly513]

Never mind, please delete this

[jojo]

The upcoming session I'm running has a shapeshifting boss that's intended to cast Fog Cloud and then warp around trying to cause friendly fire by pretending to be different PCs. How can you make this work?

I can make a DC 20 Insight/Investigation check to see if one PC can verify the identity of another, but once they start talking it feel like the jig is up. Trying to have the NPC say anything beguiling, even if can imitate voices well in-game, seems like a fool's errand. It's a lot to ask players to intentionally shoot themselves in the foot to fight metagaming and it's not really feasible to isolate each person physically to actually simulate it. What's the best way to have an NPC imitate a PC well enough to confuse the actual players?

I like where your head is at. If you are using Feats in your game then the Actor Feat, coupled with Deception proficiency would increase the shapeshifter's chance of successfully maintaining the ruse by allowing the shapeshifter a check to oppose attempts to see through its deceptions.

[Malifice]

Got a Player you can trust? Have him play the NPC.

Did that in a recent campaign featuring Dopplegangers. Worked a charm.