[Resolved] Doppelgangers Strike Back - But How?

[GreatDane]

If D'arby, Gizwald, Randalf, or Tess happen upon this thread, please stop reading.

My 6th-level PCs recently arrived in a major city. A highly-placed city official connected with a recently-destroyed cultist cell (courtesy of the PCs) learned of the PCs' arrival and arranged for their death via the Friendly Neighborhood Doppelgangers. The doppelgangers tailed the PCs for a few days undetected, then struck. A doppelganger disguised as a PC stabbed the proprietor of an inn, causing half the party to be arrested by the city guard. (The other half of the party fled the scene and are now wanted by the city guard.) The arrested PCs were transferred by doppelgangers within the city guard to the doppelgangers' lair - to be mind cloned and then killed.

Unfortunately (for the bad guys), the half of the party that was not arrested managed to track their incarcerated allies to the abandoned warehouse being used by the doppelgangers as a base. A deadly fight or two later, and the players have reunited with each other, their possessions, and a good night's sleep. They explored the main area of the abandoned warehouse, but decided that going out into the city and clearing their names was more important than delving into the passages they discovered. (Unbeknownst to the PCs, these passages house the rest of the doppelganger organization, including a greater doppelganger that leads them.)

That's where we ended our last session. The question I face now is: what is the doppelgangers' next move? They've been paid a reasonably hefty sum to kill these characters. The PCs have discovered that their foes are doppelgangers. The doppelgangers have lost two members and four prisoners (freed by the PCs during their jailbreak/rescue). There is one escaped doppelganger who is aware of the situation, and will inform his allies throughout the city (and in the underground passages, once the PCs leave the warehouse entrance) over the next day. The doppelgangers have infiltrated/replaced members of several minor noble houses, the city guard, and the city bureaucracy. They are fairly well-funded and led by a greater doppelganger. They are aided by the fact that the PCs are wanted by the city guard for attacking an innkeeper. What steps can they take for damage control (reclaiming the escaped prisoners, etc) and fulfilling their contract to kill the PCs?

For reference, the player characters are low-op (by Playground standards). They include:

An elderly human druid with the shifter variant variant from PHB II
A generalist gnome wizard/Mage of the Arcane Order
A half-orc warblade/monk (likes to grapple and Power Attack)
A human duskblade who favors a reach weapon


In case it is relevant: this adventure is adapted from The Hall of Harsh Reflections from Age of Worms. Not everything is the same, but the campaign still features the Ebon Triad, the Free City, Diamond Lake, and Loris Raknian/the Champion's Games.

EDIT: Thread resolved, outcome posted below.

[Segev]

One of the biggest risks to the doppelgangers right now are those other four escaped prisoners. Are they being currently impersonated by any doppelgangers? Are they known to people around here? What happens if these four escaped prisoners are seen or heard from by the city at large or any particular individuals who knew them in the city?

If they're currently being impersonated, the VERY first thing the doppelgangers need to do is very publically arrange for doppelgangers impersonating the PCs to kidnap the doppelgangers impersonating those four. That way, when they're sighted with the PCs, the assumption can be that they're holding them hostage.

Might want to have the one pretending to be the gnome mage "cast a charm spell" on the "victims" during the kidnapping, so their protestations of friendship with the PCs will fall on jaded ears.

If they were being held in preparation for impersonation, so are "missing" currently, have a doppelganger impersonating them "escape" and be "caught" by the "PCs" just after revealing that he'd been kidnapped by them however long ago the doppelgangers kidnapped the real one.

Continue turning up the heat on the PCs, too, by committing other crimes in their guise. If there are other power-broker groups in the city the PCs might turn to, sabotage that with more impersonations.

They already have their fingers all over town. Just making sure every hand is turned against the PCs and that the unsuspecting townsfolk will get word to some part of the doppelganger organization when the PCs are spotted is all they really need to do.

[daremetoidareyo]

Cut and Run. All doppelganger activities in the city are liquidated as soon as possible and the doppelganger set up shop in another Metropolis with the wealth that they pawned up to get.

[Darrin]

The PCs are contacted by a highly-placed city official, or are surrounded by city guards, who then escort them to the highly-placed city official. The city official clears the room to speak to the PCs privately, and then reveals that he has long suspected that the doppelgangers have been operating in the city, but never had any proof. He now implores the PCs to tell him what they know, and together they can CRUSH this insidious cult before they gain any more power in the city. He agrees to clear the PC's names and reputations, and spares no expense to prove that the PCs are innocent. Whatever the PCs demand to prove his sincerity is easily produced and certifiably authentic.

He gives the PCs gold and equipment and magic stuff to mount an expedition into the doppelganger hideout and wipe them out once and for all. He brings in an elite cadre of city guards who he knows he can trust. They mount a raid and storm into the tunnels...

And yeah, it's a trap. Highly-placed city official and all the guards are doppelgangers, and they lead the PCs into a killzone, adamantine doors drop down and the room starts filling with poison gas. Shiny new equipment fails and new magic items are really cursed or fakes. Whoever survives the initial poison gas is quickly cut down by the doppelgangers. Fade to black... DM hangs a TPK badge on his screen.

...except, the PCs wake up later in a morgue. One doppelganger is frantically trying to revive them. Once all the PCs are conscious, he tells them he was just barely able to administer an antidote as their bodies were brought down here. He managed to steal some healing potions, and passes them out to the PCs. He explains that he's a double-agent working for a Mysterious Benefactor. They only have a few minutes, but if everybody does exactly as he says, they may all be able to escape...

[GreatDane]

Thank you for the hugely useful and well-thought-out replies! I will probably implement a plan incorporating all of these elements (EG, first go for the prisoners, then the PCs, and if it all goes wrong, cut and run). The players will find no (real) aid from any institution until they've dealt with the doppelgangers directly.

Our next session is Thursday 2/22. I'll drop back by this thread with a rundown of what happened afterward!

[GreatDane]

It's a late reply, but I'm back with a description of the outcome.

My planning was thrown asunder by the players, as is only natural. Rather than venturing back out into the city, they reconsidered their approach and instead delved directly into the doppelgangers' lair. The doppelgangers were stirred up by this point, so the players' actions did impact the scenario: rather than finding the doppelgangers relaxing in their safe house, they found a beehive of activity as they prepared the liquidation contingency described by daremetoidareyo. The safehouse turned into a fun dungeon crawl that ended in a big battle with the greater doppelganger, who had his treasure scattered in open chests around his chambers. (The wizard pilfered and made judicious use of some scrolls there.)

With the doppelgangers' deployment records in hand, the players have begun the process of clearing out their city-wide infestation, but we're glossing over that part; the "who can we trust?" theme has run its course in our game, and we'll be moving on to the next adventure soon.

Thanks again for all your help!

[daremetoidareyo]

thanks for the update! that's a great way to wrap it up. how's the pcs relationship with the business elite/thieves guild of the city now?