Doppelganger Eliminator

Doppelganger Eliminator (Killer; CR 24)

Pure Evil - Large - Protean

Lore:	Know (Local)
50		65
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

44

Perception:
50	+40
Passive	Active

Ambush:

10+

on a d20

Senses:

• Standard Senses
• Lifesense 120 ft.
• SPECIAL: Doppelgangers also possess all the senses of their current 'Stolen Form'

Movement Types:

• Walk 80 ft.
• Greater Climb 80 ft.
• Greater Swim 80 ft.
• SPECIAL: Doppelgangers also possess all the movement types of their current 'Stolen Form'

Defense

AC

50

Man Def

53

Monster Health
3,520	1,760	46
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+27
Refl:	+21
Will:	+20

Strong Against:

Weak Against:

Offense

Size:	Large
10 ft.		10 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+34

Man Off

+40

Action

2

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Raging Bite +34 (6d10+86/x2)
  as crushing (physical, common)
  plus: Skinship
• 1x Slipping Claws +34 (6d6+38/x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
  plus: Skinship

Full Attack (Melee):

• 2x Raging Bite +34 (6d10+86/x2)
  as crushing (physical, common)
  plus: Skinship
• 4x Slipping Claws +34 (6d6+38/x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
  plus: Skinship

Standard Attack (Ranged):

• 2x Eruption of Spite (50-foot cone, enemies only -- auto-hit) (6d10+86/x2)
  as desiccation (energy, uncommon)
  (Increment: 50 ft.; Max Range: 50 ft.)
  Reflex save, DC 34, for half.

Full Attack (Ranged):

Siege Damage: Not siege capable

Statistics

33

STR

21

DEX

31

CON

16

INT

17

WIS

18

CHA

Skills:

• Bluff: 40
• Intimidate: 42
• Knowledge (Local): 37
• Perception: 40
• Sense Motive: 42
• All other skills: 35 (no ranks)

Languages: Kern, Common, Thanic, plus any from Stolen Form

Feats:

• Combat Reflexes (EFFECT: Monsters with this feat make up to 4 attacks of opportunity per round instead of one.)
• Selective (EFFECT: Exclude two or more targets from an AOE spell.)

Special Abilities

Stolen Form (Ex) Standard Action, Special

As a standard action, or by using Skinship in combat (see below), a Doppelganger may assume the form of any other creature up to CR 26. While using Stolen Form, the Doppelganger effectively becomes the creature being imitated, except that the Doppelganger's hit points never change and it always retains the use of its Stolen Form and Skinship abilities. While mimicking another form, the doppelganger replaces its own abilities, senses, movement, defenses, AC, and saves, with that of the assumed form (just not its hit points). If a Doppelganger using Stolen Form is engaged in combat, it will endeavor to flee as soon as possible. If the Doppelganger is reduced to half hit points while in a Stolen Form, it loses control and will revert to its own true form. When this occurs, the creeping unnatural appearance of this reversion induces paranoia in humanoids. All creatures who see it must make a Will save against a DC of 34 or gain the Nervous condition until the end of the combat, as they wonder who among their allies and friends might be a doppelganger as well.

Skinship (Ex) Swift Action 1/Rnd

Once the Stolen Form is lost, the Doppelganger will usually attack in a terrible frenzy. While attacking in its true shape it uses the stats listed above. In addition, once per round as a swift action, the Doppelganger may make a touch attack against one adjacent foe at 1d20 + 38 vs. AC (always hits on a 17+ on the die)). If this touch attack is successful, the Doppelganger's shape will begin to shift toward that creature's appearance, it gains a +2 bonus to to-hit rolls against the touched creature until the beginning of the creature's next turn, and the doppelganger will heal hit points equal to its Hit Dice (46 hit points). If any creature touched by Skinship is reduced to negative hit points by any Doppelganger, any Doppelgangers who have touched it with Skinship may reactivate Stolen Form as a free action, instantly assuming the form of the fallen creature, and instantly healing the doppelganger an amount of hit points equal to half the impersonated creature's maximum hit points.

Ripping Embrace (Ex) Swift Action 1/Rnd

Once per round as a swift action, if the doppelganger is in its true form, it may press its flesh against an adjacent victim, oozing a thousand tiny needle-sharp tendrils within clothing, armor, fur, and then with a wrench, rip large swaths of the victims body loose for consumption. This ability deals slashing (physical, common) damage, and cannot critically hit. Ripping Embrace 1d20 + 38 vs. AC (always hits on a 17+ on the die) (6d8+62), Fort save, DC 34, for half.

Twisted Jaunt (Su) Swift Action 1/Rnd

Once per round as a swift action, if the Doppelganger Eliminator is in its true form, it may take a weird writhing leap that seems to make it 'fall out of reality'. The Doppelganger Eliminator may teleport up to 50 feet, and when it arrives it may make a Ripping Embrace attack as a free action. Using Ripping Embrace in this way does not use up their normal Ripping Embrace for the round.

Seed Mass (Ex) Move Action

As a move action, a Doppelganger Eliminator may rip loose and fling away a portion of its own flesh. This causes it no harm. The Eliminator may throw this mass of flesh, a Seed Mass, to any square within 50 feet to which it has line of effect. If it does not also have line of sight, it scatters as a Splash Weapon. When it lands, the Seed Mass is treated as a minion (having only 1 hit point), with the same armor class and saves as the Doppelganger Eliminator. It has no movement, and takes its action on the initiative tick immediately after it is thrown. A Seed Mass is mindless and does not move. It fills a space as a sized-medium enemy creature, and can be moved around by forced movement. On its initiative, it activates its only power, Flensing Aura, which fills a 25-foot (5x5) square area centered on its space. Flensing Aura affects all enemy creatures who enter or begin their turn in the aura. Flensing Aura inflicts 6d8+62 points of Desiccation (energy, uncommon) damage, with a Fort save, DC 34, for half damage. All creatures who take damage from Flensing Aura (even those who make the save) develop a gigantic, disgusting, fluid-filled blister somewhere on their bodies. The round after they are afflicted by Flensing Aura (on the Seed Mass' turn), the blister bursts. A Reflex save against a DC 34 means no further ill effects accrue. If this save is failed, the victim is Entangled until the end of the combat by the disgusting organic debris left by the blister. Regardless of whether the save is made or not, each burst blister spawns a CR 3 Doppelganger which is under the control of the Eliminator and acts on its current initiative. No creature may be subjected to the effects of a Seed Mass more than once per round.

Spell Resistance (Su) Always On

Doppelganger Eliminators have spell resistance. In order to affect them with a spell or spell-like ability, the caster must first make a Caster Check versus the Eliminator's Maneuver Defense value (52). If the check is successful, the spell or spell-like ability is resolved as normal. If the caster check fails, the spell is cast, but does not affect the Eliminator in any way.

Swift As Death (Ex; Killer Role) Always On

Killers increase their speed by +30 feet with all movement types they possess (this is already included in the numbers listed in the Movement Types section, above).

Doppelganger Eliminator

This creature possesses the Killer role, and therefore counts as 2 monsters for purposes of encounter size, XP award, and treasure.

Doppelgangers are a strange race of shape shifters that act as parasites of entire civilizations. Their mindset is alien compared to most humanoid races, and their ability to steal the identity of others triggers nearly universal revulsion. Doppelgangers may exactly and perfectly mimic anyone they have had a chance to touch for a few seconds.

What is not widely known about Doppelgangers, is that they come in many castes. They all have the ability to perfectly mimic other creatures, and they are all parasites that subsist upon the civilizations of others, but the Doppelgangers do not care very much about that at all.

The reason that Doppelgangers are so little engaged with the other societies is two-fold:

First, Doppelgangers are really, truly alien, both in their natural appearance and in their mental and spiritual processes. They have no souls, nor do they have spirits. They aren't even really alive in the same way as other races, and it is unclear if they even eat food or breathe air. They have very little in common with other races.

Second, Doppelgangers are utterly and completely consumed by their war. Plain Doppelgangers (CR 3) are little more than mindless drones, pawns that exist to breed and infiltrate the world. The higher level Doppelgangers are the ones who are aware of their secret war and they are responsible for prosecuting it, to the exclusion of all other tasks. Everything is devoted to the War, every waking moment consumed with prosecuting the War or building up to make another attack.

On the very rare occasions when a Doppelganger has been captured and interrogated, their answers, made in Kern, make no sense at all. The Doppelgangers seem to be at war with themselves, absolutely and implacably. No outsider has ever figured out what factions or divisions exist in Doppelganger 'society', if such a thing can even be said to exist.

Most Doppelgangers placidly subsist on the largess of the societies they infest. But other Doppelgangers are much more sinister and menacing, and are ruthlessly driven to seek out and destroy other Doppelgangers. Whether a Doppelganger will see another as foe or ally seems completely random.

It should be noted that Doppelgangers and Vampires, where they co-exist, are unrelenting enemies as well. Doppelgangers and Vampires both infest and feed off of larger societies, and so they see each other as competitors. Both factions will seek to destroy the other whenever they come into contact.

In the weird, shadowy world of Doppelgangers, Doppelganger Eliminators are the solution to problems. In the War, Eliminators are used to crush enemy strongholds and destroy important foes. Of course, since Eliminators serve on all sides of that weird, ineffable conflict, they frequently come into conflict with one another.

Eliminators are haughty and dangerous creatures, and unlike most Doppelgangers, they can never impersonate creatures below size Large. They will stoop to imitating mere beasts if it serves their mission, but far more frequently they will imitate Giants, or their most preferred mimickry, dragons. Eliminators are perfectly capable of slaying the lesser ranks of dragons, and will take their place without hesitation if they can arrange such a thing.

Despite their apparent arrogance, Eliminators seem to be of a lesser status than other Doppelgangers, such as the brilliant and inscrutable Consuls. It is common for an Eliminator, or a working pair of Eliminators, to be 'working for' a Consul. It is much rarer for Eliminators to work with lower ranking Doppelganger, but given the fluid and deeply concealed nature of Doppelganger 'society', it's not impossible.

It should be noted that Doppelganger Eliminators are probably not the highest ranking Doppelgangers in existence. If there are Doppelgangers of greater power, however, they are so rare or so well hidden, then the best sages, mages, cyphers, and scribes can only speculate as to the details of these shadowy behemoths.

Combat Tactics

Doppelganger Eliminators can mimic some pretty serious opponents. It is not uncommon for them to mimic maximum CR giants and other large creatures, and uses those attacks until they have taken half damage. They will then drop Stolen Form for the debuffs and wade into melee combat, seeking to sow as many Seed Masses as possible and get as many Skinship's running as they can manage.

Eliminators are vicious and cagey fighters, and will use Twisted Jaunt and Ripping Embrace to maximum effect, combined with Seed Mass, to pop around the combat sowing havoc and confusion in all directions. Fights against Eliminators are weird, wild, fast moving, crowded, and dangerous.

Once they have been forced to reveal themselves, Eliminators will attack furiously and relentlessly. The Seed Mass power with the Flensing Aura's causes the terrain to alter drastically during the fight, and demands that players either adapt to changing conditions or devote attacks to eliminating the Seed Masses. Eliminator will frequently use Twisted Jaunt for the free Ripping Embrace attack, use their move action to throw a Seed Mass every round, and either make a standard attack, or lower their standard action to a swift action and perform a second ripping embrace.

Out of Combat

Doppelganger Eliminators are as much of a mystery as every other Doppelganger. Out of Combat, they seem to submerge themselves completely into the role of the creature they have stolen...until they suddenly act. Due tot he difficulty of discovering a Doppelganger 'at rest', no known scholar has ever managed to piece together what a Doppelganger's true behavior is like. Perhaps, some day, someone mighty and wise will pierce this veil, but that day has not yet come.

Rewards

XP: 2,457,600 (Killer role included.)

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 587,091 gp.

Weight: 480 lbs.     Volume: 19.2 cu. ft.

Optional Treasure Rules: Roll a d20 on Table 1 below once per encounter (NOT per creature). Any items discovered are in addition to the normal treasure for the encounter.

Table 1: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 8	Nothing Found
9 - 12	1 Languid Remnant (tier 1)
13 - 15	1 Pale Remnant (tier 2)
16 - 18	1 Bright Remnant (tier 3)
19 - 20	Roll on Table 2
###	Nothing to see here!
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 2: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 3	4 Languid Remnants (tier 1)
4 - 7	4 Pale Remnants (tier 2)
8 - 11	1 Intense Remnant (tier 4)
12 - 15	1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5)
16 - 18	1 Vital Remnant (tier 6)
19 - 20	Roll on Table 3
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 3: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 3	4 Bright Remnants (tier 3)
4 - 5	4 Intense Remnants (tier 4)
6 - 8	4 Blazing Remnants (tier 5)
9 - 11	4 Vital Remnants (tier 6)
12 - 15	1 Prime Remnant (tier 7)
16 - 18	1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8)
19 - 20	1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9)