Doppelganger

Doppelganger (CR 4)

Neutral Evil - Medium - Protean

Lore:	Know (Local)
8		23
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

7

Perception:
17	+7
Passive	Active

Ambush:

10+

on a d20

Senses:

• Standard Senses

Movement Types:

Defense

AC

20

Man Def

19

Monster Health
61	30	6
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+7
Refl:	+2
Will:	+7

Strong Against:

Weak Against:

Offense

Size:	Medium
5 ft.		5 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+7

Man Off

+7

Action

0

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Bite +7 (1d10+4/x2)
  as crushing (physical, common)

Full Attack (Melee):

• 1x Bite +7 (1d10+4/x2)
  as crushing (physical, common)
• 2x Claw +7 (1d6+1/x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
  plus Skinship, or as the stolen form

Standard Attack (Ranged):

Full Attack (Ranged):

Siege Damage: Not siege capable

Statistics

12

STR

14

DEX

14

CON

12

INT

12

WIS

14

CHA

Skills:

• Bluff: 9
• Intimidate: 8
• Perception: 7
• Sense Motive: 9
• All other skills: 2 (no ranks)

Languages: Common, Kern, up to 3 more from stolen form

Feats:

Special Abilities

Stolen Form (Ex)

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 9. 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 abiltiies, 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 16 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)

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 + 11 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 (6 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.

Doppelganger

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.

Combat Tactics

Out of Combat

Rewards

XP: 1,200

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 1,188 gp.

Weight: 40 lbs.     Volume: 1.6 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 - 10	Nothing Found
11 - 14	1 Languid Remnant (tier 1)
15 - 17	1 Pale Remnant (tier 2)
18 - 19	1 Bright Remnant (tier 3)
20	Roll on Table 2
###	Nothing to see here!
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 2: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Languid Remnants (tier 1)
6 - 10	3 Pale Remnants (tier 2)
11 - 14	1 Intense Remnant (tier 4)
15 - 17	1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5)
18 - 19	1 Vital Remnant (tier 6)
20	Roll on Table 3
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 3: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Bright Remnants (tier 3)
6 - 8	3 Intense Remnants (tier 4)
9 - 11	3 Blazing Remnants (tier 5)
12 - 14	3 Vital Remnants (tier 6)
15 - 17	1 Prime Remnant (tier 7)
18 - 19	1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8)
20	1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9)