Doppelganger

Ultimate shapeshifter. An aberration.

Imagine a humanoid with no definite features, not even a face. As you look, its fingers stretch into needle-like claws.

Weirdly agile, professionally charismatic, wickedly intelligent.


 
HD: 2 Armor: none
Hit it: hard Dodge it: normal
Move: normal  

It resists mind attacks (because it’s an aberration). It can see in the dark, lie extremely well and read nearby surface thoughts not behind tinfoil, making them very hard to hit or surprise. It can’t die unless it’s would-be killer saves vs fear.

The definitive trait of the doppelganger is its ability to change appearance at will instantaneously.

Attacks (1/round)

Murder. The doppelganger makes a melee attack (1D6) with advantage against a target who doesn’t expect it. On a hit, the target takes a wound.

Knife Fingers. The doppelganger makes two melee attacks (1D4).

Whip Arm. The doppelganger makes a melee attack with reach (1D6). On a hit the target is grappled and can’t breathe.

Stretch. The doppelganger attaches itself to a large or bigger surface nearby and is dragged to its location.



Random Encounter
  1. Monster: 1 doppelganger and 1D4 commoners.
  2. Lair: A normal bedroom with a hidden secret cache of documents detailing the lives of multiple personas.
      OR
    Omen: Normal footsteps. Nothing special here.
  3. Spoor: The long dead body of somebody supposedly alive.
  4. Tracks: Normal humanoid tracks, nothing special here.
  5. Trace: [rumor] One time, somebody disappeared just after inheriting.
  6. Trace: [Rumor] Somebody has changed recently.
D6 Mutations

Your studies of the aberration has changed you in horrible, gruesome ways: you lose all features on …

  1. … your left leg.
  2. … your right leg.
  3. … your off arm.
  4. … your good arm.
  5. … your face.
  6. reroll. You know the spell word Copy and gain one Spell Die.
Salvaging the Body

You find …(Roll as many times as the HD of the monster)

  1. Nothing.
  2. A weapon from the impersonated person.
  3. Jewelry from the impersonated person (mundane).
  4. Some tool for spying.
  5. The name of a contact.
  6. Stolen documents (valuable).

It’s a little known secret that the body of a doppelganger can be very useful:

Doppelganger Carcas. Can be made to look exactly like you for 24h. Rots.


DM Notes

Having played Baldur’s Gate countless times, I have a particular fondness for the doppelganger. I do, however, find that a creature that can change appearance at will should have more weird attacks.

Written on November 14, 2020