ok ive not started to play this path yet but intend to do so in the next few weeks so im trying to iron out any potential problems before i start. i have only 2 players that will be playing two characters each( rogue, dread necromancer, ranger and cleric of correleon) plus a gm character who is a druid. now i dont wanna spoil the fun in HoHR so the only pc that i think can get replaced is the GM druid. has anyone any ideas that i could pull this off without giving the game away (jeez, u used to really good at spells? er sorry i forgot to pray this morning).
You could have the doppelgangers include a few Changelings (from Eberron, also in Monster Manual III) and let the one taking the role be a Changeling Rogue/Druid.
Alternately, make sure the doppelganger has maxed out ranks in Use Magic Device, and provide your druid with a couple of wands sometime before that adventure. If the others are used to seeing you use the wands, they shouldn't have much reason to be suspicious.
like the wand idea. i think ill give her a wand arounfd the second adventure so it ingrained that she uses this. is it essential that the DG is a rogue? i guess an evil Druid DG really doesnt work well in a group of enemies thats gonna destroy Oearth.
i haven't started my Age of Worms campaign yet, but i've been mulling this one over. I think i may just spring it kind of as written, except that no one, including the player in question, will be sure who is and who isn't a doppelganger in that nice confrontation. when they walk in, the pcs will, for all they know, be looking at a group of all doppelgangers...but not certain.
I am likewise planning to use a DMPC divine spellcaster as the one replaced by Ixiaxian for similar reasons. I'm changing I's stats as follows: Int 14, Cha 16, Use Magic Device +9. I figure as long as the DMPC's wand of cure wounds keeps working, the players shouldn't get too suspicious.
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i haven't run HoHR yet but i've been pondering how to handle the whole doppleganger issue and one of WoTC's own may have just given me exactly what i needed in the form of a side-trek.
the adventure is called Blood Vessel and it's done by Keith Baker (found it on his website BOSSYTHECOW.com). the adventure summary says it all...
"The party encounters a ship that is a duplicate of their own vessel. This mystery ship is actually an enormous mimic, crewed by immature dopplegangers that are honing their shapechanging skills."
the encounter is pretty straight forward enough to be easily resolved by the group but will be one with far-reaching consequences for them later down the line as the dopplegangers will be looking for revenge for the loss of their young.
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I believe "Blood Vessel" was designed for 1st level characters. Would you be running it at the start of your campaign, or would you be adapting it for higher-level play? Also, you know your players better than me, heh, but there's the chance that they might not attack and kill the developing doppels.
It's been awhile since I looked at it though, but the first time I found it online (from the company who produces the Penumbra line... name escapes me now) I looked it over and was already printing it before I'd read it through. It's a great scenario.
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I believe "Blood Vessel" was designed for 1st level characters. Would you be running it at the start of your campaign, or would you be adapting it for higher-level play? Also, you know your players better than me, heh, but there's the chance that they might not attack and kill the developing doppels.
It's been awhile since I looked at it though, but the first time I found it online (from the company who produces the Penumbra line... name escapes me now) I looked it over and was already printing it before I'd read it through. It's a great scenario.
yes...you are correct. it is designed for 1st level play and no, i didn't scale it up for higher level play. but then i counted on the total freak out factor of seeing themselves 'mirrored'like that and boy was i not disappointed. this really became a case where metagaming worked against them (and for me) as they assumed that the creatures were scaled to provide a challenge so they tried to use their brains to get them out without fighting, all the while trying to figure out what the frak was going on. which was what i wanted them to do in the first place.
still the look on their faces when they saw the 'ship' dive and its fluke flip up out of the water after it as i was explaining to the sidhe scholar druid (and thus the party) the hypothesis of the doppleganger/mimic connection and mimic/blood vessel...that was truly a priceless moment.