My group has just started Hall of Harsh Reflections, and I'm using the "doppleganger takes over PC" subplot. However, our group is very small. There are only two players, both of whom are gestalts. It's been a little tough for them, but they've only had one death so far (against the grimlock leader of the Bhaal cultists), and one of the PCs is a True Necromancer/Cleric with a sizeable undead army to act as cannon fodder.
Anyway, the doppleganger'd character is a Swordsage/Telepath who is just entering the Shadow Sun Ninja prestige class. Since it makes it pretty clear that this is just a normal doppleganger that has taken him over, he won't get any of his special class abilities. This might get pretty obvious for the other PC in the group when the taken-over PC isn't able to use any of his powers or stances.
The next encounter is going to be the scuffle in the Crooked House, so it's entirely possible that the PCs can get by with not using any obvious abilities due to the laws of Waterdeep that prevent lethal force being used by anyone not in the watch or the Grey Hand.
With only two players, how would you handle this situation, and still be able to keep both of them involved? I figure that sometime around the prison/invisible stalker scene the doppleganger PC's cover will be blown, but if anyone has any ideas on how I can stretch things out more effectively, I'd love to hear it.
I'm just letting my imagination run rampant here...
If you only have two players, my question is, are you NPCing anyone? If not, that's cool, but you may want to if one of the only two members of the party is controlled by a doppelganger. That way, the surprise--and the best time for it should be in the Hall of Deception--won't seem so lopsided (think four doppelgangers versus one character, the other tied up).
I was originally loathe to NPC a character in my own campaign, but found they can be used to "fill in the gaps" in an party. Your party--as a gestalt duo--sounds like it should have most of its bases covered (divine and arcane magic, psionics, and capable melee), but if the swordsage/telepath is not who he seems, the true necromancer/cleric may find himself overwhelmed the moment the doppelganger's cover is blown.
If you opt for an NPC, I would recommend a rogue or ranger. While I don't like to use NPCs for things like trapfinding, if your player(s) direct the NPC to search for traps, that should be appropriate. You may even want the NPC to be a fan of one of the PCs, who follows the duo into the Sodden Hold, "only to meet his unfortunate end while protecting one of them from the doppelgangers"...or something like that.
I would recommend that the player whose character was abducted should roleplay the doppleganger, in the guise of his own character. I printed out a stat block for Ixiaxian on a small piece of paper--though my own player didn't opt for the doppelganger bit--and would suggest supplying your PC one for reference. That way, if something like a jump check or melee attack needs to be made, he has some numbers that might give him away to the other player. Subtle suspicion should be an enjoyable part of this ruse.
I suggest upgrading Ixiaxian to a "greater doppleganger", so that all class abilities are maintained. I think the intent is for the player to act the same as normal, so no one will suspect anything.
I think the intent is for the player to act the same as normal, so no one will suspect anything.
I'm not familiar with the class being discussed, so I don't know how feasible this is, but the player I had running the dopp sat down ahead of time and came up with a list of magical items / spell scrolls / etc. to mimick the abilities of the char he was replacing. As the party has supposedly been spied on for a while, this would be a logical part of preparing to infiltrate the group. For the things he COULDN'T mimic, he was also prepared with explanations should he be questioned. We decided if the explanations were a little suspicious, that would be OK too, as the party realizing something was "off" with him would help to build the feel of the game. (They remained completely oblivous, however, until the dopp attacked the group.)
I am running the campaign one on one, with my player running two PCs and me running two DMPCs, so I had the dopp replace one of the DMPCs. The way the scenario worked out in the Crooked House, it turned out that the party wizard was the only one arrested, so he was replaced by the dopp.
I didn't make the dopp a greater doppelganger, but I modified his skills so that he had ranks in UMD. In the process of getting down to the lower level of Sodden Hold, he burned through a whole bunch of the wizard's scrolls and depleted his wand of magic missiles severely, and when the party had to retreat and recuperate, he spent some of the party treasure to buy more scrolls. My son (the player) thought something was odd, on a couple of occasions, what with the wizard using only his magic items, but I'd never done this kind of thing before, so he never got suspicious enough to call the dopp's bluff, until it was too late.
So, you can use UMD to compensate for lack of spellcasting ability. Remember if you use a greater doppelganger, it has to eat the character's brains to use his class skills--so that's not a very good solution if the player wants his PC back when the doppelganging is done.
OK, so what about *before* the Hall of Deception? Wouldn't the dopp PC know about the mimics, the traps, the giant frikkin' octopus, and his fellow dopps in the cells? I still wonder how he should react to all of those. With lethal force? Feigned ignorance about the traps? Or should he just go ahead and blow his cover, since the other PC has now walked right into their lair?
I'm not running any other NPCs, but it might be a good idea to have one offer to join just before the Sodden Hold run, then have him killed off in the Hall of Deceptions. That way, if the dopp'd PC gets discovered earlier, the PC can then continue play as that NPC. Then, when he's released, he can revert to his old self.
OK, so what about *before* the Hall of Deception? Wouldn't the dopp PC know about the mimics, the traps, the giant frikkin' octopus, and his fellow dopps in the cells? I still wonder how he should react to all of those. With lethal force? Feigned ignorance about the traps? Or should he just go ahead and blow his cover, since the other PC has now walked right into their lair?
In my campaign the player of the replaced character is known for his bad dice rolls. In Sodden Hold he just missed every attack roll. Everyone was sorry because of his bad luck. When they discovered that he was replaced they were shocked.
Well, we ran the adventure last night, and surprisingly the dopp'd PC managed to maintain the deception throughout the entire adventure. He intentionally faked die rolls when fighting against other known dopplegangers, led the other PC into being attacked by all the mimics, setting off every single trap (which didn't really work, since the PC was flying over all of the pits). He even made the point of saying "We must be alert against the machinations and DECEPTION of these dopplegangers" when he entered the Invisible stalker room, thereby preventing it from attacking (however, the other PC was using blindsense, detected the stalker, and initiated combat anyway...again, he was flying, so no real chance of getting knocked into the pokey-sharp water). They dropped an everburning torch into the water-hole, made good enough spot checks to notice tentacles, and proceeded to summon ogre skeletons underwater in sufficient numbers to eventually take out the Giant Octopus. They then set off yet another pit trap at the fake double doors, which the doppleganger studiously avoided...but the other PC was flying *again*...sigh.
Anyway, they pretty much walked straight into the Hall of Deception, when I gave the dopp'd PC the go-ahead to strike...he missed, of course, being but a weenie rogue, and melee ensued with the Dread Necromancer summoning Allips, Troll Skeletons, and manifesting his ghost-face familiar to paralyze everyone in the room. Combat was quick, short and brutal, and finally he figured out which of the many identical dopplegangers tied to the chairs was the real kidnapped PC.
The subsequent fight against Telaquin proved almost lethal, but their summonned minions were mostly dropped by the traps, fireballs, and walls of fire, then the raging Barbarian-form Telaquin when anyone got too close. They had almost depeleted their spells and stances when the Swordsage/Telepath dimension doored behind Telaquin and got in a lucky punch with his Insightful Strike, ripping the steaming heart out of Telaquin's chest.
They are tired, and have stopped there for the moment, blissfully unaware of what awaits them as they make their way back out...
Apparently this can be done with two players...