I love Fighter’s face in this one. He’s all, “I did exactly what the handbook said, and everything turned out OK.” What a jerk.
As an evil GM, I feel like I need to share the story of my first-ever PC kill. And yes, it was doppelgangers.
The paladin had gotten sucked up into a vacuum tube, and the rest of the party was futzing around with the trap trying to figure out whether or not they should follow. While the paladin was fighting for his life in another room, a doppelganger took on his appearance and ran back to the rest of the party. It looked all haggard and beat up and said, “Let’s not go that way guys. Trust me.”
I’d actually taken the player aside and told him the situation, so it was the paladin’s player convincing the rest of the party not to go and save his character. The dude’s a trooper.
Twist ending though, the paladin wound up surviving. It was our monk that just happened to catch a crit at the wrong time. Three doppelgangers vs. an APL 3 party is no joke, especially when they’re minus one set of shining armor and lay on hands.
Is the death-bunny in the background the real doppelgänger, and Wizard actually has an identical twin?
I love doppelgangers, doubles, and shapeshifting imposters, especially when the player keeps playing them for a trick. It’s a wonderful trope that can work out excellently in RPGs.
One of my favorite examples of a doppelganger with a giveaway is from an anime. One character makes a desperate, dramatic choice, having to trust his heart and guess of who to save when the last doppelganger and original are facing him in the water
A while later the character he saved says, “I’m glad you realized it didn’t leave a reflection on the water,” something he was totally unaware of.