Doppelganger Dictator

• Go back to the Epic Path page.
• Go back to the Bestiary page.

Doppelganger Dictator (CR 13)

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 4) 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.

Doppelganger Dictators seem to be a higher ranking caste, if such things apply at all in the murky world of Doppelganger 'society'. They are certainly more powerful than rank-and-file Doppelgangers and some sages speculate that Dictators are a more advanced type of Overseer. However, unlike Overseers, Dictators are not heavily involved in organizing and prosecuting the War using other Doppelgangers. Dictators seem to prefer working alone.

That said, there have also been many times when a Dictator has been observed working with other Doppelgangers, so perhaps the situation is more complex than believed.

Doppelganger Dictators are often accompanied by one or more Feeders or Harvesters, and seem to act to aid the Feeders and Harvesters in their grim missions against other Doppelgangers. Dictators have terrible abilities indeed, and when they work with higher ranking Doppelgangers, such as the terrible Consuls, the situation gets very confusing, very quickly.

GENERAL

CR 13 Hit Dice 19

XP 25,600

NE, Medium, Protean

Init +6; Senses Darkvision, plus as Stolen Form, Perception +20

DEFENSE

AC 34, touch 24, flat-footed 30 (+8 armor, +4 dex, +6 natural, +6 deflection)

hp 295

Fort +16, Ref +12, Will +12 <swap as needed; only one strong save>

Aura: - or as Stolen Form

SR: - or as Stolen Form

Special Defenses: - or as Stolen Form

Immunities: - or as Stolen Form

Weaknesses: - or as Stolen Form

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft. or as Stolen Form

Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft. or as Stolen Form

Single Melee Touch of Infinite Pain +17 touch attack (2d8+9/x2) plus Dazed, Fort save DC22 to reduce to Unsteady, plus Skinship

Full Melee 3x Touch of Infinite Pain +17 touch attack (2d8+9/x2) plus Dazed, Fort save DC22 to reduce to Unsteady, plus Skinship

Ranged None, or as Stolen Form, also see Dominator's Glare and Skinblister

Special Attacks Stolen Form, Skinship, Skinblister and Dominator's Glare

Action Points 0

STATISTICS

Str 14, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 20, Wis 18, Cha 22

Base Atk +13; CMB +22; Maneuver Defense: 30

Feats -

Skills Bluff +18, Sense motive +20, Intimidate +20, Knowledge, Local, +18

Languages Kern, up to three others from Stolen Form

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Stolen Form (Ex)

As a standard action, or by using Skinship in combat (see below), a Doppelganger Dictator may assume the form of any other creature up to CR 15. 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 abilities, senses, movement, defenses, AC, and saves, with that of the assumed form (just not its hit points).

If a Doppelganger Dictator using Stolen Form is engaged in combat, it will use a free action to drop Stolen Form and unnerve its enemies at the most opportune moment. If the Doppelganger Overseer is reduced to half hit points while in a Stolen Form, it loses control and will revert to its own true form regardless as a free action. 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 22 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)

While attacking with melee in its true shape the Doppelganger 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, regardless of the form it is using. If this touch attack is successful (+17 vs touch AC), 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 current CR (usually 13). 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.

Skinblister (Sp)

• Concentration: d20+18 vs. DC 25

As a standard action, the Dictator may target one creature within 300 feet for its Skinblister attack. This is a ranged touch attack and is treated as a ray. If the touch attack succeeds, Skinblister inflicts 3d6+2 points of desiccation damage (untyped energy damage) and causes a gigantic blister to appear on the target's body, full of horrible murky fluid. The following round (at the start of the Doppelganger Dictator's next turn), the blister ruptures, dealing an additional 3d6+2 points of desiccation damage and entangling the victim in the horrible organic debris until the end of the encounter. Victims may make a Fort save during this second round, against a DC of 22, to avoid all of the secondary damage and the Entangled condition.

However, as terrible as these effects are, they are not the worst effect of the terrible Skinblister attack. When the blister bursts, regardless of whether the save is made or not, the fluid from the blister splatters to the ground and immediately forms into a CR 4 Doppelganger under the control of the Dictator. These Doppelgangers act on the same initiative as the Dictator.

Dominator's Glare (Sp)

• Concentration: d20+18 vs. DC 25

As a standard action, the Dictator may use Dominator's Glare on any target within 80 feet. Dominator's Glare is a spell effect similar to the spell Dominate Person.

Non-Doppelganger victims are allowed to make a Will save versus a DC of 22. If this save is made, they are not dominated and instead receive the Disoriented condition until the end of their next turn. If they fail their save, they are placed under the Dictator's telepathic control, and must follow the order the Dictator has given them, to the best of their ability. After each round of such control the victim is allowed another Will save with a +1 cumulative bonus. A Dicator may have a number of simultaneously dominated victims equal to it's CR (13). Succeeding on any saving throws against Dominating Glare ends the effect, renders that victim immune to Dominator's Glare from any source for 24 hours, and inflicts the Disoriented condition for one round.

Doppelganger victims of the Dominator's Glare are forced to make a Will save versus DC 26, and if they fail, they are dominated for a full 24 hours before they are allowed a second saving throw. While under the effects of Dominator's Glare, Doppelganger victims gain a +4 spell bonus to to-hit rolls, damage, armor class, saving throws, and skill rolls.

Concentration (Ex)

If the Overseer wants to cast one of its spell-like abilities while threatened in combat, the Caster Check for combat casting is d20 + 18, with a target DC of 25. If it fails this check, it does not provoke an attack of opportunity, but it loses the action as the spell fails to cast. Note that Dictators will usually use Touch of Infinite Pain rather than risk this roll, as noted below in Tactics.

TREASURE

sell value of approximately 11,250 gp

COMBAT TACTICS

Doppelganger Dictators will hang back and attempt to use Skinblister and Dominator's Glare on their enemies. Any low-level Doppelgangers in the fight will receive the Dominator's Glare in order to buff up their to-hits and damage.

Dangerous, high-damage foes such as spell casters and high damage characters will be targeted with Dominator's Glare as early as possible. Turning the party's spell caster around on the party is a win-win in the Dictator's mind. Skinblister will be used to create new Doppelgangers to provide flanks, gum up the battlefield, and serve as buffable proxy fighters within the enemy's ranks.

if they are forced into melee combat, they will immediately attack all-out with Touch of Infinite Pain, as often as possible, mixed in with Skinship, for the healing. They will not remain in melee combat, and as soon as they land a Daze, they will withdraw out of melee or even flee entirely.

Dictators are prudent and cautious fighters. If a party is shrugging off the effects of their Dominating Glare and not succumbing, they will flee the battle early and rapidly, breaking line of sight, changing shape, and leaving.

Note: Dictators do NOT have a leadership role! If referees wish to create a Dictator with a Leadership role, use caution! Such a foe can challenge even extremely strong parties!