Doppelganger Enforcer

Doppelganger Enforcer (CR 9)

Neutral Evil - Medium - Protean

Lore:	Know (Local)
20		34
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

15

Perception:
24	+14
Passive	Active

Ambush:

10+

on a d20

Senses:

• Standard Senses

Movement Types:

Defense

AC

27

Man Def

26

Monster Health
178	89	14
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+10
Refl:	+7
Will:	+6

Strong Against:

Weak Against:

Offense

Size:	Medium
5 ft.		5 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+15

Man Off

+14

Action

0

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Knuckle Punch +15 (2d8+8/19-20 x2)
  as undefined damage type
  plus Skinship

Full Attack (Melee):

• 3x Knuckle Punch +15 (2d8+8/19-20 x2)
  as undefined damage type
  plus Skinship

Standard Attack (Ranged):

• 1x Horrible Bile +15 (2d8+8/19-20 x2)
  as undefined damage type
  (Increment: 20 ft.; Max Range: 100 ft.)

Full Attack (Ranged):

• 3x Horrible Bile +15 (2d8+8/19-20 x2)
  as undefined damage type
  (Increment: 20 ft.; Max Range: 100 ft.)

Siege Damage: Not siege capable

Statistics

24

STR

14

DEX

14

CON

14

INT

14

WIS

16

CHA

Skills:

• Bluff: 16
• Intimidate: 15
• Perception: 14
• Sense Motive: 13
• All other skills: 9 (no ranks)

Languages: Kern, plus any from Stolen Form

Feats:

Special Abilities

Stolen Form (Ex)

As a standard action, or by using Skinship in combat (see below), a Doppelganger may assume the form of any other creature up to CR 4. 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 abiltiies, senses, movement, defenses, AC, and saves, with that of the assumed form (just not its hit points). If a Doppelganger using Stolen Form is engaged in combat, it will endeavor to flee as soon as possible. If the Doppelganger is reduced to half hit points while in a Stolen Form, it loses control and will revert to its own true form. 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 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)

Once the Stolen Form is lost, the Doppelganger will usually attack in a terrible frenzy. While attacking in its true shape it 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 (+). If this touch attack is successful, 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 Hit Dice ( hit points). 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.

Escort (Ex)

Doppelganger Enforcers are always accompanied by one CR 4 Doppelganger. This creature rewards XP and loot as normal for its level. The Escort always begins combat within three squares of the Enforcer, unless specifically prohibited.

Awaken (Ex)

Once per encounter as a move action, the Doppelganger Enforcer may use its Awaken ability on any CR 4 Doppelganger it is adjacent to. This requires a move action and ends the Enforcer's turn. Once used, the CR 4 Doppelganger stays in its square until the beginning of its next turn, at which point it is removed from play and normal exp and loot are awarded to the players. At the same time, the CR 4 Doppelganger is replaced by a new Doppelganger Enforcer with the same location and at full hit points. This new Enforcer may then begin making attacks with the full memories of the Doppelganger it replaced. Note that all new Enforcers created this way DO have the Awaken ability themselves, but it is considered to be expended for this combat.

Doppelganger Enforcer

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 3) 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 Enforcers are the least of the 'Awakened' Doppelgangers, those who are aware of the larger War and actively and aggressively work to find and defeat their shapeshifting enemies. Enforcers with Stolen Form running are just as well concealed as any Doppelganger, but when they drop their Stolen Form they swell to massively thewed killing engines that are fast, durable, and terrible in battle. Enforcers are often the 'shock troops' sent along with a higher ranking Doppelganger, and are the disposable heavy troops of the War, used by all factions and sides in that inscrutable conflict.

Combat Tactics

Doppelganger Enforcers are smart and dangerous opponents. They will use their Escorts out of combat to confuse who they are and what they are doing, impersonating many creatures with startling fidelity. In combat, their best trick is dropping their Stolen Form to inflict Nervous conditions, followed closely by using their Escorts for flanks, versus using their Awaken ability on them. Enforcers are always able to perfectly communicate their wishes to any Escorts as a free action at any time.

Using Awaken is a cagey tactical move, and may be done early in a fight to attempt to overwhelm a party, or later to draw out a fight with fresh 'reinforcements'. Depending upon relative initiatives, it may be possible for players to kill an escort after Awaken has been used on it but before it gets its turn in combat. Doing so means the Awaken ability is wasted, but if they fail to kill the Escort then their attacks against it are wasted instead. Awaken is a cagey ability that forces players into hard choices, and Doppelganger enforcers are well-aware of this and will use it to their advantage.

Once combat is begun, Enforcers fight smart. Against hard-to-hit foes they will use their Horrible Bile attack, although they greatly prefer to use Skinship. They will seek to concentrate attacks on a single foe, all of them using Skinship if possible, in order to get the healing. If they succeed in using Skinship and multiple of them all assume the same form they will use Bluff to try and conceal which of them is which, in order to let the least damaged members of the Doppelgangers take attacks in order to keep them all up and fighting as long as possible.

Once the battle begins, Enforcers will never retreat, their bodies degenerating to vile sludge shortly after death.

Out of Combat

Rewards

XP: 6,400

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 5,125 gp.

Weight: 90 lbs.     Volume: 3.6 cu. ft.

Optional Treasure Rules: Roll a d20 on Table 1 below once per encounter (NOT per creature). Any items discovered are in addition to the normal treasure for the encounter.

Table 1: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 10	Nothing Found
11 - 14	1 Languid Remnant (tier 1)
15 - 17	1 Pale Remnant (tier 2)
18 - 19	1 Bright Remnant (tier 3)
20	Roll on Table 2
###	Nothing to see here!
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 2: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Languid Remnants (tier 1)
6 - 10	3 Pale Remnants (tier 2)
11 - 14	1 Intense Remnant (tier 4)
15 - 17	1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5)
18 - 19	1 Vital Remnant (tier 6)
20	Roll on Table 3
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 3: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Bright Remnants (tier 3)
6 - 8	3 Intense Remnants (tier 4)
9 - 11	3 Blazing Remnants (tier 5)
12 - 14	3 Vital Remnants (tier 6)
15 - 17	1 Prime Remnant (tier 7)
18 - 19	1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8)
20	1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9)