Doppelganger Eliminator

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Doppelganger Eliminator (Killer Role) (CR 22)

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.

In the weird, shadowy world of Doppelgangers, Doppelganger Eliminators are the solution to problems. In the War, Eliminators are used to crush enemy strongholds and destroy important foes. Of course, since Eliminators serve on all sides of that weird, ineffable conflict, they frequently come into conflict with one another.

Eliminators are haughty and dangerous creatures, and unlike most Doppelgangers, they can never impersonate creatures below size Large. They will stoop to imitating mere beasts if it serves their mission, but far more frequently they will imitate Giants, or their most preferred mimickry, dragons. Eliminators are perfectly capable of slaying the lesser ranks of dragons, and will take their place without hesitation if they can arrange such a thing.

Despite their apparent arrogance, Eliminators seem to be of a lesser status than other Doppelgangers, such as the brilliant and inscrutable Consuls. It is common for an Eliminator, or a working pair of Eliminators, to be 'working for' a Consul. It is much rarer for Eliminators to work with lower ranking Doppelganger, but given the fluid and deeply concealed nature of Doppelganger 'society', it's not impossible.

It should be noted that Doppelganger Eliminators are probably not the highest ranking Doppelgangers in existence. If there are Doppelgangers of greater power, however, they are so rare or so well hidden, then the best sages, mages, cyphers, and scribes can only speculate as to the details of these shadowy behemoths.

GENERAL

CR 22 Hit Dice 39

XP 1,230,000 (Killer Role Bonus included)

NE, Large, Protean

Init +17 (Includes Killer Bonus); Senses lifesense 120 ft, Plus as Stolen FOrm, Perception +33

DEFENSE

AC 48, touch 27, flat-footed 42 (+12 armor, +6 dex, +9 natural, +11 deflection)

hp 1540 (Killer Role Bonus Included)

Fort +23, Ref +19, Will +19

Aura: - or as Stolen Form

SR: - 32

Special Defenses: - or as Stolen Form

Immunities: - or as Stolen Form

Weaknesses: - or as Stolen Form

OFFENSE

Speed 50 ft., climb 50 ft, Swim 50 ft, or, as Stolen Form

Space / Reach: 10 ft. / 10 ft. or as Stolen Form

Single Melee 2x Raging Bite +39 (6d8+30/x2) + Ripping Embrace, +33 vs touch (10d6+4, save for half)

Full Melee

• 2x Raging Bite +39 (6d8+30/x2)
• 2x Slipping Claws +39 (6d6+10/x2)
• Ripping Embrace +33 vs touch (10d6+4, save for half)

Ranged Eruption of Spite +39 (8d8+18/x2), 30 foot cone AOE

Special Attacks Stolen Form, Skinship, Seed Mass, Twisting Jaunt, Ripping Embrace

Action Points 0 (killers do not get action points)

STATISTICS

Str 38, Dex 22, Con 30, Int 16, Wis 18, Cha 18

Base Atk +22; CMB +36; CMD 40

Feats

• Selective Spell (EFFECT: Exclude up to three allies from their AOE attacks)
• Combat Reflexes (EFFECT: Up to 7 attacks of opportunity)

Skills Bluff +30, Sense motive +30, Intimidate +38, Knowledge, Local, +22

Languages Kern, up to three others as Stolen Form

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Stolen Form (Ex)

As a standard action, or by using Skinship in combat (see below), a Doppelganger Eliminator may assume the form of any other Large or larger creature up to CR 25. 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). Note that Eliminators always retain their strange lifesense ability as well.

If a Doppelganger Eliminator using Stolen Form is engaged in combat, it uses a free action to drop Stolen Form and unnerve its enemies at the most opportune moment. If the Doppelganger Feeder 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 31 or gain the Trembling condition until the end of the combat, as they wonder who among their allies and friends might be a doppelganger as well. If this save is made, they instead suffer the Nervous condition until the end of the combat.

Skinship (Ex)

While attacking with melee in its true shape the Doppelganger uses the stats listed above. In addition, once per normal attack it makes, the Doppelganger may make a touch attack (+27 to hit vs touch AC) against one adjacent foe, regardless of the form it is using. 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 current CR(usually 22). 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.

Ripping Embrace (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, a Doppelganger Eliminator may press its flesh against an adjacent victim, oozing a thousand tiny needle-sharp tendrils within clothing, armor, fur, and then with a wrench, rip large swaths of the victims body loose for consumption. This is resolved as a melee touch attack. If the touch attack succeeds, the victim is allowed to make a Fortitude save against a DC of 31. If this save fails, they take 10d6+4 of piercing/slashing damage. A successful save halves this damage.

Twisted Jaunt (Su)

While attacking with melee in its true shape the Doppelganger uses the stats listed above. In addition, once per round as a swift action, a Doppelganger Eliminator may take a weird writhing leap that seems to make it 'fall out of reality'. The Doppelganger Eliminator may teleport up to fifty feet, and when it arrives it may make a Ripping Embrace attack as a free action. Using Ripping Embrace in this way does not use up their normal Ripping Embrace for the round.

Seed Mass

As a move action, a Doppelganger Eliminator may rip loose and fling away a portion of its own flesh. This causes it no harm. The Eliminator may throw this mass of flesh, a Seed Mass, to any square within fifty feet it has line of effect to. If it does not have line of sight, it scatters as a splash weapon. When it lands, the Seed Mass is treated as a minion, with the same armor class and saves as the Doppelganger Eliminator. It has no movement, and takes its action on the initiative tick after it is thrown. A Seed Mass is mindless and does not move. It fills a space as an enemy creature, and can be moved around by forced movement. On its initiative, it activates its only power, Flensing Aura, which fills a five-by-five square area centered on its space. Flensing Aura acts as Skinblister on all enemy creatures who enter or begin their turn in the aura. Flensing Aura inflicts 5d6+3 points of dessication damage, with a Fort save versus DC 31 for half damage. All creatures who take damage from Flensing Aura (even those who make the save) develop a gigantic, disgusting, fluid filled blister somewhere on their bodies. The round after they are afflicted by Flensing Aura, the blister bursts. A Reflex save against a DC 31 means no further ill effects accrue. If this save is failed, the victim is Entangled until the end of the combat by the disgusting organic debris left by the blister.

Made or not, each burst blister spawns a CR 4 Doppelganger which is under the control of the Eliminator and acts on its current initiative.

TREASURE

sell value of approximately 500,000 gp (Killer Role Bonus included)

COMBAT TACTICS

Doppelganger Eliminators can mimic some pretty serious opponents. It is not uncommon for them to mimic maximum CR Dragons and giants and use those attacks until they have taken half damage. They will then drop Stolen Form for the debuffs and wade into melee combat, seeking to sow as many Seed Masses as possible and get as many Skinship's running as they can manage.

Eliminators are vicious and cagey fighters, and will use Twisted Jaunt and Ripping Embrace to maximum effect, combined with Seed Mass, to pop around the combat sowing havoc and confusion in all directions. Fights against Eliminators are weird, wild, fast moving, crowded, and dangerous.

Once they have been forced to reveal themselves, Eliminators will attack furiously and relentlessly. The Seed Mass power with the Flensing Aura's causes the terrain to alter drastically during the fight, and demands that players either adapt to changing conditions or devote attacks to eliminating the Seed Masses. Eliminator will frequently use Twisted Jaunt for the free Ripping Embrace attack, use their move action to throw a Seed Mass every round, and either make a standard attack, or lower their standard action to a swift action and perform a second ripping embrace.