VRS Research Files: Doppelgangers

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Rotipher of the FoS
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VRS Research Files: Doppelgangers

Post by Rotipher of the FoS »

Cover-letter excerpt from a parcel mailed from Paridon to Mordentshire, 760 BC:

Imagine “her” now, Miladies, leaning closer to read along with you. Picture the face that, until this moment, you twins alone had shared; picture it stolen – usurped – by one whose hidden nature is far from sisterly, but exploitative, opportunistic, contemptuous. Feel its protean ambiguity, its alien inhumanity, its insinuative evil … evil, not because it is alien or inhuman, but because it fully understands human principles and obligations and morality – knows them by direct experience, for it heeded them in youth and feigns to honor them in its present guise as one of us – yet it simply does not care.

Imagine it drawing nearer, reading these words in perfect, reflection-like synchrony with yourselves … and reading your very thoughts, unsettled by these words, as well.

Imagine its laughter.

And pray that we might use this information to silence its mockery.

*****

“VRS Research Files: Doppelgangers”

Van Richten’s legacy of in-the-field investigation continues this winter

*****


For those who have already expressed interest in helping with this project -- great to have you aboard, folks! -- and for those who are just now considering it, I'm starting this thread to facilitate communication and cooperation in this effort. Volunteers are already snapping up topics or calling dibs on particular kinds of submission, so before things go any farther, I need to lay out some ground rules for the project.

First, the generic reminders for community projects: :roll:

1) The usual standards of FoS netbooks apply, with regards to content, authors' proprietary rights, and strict avoidance of plagiarism or OGL material.

2) This book will use the 3.5 D&D rules for consistency. If you don't use that system, either stick to in-character material or agree to let others revise your submission accordingly.

3) Submissions should be sent to me, Rotipher, via e-mail. If you'd like to send an excerpt to me by pm for review, that's okay, but keep it short: my pm inbox fills up very quickly.

4) Check Joel's guidelines for the Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer for advice on formatting, capitalization, "teasers", etc.

5) To ensure a consistent, readable finished product, I reserve the right to edit submissions to make them compatible with other content, and to add or revise framing-text so that it fits into the netbook's overall design. If a submission requires major changes, I'll consult with the author about such revisions if the opportunity arises.


Now, for the specifics: :D

1) This book is not a VRG. Rather, it is a fan-written successor to Van Richten's and the W-F twins' work. As the Fraternity Surveys pick up where "S" left off, so the VRS Research Files will continue in the same vein as the Guides, but with different authors and a new format.

In-character, this netbook is a package of documents sent to Laurie and Gennifer by a Van Richten Society colleague, which might one day become the basis for a published Guide to Doppelgangers. For now, however, it's a compilation of observations, references, and educated guesses about these elusive shapechangers.

2) Because this "book" is not a published volume, but a collection of field-notes, reports and citations, submissions need not always take the form of orderly chapters. While your contribution should be readable, it's okay to present part of your text as a transcribed conversation, a police report, an article from the Newsbill, a series of diary-entries, etc. Framing-text for such "references" should explain the item's context, including how it came into the narrator's possession.

3) Like the VRGs, this book is intended to assist DMs in making a monster more "Gothic", more interesting, and less predictable to players. While I don't want to create umpteen subraces of doppelganger or make them overwhelmingly powerful, sidebars containing racial feats, deceptive uses for skills, saliant abilities unique to doppelgangers, or descriptions of how their powers work (or fail!) under unusual circumstances are both helpful and welcome.

4) Because dread doppelgangers are the norm in Ravenloft, particularly in Zherisia, it's the Denizens of Dread/Darkness version of this monster which this book will describe by default. However, most material should be compatible with "standard" MM doppelgangers, also: the more people who can benefit from our ideas, even in non-Ravenloft campaigns, the better!

5) Several facts about Ravenloft's doppelgangers which I've gleaned from existing products, or deduced from them, may be useful to know right off the bat:

- Doppelgangers don't ever call themselves doppelgangers. They are "Masters".

- Doppelgangers cannot breed among themselves, only with humans. In nearly every case, a doppelganger will be raised among humans, and it grows up sharing human standards of beauty, comfort, courtesy, justice, etc. It just doesn't think humans' need for such things matters, if weighed against its own desire to usurp others' claim to them ... in short, they are hypocrites to the core, not just on the surface.

- Doppelgangers have simple, two-syllable names for use among their own kind. They also have human 'child-names', which they abbreviate to create their doppelganger-name when they Waken at puberty.

- A doppelganger often prefers one of its human identities to the others, or to its real appearance (which even it finds ugly). Doppelgangers can be very proud and possessive of their favored alter-egos.

- Doppelgangers' favorite kind of warfare is the psychological kind. If a doppelganger gets into a fight, it's done something wrong; ideally, it sets its enemies to fighting one another, or breaks their will to pursue in other ways.

*****

I'd rather not set a fixed deadline quite yet, but expect submissions to be due before the end of the year. If you are interested in contributing, please get in touch with me with your topic preferences by Saturday, November 11th. Topics will be alloted on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Topics and subtopics currently planned for inclusion are:

Introduction -- Cover-letter / Why Dopps?

Basics -- Origin theories / Physical anatomy (me & Cabby)

Standard Abilities -- Shapechanging / ESP / Glamer / Traits & Immunities / Skills

Individualized Abilities -- Feats / Classes / Salient abilities / Asset-appropriation

Habits -- Impersonation / Secretiveness / Opportunism / Conspiracy

Psychology -- Self-identity / Stolen identities / Gender / Worldview / Insanity

Lifecycle -- Breeding / Childhood / "Wakening" / Elders

Society -- Clans / Niches / Status-seeking / Nomads

Tactics -- Replacements / Infiltrations / Covert activities / Psychological warfare (NeoTiamat)

Hunting dopps -- Preparation / Identifying dopps / Countering infiltration / The hunt / Tools & weapons / Aftermath / Post-hunt precautions

DM Appendix -- Dopps as villains / Constructing dopp scenarios / Staging a PC's replacement / Adventure hooks


Topics in boldface are those I've already written, or am in the process of writing now. Underlined topics have already been claimed by volunteers, although teamwork is encouraged.

Additionally, several people have offered to contribute in-character text for anecdotes and references throughout the book. If you want to include such tidbits in your material, but you're better at game-stats than fiction, tell me what you'd like and I'll pass it along! :D

*****

Oh, and the narrator? "Cory J. Rookhausen" ... or at least, that's what Crow's calling himself for this job. Seems he took the liberty of researching a little more than just the local art and newspaper scene, on his recent FoS-sponsored visit to Paridon.... :wink:
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
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Post by NeoTiamat »

Cory J. Rookhausen...

I suspect, that as a group, Ravenloft players have a regrettable tendency to being over-clever with regards to names. (Then again, I'm just as guilty of this as anyone.)

For the record, I am the evil-minded person doing the Tactics section. :twisted:

I have an interesting NPC written up, and some pleasantly vicious ideas for Doppelganger tactics (hence why I'm writing them), so if anyone wants a bit of help and doesn't feel like bother poor Rotipher (who's writing half the book, more or less), and I'm always glad to help. As Roti said, teamwork is encouraged.
Ravenloft GM: Eye of Anubis, Shattered City, and Prof. Lupescu's Traveling Ghost Show
Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
Freelance Writer for Paizo Publishing
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Post by Rotipher of the FoS »

NeoTiamat wrote:Cory J. Rookhausen...

I suspect, that as a group, Ravenloft players have a regrettable tendency to being over-clever with regards to names. (Then again, I'm just as guilty of this as anyone.)

Ah, well, if the "Rookhausen" in-joke is too corny, I could always change it.... :roll:
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
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Post by NeoTiamat »

It's not too corny, but I doubt anyone familiar with Crow will be able to prevent a chuckle at the name.
Ravenloft GM: Eye of Anubis, Shattered City, and Prof. Lupescu's Traveling Ghost Show
Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
Freelance Writer for Paizo Publishing
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Post by Rotipher of the FoS »

Think so? Fine, that'll make the bard happy. Can't let dealing with villains and monsters all day make us take life too seriously, now can we? :wink:
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
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Post by Rotipher of the FoS »

Here's an update on which topics have been claimed so far:


Introduction -- Cover-letter / Why Dopps?

Basics -- Origin theories / Physical anatomy (me & Cabby)

Standard Abilities -- Shapechanging / ESP / Glamer / Traits & Immunities / Skills (me & Cabby)

Individualized Abilities -- Feats / Classes / Salient abilities / Asset-appropriation / Atypical strains*

Habits -- Impersonation / Secretiveness / Opportunism / Conspiracy

Psychology -- Self-identity / Stolen identities / Gender / Worldview / Insanity

Lifecycle -- Breeding / Childhood / "Wakening" / Elders

Society -- Clans / Niches / Status-seeking / Nomads (Cabby)

Tactics -- Replacements / Infiltrations / Covert activities / Psychological warfare (NeoTiamat)

Hunting dopps -- Preparation / Identifying dopps / Countering infiltration / The hunt / Tools & weapons / Aftermath / Post-hunt precautions

DM Appendix -- Dopps as villains / Constructing dopp scenarios / Staging a PC's replacement / Adventure hooks (Sorti & Dominique)


*- Added at ChrisNichols' suggestion, "Atypical strains" will address other breeds of doppelgangers, e.g. greaters, ethereals, and changelings.


And some other volunteers' contributions:

Artwork (Cabby)
In-character anecdotes (Llana, CorvusCorax)



Additional topics may also be added, if suggestions are made in time. Either way, there are still plenty of topics to go around, or if someone's already working on a favorite topic, don't hesitate to ask if they'd like to team up! :D
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
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