Doppelgangers

"You does not understand the concept of an individual, but this is not to say You is not one - You simply does not empathise enough with others to understand how they are also individuals with their own helping of thoughts, fears and dreams. You does taste them however. An essential element of You's mimicry, the ability to deform and shape You's mind into an effective emulation of the target. A wolf in sheep's clothing, You will then assimilate into the life of the target, replacing them entirely to remove any suspicion before the task is carried out. You would then stay hidden until You could disappear without risking capture."

Every doppelgänger is a unique creature, more of a broad family than a member of a species. It is not known where they come from. Many struggle with issues of identity, with the most common response being to not have one - they became perfect blank slates upon which they pin their deception. Others  instead fail to understand that anything else is really alive and sentient, seeing those it slips between as a great herd. Beyond these two broad archetypes, there is an infinite variety of possible outlooks and attitudes.

The 'blank slate' archetypes are owned by a handler who they are suicidally loyal to, or else aimlessly wander, replacing random individuals seemingly erratically. They often pass entirely undetected, until some unknown trigger causes a brutal slaughter, commonly met with death by the authorities.

They are known to gather in groups, most commonly when operating as mercenaries. It is not known what they do with their pay. Those who do group together are usually of the more eccentric kind, sporting more outlandish habits and preferences. They are considerably more talented, motivated and intelligent than the others of their kind, despite having no real goal. This makes them a formidable force and a great boon to those who can afford their hefty fees. Incredibly unusual is the tendency for these groups to take on names, something which exists entirely within these groups.

All members of this species have what is known as the 'rest form' - their appearance when not impersonating another. There is a great deal of variation between these, with the features approaching common usually being present on those of the 'blank slate' type ;

- Overall body is standard human configuration
- Translucent skin, not quite transparent enough for organs/bones without bright light behind them.
- No sensory organs
- No sexual organs
- Emaciated appearance
- Average height 5'5

D6	Specialisation
1	Theft of items with great sentimental value – this one delights in stealing such items, and will store them in its personal stash. This stash will be defended to the death.
2	Murder of the dependent – this one savours the killing of the elderly, the children and the sickly.
3	Savage Brutality – it revels in pure carnage, brutally slaughtering targets and those near – usually to have it blamed on the one being impersonated.
4	Being caught – this one allows itself to be caught in the act, before slipping away once blame is solidly levelled at the one being impersonated.
5	Destroying relationships – this dynamic individual will rapidly shift to destroy all friendships and relationships the target has, leaving them utterly alone.
6	Specific Impersonations – this one has a knack for impersonating a specific variety of target, feeling incredibly comfortable in that form – to the point that their rest form reflects this preference. Roll on table below for the specific variety.

D6	Preferred Impersonation
1	The holy, the pious, members of clergy or of known upstanding character.
2	A specific gender.
3	Children of a certain age – (D12 +4)
4	Nobility, those possessed of great wealth or titles, guild leaders.
5	A specific race, often from somewhere distant than their current locale.
6	Those known for a specific strong temperament.

Orphaned Characters

I was looking through my characters folder when I realised that few of them have games any more. I figured I'd post the character details here, and if people are interested I'll put the stats and the such up. If you use any of them as NPCs I'd love to hear about it.

Ancis Tane, Reluctant Skeleton

Ancis was born to a pair of retired adventurers, and was inspired by their tales to follow the family tradition. He trained relentlessly as a dungeoneering rogue, and finally set out on his 19th birthday to seek fame and fortune.

Sadly, this ended in disaster. The crew had been hired to take out a necromancer who had infested a local tomb. They had reached the villans lair, only to be absolutely slaughtered by the magical onslaught. And so it was the necromancer set about his rituals to raise them as fresh minions. As fate would have it, the groups Paladin had barely survived, and struck down the necromancer mid-incantation before expiring himself. The result of this was an incomplete raise dead spell - a skeleton with free will.

Ancis couldn't bear to go back home, having failed at the first hurdle. He knew his parents would be disappointed with his new found status, and so he resolved to fix the issue himself - get filthy rich to afford a resurrection spell that would still function on him.

He was forced to wear a metal mask, which went oddly unquestioned. He also had to find convenient excuses to avoid healing from the groups cleric, instead performing battle-field repairs with the bones of fallen enemies.

Balen Ralacio, Errant Bard

Balen was born to better things. The son of a knight of considerable standing, he was trained well in the arts of chivalry and war, or so his father thought. In actual fact, he was usually chasing the women around the castle grounds and sneaking into the attached town. His father increasingly despaired of him, until the final straw - Balen was discovered mid-coitus with a noblewoman from a rivalling family. He jumped before he was pushed, entering into self-exile and wandering the world, picking up useful skills as he went.

He thought of himself as hot shit, basically put. Rather than sing tales of other heroes to inspire his allies, he would sing about his own greatness and the shortcomings of the enemies. His main pursuit was carnal pleasure, especially when he could bed a noblewoman. He was a pig of a man, and pretty thoroughly horrific if jovial about it.

Biraeg the Scythian, Warlord in Waiting

A friend was planning a game set in the murky times of Greek myth. Rather than playing a civilized welp, I rolled up a bastard-hard horse archer nomad. Biraeg the Scythian was covered head-to-foot in tattoos, took the heads of his enemies as they fell before him and smoked copious amounts of marijuana. He had abysmal people skills owing to his complete disregard of Greek culture and customs, but could not be matched in speed or archery prowess.

Something we were looking forwards to was his mirth at the Greek pantheon interfering with his destiny - to lead his people in a glorious war/migration, which would have ran parallel to the actual migration of the Scythian peoples.

Abdullah, Desert-Dwelling-Dwarf

Rather than playing a straight dwarf from the mountains, I decided to try something a bit more left-of-field, hence Abdullah the Arabic-influenced Dwarf Wizard, who made his money as a merchant. He was a complete bastard, playing LE to the letter and somehow steering the party towards his chosen goals.

Notable achievements include using the groups rogue to test a trap, (leading to his death) as well as murdering the party's paladin later on - though arguably this was in self defence. Despite his horrific inclinations, he ended up being the party negotiator due to his mercantile inclinations.

This campaign was notable for pocket-sand being thrown at every god-damn opportunity, leaving many enemies unable to fight back as our rag-tag band of escaped prisoners beat them down.