Who’s Played in a Doppelganger Murder Scenario?

[Samuel Leming]

Who’s Played in a Doppelganger Murder Scenario?

In this thread Altimont Ravenard clues us in on the WotC RPG Design Test.

Within that article you’ll find the following:

Avoid stereotypical material. We’re looking for new ideas or fresh approaches to old ideas. Even the most tired cliché can work with a clever twist. Here are some stereotypical adventure ideas; think twice about using them unless you have a particularly good twist in mind.

• Rescue someone’s kidnapped daughter
• Solve a murder perpetrated by a doppelganger.
• Retrieve an ancient artifact.
• Battle a deranged wizard or sorcerer.
• Repel a simple humanoid infestation.
• Defeat an undead army.

The above list is not all-inclusive.

I must admit I’ve inflicted these upon players often and played in these kind of scenarios much more often, except for the doppelganger murder. In over 28 years of playing D&D off and on I’ve yet to run or play in that one.

So, is the "Solve doppelganger murder" as common as they think?

Sam

 

[broghammerj]

There was an old Ravenloft adventure called Hour of the Knife. If I remember it correctly there is a gang of dopplegangers committing murders. There is a really cool aspect to the adventure. If a party member is seperated in town he is immediately surrounded and overwhelmed by dopplegangers (a bit of railroading!!!!!). There was no combat. You sort of had to tell the player that he would get his character back later as their initial reaction is to be a bit angry. The player then roleplayed the doppleganger and later turned on the party at the DMs instructions.

It was great to play because the players thought the doppleganger character had somehow been charmed. Mass chaos ensued. It was great. Part of the reason it was great is that we had never used dopplegangers before and no one expected it. I must say it's a bit strange for them to say this is a cliche or old hat. In a similar 20+ years of gaming I haven't encountered this idea anywhere else.

 

[Agback]

I've play in such an adventure twice (once in fantasy, once in Call of Cthulhu), and I have run such adventures at least three times. And once I faked one of these by having an NPC's body taken over by a possessing spirit.

 

[devilbat]

I've played in far too many Doppleganger murder scenerios. They are now banned from use in my campaigns.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I've played in far too many Doppleganger murder scenerios. They are now banned from use in my campaigns.

Ditto.

 

[ThirdWizard]

To my knowlege I can't remember having done that. I've had doppelgangers impersonate people, and such, but I've never run a murder mystery involving one as the culprit, or even as a suspected culprit.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Have not played in it or ran it.

 

[Odhanan]

It's amazing to me, but I actually can't remember when I played such an adventure. But I did play it.

 

[Lord Wyrm]

Played in one a while back, problem was the Chaotic Evil Fighter was also killing people. Between getting locked up, ambushed by dopplegangers, and getting thrown out of a moving wagon my Wizard had had enough and firebombed the whole area. Good riddance to those dopplegangers and fool of a fighter.

 

[FungiMuncher]

In over 20 years of playing RPGs, I've only played in two scenarios with doppelgangers.

The first one was quite awhile ago, and pretty typical. The party's dwarf was assassinated, and the player then played the doppel for a few sessions.

The second one was in the past year, with an interesting twist. The doppel had commited his murder several centuries ago, but in the battle he was frozen in time somehow. It was our party who rescued him from the stasis, thinking he was the person he killed. Never finished the campaign, so don't know the whole story.

As a DM, I've never run a doppelganger encounter. I do have a potential twisted idea I may submit to Wizards, but it's not a murder mystery.

FM