| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Mr_Miscellany
Senior Scribe
545 Posts |
 Posted - 03 Mar 2011 : 19:35:36
|
|
-
|
Edited by - Mr_Miscellany on 02 Apr 2011 00:18:45
|
|
|
Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7989 Posts |
Posted - 03 Mar 2011 : 20:24:32
|
Players are usually stunned and scared as hell when they encounter a duplicate. Until they realize it's just a fake; ie: identical in appearance and style but not in ability, lacking the PC's magic items, etc. True terror is inspired when the dupe actually demonstrates some kind of threatening power the PC lacks.
The threat is minimized when the entire party can jump in to assist. Unless they too have problematic dupes.
I've done it a few times: watery doubles, dopplegangers, illusions, mirror of opposition, that sort of stuff. I've even had somebody steal a clone and promptly inconvenience the rightful owner (the clone was convinced he was the original and a dupe had stolen his life and all his stuff).
I judge the success of an encounter by how long the players talk about it. Dupe-bashing is usually forgotten fairly quickly, unless the dupe manages to become a long term difficulty. |
[/Ayrik] |
Edited by - Ayrik on 03 Mar 2011 20:25:27 |
 |
|
|
Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7989 Posts |
Posted - 03 Mar 2011 : 20:35:13
|
| Yeah, those days were all 2E. It took our group a few years to migrate into 3E, mostly because we had (still have) a mountain of 2E stuff and nobody wanted to buy into a whole new library. 3.5E and d20 OGL galore was an easy transition, 4E has met with nearly unanimous opposition. Even so, I routinely draw 1E and 2E and 4E stuff into our 3.6419E-styled gaming. |
[/Ayrik] |
|
|
|
Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 03 Mar 2011 : 23:09:47
|
I used the mirror of opposition in Undermountain for one of my unpublished Hooks... Guy and his buddies are in Undermountain. The guy looks in the mirror, his double attacks him. He defeats, but does not kill, the double -- the double is left for dead.
Guy and his friends leave, and go back to the surface. Soon after, they retire from adventuring.
Meanwhile, the double woke up, and went hunting for original guy. He stepped thru a random portal, and wound up on the other side of Faerūn. He keeps adventuring, gets more powerful than the original. After a couple years, double decides it's time to take out the original. And then the fun begins.  |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
|
|
|
Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2011 : 00:35:47
|
| Oooh!! I have used one of these ONCE. Strangely, (or perhaps not) it was not even in a D&D setting, but in my Marvel Universe-based super-hero comic series "Red-Back: Son of the Spider". I had my main character run across one by accident while he was visiting Dr. Strange, and the resulting duplicate is now his greatest nemesis, named Darkspider. Darkspider is an exact opposite of the hero Red-Back. (real name- Hunter, BTW.) He originally had all the same memories and knowledge, up to the point when he was created. After that, the two diverged. Darkspider is clinically insane due to only having half a soul, (half of Hunter's was used to create him.) and wants nothing more than to kill his original. Only problem is, he can't. If he does, he would also die (what he does to Hunter also happens to him), so he keeps trying to find ways to kill him indirectly without triggering his own demise, such as hiring others to do the dirty work, helping Red-Back's enemies, or even trashing his reputation in the hopes that someone else will take him out! (Like the Punisher, or having him de-powered, etc...) He is one of my favorite villains to play with, as he is sadistic and can match my mutant hero's powers evenly. He's also thoroughly EVIL. Has no qualms with causing collateral damage, killing innocents to put the blame on his opposite, or anything else he can do to screw with him.. I even had an issue where he used a combination of MGH(from Wolverine) and pain-killers to torture his good-guy double while healing himself and remaining unaffected by the pain of the injuries he inflicted! (Oh, yes, I'm THAT mean....) |
The Goddess is alive, and magic is afoot.
"Where Science ends, Magic begins" -Spiral, Uncanny X-Men #491
"You idiots! You've captured their STUNT doubles!" -Spaceballs
Lothir's character background/stats: http://forum.candlekeep.com/pop_profile.asp?mode=display&id=5469
My stories:
http://z3.invisionfree.com/Mickeys_Comic_Tavern/index.php?showforum=188
Lothir, courtesy of Sylinde (Deviant Art)/Luaxena (Chosen of Eilistraee)
http://sylinde.deviantart.com/#/d2z6e4u |
|
|
|
Fellfire
Master of Realmslore
1965 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2011 : 04:16:37
|
| There was a Dungeon magazine adventure that had something like this. I seem to recall a demi-plane of mirrors? or mirror mephits? The mirror didn't exactly duplicate the PCs though it was a twisted "what if" version. One of the main characters in the adventure was a harmless little street thief and her duplicate was an evil shuriken-chucking monk. Anybody know what this adventure was called or what issue it was in? |
Misanthorpe
Love is a lie. Only hate endures. Light is blinding. Only in darkness do we see clearly.
"Oh, you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but.. blinding. The shadows betray you because they belong to me." - Bane The Dark Knight Rises
Green Dragonscale Dice Bag by Crystalsidyll - check it out
|
|
|
|
Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7989 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2011 : 10:20:04
|
| You'll find the watery double spell (along with an interesting thread) here, MM. I've also used a monster (a watery elemental subkind, I think) which duplicates and attacks a character much like the spell does ... I can't recall what the beast was called, though I think there's actually some variety of monsters who operate in this manner. |
[/Ayrik] |
Edited by - Ayrik on 04 Mar 2011 10:21:44 |
|
|
|
Erik Scott de Bie
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
4598 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2011 : 15:25:12
|
In my paragon 4e game, I am currently playing a duplicate of my original character (a shadar-kai swordmage). She was created by a magical artifact to be a more-or-less perfect clone of the original, albeit *enhanced* to fit the wielder's preferences. We defeated said wacko and the clone and set them up with altered memories in a "happily ever after" scenario.
This all changed when my original character infiltrated the main enemy's castle, leaving me at least temporarily without a PC in the campaign. Instead, I played the duplicate version of my character, who recovered her memories (basically the same as what the original had, with a few subtle differences) and has now joined up with the party.
A confrontation is brewing between the two clones--we'll see how it works out!
Cheers |
Erik Scott de Bie
'Tis easier to destroy than to create.
Author of a number of Realms novels (GHOSTWALKER, DEPTHS OF MADNESS, and the SHADOWBANE series), contributor to the NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN GUIDE and SHADOWFELL: GLOOMWROUGHT AND BEYOND, Twitch DM of the Dungeon Scrawlers, currently playing "The Westgate Irregulars" |
|
|
|
Alisttair
Great Reader
Canada
3054 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2011 : 15:35:00
|
| I've had the idea of creating duplicates as villains before becaue its always a fun challenge. Maybe once they get to paragon or epic I will do so in my campaign. |
Karsite Arcanar (Most Holy Servant of Karsus)
Anauria - Survivor State of Netheril as penned by me:
http://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/172023 |
|
|
|
Zireael
Master of Realmslore
Poland
1190 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2011 : 16:39:51
|
quote:
Originally posted by Fellfire
There was a Dungeon magazine adventure that had something like this. I seem to recall a demi-plane of mirrors? or mirror mephits? The mirror didn't exactly duplicate the PCs though it was a twisted "what if" version. One of the main characters in the adventure was a harmless little street thief and her duplicate was an evil shuriken-chucking monk. Anybody know what this adventure was called or what issue it was in?
Which dungeon was it?
The 'what if' version featured briefly in the Throne of Bhaal... |
SiNafay Vrinn, the daughter of Lloth, from Ched Nasad!
http://zireael07.wordpress.com/ |
|
|
|
Fellfire
Master of Realmslore
1965 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2011 : 18:59:55
|
| I don't remember and my searches yield nothing. |
Misanthorpe
Love is a lie. Only hate endures. Light is blinding. Only in darkness do we see clearly.
"Oh, you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but.. blinding. The shadows betray you because they belong to me." - Bane The Dark Knight Rises
Green Dragonscale Dice Bag by Crystalsidyll - check it out
|
|
|
|
Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
|
|
Alisttair
Great Reader
Canada
3054 Posts |
Posted - 08 Mar 2011 : 16:13:32
|
Mirror in Undermoutain as Wooly said is excellent.
In fact, with Undermountain, you could have mirros all over that create duplicates. Make that place more deadly (can it be deadlier?) |
Karsite Arcanar (Most Holy Servant of Karsus)
Anauria - Survivor State of Netheril as penned by me:
http://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/172023 |
|
|
|
Alisttair
Great Reader
Canada
3054 Posts |
Posted - 09 Mar 2011 : 18:22:22
|
| Also there is a Mirror of Opposition in the Castle of Illusion inthe Frost Hills (a nice place filled with traps and puzzles). |
Karsite Arcanar (Most Holy Servant of Karsus)
Anauria - Survivor State of Netheril as penned by me:
http://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/172023 |
|
|
|
Foxhelm
Senior Scribe
Canada
592 Posts |
Posted - 09 Mar 2011 : 20:58:48
|
| What about the Alias Vessels from the Finder's Stone Books? |
Ed Greenwood! The Solution... and Cause of all the Realms Problems! |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
-
