Hi all,
I recently played a short adventure as a doppelganger in Pathfinder and it was so fun I decided to make a doppelganger playbook for Dungeon World!
I am still working on it presently but I’m eager to get some feedback since it is the first playbook I’ve made. Gear and advanced moves are still being devised.
For reference, I am basing the abilities and lore off of the doppelganger from Pathfinder (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/monstrous-humanoids/doppelganger).
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2yyzgltF5dndVk1SGh2YXVvYkU/view?usp=sharing
I like the concept of your class. I haven’t played pathfinder or this class, so the idea of having someone able to mimic others is an interesting twist.
That said, I think the way “Read Thoughts” is laid out is pretty boring. There’s no inherent danger to reading someone’s thoughts, the knowledge that you gain is entirely implied, and the partial success would still give a strong bonus to future actions with limited recourse. I would recommend lowering the 10+ to giving a +1 forward, and adding in custom questions similar to Discern Realities that you could ask about someone’s mind that you’re reading.
For example:
“What secret are they desperately keeping?”
“Whose confidence do they hold?”
“What imminent fear or danger do they know about?”
Thanks for sharing!
Joseph F. Russo Thank you for your suggestion! I figured the inherent danger of that move came from not picking the first option. However, I like your idea much better and am reworking it to be more like discern realities. Good thinking!
I like it so far. My only comment would be to follow the Druid class and only give the playbook a d6 damage die and then make an advanced move to push it up to a d8 die. The shapeshifting move of the doppleganger is effectively an advanced form the Druid move being able to clone another humanoid, and I think a d8 out of the gate is a little OP’d.
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Timothy Bennett Thanks for the feedback! The reason I chose d8 was due to Doppelgangers often being far stronger than they appear (18 Strength in PF). Perhaps this is not a good enough reason to be that high? I could add an advanced move like “Freakishly Strong” or something to boost their damage.
I am also concerned about the power level of their shape change ability.
I am hoping that since it is only able to take similar sized humanoid forms (rather than any kind of animal) AND does not get any kind of moves associated with the form (at the base level) that it should be balanced with what the druid gets.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2yyzgltF5dnRnU5WHg3M01EekU/view?usp=sharing
Here is version 0.2. I have updated the Read Thoughts ability to hopefully be more interesting. I added a new starting move Master of Disguise but I’m not entirely sure about it so feedback on that would be greatly appreciated. I also finished the gear section and have started added some advanced moves.
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Good stuff. Keep creating!
Should there be a difference between Multiclass Dabbler and Multiclass Initiate?
My feeling on the Master of Disguise. I like the idea, but blah on bookkeeping. I would much rather have a disguise kit be narratively enhancing (you can stand up to close scrutiny), and then leave their use to be optional.
Assume that the doppleganger can roughly approximate any humanoid form, but a disguise kit could be used to “complete” the look, and leave it completely undefined (similar to how adventuring kits are).
Master of Disguise could then be used as a quick tag reference, stating “you have mastered your level + 3 in specific disguises, mark which ones they are, and do not spend a disguise tag to use them”
Then at 5+ (or whatever), add another move that is “Master Deception” with the description “You may select one broad catagory of disguises, and no longer need to spend a disguise tag to use them.”
or some such.
I made a compendium class Doppleganger a while ago. I figured it made more sense if you were replaced by a doppleanger than just started play as one. Feel free to have a look or use what you can from it:
https://plus.google.com/104811112088336879051/posts/ZAePBn6BGFi
Alright, new version available with some significant changes. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2yyzgltF5dnZzZEemlmUUlwWWs/view?usp=sharing
* Changed from alignments to drives because hey, that’s the trendy thing to do, right?
* Changed up the backgrounds to match some lore on doppelgangers and hopefully be way more interesting.
* Nerfed read thoughts a bit and changed the way it works to be more like discern realities.
* Added a starting move to represent their natural strength.
* Expanded upon lore that doppelgangers are sneaky and deceptive.
Timothy Bennett I changed it to a d6 damage in favor of moves that represent it’s weird strength.
Michael Mendoza Those moves are copied verbatim from the Bard and other base classes. You can only pick an advanced move once, so it gives you a total of 3 opportunity to take moves from other classes.
Joseph F. Russo I decided to scrap that move and the disguise kits after much thought. It was definitely messy as it was but more importantly I have become of the opinion that a doppelganger’s shapeshift includes clothing and such.
I am interested in more feedback, especially on Beyond Human and Flexible. Flexible was sort of me running out of ideas and not knowing how to make it less subjective. Maybe it is okay as is?
Eric Lochstampfor That’s a really cool idea as well. I never thought of doing it that way. It’s interesting how your alignments are almost exactly what I came up with too.
The class is looking good. The mythology-laden backgrounds are especially nice.
My miscellaneous thoughts
* Could be fun to add “Trinket from one of your borrowed lives” as a Gear item.
* I would change the bonus for the City Slicker background to take +1 when blending into crowds.
* Regarding the Unsettling Appearance move, I can see why a doppleganger would get a bonus to intimidating the person they copied. I don’t immediately get why that bonus applies to all actions with the “source material”.
* Flexible looks good to me. Should Beyond Human work like the druid shapeshift move?
* Finally, dopplegangers as described in the Dungeon World book must taste the flesh of the being that they copy. Is that worth reflecting in the character class?
Newest version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2yyzgltF5dnMDdWSEhuX2E2ejA/view?usp=sharing
* I moved back to alignments since I forgot it is kind of ingrained in the system (paladins doing the whole detect evil thing). I had to remove Neutral though because I just couldn’t settle on something that made sense. I replaced it with a Good alignment instead.
* I made the background moves less extreme and turned one into an advanced move. City Slicker is entirely gone and has been replaced by Predator. This change has removed the Bizarre Brawn starting move.
* Mimic has been completely reworked to give a choice like all base classes do. With that change, Comfortable in Someone Else’s Skin is no longer necessary since Mimic kind of necessitates more defy danger using charisma.
* Read Thoughts now just adds to Discern Realities.
* Changed the gear up a bit.
* Beyond Human was entirely scrapped – They can just multiclass into druid if they want something like that.
* Added a cool new advanced move called Friends with Benefits.
* Most importantly, I got rid of all the boring +1s!
Michael Mendoza Thanks for pointing that out about Unsettling Appearance. You’re right, it didn’t make sense to gain just any +1. Instead it’s +1 forward when acting hostile.
Also, while the bestiary does have them tasting flesh I’m really not keen on that lore. MAYBE i could add an advanced move for it or something…