Editing Doppelganger (section)

==Dungeons & Dragons==
In [[Dungeons & Dragons]], doppelgangers have a long history. Described as resembling almost elf-like androgynous grey-skinned beings, doppelgangers are portrayed as skilled shapeshifters with fundamentally lazy temperaments; believed to have originated from some evil wizard's experiments to create the perfect assassin and puppet ruler, they have since gone wild and use their skills to try and replace powerful individuals so they can lead lives of luxury. Consequently, they still tend to end up employed as assassins and "veils" for evil wizards and similar types.

Still, unlike many ''D&D'' monsters, doppelgangers aren't inherently, or even commonly evil, just lazy, empathy-impaired jerks. ([[Desert Nomads series|X5]] brings in the [[Hengeyokai|Mujina]], who runs the exact same grift.) In AD&D, there are several kinds of doppelganger; the most notable is the Greater Doppelganger, which can absorb all of a person's memories by eating their brain. 

[[Ravenloft]] is home to the creatively named Ravenloft Doppelgangers, renamed Dread Doppelgangers in 3e, which are more malicious, have far more refined mind-reading powers and can use magical illusions to further supplement their disguises. But unlike normal doppelgangers who can theoretically live outside of normal society, they cannot reproduce unless they mate with a humanoid (typically as a male, as a pregnant Dread Doppelganger cannot shapeshift). They hail from the domain of Peridon, whose [[Darklord]] is himself a Dread Doppelganger. 

In [[Eberron]], doppelgangers are believed to be the ancestors of the [[Changeling]] race; 5e retconned that they are instead the ''descendants'' of changelings, being the result of [[Daelkyr]] [[fleshcrafting]] to upgrade changelings to create the perfect assassins and saboteurs. They form the leadership of the Tyrants, a gang that controls much of the prostitution in Sharn. How a gang that's mostly legal enterprise wound up being called the Tyrants is anyone's guess.

In the [[Nentir Vale]], it's implied that "doppelganger" and "[[changeling]]" are just two different names for the same race.

A Half-Doppelganger template appears in [[Dragon Magazine]] #313.

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