I've been playing FF6 PR here a lot lately, and it's reminded me how fun it is to use an enemy's moves against them.
This eventually sparked the idea in my head "What if there could be a class added in Deadhaus that will be able to do the same thing?"
The Doppel
Based loosely on the doppelganger/skinwalker/mimic folklore, the idea is that you have a creature that has no real identity of its own, and persists by stealing/copying the traits of other creatures, whether physical or even memories/skills.
In its "base form," a Doppel will be vaguely humanoid, and almost entirely featureless. It's skills will be centered around finding targets to rob of their appearance and abilities. In my head just calling this focal skill "Taking" seems to fit well enough. When it selects a target, it can TAKE from it, and what/how much it is able to Take is determined by how the skill is set up and the relative strength of the target creature; you could set it to only steal appearance, leaving the Doppel as a perfect copy of the creature, but with none of its skills/memories, and the creature left as formless as the Doppel had been (lethal on weak targets, debilitating on stronger targets, ineffective on strongest targets). This would be ideal for using to sneak into the settlements/camps/midst of unsuspecting members of the same faction (note that some creatures with innate or highly perceptive senses would be able to detect a Doppel, even when Disguised, like Dragons maybe).
Taking a target's memories along with their form would allow a Doppel to pass by/into highly secured locations (if they Take the form of someone who has clearance to do so), as well as learn the skills that target possessed the entire time they're in its form. When the Doppel loses that form (either by running out of the resource required to Take--maybe Mana or Essence or something else--or deciding to end the Disguise of their own volition) it would normally lose access to that form, its memories, and skills, but the Doppel will be able to Store and Recall a limited number of forms, memories, and skills.
A weaker Doppel may be unable to use any skills or abilities that its Taken target wouldn't know, and be limited to that target's physical strengths and weaknesses as well, but as a Doppel grows more powerful, they will be able to use Stored abilities at will, no matter the form, and they will also learn and develop their own inherent skills they'll be able to use in any form, including enhancing the vitals of any form they Take. A very powerful Doppel might be able to Take a crippled and diseased peasant on death's door, march into a stronghold, and lay waste to all the hardened knights defending it, much to their shock.
I'm not sure how much this idea overlaps with how the Ghoul is being developed, but if it does too much, it could be from another faction outside of Deadhaus initially, and then join us later.
Skills
Taking - The primary and focal ability of the Doppel. The Doppel chooses a target, physically touches it (later on can be learned to do at a distance), and steals from it; Form, Memories, Abilities (later combinations of them, or even all).
Form allows the Doppel to steal the physical form of the target, leaving it dead, weakened, or unaffected depending on the target's inherent strength/power. A weaker Doppel will be limited to that creature's base physical parameters, both strengths and weaknesses. A power Doppel will be able to enhance the target's parameters, boosting strengths and negating weaknesses. Unless members of that target's faction possess sharp innate senses, the Doppel will be seen as an ally by them unless/until pressed for sensitive information that the Doppel lacks.
Memories gives the Doppel insight into the target's faction, such as secure/sensitive information that would allow them to pass suspicion when pressed by other faction members, and locations of points of interest, such as towns, keeps, strongholds, patrol patterns, locations of armies and their numbers, locations of treasures/valuables/artifacts, and even weak points in defenses. How much and what kinds of information are Taken depends on the strength of the Doppel relative to the strength of the target's will.
Abilities imparts the martial and/or magical skills of the target creature into the Doppel. Both how many and the strength of the abilities imparted is determined by the relative power of the Doppel against that of the target.
Ultimate Form of Taking - Expropriate - The Doppel steals the very being of the target, not only Taking their form, knowledge, and skills, but enhancing them to their fullest potential, essentially becoming the target at their prime. If a target is Expropriated, nothing is left behind.
Store and Recall - This could be considered the secondary ability of the Doppel, but still very important. Allows the Doppel to "remember" aspects of a Taken target for later use. This could allow them to have a convenient readied disguise that they don't have to Take again to utilize, or they could use it to recall certain useful information such as enemy locations and numbers or where that treasure was that the Doppel didn't have access to earlier, or quickly use a helpful skill in a dangerous situation (great cleave ability from a warrior when surrounded by foes, or blink/teleport from a magic user when trapped). The number of things able to be stored would depend on their complexity (power/strength/importance) and the Doppel's own level of skill. A mid-level Doppel may be able to Store and Recall several lesser abilities and a few good/useful disguises and one really useful piece of information, whereas a high-level powerful Doppel may be able to perfectly Recall the aspects of several former targets.
Ebb and Flow - A passive ability in the normal state (no disguise). The Doppel's formlessness allows it to move in preternatural ways; it can contort and slink through small confined spaces, and even escape from most non-magical bindings and physical holds this way.
---have to go, will finish this thought later
This eventually sparked the idea in my head "What if there could be a class added in Deadhaus that will be able to do the same thing?"
The Doppel
Based loosely on the doppelganger/skinwalker/mimic folklore, the idea is that you have a creature that has no real identity of its own, and persists by stealing/copying the traits of other creatures, whether physical or even memories/skills.
In its "base form," a Doppel will be vaguely humanoid, and almost entirely featureless. It's skills will be centered around finding targets to rob of their appearance and abilities. In my head just calling this focal skill "Taking" seems to fit well enough. When it selects a target, it can TAKE from it, and what/how much it is able to Take is determined by how the skill is set up and the relative strength of the target creature; you could set it to only steal appearance, leaving the Doppel as a perfect copy of the creature, but with none of its skills/memories, and the creature left as formless as the Doppel had been (lethal on weak targets, debilitating on stronger targets, ineffective on strongest targets). This would be ideal for using to sneak into the settlements/camps/midst of unsuspecting members of the same faction (note that some creatures with innate or highly perceptive senses would be able to detect a Doppel, even when Disguised, like Dragons maybe).
Taking a target's memories along with their form would allow a Doppel to pass by/into highly secured locations (if they Take the form of someone who has clearance to do so), as well as learn the skills that target possessed the entire time they're in its form. When the Doppel loses that form (either by running out of the resource required to Take--maybe Mana or Essence or something else--or deciding to end the Disguise of their own volition) it would normally lose access to that form, its memories, and skills, but the Doppel will be able to Store and Recall a limited number of forms, memories, and skills.
A weaker Doppel may be unable to use any skills or abilities that its Taken target wouldn't know, and be limited to that target's physical strengths and weaknesses as well, but as a Doppel grows more powerful, they will be able to use Stored abilities at will, no matter the form, and they will also learn and develop their own inherent skills they'll be able to use in any form, including enhancing the vitals of any form they Take. A very powerful Doppel might be able to Take a crippled and diseased peasant on death's door, march into a stronghold, and lay waste to all the hardened knights defending it, much to their shock.
I'm not sure how much this idea overlaps with how the Ghoul is being developed, but if it does too much, it could be from another faction outside of Deadhaus initially, and then join us later.
Skills
Taking - The primary and focal ability of the Doppel. The Doppel chooses a target, physically touches it (later on can be learned to do at a distance), and steals from it; Form, Memories, Abilities (later combinations of them, or even all).
Form allows the Doppel to steal the physical form of the target, leaving it dead, weakened, or unaffected depending on the target's inherent strength/power. A weaker Doppel will be limited to that creature's base physical parameters, both strengths and weaknesses. A power Doppel will be able to enhance the target's parameters, boosting strengths and negating weaknesses. Unless members of that target's faction possess sharp innate senses, the Doppel will be seen as an ally by them unless/until pressed for sensitive information that the Doppel lacks.
Memories gives the Doppel insight into the target's faction, such as secure/sensitive information that would allow them to pass suspicion when pressed by other faction members, and locations of points of interest, such as towns, keeps, strongholds, patrol patterns, locations of armies and their numbers, locations of treasures/valuables/artifacts, and even weak points in defenses. How much and what kinds of information are Taken depends on the strength of the Doppel relative to the strength of the target's will.
Abilities imparts the martial and/or magical skills of the target creature into the Doppel. Both how many and the strength of the abilities imparted is determined by the relative power of the Doppel against that of the target.
Ultimate Form of Taking - Expropriate - The Doppel steals the very being of the target, not only Taking their form, knowledge, and skills, but enhancing them to their fullest potential, essentially becoming the target at their prime. If a target is Expropriated, nothing is left behind.
Store and Recall - This could be considered the secondary ability of the Doppel, but still very important. Allows the Doppel to "remember" aspects of a Taken target for later use. This could allow them to have a convenient readied disguise that they don't have to Take again to utilize, or they could use it to recall certain useful information such as enemy locations and numbers or where that treasure was that the Doppel didn't have access to earlier, or quickly use a helpful skill in a dangerous situation (great cleave ability from a warrior when surrounded by foes, or blink/teleport from a magic user when trapped). The number of things able to be stored would depend on their complexity (power/strength/importance) and the Doppel's own level of skill. A mid-level Doppel may be able to Store and Recall several lesser abilities and a few good/useful disguises and one really useful piece of information, whereas a high-level powerful Doppel may be able to perfectly Recall the aspects of several former targets.
Ebb and Flow - A passive ability in the normal state (no disguise). The Doppel's formlessness allows it to move in preternatural ways; it can contort and slink through small confined spaces, and even escape from most non-magical bindings and physical holds this way.
---have to go, will finish this thought later
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