I'm going to be running a one shot game soon in which a Doppelganger will be running amok over the course of one night inside of a locked Inn while the players try and track him down. He will be picking off NPCs until they (the heroes) finally figure out who is doing all the killing. Then a big final fight and we are done.
My question is this: After the doppelganger kills someone how long would it take them to strip the corpse and don the armor? Half the usual time? One round? I am thinking it takes the usual amount of time to take the armor off the corpse, but maybe as little as one round to put it on since he can just make himself Small, put it all on top of himself and them make himself Medium sized again? I know the doppelganger can't just 'magic' new clothes on himself so this is an important consideration.
I'm going to be running a one shot game soon in which a Doppelganger will be running amok over the course of one night inside of a locked Inn while the players try and track him down. He will be picking off NPCs until they (the heroes) finally figure out who is doing all the killing. Then a big final fight and we are done.
My question is this: After the doppelganger kills someone how long would it take them to strip the corpse and don the armor? Half the usual time? One round? I am thinking it takes the usual amount of time to take the armor off the corpse, but maybe as little as one round to put it on since he can just make himself Small, put it all on top of himself and them make himself Medium sized again? I know the doppelganger can't just 'magic' new clothes on himself so this is an important consideration.
Magic new clothes are absolutely the way to go here. Have it shape its skin into what looks exactly like the armor it's trying to mimic.
If you really want to get technical, I'd say that stripping a corpse of armour should take double the time it would take someone to put it on, and then because it can make itself smaller, half the time to don it.
Doppelgangers are pretty cool. The are at base a Medium size monstrosity, with no hair and kind of gray skin. They also have Telepathy, so they can read minds and know how to act. They can change their shape from Small to Medium as an action. They can look more or less like whatever they like, they can change their colors, they can grow hair in whatever style they like. It's debatable if then have enough fine control to even give their skin the equivalent of camouflage. They can't even look like they are wearing clothing, they can't do a thing with equipment at all except wear it, and if they need to use anything other than their slam attack twice as a multiattack, they will need to pick up a weapon, and they wouldn't have proficiency in using weapons of any kind.
There aren't any rules for getting dressed. I'd guess that would take the same time as Light armor. It takes one minute to take "doff" (take off) Light and Medium armor, Heavy take 5, and you can take a shield off someone with an action. It takes one minute to "don" (put on) Light armor, Medium takes 5, Heavy takes 10, and you need an Action to grab a shield. A Doppelganger can't just ooze inside a suit of armor, they can't get thin enough for that. They aren't like the T-1000 from the movie Terminator 2, he's a very high tech Doppelganger. Standard issue is a magical version of the 800 series that can change colors.
There used to be a rule about having some help you with your armor, so one person could use the Help action and get the armor on or off of you in half the time. I rather doubt that there is any way to cut things getting into or out of armor to less than a minute, no matter how much Help you have.
I'm going to be running a one shot game soon in which a Doppelganger will be running amok over the course of one night inside of a locked Inn while the players try and track him down. He will be picking off NPCs until they (the heroes) finally figure out who is doing all the killing. Then a big final fight and we are done.
My question is this: After the doppelganger kills someone how long would it take them to strip the corpse and don the armor? Half the usual time? One round? I am thinking it takes the usual amount of time to take the armor off the corpse, but maybe as little as one round to put it on since he can just make himself Small, put it all on top of himself and them make himself Medium sized again? I know the doppelganger can't just 'magic' new clothes on himself so this is an important consideration.
Magic new clothes are absolutely the way to go here. Have it shape its skin into what looks exactly like the armor it's trying to mimic.
While wearing this armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC. You can also use a bonus action to speak the armor's command word and cause the armor to assume the appearance of a normal set of clothing or some other kind of armor. You decide what it looks like, including color, style, and accessories, but the armor retains its normal bulk and weight. The illusory appearance lasts until you use this property again or remove the armor.
The illusion on the armor does give the party another way of spotting the doppelganger, though
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
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I'm going to be running a one shot game soon in which a Doppelganger will be running amok over the course of one night inside of a locked Inn while the players try and track him down. He will be picking off NPCs until they (the heroes) finally figure out who is doing all the killing. Then a big final fight and we are done.
My question is this: After the doppelganger kills someone how long would it take them to strip the corpse and don the armor? Half the usual time? One round? I am thinking it takes the usual amount of time to take the armor off the corpse, but maybe as little as one round to put it on since he can just make himself Small, put it all on top of himself and them make himself Medium sized again? I know the doppelganger can't just 'magic' new clothes on himself so this is an important consideration.
Magic new clothes are absolutely the way to go here. Have it shape its skin into what looks exactly like the armor it's trying to mimic.
Just make whatever choice best serves your story.
If you really want to get technical, I'd say that stripping a corpse of armour should take double the time it would take someone to put it on, and then because it can make itself smaller, half the time to don it.
Doppelgangers are pretty cool. The are at base a Medium size monstrosity, with no hair and kind of gray skin. They also have Telepathy, so they can read minds and know how to act. They can change their shape from Small to Medium as an action. They can look more or less like whatever they like, they can change their colors, they can grow hair in whatever style they like. It's debatable if then have enough fine control to even give their skin the equivalent of camouflage. They can't even look like they are wearing clothing, they can't do a thing with equipment at all except wear it, and if they need to use anything other than their slam attack twice as a multiattack, they will need to pick up a weapon, and they wouldn't have proficiency in using weapons of any kind.
There aren't any rules for getting dressed. I'd guess that would take the same time as Light armor. It takes one minute to take "doff" (take off) Light and Medium armor, Heavy take 5, and you can take a shield off someone with an action. It takes one minute to "don" (put on) Light armor, Medium takes 5, Heavy takes 10, and you need an Action to grab a shield. A Doppelganger can't just ooze inside a suit of armor, they can't get thin enough for that. They aren't like the T-1000 from the movie Terminator 2, he's a very high tech Doppelganger. Standard issue is a magical version of the 800 series that can change colors.
There used to be a rule about having some help you with your armor, so one person could use the Help action and get the armor on or off of you in half the time. I rather doubt that there is any way to cut things getting into or out of armor to less than a minute, no matter how much Help you have.
<Insert clever signature here>
Or even magic armor: https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/glamoured-studded-leather
The illusion on the armor does give the party another way of spotting the doppelganger, though
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)