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Post by dmsam on Aug 15, 2016 5:49:34 GMT
A discussion with nevvur about doppelgangers suddenly got the gears turning in my head.
Dopplegangers can change their shapes to blend into any community, and they can read thoughts! Despite this, they might not know the specific language the person they are impersonating knows. The ability to learn a new language has often been the layman's hallmark for intelligence, and the standard doppelganger from the MM is not exactly the brightest with an intelligence of 11. How well should a doppelganger learn a new language, despite the fact that they may only know their victims in passing? While there are many kinds of thought (some lingual, some visual, etc), what if a victim's thoughts were in a completely different language than the one they knew? What would a doppelganger do?
P.S. Most characters in D&D are at least bilingual.
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CRNFAllyKat
Commoner
Posts: 23 
Favorite D&D Class: Seeker
Favorite D&D Race: Shifter
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Post by CRNFAllyKat on Aug 15, 2016 6:36:44 GMT
For my money I would have them learn as fast as anyone else could. A new language takes time or in the case of D&D possibly a spell or something. It would be something they would have bluff their way thru. That said there is no reason they couldn't know several languages. If they are a doppelgänger that would be a skill they possess. As for the the lower int maybe they know many but arn't fast or have a strange accent.
As for the thoughts I never concerned that. I always assumed that the doppelgänger thoughts would still be their own in their preferred language despite the form they take. But having the thoughts in a different language would create a unique challenge. Now I must think about this...
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2016 7:46:38 GMT
Depends on what the DM wants to get out of the doppleganger, I guess. I could make an argument for slower, faster, or similar rates of language acquisition based on a variety of factors, including those you mentioned. It could also be instant and/or temporary (i.e. it can speak the language of a creature in its presence, but can't speak the same language in its absence) owing to some mechanic of telepathy.
Whether dopplegangers actually feature in our game remains to be determined, so I won't comment on their capabilities as I would run them in my homebrew. However, I generally lean toward enabling monsters rather than disabling them, at least where the text is ambiguous, and the rapid acquisition of language seems like a fairly critical skill for their niche in the compendium of DnD monsters.
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Post by joatmoniac on Aug 15, 2016 18:57:14 GMT
It could be that the doppelgängers are only able to maintain a language they know, and the one of the creature they are taking the form of. It could also be a static amount of time for them to assimilate the new language, which could mean that if the doppelgänger was caught shortly after they transformed into a new creature they would not have access to the new language.
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CRNFAllyKat
Commoner
Posts: 23
Favorite D&D Class: Seeker
Favorite D&D Race: Shifter
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Post by CRNFAllyKat on Aug 15, 2016 22:17:51 GMT
I had another thought (this one has been rolling around in my head) Lets say the Doppelganger doesn't know Elvish but is in the form of an elf. They may think in common and think they are speaking in common but because the shape they have taken speaks Elvish it comes out as such. And they can also understand Elvish but it comes thru as common. That would get into a strange Mythos of nature vs nurture though....
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Post by blakeryan on Aug 17, 2016 10:39:39 GMT
I'd say its an oversight for them to have only Common, and give them Common+3 Languages, determined by GM regarding the region they are in the frequency of creatures.
They could pretend to be mute or very stupid at first, so people don't expect them to talk, and also let down their guard around this 'simpleton' meanwhile the doppleganger learns their language over time.
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