Alter Ego (Pathfinder Second Edition)
(art by Christina Kritikou on Artstation)
A reflection is a curious thing, a perfect carbon copy of a person appearing just beyond the surface, mirroring every movement.
In the real world, we know this is nothing more than an illusion on a highly reflective surface, the physics of light creating an effect that looks to all onlookers like a second subject or even environment existing just beyond the surface.
But in a world of magic, feeding into the folklore of mirrors? Mirrors may in fact be a portal to another world.
The fact that mirrors also reflect people can also lead to some sneaky folk seeking to emulate that in their deceptive arts. Certainly in pathfinder, using illusions to create fake doubles or disguises is nothing new.
But for some, this goes much further, with some characters seeming to almost become a living mirror of sorts, cloaking themselves in illusions and even weaponizing mirrors, going far beyond what even other masters of disguise can do.
The base dedication for this archetype allows the alter ego to observe someone for an extended period to learn how to mimic the act of going through the motions of their daily lives and career, allowing them to mimic working and acting in that role, or at least pass themselves off as doing so. This doesn’t actually disguise their appearance, but it makes it much less likely for them to be noticed as being out of place when they do so.
Like any good improv actor, these deceivers can “yes, and” an ally’s deception, helping them fill in the blanks of their story in a convincing way.
While some use manual disguises to complete their playacting, some others instead begin to tap into illusory magic to change their appearance, adopting a disguise with a gesture.
When assuming a role, more skilled individuals can pantomime applying multiple relevant skills to at once, allowing for more and more diverse roles.
People tend not to notice things they expect to be there, and these sneaks take advantage of that when blending in to places where their current role would be expected to be, such as a waiter at a fancy dinner party or the kitchen.
Some alter egos go far beyond visual illusions to do auditory ones, throwing sounds and voices, or creating magical silence.
Mimicry can even come in handy in combat, allowing these sneaks to observe the physical maneuvers of others and replicate them.
Going far beyond minor magical tricks, some alter egos can tap into the ethereal plane through mirrors… to swap places with or ambush foes through them. If done especially well they can even briefly trap foes in the reflection for a few seconds as well.
With another illusory trick, some learn to extend their deceptions to parchment, badges, and other symbols of authority, causing others to view these items as the expected proof of their identity and legitimacy.
Most alter egos prefer nondescript identities, but when they have to do a specific disguise, or learn things that cannot be gleaned by observation, some develop the magical skill to probe the minds of targets to learn from them, though it takes prolonged contact and observation to do so.
When the jig is up or the ruse has run it’s course, more dramatic individuals have a knack for dropping their disguise in such a way as to leave foes unnerved and vulnerable.
This is a fun disguise-based archetype, and useful for both nonmagical sneaks and true illusionists, or perhaps. Picking up feats that enable and reward information gathering and sneaky stuff are all very important here.
While many of these masters of disguise are probably fine, pretending to be other people on the regular can lead to a distorted sense of self. Exactly what that means can be fun to explore with your character.
The nearest parts of the Aether overlap into an area glimpsed in the reflections of mirrors. The surki inventor Scorched Shell has made that area the subject of their study, and they’ve made some interesting headway there, able to use subtle magic to blend in with other species by becoming their reflection.
Paranoid of shapeshifters and illusory infiltrators sneaking into the lab complex he oversees, Dr. Kolglas has devoted a certain amount of his study to the mechanics of physical and illusionary disguises, the results of which include many mewling and timid skinskitter fleshwarps, among more dangerous horrors.
An invasion is coming, and the nation’s spy network has been devastated by a recent upheaval about a month ago. In a bid to gain an edge on the invading nation, the queen orders for a new spy network using strange occult magic of mimicry to be established.