Annis Hag Alter Ego

This stringy-haired hag stands as tall as an ogre. Her expression is vacant, as though her warty face were merely a mask.

ECOLOGY

Environment cold marshes
Organization solitary
Treasure none

An alter ego arises when a sliver of a creature’s personality breaks free and coalesces into an independent being. An alter ego is almost always created by accident rather than design, and one usually comes into being during a moment of trauma, disorientation, or sudden incapacitation. In many cases, the progenitor isn’t aware that the alter ego was created, particularly if the new creature hides or flees rather than confronting its progenitor immediately.

An alter ego’s body is made not of flesh and blood, but of solidified ectoplasm that looks, smells, and feels like its progenitor’s body. Because ectoplasm is less dense than bone or carapace, an alter ego weighs less and is more nimble than its progenitor. Although an alter ego appears similar to its progenitor, it speaks in a flat monotone and stares blankly through a numb, expressionless face. Observers generally find their behavior off-putting and their expressions doll-like. A creature that is familiar with the progenitor can identify the alter ego as a duplicate with a successful Perception check (opposed by the alter ego’s Disguise check) or with a successful DC 20 Sense Motive check. As an alter ego looks very similar to its progenitor, it can easily engender confusion or cause harm to its progenitor’s reputation. If the alter ego of a famous paladin is spotted fleeing from danger, for example, witnesses might call the paladin’s courage into question. Rumors of uncharacteristic actions might be the progenitor’s first indication that an alter ego is at large.

An alter ego’s psyche is both more limited and more focused than the mind of its progenitor. Although the alter ego has all of the progenitor’s memories and abilities at the time of its creation (including any prepared spells), its personality revolves around a single facet of its progenitor’s psyche that drives the alter ego’s actions. This facet is often a personality aspect that the progenitor prefers to keep hidden, but that leapt to the fore during the event that caused the alter ego’s creation. For example, a cleric who secretly grapples with doubt might spawn an aggressively atheist alter ego, or an alchemist who occasionally swindles an adventurer or traveler to make rent on her shop might engender an openly and unrepentantly greedy alter ego. Stories abound of murderous alter egos, but in truth only a rare few alter egos have facets that provoke extreme activities, such as munificence or violence. Alter egos are generally dispassionate in their actions and neutral in alignment; the danger most present is only to their progenitors’ reputations and peace of mind.

An alter ego’s mind fixates on its sole purpose, and it is rarely idle. Rather, it actively and even obsessively pursues short-term goals based on its dominating facet.

For example, an alter ego who came into being when its progenitor was disgraced might seek out and humiliate those who witnessed the event, while one with a murderous facet might engage in a string of massacres.

Because these plans spring from only a limited aspect of the progenitor’s personality, an alter ego’s schemes often conflict with the progenitor’s overall goals. For example, the progenitor of the vengeful alter ego might wish to forget the event that created it ever happened, while the alter ego’s actions revive gossip about the unfortunate occurrence; if the murderous alter ego sprang from a progenitor who was a methodical, disciplined assassin, the alter ego’s reckless killing spree is likely to interfere with the assassin’s well-laid plans.

Regardless of the alter ego’s personality facet and how it was created, it loathes its progenitor. In some cases, the alter ego might merely find its progenitor to be abrasive. Most alter egos do not plan to kill their progenitors, but the idea may come to them while in their progenitors’ presences, spurred by their instinctual hatred, and alter egos spawned from self-loathing or suicide attempts may actively plot to ruin or assassinate their progenitors. Despite this revulsion, an alter ego continually receives mental flashes of its progenitor’s location and is debilitated when its progenitor is more than a mile away. When in its progenitor’s immediate presence, an alter ego cannot help but recognize its progenitor and overhear snatches of the progenitor’s surface thoughts. When its progenitor is dead, the alter ego gains considerable freedom to pursue its activities—a realization most alter egos come to in days, weeks, or years—and that realization drives most alter egos to eventually murder their progenitors, or else plot to replace them and keep their wayward originals somewhere quiet and peaceful.

Certain psychic or magic items (such as a mirror of opposition) can create a duplicate or opposite of a creature.