Images:
As you peer through the forest of rock before you, you hear approaching footsteps. You are taken back, caught off guard as you behold an exact facsimile of you emerge from the shadows. Coming before you, you stop, cynically grinning at yourself . . . and then attack. As you encounter your duplicate image, the air shimmers and bends, unbalancing you for a moment. As this happens, your other self merges, becoming one with you for a brief instant, and then separates.
Game Master:
Without divulging any further information to the player, roll on the chart below to see who the player will be actually be playing – his or her character, or the Image encountered:
%Roll: Who is the player actually playing?:
01-25: The player is playing the Image.
26-50: The player is playing his or her character.
51-75: The player is playing the Image.
76-00: The player is playing his or her character.
At this point, a battle to the death will commence. Remember, the player will not know anything is amiss; only that he or she is battling a duplicate of him or herself (the player could very well be playing the Image). In any case, whatever the outcome, win or lose, the player will continue to adventure (just as he or she did before this encounter). If the player wins, whatever the outcome, you, the game master, will only reveal that the player has won. Nothing will seem out of the ordinary. The player will simply continue adventuring. The loser of the conflict will vanish in a whirlwind of dust, never to be seen again.
In the future, during the adventure, the game master will slip a note to the each player that is now playing the image. If the character is now being played as the Image, he or she will betray the company at the most critical time (the game master will pass a note to the player when he or she must betray his or her allies. The betrayal can occur during the next encounter, or far into the future. If playing the part of the Image, the game master will let the player know when and where to act. The Image is chronically patient, and has no need to rush.
Legend:
It is rumored an Image can become loyal to allies, abandoning its goal to betray. This depends upon how it is treated, and the loyalty of its allies. In reality, the Image may enjoy its new life, and choose to continue on.
Each member of the company will exit the Portal Trial to stand before the Old Hag and receive the reward she offers, whether or not he or she wins or loses the struggle against the Image.