Roll this when a PC is exposed to exotic Dimension Rays, thrown into the space between worlds, or reads aloud from a wizard's spellbook without first studying classical pronunciation.
Like with my d20 effects of exposure to vats of goo, I imagine this table may have perennial utility. We might imagine for instance:
- A room in a dungeon with a dimensional mirror that summons an alternate version of anyone reflected in it, charmed to protect a great treasure.
- A spell, Ally Across Time, that summons a random self for ten minutes.
- An item, the Diadem Alternate, that allows communication between alternate worlds and can expend extra charges to bridge the gap.
Most of these entries have multiple alternatives because it would suck if your character was a cowboy and you rolled the "cowboy" entry. That's not very alternate. Therefore, pick from the alternates randomly, unless one is already the case, in which instance you go with another. Use your most hackish instincts. If Bob the fighter rolls the "Roman" entry, you better believe that self is named Robius and has a +1 Gladius of Disruption to compliment Bob's Mace of Disruption. Do not work hard to make alternate selves easy to get along with-- most adventurers are paranoid of dopplegangers showing up and asking for help, but if basically decent will give the benefit of the doubt for as long as it takes to repulse these gnolls that just showed up.
2d20 Alternate Selves
2. Crystaline/slime 3. Undead/dying 4. Gunhaver/Bronze Age 5. Mutant/animal person 6. Genius/Evil Genius 7. Romantic/nerd 8. Steampunk/goth 9. Teen/Elder 10. Punk/sellout corpo 11. Stereotypical 1E PC/stereotypical 4E PC 12. Swashbuckler/ninja 13. Roman/Greek 14. Stark Trek alien appearance: weird facial feature and non-human skin tone 15. Debutante thief/Gentleman investigator 16. Composite character with another PC 17. Viking/samurai 18. Different homeland 19. Sex and/or gender difference 20. Alternate alignment: Arthurian/merry men/Nazi/Mad Max 21. Roll twice and combine 22. Plain evil, mustache 23. Sad backstory, different fashion and haircut 24. Very similar, different color clothes 25. Like your own nemesis/total wimp 26. Conan/dandy 27. Raised by alternate dimension's equivalent of a notable, surprising NPC 28. Islamic Golden Age/Khanate 29. Vigilante/ruler 30. Never suffered most important loss/is a vengeful ghost 31. Way more successful/way less successful 32. Vampire/angel 33. Robot/caveman 34. Cowgirl/astronaut 35. Different class altogether 36. Soviet/painfully American 37. Spelljamming voyager/Darksun survivor 38. Werewolf/has a cursed weapon 39. Mobster/lobster 40. Bug person/ dino person
