.....a character is supposed to be dead but is actually alive?

I've played the opening action scene of my campaign and things didn't go the way I was expecting. No problem. The character, a popular governess, was supposed to get kidnapped but her kidnappers were blown up. Empire are reporting her dead, and they believe her to be too, and provided a body for themselves to use in their propaganda.

But this governess is no damsel in distress. She wants to help. Dressed casually, wearing her hair differently, she does look different. But her face is still her face.

So

I'm wondering how exactly to go about this.

Example: How many of us would notice if Princess Diana walked down the street if she was wearing Jeans, T-shirt and a jacket with different hair? Perhaps wearing different makeup.

Would we even stop someone and say: "hey, you look like Princess Diana!"

How difficult should I make perception checks for:

The general population

The Empire

Empire Agents

and

Those who knew her personally

The basic pool would be her Deception against their (Discipline/Cool/Vigilance/Perception), modified (setback or boost, upgrades or downgrades) by use of disguise kits and familiarity. The "average person" would present an "Average difficulty", so PP. Anything else would depend on the abilities, modified by familiarity, of the viewer.

There was a movie with Kevin Kline & Sigourney Weaver I think was called Dave regarding an actor having to assume the identity of the President after he died in a compromising position and they needed time to sort the mess up as well as covering up the incident.

There's a scene where they pose as imitators and told they look nothing like the president and his wife.

Just saying that might help explaining your solution to this situation.

There was a movie with Kevin Kline & Sigourney Weaver I think was called Dave regarding an actor having to assume the identity of the President after he died in a compromising position and they needed time to sort the mess up as well as covering up the incident.

There's a scene where they pose as imitators and told they look nothing like the president and his wife.

Just saying that might help explaining your solution to this situation.

"The sun will come out tomorrow"

How could I forget that!

You've reminded me I've seen that movie.

The basic pool would be her Deception against their (Discipline/Cool/Vigilance/Perception), modified (setback or boost, upgrades or downgrades) by use of disguise kits and familiarity. The "average person" would present an "Average difficulty", so PP. Anything else would depend on the abilities, modified by familiarity, of the viewer.

I thought AVERAGE Joe public might be average.

Being such a well known face I thought it might be more difficult for her to blend in. Fortunately, she'll be a "Diplomat: Ambassador" and I think there's a talent which makes her forgettable.

Indistinguishable upgrades their difficulty to detect. So if she has 2 ranks in Deception and Cunning 3, it would normally be RRP, but with Indistinguishable becomes RRR.

Personally I prefer to have the rolls originating from the PC side whenever possible, so I'd flip it in the case of active Deception. But if the PC is not actively being "deceiving" then I'm not sure what you would roll against...maybe only their native Cunning...?

I wouldn't worry about having NPCs roll to identify her. Just go with what best moves the story. Maybe once or twice a regular person might say she looks like "her" and only when she starts to deny it might there need to be a roll, but even then there is no reason for them not to believe her.

Friends and family would most likely think she looks like "her" or "could be her sister" but it would then come down to how she reacts and the needs of the story for how much they look into the similarity.

If you really want to roll dice, then it would be a perception check by those looking at her with a difficulty based on how familiar they were with her. An ewok (or anyone who didn't know who she was begin with) would just fail, no roll needed. Random person from random planet in the Empire: formidable. Those outside her region, but likely to have seen her a few times: Daunting. Citizen from her region: Hard. Friends and acquaintances: Average. Close friends and family: Easy. Parents or former lover: Simple.

Then if they do notice she looks like "her" she just has to lie. That would be a deception check. Give her boost dice when those she is talking to already believe she is dead or have no reason to doubt her. Giver her setback dice when it is someone who has a reason to believe she is "her" such an imperial officer looking for her or her own mother who has a gut feeling or "knows her daughter".

I wouldn't roll at all for average people, otherwise you'll be rolling a heck of a lot for one character out of a group of characters.

I'd probably use the Obligation mechanic - when it comes up, that's the session that someone recognises her.

When she goes into situations with political enemies and rivals, that's when I'd start making rolls vs. her Deception. (Know:Core, maybe?)

I wouldn't roll at all for average people, otherwise you'll be rolling a heck of a lot for one character out of a group of characters.

I'd probably use the Obligation mechanic - when it comes up, that's the session that someone recognises her.

When she goes into situations with political enemies and rivals, that's when I'd start making rolls vs. her Deception. (Know:Core, maybe?)

Yeah, I didn't want to roll every time she passed someone on the street.

Problem is she's on her own planet and was the governess making a speech just a few days earlier. What I've done is allowed her on a mission at night. So no problems there.

To answer a point raised by jmoschner, she's the sort to laugh and say "thanks" if someone said she looked like the governess. Smart and cool this lady. When alien thugs were trying to kidnap her and the guards told her to run, she picked up a blaster and shot one of the Ganks.

But after much deliberation, she's going to have to be smuggled off world asap.

Seems my rebel cell is going to be official sooner than expected. One of her trusted government members, whose son was a Jedi (was killed in Order 66), just happens to be friends with a certain senator from a certain planet beginning with the letter A and sounds like older one.....

Example: How many of us would notice if Princess Diana walked down the street if she was wearing Jeans, T-shirt and a jacket with different hair? Perhaps wearing different makeup.

Would we even stop someone and say: "hey, you look like Princess Diana!"

If Princess Dianna walked near me I think the smell of death, the low moaning chant for brains and the shambling walk would make me notice her...

Example: How many of us would notice if Princess Diana walked down the street if she was wearing Jeans, T-shirt and a jacket with different hair? Perhaps wearing different makeup.

Would we even stop someone and say: "hey, you look like Princess Diana!"

If Princess Dianna walked near me I think the smell of death, the low moaning chant for brains and the shambling walk would make me notice her...

I think you're looking for the Zombie game forums.

Funny though.

Hmm different hair style, make her wear glasses and an inconspicuous hat you know one that anyone owns and more importantly can be used by someone else to say, "No it can't be you seriously think the governor would be caught dead in that outfit and that hat!"

Had a WEG Star Wars character start a session having infiltrated an Imperial Facility and I made a point of revealing that afterwards he shaved his hair off and went bald in an attempt to change his look so much no one suspected he was that notorious Rebel....

GM never bothered dealing with this particular problem.

Some books especially Star Wars I believe one dealt with Rogue Squadron entitled princess something I think where its revealed one pilot is a surviving member of royalty whose brother leads the resistance against the Empire.

Might be worth reading if you want to introduce a double or reveal she was killed years previously and replaced by a double by a rival who is using these events for their own advantage

Example: How many of us would notice if Princess Diana walked down the street if she was wearing Jeans, T-shirt and a jacket with different hair? Perhaps wearing different makeup.

Would we even stop someone and say: "hey, you look like Princess Diana!"

If Princess Dianna walked near me I think the smell of death, the low moaning chant for brains and the shambling walk would make me notice her...

I think you're looking for the Zombie game forums.

Funny though.

I was just going for the funny. I've hung on the zombie forums and I'm not into dystopian future stuff. I try to have hope for the future as best as I can. That's why I like the Star Wars universe.

I wouldn't have her rolling all of the time as each person passes her. There are lots of examples of celebrities going out in public with just a hat and glasses and not being noticed. I would roll if: 1) An NPC nearby was purposely looking at people (security at a building entrace, an Imperial agent seeking someone, Stormtroopers scanning a crowd), 2) There was a face-to-face interaction with the character (someone is actually talking to her), 3) She does something drawing attention to herself (gets on stage at a cantina, gets into a brawl in a public street), or 4) She walks into a large crowded area (lots of potential people to recognize her, don't use opposed, just one Deception roll with a difficulty based on the crowd size?).

This will have her not wishing to speak to people much, avoiding authorities, not calling attention to herself, and avoiding large crowds. Makes sense.

A more serious reply here. I've done my share of SciFi cons and hung with the actors from time to time at the cost of a large hunk of my liver. Whoda' thunk actors could drink that much booze.... Anyhow, I've talked with them and invariably someone in the circle asks them what it's like to be famous and never being able to go out in public. They all explain that out of costume, without makeup and in an unexpected place most people don't recognize them. I'd introduce the NPC in a public place with plenty of other reasons you could be asking for a Perception check. Every time you want to drop a hint on a good roll make sure it happens where you could be asking because of lots of things. Player paranoia will take over and they will fill in all sorts of blanks you never thought of.

The thing is most people only see what they expect to see and have all the ability to notice things as a goldfish. This is why during escape and evasion training soldiers get told not to go any where near kids as they tend to notice things better than adults and will say things.

This video is very informative

How many customers do you think "Hey, its the chick from Mythbusters"? I would bet none because why would the woman from Mythbusters be serving them coffee

Not to mention the extra breastage is extremely distracting...