@@Babbleplay yup. The ship was like the "queen" and the chairs, books, etc were all smaller mimics. I went with the notion they were like magical mollusks. Had lot of fun with the players walking around trying to figure out why the ship seemed so crude and stuff like rigging was missing. I described it like a show set where you weren't supposed to closely scrutinize the details and how as seasoned sailors there were a lot of things that were out of place or flat-out wrong with rhe ship. Once the mimic was too bored waiting for the rest of the crew to come on board it sprang its trap. Probably my favorite encounter so far.
My adventuring group walking into a tavern and we all laid our weapons out on the table. The bartender asked us, 'What's with the weapons?' We replied, 'Mimics.' The bartender laughed. We laughed. The table laughed. We killed the table. Good times.
My favorite recurring thing in my games are inspired by some tumblr post: a mimic that transforms into a vending machine, selling whatever adventuring tools and magical items its managed to find in the dungeon it's currently occupying, in exchange for eating the coins that the party puts into the coin slot. Coineater sort of follows the party around, and if the party fails to find a magic item I thought was neat, he claims it and sells it for his preferred dish, money. Sort of works like that merchant in Shovel Knight, who sells the items you miss in the stages. Coineater the Merchant is a lot of fun to play out.
I'm running an Eberron game. Spent a lot of the early levels in Sharn. The boromars had clockwork gambling machines outside certain shops. Mimics planted by a rival faction took that form. The players never picked up the hooks for that. Later they got annoyed with the city corruption and mounted a campaign to have one of their friendly NPCs unseat a Boromar family leader from her council seat. During their canvassing/skill challenge, They noticed a bunch of these vending machines with discount healing and restorative potions sponsored by their opponent. They stopped for a short rest and a flatbread, and inquired of the proprietor how long the vending machine outside had been there. "We don't have a vending machine"... Anyway they poked it and it ended up being a mating pair of those slot machine mimics. The potions were tiny mimics with a stat block based on the rot grub. Real nasty. I enjoyed their looks of shock when they started fighting the thing and the top half slid off, revealing that there were two mimics,. And dozens of little potion bottles started running everywhere.
I had to share the video immediately in my DnD chat grp, because of this amazing intro. Made me lough a lot, made my day. Thx, keep going being amazing. Greets from Germany !
3 uses of mimics in my campaign: 1) guards for the prison in the capitol. It poses as a door or hallway floor. If an inmate tries to escape it will trap the inmate and depending on the ward it will either wait for the guards or devour inmate immediately. 2) used by an auction house the mimics turns into items up for auction so that if someone tries to steal the items the will be attacked. 3) mimic used as a fake door on a wizard's tower it doesn't attack unless it is attacked or forced open. (Knocking on the door is not an attack)
First of all, wonderful intro haha, mimics are always going to be my favorite creature, ever since dark souls or of course d&d, may not be the strongest, but it is always a fun surprise to make people paranoid!
@@Marabcd315 Sure, they can bite ya like any old garden variety mimic. But they're somehow also masters of taekwondo? You gotta love it. Maybe there's a mimic monastery some place in dark souls, where they learn their moves, and their legendary patience? Surely they can't just all be born with it, right?
I’m relatively new to D&D, so my introduction to mimics was the very first one you encounter in Dark Souls 1. Somebody left a message near it saying “amazing enemy ahead” and, having zero knowledge of what a mimic even was at the time, I opened the chest without a second thought. Still one of my favorite memories from DS1 haha.
"Mimics aren't very intelligent creatures" *looks to previous editions where they stated mimics weren't only fairly intelligent, but were capable of speech and negotiating with adventurers, as well as the standard "dumb hungry monster mimic" of 5e being the outliers of the species* Thank you, Mr. Rhexx, for showing me what 5e doesn't tell me about the mimic.
In one of the 5e books I don't remember right now if it's the Monster Manuel or Volos guide it DOES say that some Mimics have evolved to be capable of speech. And that it can perhaps make deals with adventurers for safe passage through it's territory.
I was in a campaign where we ended up bribing a mimic with some goblin bodies, and it decided to join out party. We had it look like a door in the dungeon so we could rest in a room! We kept feeding it corpses of stuff we killed and made it happy and well fed!
Sounds like something my players did, mimic also uses its shape changing ability to form an air bladder and pseudo voice box to 'mimic' common speech. Gave it a really deep voice, could only speak in broken sentences, usually one or two words at a time. Imagine their surprise when they come back to their camp and there is a new jewelry box sitting on the female character's gear. "Where'd that come from?" The cart replies, "Now a mommy!" in a really deep masculine voice.
That would be doable, but frustrating in a game run by me. Mimics are primarily stationary hunters, and trying to travel anywhere with one, even in one dungeon, would be sloooowwwwwwww going.
My group got a "magic backpack" that could hold more than normal. Turns out it was a mimic that decided the party were alpha predators and figured it could just tag along and "eat the leftovers". Quite the shock when the backpack ate the goblin, but hey look at that, it can carry more stuff now. Party proceeds to feed the backpack more baddies. I am just waiting until the thing gets strong enough to no longer recognize them as alphas anymore.
I LOVE Mimics! My level 20 spelljammer campaign had a gargantuan Mimic as the bbeg. It wanted to destabilize the physical form of other beings to be like it. It had a mini boss of 5 doppelgangers each wearing a mimic that Voltronned together to be a huge creature with 5 attacks.
The timing on this could not have been better. I was just giving mimics a fresh look for an upcoming adventure and thinking "Whoa. These things are, well... The Thing!" Great to see you guys not just on the same page, but really digging into some possibilities. Thanks!
There should be a lock variant mimic and when someone tries to unlock it they have to make a dex saving throw. If they fail by 5 or more they roll percentile to see if they lose a finger.
👀👀 I’m currently writing a mimic themed oneshot so uh, thanks for this! You could even consider a mimic as a magic item that WANTS to work with adventurers; after all, how many people and creatures do adventurers kill over the course of an adventure? And all those bodies are just going to waste! Imagine all the new foods this mimic could have, with just a little extra work. Also also remember the mimic colony from Tasha’s! Tasha’s explicitly mentions that mimics are capable of making deals with people. There are rules for how to run one, and yes, the mimics do get telepathy.
I recently made a pair of mimics, disguised as an especially shining sword and helmet - abandoned at a campsite. The druid found them and shared with the Paladin. The Paladin was waving the sword, trying to determine its qualities while the Druid tried "attuning" with the helmet - by placing it on her head! Instantly 2 PCs are grappled, one is suffocating, and the rest of the Party is unawares. The mimics got 2 free rounds before the previously "I've got this" Paladin finally swallowed his pride and screamed for help. Great memories.
@@anthonycassidy1124 It had a lot of similarities with the Spitting Mimic, but I think there were some roper features thrown in. They're both CR5, so you could mix and match to make it more interesting.
A neat way to use a mimic is when the party is in a dungeon and meet a dead end but as they go back the path they are on it is blocked by a wall that is a mimic that moved there.
Speaking of "Urban scourge", my DM had a small village all be composed of mimics. Outhouses, wells, small buildings, BIG buildings. It was terrifying and we ran. We never found the mimic-village again. Also, mimic beds and mimic sleeping bags. 'nuff said.
In Gnomengarde from Dragon of Icespire Peak, my group encountered the mimic as a wine cask in the mushroom wine room. It jumped the cleric when they were all focusing on the ranger as he tried to pry open a random jewelry box they found in the room. After they had defeated the cask mimic. The ranger felt, what could be described as a puppy gnawing at his ankle. And as he looked down, he sees the jewelry box (that he had dropped prior) gnawing on his leg. It was a baby mimic. And last we left off, they were on their way to a ranch that specializes in "monsters" to drop him off. All while making occasional checks to make sure that they don't lose it. It has been found (when they lost it) as a coin purse and a tool kit so far.
"You could fill an entire environment with just these types of creatures. Where EVERYTHING is trying to kill the party." This is where trust issues come from.
Here's an idea I'll probably never get to run - A mimic that has taken on the shape of a statue or idol and is now being worshipped by a tribe low intelligence creatures, goblins or whatever. The mimic is in a hidden away space, and the other monsters drag their sacrifices to be consumed by their "god" I think it would make a nifty mystery! Or twist. Or something!
You guys nailed it! I had a mimic hitch a ride in my party’s backpack as a small chest with no obvious way of opening it. Then during a long rest it struck while the party was asleep. “Roll Initiative”
Also - a pregnant mimic that poses as a Healer's Kit with her children as individual bandages. They work well as bandages at first, because they seal onto the wound and stop the bleeding. But the kids 'wake up' from proximity to the wound and begin to siphon off more and more hit points as they go. The wounded person just feels tired, goes to sleep, and maybe wakens to find their wounded arm or leg being eaten by a baby mimic.
What a great concept! There was a movie called Monster House, which is similar. Can’t share with my table, or they will know what to expect. Thanks, Kelley and Monty!!!
Yes! I have Monster House on DVD. It's great. The house's carpet, is the tongue, chandelier is the monster's uvula. And the kid says, "oh, so it's a girl house..."
I liked that you mentioned that regardless of a Mimics form, it has some visual continuity. The teeth, certain colors etc. That’s very useful information and a good idea. I’m going to use that. There’s a player in my group that is just enamored with mimics. That is until one is hanging from his leg by its teeth. Your videos continue to be very useful and interesting.
I was talking with my coworker about his dnd adventures, and there was a unique experience with mimics! Apparently while the party was adventuring they found a bag of gold coins, so of course they pick it up. As they continued the adventure, they noticed that whoever carried the bag started getting small bites taken out of them. Turns out there were small mimics among the gold coins, biting the holder whenever the would stop to rest. I thought that was a neat way to use mimics for aomething other than trap chests
This video has inspired me so much; thank you for delving into the amazing and insidious ways I can use this monster to traumatize (and entertain?) my players.
In my "not-Mordheim/Drakkenheim" campaign, I have a gang that has a "pet mimick" that they've raised from a... something. It functions as a guard dog, impersonating a rug in the foyer of the hideout. Gang members say "Stay, Poly" when entering so it knows they're family. During dinner it often shifts to something else or sneaks into the dining room and whimpers like a dog until it's fed some scraps, then makes a humming noise as it whatever its way back to the front room.
Your example of a dungeon full of mimics and animated objects and things with illusions over them and shape changers is prime for some kind of hag or powerful being with truesight. Ideal traps. She can see them for what they are, but others may not.
18:12 You Dudes just inspired me! Pitch: Land surveyors are disappearing when they go out to explore a small, nearby ghost-town. Talks about hauntings and supernatural evil entities housing mysterious powers and rare treasures are the topics of conversations. When the party gets there, the houses, the trees, rocks, boulders give off an eerie vibe. Little do they know, they unwittingly stumbled into the hunting grounds of apex predators, looking to get their fill of champions and adventurers.
As someone who enjoys making maps for dnd games this is inspiring and awesome. Can’t wait for work to be done so I can get out a couple of small ones this weekend. With regard to mimics one of my players has a mimic that has been disguised as a tankard. The mimic takes a portion of everything the adventurer drinks (and the occasional ration) but because the mimic is always fed they don’t really have a reason to attack the adventurer. In a way the adventurer has domesticated the mimic with constant drink and food. I do occasionally hint at the odd occurrences from time to time but it’s quite possible the player is also okay with the arrangement as the mimic checks and neutralizes poisons in return for being taken care of and well fed.
Great episode guys. I once ran a group of 10th level characters that were dubious in nature sent to handle something the more moral adventurers wouldn't. The fighter found a nice chest plate and put it on immediately. The mimic would wait until the fighter was hit in combat then bite him. At that level he didn't notice the 1d4 nibble that was taking place.
In my homebrew campaign I have a city that is populated entirely by Doppelgangers and Mimics that grow a unique crop that only they can grow. The villiage is a very successful farming commune that produces enough food to feel a city 10 times larger, but never seems to export anything other than their unique crop because the Mimics are eating what would be the excess of food. Part of the scenario that the party can run into, depending on how the party interacts with various npcs, is surviving an onslaught of Mimics eating them or getting attacked by doppelgangers disguised as party members. Or making sure the secret of the village stays a secret so that crusaders don't slaughter this village of neutral and good aligned monsters.
I thought it would be interesting to have a cult that performed a ritual on someone to fuse them with a mimic, but it was interrupted halfway through and now it's just a regular guy with mimic powers. Maybe one of his eyes is replaced with a bunch of tiny purple eyes and his teeth are sharp.
"a mimic can be as small as a single coin" I have a pet png, a little gnome who is a merchant, wanderer, street artist, storyteller and... A mimic trainer. One of his favourite game is "find the hidden mimic", he ask for playing just 9 silver and 9 copper coins as entry fee. He religiously give back 1 copper coin as balance (people usually just pay with 1 gold) and he is happy to cheer with the winners. Price are also very good, why not... He is a good boy! Well... More or less... Every coin used as balance are mini-mimic well trained to eat others coins or whatever people have in their pocket. Been robben by your own money. I think this is just the best idea I ever had as dm, and with every group I used it with so much success! One party just forgot about the main storyline and spent half of the campaign to catch the clever gnome. Ps: prob bad English, sozz
The tavern is giving me evil Howl's Moving Castle vibes, or even the one from the Seven Deadly Sins, the mimic pet/companion of the enigmatic barkeep-doppelganger, having a couple weeks of the magic travelling pub for the locals to get attached, then a big cheap finale night wherein suddenly the doors close & every object attacks at once ! Players coming across what should be a busy little village, fresh food still in the larders, fireplaces still warm but nobody in sight... This was a great vid, I kinda wanna run a game with this hook now 😂
I recently did a one shot where the group had to travel through a dungeon that was heavily saturated by magic for hundreds of years and in the dungeon, the "boss" was the spirit of a young girl who died there. Due to the magic nature of the dungeon, over time it changed how the spirit could behave and interact with the environment and she had the ability to possess not people, but objects and turn the possessed object into a mimic such as an old weapon, a cloak, piece of furniture, etc.
My favorite mimic story is when I used an "Elder Mimic" to take the shape of an abandoned tavern. The floor was sticky but no one questioned it, it was a tavern. Until the door turn into teeth and the bar became a tongue, and the party had to fight their way OUT of a gargantuan mimic's stomach!
Oh my God, I just imagined a doppelganger posing as a Wandering adventurer in the moment it encounters the party, it terrifically transforms and all its equipment reveals itself as mimics
Hmm, I think I've seen mimics as doors before but with their sticky trait I think it would be hilarious for a character to get stuck to the door knob and can't get away as the mimic knobs on them. I mean gnaws on them.
The best homebrew campaign I think I’ve ever run as a DM involved a mountain that had grown from nothing over the course of 100 years and was identical to one beside it that a bunch of dwarves lived in. The dwarves believed it would be full of treasure but no one was returning when they went to investigate. Of course the mountain was a mimic but the players didn’t learn this until after they were already inside, too far to turn back. The look of “Oh shit” on their faces when they realised what was happening was priceless
I had a group that wasn't really paying attention to the descriptions of different dungeon rooms. So one room had like four mimics the next had five then three. Then no more mimics. But know they were paying attention.
That's the best way for horror and traps, too. Lay too many, and they'll see them coming and not be as surprised. But sprinkle it here... wait quite a while, then do it again. Or make your players think you'll do it when you don't. I've even decided at times to either give less description or not to tell my players anything and let them overthink things to let their paranoia sink in. I've even rolled dice and not explained any reason as to why I did so for hidden attacks, hiding, random tables, trap damage before a saving throw, etc. Why did the door just shift to the other side? How did we walk inside a loop with a creature breathing down our necks? Why doesn't detect traps or magic work here? I don't make my players totally powerless, but when I find ways to make them feel less in control or the mimics, smothering rugs, animated armors, traps of practical and magical design, and flying swords get them, it's wonderful
Had a fantastic idea of a mimic that takes the form of a coin purse that waits for people to take it home off the street and eats people. As it goes from person to person, people suspect that there's a greedy killer on the loose, possibly even a changeling. Fun mystery, especially when one of the players decides to get a bit greedy themselves. Great video guys!
wow, my new mimic model showed up in the mail yesterday. so this is quite convenient. I'm experienced enough to not really need help with running most mosters. but it's also nice to get ideas from others.
Dudes!! These are the best vids. Already have 20 ideas for adventures based off of all these creature videos. What if there were scientists who create mimics (with various abilities, traits, sizes, etc) and sell them to a thieves Guild? The guild uses them as distractions, assassinations, or just good old-fashioned chaos.
I am running TOA and the party split into two groups - one to find water and one to find food. Down by the watering hole, the one group ran into a rock on the edge of the water semi-hidden by vines that turned out to be a mimic. They were delightfully surprised and, between it and the natural wild predators in the area, the party had a tough but fun combat. The group going after food was paranoid for the rest of the session. Giving my players PTSD one mob at a time. XD
Speaking of a mimic posing as a magic weapon, I homebrewed a spell scroll mimic. It can cast a random wizard spell of a certain level once per day, but only if it succeeds on an Arcana check. In addition, the spell scroll mimic knows one cantrip from the wizard spell list.
Going to be running a mini campaign for my adventurers while we wait for the start of our next campaign. It is mainly them traveling through the water and I have set up a mimic boat for them to hopefully be caught of guard by.
If there's one thing I want to do in DnD, other than actually playing it (time commitment and stuff), it's playing as an unusually intelligent mimic adventurer. Probably as a Monk. Barbarian would synergise better (being strength based), but I just think it's so much more of an evocative image of having an object that skillfully punches enemies repeatedly with its pseudopods. As a character, it wouldn't be the best statistically, but very interesting.
For their "true form" a liquid lizard would be kinda cool. The teeth and eyes remind me of a generic fantastic reptile. So stationary, it's like a slime with a vague "head" but once it moves it almost crawls out of itself. But only in its "true form"
For a good "Mimic Monster" based adventure, I'd like to sugjest one based on the "Night at the Museum" films. The party could get a letter from a retired knight/security guard. The quest being that they should/can/must investigate an old/new museum that has had reports of strange disturbances at night (*when you guys said that mimics could be noctural & pack hunters). Objects seeming moving on their own. Voices being heard when there's nobody around. Heck, "Rexy, the skeleton T-rex" could have been a large mimic.
Room 1 mimic magic sword (doesn't attack, described as sticky could have that telepathy like mentioned) Room 4 they find a mimic chest. Describe the room as locked (from the outside), with various items within it. When they touch the chest describe it as sticky. Then spring the trap. What you do with the sword is up to you at this point. Have it attack then, wait until the party makes the conclusion, have it attack at the beginning of next session, or wait until the boss fight of the dungeon. You could even have it be mortal enemies with the chest mimic and tie that in Somewhere
I've been silently waiting for this video for a long time. One of my player’s backstory states he in on the hunt to collect mimic tendons to better his armor. So I need fun ways to include mimics!
Read the adventures of Boxxy T. Morningwood. It is a hilarious (and raunchy so not for kids) series about a murderous mimic. It is called "Everyone Loves Large Chests" by Neven Iliev. The audio book is even better.
Witchlight had a brilliant use of mimics. A character has a couple trained mimics posing as chairs. She says the word and the mimics attack players sitting in them.
If you want the dungeon to seem alive, you can also add gibbering mouthers or insect swarms. Treants or galeb duhrs are also interesting choices. The innocuous floor could suddenly glare at you and become incredibly wobbly.
Awesome video! It reminded me of the time while playing in the Grim Hollow setting when our DM made a healing potion a mimic! It was terrifying!!!! Never trust a DM, never! xD
In my next campaign I'm playing in, I'll be playing as a swarm of 26 awakened mimics that is, collectively, a Swarmkeeper Ranger. The wizard that did this to them sort of fused their bodies together in an attempt to create a creature that would spy on other wizards and steal their secrets, but they escaped. The each have vague, dreamlike memories of the objects they used to disguise themselves as.
This made me thing of the Red Dwarf episode 'Polymorph' from Series 3 Episode 3. The "Emo Hawk" does things like transform into a slinky to get down stairs, become a ball to bounce out of the room, and morph into a paper airplane to fly down the hall.
Not that you can’t play it how ever you want but the mimics adhesive property doesn’t seem to be a voluntary action on the part of the mimic. I don’t think it can choose to not adhere. It essentially coats itself in glue when it turns into an object.
I plan on a mimic coin, finding its way into a PC pocket. They will get the option to negotiate with it to have a symbiotic relationship. Basically, they feed it, and it will offer to protect belongings once it grows large enough. Potentially allowing them to have a mimic bag to backpack to eventually a chest and so forth.
One idea I had that I thought was pretty cool was making a mimic something like a chandelier. Then it makes more sense to surprise the party and many party members will take damage from the mimic dropping on top of them. Plus anything that makes the party think of the vertical element the game is cool.
I like the idea of people coming into a dungeon where they come across a half eaten person. In the bag the person has there will be healing potions which baby mimics have disguised themselves as. You can then do a 1d4 and have that many of them mixed in with real potions of healing. They will try to attack them when the player try’s to drink them. Kinda evil but it means they won’t just pick up and start drinking whatever potions they find (like my players) and can also play into the aspect of needing more checks like arcana to find it’s magical purpose.
I actually had a barbarian who's weapon was a mimic that also grew in power as my character leveled up. It was really fun and added a lot of interesting game play and role play elements.
Not quite a mimic, but a few years back I ran a one-shot for a bachelor party where the PCs were on their way to a mysterious town in the middle of a vast forest that was said to be "perfect". When they got there, they found an idyllic hamlet with rustic charm and modern amenities, including The Happy Otter Family Inn and Eatery (HOFIE), an inn chain that has appeared in every game of D&D I've ever run lol. They were also confronted by a very intelligent and confounding goose. The PCs were approached by the Village Council to apprehend and/or kill the goose, as it had been running amok and the the Best Village contest was fast approaching. Every time they encountered the goose it got more powerful and more strange, and also the town itself was a little *too* perfect. Long story short, the town was actually being controlled by an Elder Oblex that treated the town like its own little slice of perfection, and the "goose" was actually a Circle of the Honk druid that had been trapped in his Wild Shape by the Oblex, and the damage he was causing was to try and disrupt the mind control spell blanketing the town
I have seen and loved an encounter where the mimic was a harp. Listening to this you could make it more enticing by projecting music and make it seem like it is self playing.
Awesome thoughts. In my world wizards have tamed a breed of small mimics to act as purses, which the sell to rich people as a pickpocket deterrent. I will have to run that dungeon filled with mimic and mimic like creatures as a one shot one day. Some recently high level characters a whole heap of mimics, and a handful of increasingly paranoid players.
I had my players encounter a regular treasure chest in a cave. It was booby trapped, with a spell that set off a tiny explosion that when opened, it launched the coins and gems at the party members each one of them being a mimic coin or mimic gem. Thus the mimic hive was born and my players loved it.
Here's an idea if you *really* want to freak out the party (and NPCs) and use Mimics as more of a "horror" style of adversary: introduce a more "liquid" variant of Mimic that actually disguises itself as *ALE* in a tavern, and then once someone drinks that ale, the mimic begins eating the unfortunate individual from the inside-out. Or it disguises itself as simple water in a bathtub, and then once someone climbs in to get clean, it devours the unfortunate victim on the spot and then waits for the next person to show up to take a "bath".
I did a one shot with my kids, similar to the house mimic idea. It was inspired partially by IT, the Overlook Hotel, and other demons from Steven Kings works, along with a season of the show Channel Zero. It’s an alien creature that creates its own pocket dimension where it makes its own reality. It was a carnival in this case. It uses this to lure in victims and trap them, feeding off their emotions and then eventually bodies. They ended up in the funhouse fighting waves of “clowns” that would die easily, but in odd ways(like exploding in a shower of confetti, or zooming around the room like a deflating balloon.) until I could tell they were started to get a little exasperated by it. Thats when the creature grew bored and dropped them back where they initially entered, with the ‘carnival’ being gone and they couldn’t be totally sure if it really happened. My plan is to have it be a recurring threat, for that campaign, but also in other campaigns. Maybe just a faint hint of popcorn or carnival music in the air, barely there then gone. Or odd carnival posters in random towns and overhearing stories about people going missing. So it feels like something you think you see out of the corner of your eye, but can’t actually get a good look at, a predator stalking the land. Or maybe they find an abandoned mansion during a terrible storm, just to find out it’s really this creature in a different form.
My mimic fun came in the form of a PC. A Decendant of the wizard originally responsible for their creation. Taking up the title of "The Mimic Maker", continuing and hopefully perfecting their great great grandfather's work.
I like the trope of a petrified mimic. I ran a 1 shot where the adventurers found a dagger in a medusa lair. After the medusa encounter they sought out basilisk bile to treat partial petrification of fingers and toes. The dagger de-petrified from residual bile on a player's hands. The mimic was a juvenile and realized it would be killed by the party, instead it plead for its life and tried to lure them somewhere dangerous with the promise of treasure
Man I clicked this video because I already had the Idea to have a Baba Yaga sort of character who has enslaved a mimic to be her House! Great ideas as always guys!
For my pirate campaign, I had them encounter a ghost ship that was a giant mimic filled with mimics. Everything in the ship was a mimic.
Even the bathroom fixtures?
(scream from off panel)
Yup.
@@Babbleplay yup. The ship was like the "queen" and the chairs, books, etc were all smaller mimics. I went with the notion they were like magical mollusks. Had lot of fun with the players walking around trying to figure out why the ship seemed so crude and stuff like rigging was missing. I described it like a show set where you weren't supposed to closely scrutinize the details and how as seasoned sailors there were a lot of things that were out of place or flat-out wrong with rhe ship. Once the mimic was too bored waiting for the rest of the crew to come on board it sprang its trap.
Probably my favorite encounter so far.
My adventuring group walking into a tavern and we all laid our weapons out on the table.
The bartender asked us, 'What's with the weapons?'
We replied, 'Mimics.'
The bartender laughed.
We laughed.
The table laughed.
We killed the table.
Good times.
Everybody gangsta till the chairs laugh too
@@aidonpor8211 ....Or until the entire building itself laughs....when you're already *inside* it....
@@gamester512 "monster house flashbacks intesifying"
My favorite recurring thing in my games are inspired by some tumblr post: a mimic that transforms into a vending machine, selling whatever adventuring tools and magical items its managed to find in the dungeon it's currently occupying, in exchange for eating the coins that the party puts into the coin slot. Coineater sort of follows the party around, and if the party fails to find a magic item I thought was neat, he claims it and sells it for his preferred dish, money. Sort of works like that merchant in Shovel Knight, who sells the items you miss in the stages.
Coineater the Merchant is a lot of fun to play out.
Paused the video eight seconds in to comment that the intro earned this an immediate thumbs up - too good. That was spot on humor.
I'm running an Eberron game. Spent a lot of the early levels in Sharn. The boromars had clockwork gambling machines outside certain shops. Mimics planted by a rival faction took that form.
The players never picked up the hooks for that. Later they got annoyed with the city corruption and mounted a campaign to have one of their friendly NPCs unseat a Boromar family leader from her council seat.
During their canvassing/skill challenge, They noticed a bunch of these vending machines with discount healing and restorative potions sponsored by their opponent. They stopped for a short rest and a flatbread, and inquired of the proprietor how long the vending machine outside had been there. "We don't have a vending machine"...
Anyway they poked it and it ended up being a mating pair of those slot machine mimics. The potions were tiny mimics with a stat block based on the rot grub. Real nasty.
I enjoyed their looks of shock when they started fighting the thing and the top half slid off, revealing that there were two mimics,. And dozens of little potion bottles started running everywhere.
May I borrow this???? This is brilliant!!!!!
I had to share the video immediately in my DnD chat grp, because of this amazing intro. Made me lough a lot, made my day. Thx, keep going being amazing. Greets from Germany !
That intro had me ahahah
I'll admit, that was good
ich hab gelacht 🤣
Lol yah I was totally not expecting that it took me a second to figure out what was going on but then I was laughing pretty hard lol
3 uses of mimics in my campaign:
1) guards for the prison in the capitol. It poses as a door or hallway floor. If an inmate tries to escape it will trap the inmate and depending on the ward it will either wait for the guards or devour inmate immediately.
2) used by an auction house the mimics turns into items up for auction so that if someone tries to steal the items the will be attacked.
3) mimic used as a fake door on a wizard's tower it doesn't attack unless it is attacked or forced open. (Knocking on the door is not an attack)
Very good ideas!
Found a small one (book) in a bookshelf. Probably set against intruders but we managed to drop it into a bag.
Now keeping it with my valuables.
Another idee: a weapon that eat the ennemy you kill and if somon try take it it will eat him
First of all, wonderful intro haha, mimics are always going to be my favorite creature, ever since dark souls or of course d&d, may not be the strongest, but it is always a fun surprise to make people paranoid!
I looooove the design of dark souls mimics
@@Marabcd315 Sure, they can bite ya like any old garden variety mimic. But they're somehow also masters of taekwondo? You gotta love it.
Maybe there's a mimic monastery some place in dark souls, where they learn their moves, and their legendary patience? Surely they can't just all be born with it, right?
_treasure ahead and then like a dream..._
I first saw mimics in Dragon Quest games. Although Voltorb and Electrode are kind of mimics too, when they're disguised as pokeballs
I’m relatively new to D&D, so my introduction to mimics was the very first one you encounter in Dark Souls 1. Somebody left a message near it saying “amazing enemy ahead” and, having zero knowledge of what a mimic even was at the time, I opened the chest without a second thought. Still one of my favorite memories from DS1 haha.
"Mimics aren't very intelligent creatures"
*looks to previous editions where they stated mimics weren't only fairly intelligent, but were capable of speech and negotiating with adventurers, as well as the standard "dumb hungry monster mimic" of 5e being the outliers of the species*
Thank you, Mr. Rhexx, for showing me what 5e doesn't tell me about the mimic.
Had the same thought. I've used so much of his information while world crafting. It really brings a whole new life to the creatures and environments.
Mr Rhexx: the proffessor of D&D
At least they are smart enough to know what types of objects logically belong in certain environments, and what objects lure in the most prey.
@@Sirfinchyyy AJ Pickett is a good one to reference too
In one of the 5e books I don't remember right now if it's the Monster Manuel or Volos guide it DOES say that some Mimics have evolved to be capable of speech. And that it can perhaps make deals with adventurers for safe passage through it's territory.
I was in a campaign where we ended up bribing a mimic with some goblin bodies, and it decided to join out party. We had it look like a door in the dungeon so we could rest in a room! We kept feeding it corpses of stuff we killed and made it happy and well fed!
Sounds like something my players did, mimic also uses its shape changing ability to form an air bladder and pseudo voice box to 'mimic' common speech. Gave it a really deep voice, could only speak in broken sentences, usually one or two words at a time. Imagine their surprise when they come back to their camp and there is a new jewelry box sitting on the female character's gear. "Where'd that come from?" The cart replies, "Now a mommy!" in a really deep masculine voice.
That would be doable, but frustrating in a game run by me. Mimics are primarily stationary hunters, and trying to travel anywhere with one, even in one dungeon, would be sloooowwwwwwww going.
@@Babbleplay We used a Tenser's floating Disc and occasionally carried it as a chest!
@@shallendor That would do it, yeah. Good thinking. I bet the mimic loved it.
My group got a "magic backpack" that could hold more than normal. Turns out it was a mimic that decided the party were alpha predators and figured it could just tag along and "eat the leftovers". Quite the shock when the backpack ate the goblin, but hey look at that, it can carry more stuff now. Party proceeds to feed the backpack more baddies. I am just waiting until the thing gets strong enough to no longer recognize them as alphas anymore.
I LOVE Mimics! My level 20 spelljammer campaign had a gargantuan Mimic as the bbeg. It wanted to destabilize the physical form of other beings to be like it. It had a mini boss of 5 doppelgangers each wearing a mimic that Voltronned together to be a huge creature with 5 attacks.
I'm absolutely adding the mysterious mimic tavern to my games.
My players are going to hate me for this.
How has it gone?
These types of "how to run" videos are always my favorites. So much cool inspiration!
The timing on this could not have been better. I was just giving mimics a fresh look for an upcoming adventure and thinking "Whoa. These things are, well... The Thing!" Great to see you guys not just on the same page, but really digging into some possibilities. Thanks!
There should be a lock variant mimic and when someone tries to unlock it they have to make a dex saving throw. If they fail by 5 or more they roll percentile to see if they lose a finger.
You can do this. Just have them transform into whatever they are wanting the players to unlock.
Lose a finger, or worse: the very important one-of-a-kind magic key.
@@cameronhector9074 Why do I feel like there’s a bit of sarcasm there XD
Getting real strong From Dusk Til Dawn energies from that mimic tavern idea.
Man I wish you did the whole episode as various pieces of furniture and household paraphernalia.
👀👀 I’m currently writing a mimic themed oneshot so uh, thanks for this!
You could even consider a mimic as a magic item that WANTS to work with adventurers; after all, how many people and creatures do adventurers kill over the course of an adventure? And all those bodies are just going to waste! Imagine all the new foods this mimic could have, with just a little extra work.
Also also remember the mimic colony from Tasha’s! Tasha’s explicitly mentions that mimics are capable of making deals with people. There are rules for how to run one, and yes, the mimics do get telepathy.
Smart mimics are my favorite.
@@darkmatterpancake *Yogi's voice* Smarter than the average chair!
They mentioned garbage can mimics. Why not actually use them as a garbage can?
I suddenly remembered "Luggage" from Discworld. Alternately cute and terrifying.
I recently made a pair of mimics, disguised as an especially shining sword and helmet - abandoned at a campsite. The druid found them and shared with the Paladin. The Paladin was waving the sword, trying to determine its qualities while the Druid tried "attuning" with the helmet - by placing it on her head! Instantly 2 PCs are grappled, one is suffocating, and the rest of the Party is unawares. The mimics got 2 free rounds before the previously "I've got this" Paladin finally swallowed his pride and screamed for help. Great memories.
Great video! I had a fun encounter where I made an “elder mimic” that took the form of a a river ferry and they walked inside and it was great.
Also, referencing the mimics in a city scape, I liked when Critical Role S3 had the mimic wall in the alley way by the theatre.
That was a roper was good though
@@anthonycassidy1124 oh really?! His description had be thinking it was a mimic. Something to try for one day.
@@anthonycassidy1124 It had a lot of similarities with the Spitting Mimic, but I think there were some roper features thrown in. They're both CR5, so you could mix and match to make it more interesting.
@@davidcarnan1270 ya understandable there both deadly creatures but I do remember Matt saying it was a roper
A neat way to use a mimic is when the party is in a dungeon and meet a dead end but as they go back the path they are on it is blocked by a wall that is a mimic that moved there.
Speaking of "Urban scourge", my DM had a small village all be composed of mimics. Outhouses, wells, small buildings, BIG buildings. It was terrifying and we ran. We never found the mimic-village again.
Also, mimic beds and mimic sleeping bags. 'nuff said.
In Gnomengarde from Dragon of Icespire Peak, my group encountered the mimic as a wine cask in the mushroom wine room. It jumped the cleric when they were all focusing on the ranger as he tried to pry open a random jewelry box they found in the room. After they had defeated the cask mimic. The ranger felt, what could be described as a puppy gnawing at his ankle. And as he looked down, he sees the jewelry box (that he had dropped prior) gnawing on his leg. It was a baby mimic. And last we left off, they were on their way to a ranch that specializes in "monsters" to drop him off. All while making occasional checks to make sure that they don't lose it. It has been found (when they lost it) as a coin purse and a tool kit so far.
"You could fill an entire environment with just these types of creatures. Where EVERYTHING is trying to kill the party."
This is where trust issues come from.
Here's an idea I'll probably never get to run - A mimic that has taken on the shape of a statue or idol and is now being worshipped by a tribe low intelligence creatures, goblins or whatever. The mimic is in a hidden away space, and the other monsters drag their sacrifices to be consumed by their "god"
I think it would make a nifty mystery! Or twist. Or something!
Bloody brilliant.
You guys nailed it! I had a mimic hitch a ride in my party’s backpack as a small chest with no obvious way of opening it. Then during a long rest it struck while the party was asleep. “Roll Initiative”
This video is giving me an idea to play a dark Beauty and the Beast style campaign. Except, the Beast is the least of their worries.
Also - a pregnant mimic that poses as a Healer's Kit with her children as individual bandages. They work well as bandages at first, because they seal onto the wound and stop the bleeding. But the kids 'wake up' from proximity to the wound and begin to siphon off more and more hit points as they go. The wounded person just feels tired, goes to sleep, and maybe wakens to find their wounded arm or leg being eaten by a baby mimic.
What a great concept! There was a movie called Monster House, which is similar.
Can’t share with my table, or they will know what to expect. Thanks, Kelley and Monty!!!
Yes!
I have Monster House on DVD.
It's great.
The house's carpet, is the tongue, chandelier is the monster's uvula.
And the kid says, "oh, so it's a girl house..."
I liked that you mentioned that regardless of a Mimics form, it has some visual continuity. The teeth, certain colors etc. That’s very useful information and a good idea. I’m going to use that. There’s a player in my group that is just enamored with mimics. That is until one is hanging from his leg by its teeth. Your videos continue to be very useful and interesting.
I was talking with my coworker about his dnd adventures, and there was a unique experience with mimics! Apparently while the party was adventuring they found a bag of gold coins, so of course they pick it up. As they continued the adventure, they noticed that whoever carried the bag started getting small bites taken out of them. Turns out there were small mimics among the gold coins, biting the holder whenever the would stop to rest. I thought that was a neat way to use mimics for aomething other than trap chests
Kelly and Monty have obtained the Shadow Touched feat, and can now turn invisible once per day.
This video has inspired me so much; thank you for delving into the amazing and insidious ways I can use this monster to traumatize (and entertain?) my players.
In my "not-Mordheim/Drakkenheim" campaign, I have a gang that has a "pet mimick" that they've raised from a... something. It functions as a guard dog, impersonating a rug in the foyer of the hideout. Gang members say "Stay, Poly" when entering so it knows they're family. During dinner it often shifts to something else or sneaks into the dining room and whimpers like a dog until it's fed some scraps, then makes a humming noise as it whatever its way back to the front room.
@Pixel-Wiz Yup!
The spider tailed horned viper is creepy looking and I'm not usually creeped out by reptiles or insects.
Your example of a dungeon full of mimics and animated objects and things with illusions over them and shape changers is prime for some kind of hag or powerful being with truesight. Ideal traps. She can see them for what they are, but others may not.
18:12 You Dudes just inspired me!
Pitch: Land surveyors are disappearing when they go out to explore a small, nearby ghost-town. Talks about hauntings and supernatural evil entities housing mysterious powers and rare treasures are the topics of conversations.
When the party gets there, the houses, the trees, rocks, boulders give off an eerie vibe. Little do they know, they unwittingly stumbled into the hunting grounds of apex predators, looking to get their fill of champions and adventurers.
As someone who enjoys making maps for dnd games this is inspiring and awesome.
Can’t wait for work to be done so I can get out a couple of small ones this weekend.
With regard to mimics one of my players has a mimic that has been disguised as a tankard. The mimic takes a portion of everything the adventurer drinks (and the occasional ration) but because the mimic is always fed they don’t really have a reason to attack the adventurer.
In a way the adventurer has domesticated the mimic with constant drink and food.
I do occasionally hint at the odd occurrences from time to time but it’s quite possible the player is also okay with the arrangement as the mimic checks and neutralizes poisons in return for being taken care of and well fed.
Great episode guys. I once ran a group of 10th level characters that were dubious in nature sent to handle something the more moral adventurers wouldn't. The fighter found a nice chest plate and put it on immediately. The mimic would wait until the fighter was hit in combat then bite him. At that level he didn't notice the 1d4 nibble that was taking place.
In my homebrew campaign I have a city that is populated entirely by Doppelgangers and Mimics that grow a unique crop that only they can grow. The villiage is a very successful farming commune that produces enough food to feel a city 10 times larger, but never seems to export anything other than their unique crop because the Mimics are eating what would be the excess of food.
Part of the scenario that the party can run into, depending on how the party interacts with various npcs, is surviving an onslaught of Mimics eating them or getting attacked by doppelgangers disguised as party members. Or making sure the secret of the village stays a secret so that crusaders don't slaughter this village of neutral and good aligned monsters.
imagine if one of the players had a twin and you got the twin to help you XD
I think the Haunting of Hillhouse is a great inspiration for a mimic house, where it project a room where everyone feel safe but is instead its stomac
I thought it would be interesting to have a cult that performed a ritual on someone to fuse them with a mimic, but it was interrupted halfway through and now it's just a regular guy with mimic powers. Maybe one of his eyes is replaced with a bunch of tiny purple eyes and his teeth are sharp.
I'm very glad to see you guys going with this style of video! While all the ranking videos were fun, I really missed the usable DM tips and ideas!
"a mimic can be as small as a single coin"
I have a pet png, a little gnome who is a merchant, wanderer, street artist, storyteller and... A mimic trainer.
One of his favourite game is "find the hidden mimic", he ask for playing just 9 silver and 9 copper coins as entry fee. He religiously give back 1 copper coin as balance (people usually just pay with 1 gold) and he is happy to cheer with the winners. Price are also very good, why not... He is a good boy!
Well... More or less... Every coin used as balance are mini-mimic well trained to eat others coins or whatever people have in their pocket.
Been robben by your own money.
I think this is just the best idea I ever had as dm, and with every group I used it with so much success! One party just forgot about the main storyline and spent half of the campaign to catch the clever gnome.
Ps: prob bad English, sozz
The tavern is giving me evil Howl's Moving Castle vibes, or even the one from the Seven Deadly Sins, the mimic pet/companion of the enigmatic barkeep-doppelganger, having a couple weeks of the magic travelling pub for the locals to get attached, then a big cheap finale night wherein suddenly the doors close & every object attacks at once ! Players coming across what should be a busy little village, fresh food still in the larders, fireplaces still warm but nobody in sight...
This was a great vid, I kinda wanna run a game with this hook now 😂
I recently did a one shot where the group had to travel through a dungeon that was heavily saturated by magic for hundreds of years and in the dungeon, the "boss" was the spirit of a young girl who died there. Due to the magic nature of the dungeon, over time it changed how the spirit could behave and interact with the environment and she had the ability to possess not people, but objects and turn the possessed object into a mimic such as an old weapon, a cloak, piece of furniture, etc.
I love the outhouse mimic. Great miniature and genius place for a mimic.
My favorite mimic story is when I used an "Elder Mimic" to take the shape of an abandoned tavern. The floor was sticky but no one questioned it, it was a tavern.
Until the door turn into teeth and the bar became a tongue, and the party had to fight their way OUT of a gargantuan mimic's stomach!
Kinda reminds me of the house from Monster House
@@leojamesclune1730 That was the inspiration for it actually!
Oh my God, I just imagined a doppelganger posing as a Wandering adventurer in the moment it encounters the party, it terrifically transforms and all its equipment reveals itself as mimics
Lol, that opening was fantastic, I've never "liked" a UA-cam video so fast!
Hmm, I think I've seen mimics as doors before but with their sticky trait I think it would be hilarious for a character to get stuck to the door knob and can't get away as the mimic knobs on them. I mean gnaws on them.
The best homebrew campaign I think I’ve ever run as a DM involved a mountain that had grown from nothing over the course of 100 years and was identical to one beside it that a bunch of dwarves lived in. The dwarves believed it would be full of treasure but no one was returning when they went to investigate. Of course the mountain was a mimic but the players didn’t learn this until after they were already inside, too far to turn back. The look of “Oh shit” on their faces when they realised what was happening was priceless
Alright, great intro! Unexpected and not too long. Haven't even watched yet and already enjoying this one 💥
That intro was top tier gold. Also, fantastic idea of the Spider Tail Viper and Anglerfish. I never thought of it that way!
I guess the trick is to use them sparingly, if at all, since you run the risk of making your players too paranoid
I had a group that wasn't really paying attention to the descriptions of different dungeon rooms. So one room had like four mimics the next had five then three. Then no more mimics. But know they were paying attention.
That's the best way for horror and traps, too. Lay too many, and they'll see them coming and not be as surprised. But sprinkle it here... wait quite a while, then do it again. Or make your players think you'll do it when you don't. I've even decided at times to either give less description or not to tell my players anything and let them overthink things to let their paranoia sink in. I've even rolled dice and not explained any reason as to why I did so for hidden attacks, hiding, random tables, trap damage before a saving throw, etc. Why did the door just shift to the other side? How did we walk inside a loop with a creature breathing down our necks? Why doesn't detect traps or magic work here? I don't make my players totally powerless, but when I find ways to make them feel less in control or the mimics, smothering rugs, animated armors, traps of practical and magical design, and flying swords get them, it's wonderful
Had a fantastic idea of a mimic that takes the form of a coin purse that waits for people to take it home off the street and eats people. As it goes from person to person, people suspect that there's a greedy killer on the loose, possibly even a changeling. Fun mystery, especially when one of the players decides to get a bit greedy themselves. Great video guys!
that intro was adorable. great video, love messing around with mimics
I am so thinking baaaadddd things for my players! Thank you. New twists on shape changers in general!!!
Doppelgänger and Mimic minions!
wow, my new mimic model showed up in the mail yesterday. so this is quite convenient.
I'm experienced enough to not really need help with running most mosters. but it's also nice to get ideas from others.
You guys just helped me finish planning my next oneshot. Many thanks, dudes!
Dudes!! These are the best vids. Already have 20 ideas for adventures based off of all these creature videos. What if there were scientists who create mimics (with various abilities, traits, sizes, etc) and sell them to a thieves Guild? The guild uses them as distractions, assassinations, or just good old-fashioned chaos.
I am running TOA and the party split into two groups - one to find water and one to find food. Down by the watering hole, the one group ran into a rock on the edge of the water semi-hidden by vines that turned out to be a mimic. They were delightfully surprised and, between it and the natural wild predators in the area, the party had a tough but fun combat. The group going after food was paranoid for the rest of the session. Giving my players PTSD one mob at a time. XD
Speaking of a mimic posing as a magic weapon, I homebrewed a spell scroll mimic. It can cast a random wizard spell of a certain level once per day, but only if it succeeds on an Arcana check. In addition, the spell scroll mimic knows one cantrip from the wizard spell list.
"... and whoever sits at the head of the table gets attacked by 5 mimics." When your DM hates you.
Going to be running a mini campaign for my adventurers while we wait for the start of our next campaign. It is mainly them traveling through the water and I have set up a mimic boat for them to hopefully be caught of guard by.
Keep these videos going, guys! I love this series!
If there's one thing I want to do in DnD, other than actually playing it (time commitment and stuff), it's playing as an unusually intelligent mimic adventurer. Probably as a Monk. Barbarian would synergise better (being strength based), but I just think it's so much more of an evocative image of having an object that skillfully punches enemies repeatedly with its pseudopods. As a character, it wouldn't be the best statistically, but very interesting.
For their "true form" a liquid lizard would be kinda cool. The teeth and eyes remind me of a generic fantastic reptile. So stationary, it's like a slime with a vague "head" but once it moves it almost crawls out of itself. But only in its "true form"
For a good "Mimic Monster" based adventure, I'd like to sugjest one based on the "Night at the Museum" films. The party could get a letter from a retired knight/security guard. The quest being that they should/can/must investigate an old/new museum that has had reports of strange disturbances at night (*when you guys said that mimics could be noctural & pack hunters). Objects seeming moving on their own. Voices being heard when there's nobody around. Heck, "Rexy, the skeleton T-rex" could have been a large mimic.
Room 1 mimic magic sword (doesn't attack, described as sticky could have that telepathy like mentioned)
Room 4 they find a mimic chest.
Describe the room as locked (from the outside), with various items within it.
When they touch the chest describe it as sticky. Then spring the trap.
What you do with the sword is up to you at this point. Have it attack then, wait until the party makes the conclusion, have it attack at the beginning of next session, or wait until the boss fight of the dungeon. You could even have it be mortal enemies with the chest mimic and tie that in Somewhere
I've been silently waiting for this video for a long time. One of my player’s backstory states he in on the hunt to collect mimic tendons to better his armor. So I need fun ways to include mimics!
Read the adventures of Boxxy T. Morningwood. It is a hilarious (and raunchy so not for kids) series about a murderous mimic. It is called "Everyone Loves Large Chests" by Neven Iliev. The audio book is even better.
Witchlight had a brilliant use of mimics. A character has a couple trained mimics posing as chairs. She says the word and the mimics attack players sitting in them.
If you want the dungeon to seem alive, you can also add gibbering mouthers or insect swarms. Treants or galeb duhrs are also interesting choices. The innocuous floor could suddenly glare at you and become incredibly wobbly.
Awesome video! It reminded me of the time while playing in the Grim Hollow setting when our DM made a healing potion a mimic! It was terrifying!!!! Never trust a DM, never! xD
In my next campaign I'm playing in, I'll be playing as a swarm of 26 awakened mimics that is, collectively, a Swarmkeeper Ranger. The wizard that did this to them sort of fused their bodies together in an attempt to create a creature that would spy on other wizards and steal their secrets, but they escaped. The each have vague, dreamlike memories of the objects they used to disguise themselves as.
This made me thing of the Red Dwarf episode 'Polymorph' from Series 3 Episode 3. The "Emo Hawk" does things like transform into a slinky to get down stairs, become a ball to bounce out of the room, and morph into a paper airplane to fly down the hall.
Not that you can’t play it how ever you want but the mimics adhesive property doesn’t seem to be a voluntary action on the part of the mimic. I don’t think it can choose to not adhere. It essentially coats itself in glue when it turns into an object.
I plan on a mimic coin, finding its way into a PC pocket. They will get the option to negotiate with it to have a symbiotic relationship. Basically, they feed it, and it will offer to protect belongings once it grows large enough. Potentially allowing them to have a mimic bag to backpack to eventually a chest and so forth.
One idea I had that I thought was pretty cool was making a mimic something like a chandelier. Then it makes more sense to surprise the party and many party members will take damage from the mimic dropping on top of them. Plus anything that makes the party think of the vertical element the game is cool.
I like the idea of people coming into a dungeon where they come across a half eaten person. In the bag the person has there will be healing potions which baby mimics have disguised themselves as. You can then do a 1d4 and have that many of them mixed in with real potions of healing. They will try to attack them when the player try’s to drink them. Kinda evil but it means they won’t just pick up and start drinking whatever potions they find (like my players) and can also play into the aspect of needing more checks like arcana to find it’s magical purpose.
I actually had a barbarian who's weapon was a mimic that also grew in power as my character leveled up. It was really fun and added a lot of interesting game play and role play elements.
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Not quite a mimic, but a few years back I ran a one-shot for a bachelor party where the PCs were on their way to a mysterious town in the middle of a vast forest that was said to be "perfect". When they got there, they found an idyllic hamlet with rustic charm and modern amenities, including The Happy Otter Family Inn and Eatery (HOFIE), an inn chain that has appeared in every game of D&D I've ever run lol. They were also confronted by a very intelligent and confounding goose.
The PCs were approached by the Village Council to apprehend and/or kill the goose, as it had been running amok and the the Best Village contest was fast approaching. Every time they encountered the goose it got more powerful and more strange, and also the town itself was a little *too* perfect.
Long story short, the town was actually being controlled by an Elder Oblex that treated the town like its own little slice of perfection, and the "goose" was actually a Circle of the Honk druid that had been trapped in his Wild Shape by the Oblex, and the damage he was causing was to try and disrupt the mind control spell blanketing the town
I have seen and loved an encounter where the mimic was a harp. Listening to this you could make it more enticing by projecting music and make it seem like it is self playing.
Awesome thoughts.
In my world wizards have tamed a breed of small mimics to act as purses, which the sell to rich people as a pickpocket deterrent.
I will have to run that dungeon filled with mimic and mimic like creatures as a one shot one day. Some recently high level characters a whole heap of mimics, and a handful of increasingly paranoid players.
After my recent campaign ended, the DM gave us the info that only the party Wizard knew: The ship we were using throughout the adventure was a Mimic!
I had my players encounter a regular treasure chest in a cave. It was booby trapped, with a spell that set off a tiny explosion that when opened, it launched the coins and gems at the party members each one of them being a mimic coin or mimic gem. Thus the mimic hive was born and my players loved it.
I actually had a PC that was a Mimic astral monk…it was awesome.
I absolutely love that concept!
The mimics from the video game 'Prey' are full of inspiration.
LOVED the introduction!
Here's an idea if you *really* want to freak out the party (and NPCs) and use Mimics as more of a "horror" style of adversary: introduce a more "liquid" variant of Mimic that actually disguises itself as *ALE* in a tavern, and then once someone drinks that ale, the mimic begins eating the unfortunate individual from the inside-out. Or it disguises itself as simple water in a bathtub, and then once someone climbs in to get clean, it devours the unfortunate victim on the spot and then waits for the next person to show up to take a "bath".
I did a one shot with my kids, similar to the house mimic idea. It was inspired partially by IT, the Overlook Hotel, and other demons from Steven Kings works, along with a season of the show Channel Zero.
It’s an alien creature that creates its own pocket dimension where it makes its own reality. It was a carnival in this case. It uses this to lure in victims and trap them, feeding off their emotions and then eventually bodies.
They ended up in the funhouse fighting waves of “clowns” that would die easily, but in odd ways(like exploding in a shower of confetti, or zooming around the room like a deflating balloon.) until I could tell they were started to get a little exasperated by it. Thats when the creature grew bored and dropped them back where they initially entered, with the ‘carnival’ being gone and they couldn’t be totally sure if it really happened.
My plan is to have it be a recurring threat, for that campaign, but also in other campaigns. Maybe just a faint hint of popcorn or carnival music in the air, barely there then gone. Or odd carnival posters in random towns and overhearing stories about people going missing. So it feels like something you think you see out of the corner of your eye, but can’t actually get a good look at, a predator stalking the land. Or maybe they find an abandoned mansion during a terrible storm, just to find out it’s really this creature in a different form.
My mimic fun came in the form of a PC. A Decendant of the wizard originally responsible for their creation. Taking up the title of "The Mimic Maker", continuing and hopefully perfecting their great great grandfather's work.
I like the trope of a petrified mimic. I ran a 1 shot where the adventurers found a dagger in a medusa lair. After the medusa encounter they sought out basilisk bile to treat partial petrification of fingers and toes. The dagger de-petrified from residual bile on a player's hands. The mimic was a juvenile and realized it would be killed by the party, instead it plead for its life and tried to lure them somewhere dangerous with the promise of treasure
Always inspired when I watch these monster videos. Keep em up!
Man I clicked this video because I already had the Idea to have a Baba Yaga sort of character who has enslaved a mimic to be her House! Great ideas as always guys!
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When I first loaded the video, there was no sound. I thought this was their version of mimicking a mime.
Boxxy Morninwood might be a good mimic name.