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.
@@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.
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!
@@Marb315 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.
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 !
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.
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.
"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.
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)
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.
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.
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 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.
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
👀👀 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.
@@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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
When you said "what does a mimic look like in it's natural form?"...I may have an answer based on our real world. Consider the following: Mimics are creatures that evolved from cuttlefish. Cuttlefish are likely the most talented and skilled "mimics" in our world, able to copy colours, textures, and shapes with expert quality. These "mimic" cuttlefish of fantasy left the ocean in pursuit of prey, losing their ability to breathe water, but gaining a tougher hide. Further evolving an adhesive enzyme to aid in hunting, Mimics used their natural camouflage ability to hunt prey. Requiring more stability, their many tentacles reduced to four thicker, stronger "arms" to better support their new "mimic objects" hunting method. So, riffing off this and the artwork in the Monster Manual, a Mimic in natural form is a four limbed, rubbery, purple cephalopod with four orange eyes and teeth instead of a beak. It's slow moving by nature as a cautionary evolution, using mimicry instead of speed to avoid predators. Reproduction may occur through budding, but it's likely through laying eggs. These eggs, as well, should resemble something very plain that egg hunters would ignore. Pebbles, flagstones, piles of twigs or leaves, and the like are all great options. Again, calling upon our own natural world, consider the spiny burrs of the thistle plant. They're tiny round seeds covered in "velcro"-like spined hooks (Trivia: Velcro was actually inspired by these). These would be great Mimic eggs, capable of sticking to traveling creatures or objects and spreading through the natural world. Since these, too, resemble a harmless thing, they would be ignored by outsiders. Mimics might hatch from these burrs, consuming small walking insects at first, and growing quickly depending on available prey. In the past, I've used mimics as tables, book shelves, and an outhouse (which is in Out of the Box Encounters). Dave of Nerdarchy has used a mimic as a bed, aka "Death Bed". I've seen Mimics as actual weapons, and would even consider Mimics as pets if treated well.
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..."
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
The simple answer to how to run mimics is don't. They are the WORST monster in the book. They're a means by which the GM can create a gotcha moment without putting any real effort in at all. They're so utterly pedestrian. And to make matters worse, they all too often steal what should be a reward moment and replace it with a fairly uninteresting combat.
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.
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.
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.
An interesting plot just popped in my head. Start the adventure with the squad of adventurers sent in to investigate a city with a failing government. Due to the an economic downturn, guards are spread thin and the squallers are seeing a rapid decline in poor/homelessness and nobody is leaving the district. Anyone holding political power in favor of helping the squaller has effectively disappeared. Ends up that several members of the high council have been swapped out with doppelgängers and they’ve unleashed a hoard of mimics to eat everything in the squaller to make room for renovations and the person who originally came up with the plan is long dead. Whenever the party believes that they have solved the case and are invited by the high council to a banquet, they end up becoming the main course. I’ve never DMed before but, it sounds like a good time.
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"
Hellow, its my first time comenting, and i was wondering. The creature that you say that could work well with the mimics. You say. Aboleths? Is it not a huge sea creature? Maybe i am misshearing. Can someone clarify. TY in advance.
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.
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 😂
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.
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.
This answers the questions about what the Mimic is, RAW: "The mimic can use its action to polymorph into an object or back into its true, amorphous form." Additionally, the Mimic is a Medium creature, and there is no reason to suggest in the RAW that it could change its mass or volume.
I have always put the extra mass into the environment. They may not be just the plate, but also the top inch of the entire table. The books other than MM have other types of mimics.
@@jeffreypierson2064 I like that idea. IOW, that errant coin purse isn't just the coin purse, but the rubbish heap it's sitting on. That also brings up the idea of not just being able to mimic appearances, but mimic scents: "Wow, whatever's cooking in that big cauldron sure smells good! I'll just take a look under the lid..."
I just hosted a Christmas one shot where all my players are worker elves who discover an infestation of mimics hiding amongst the presents. After that initial encounter they found a lone mimic with its tongue stuck to a pole and left outside. Turns out this one was triple dog dared by the other mimics and then just left outside while it’s friends went to invade Santa’s workshop. My players interrogated the shit outta em Secret ending my players sadly didn’t trigger was that if they failed to identify and deal with any of them, some poor child would’ve gotten a mimic for Christmas
This reminds me of a story I heard online about a guy who got to DM for the first time (for that group anyway), and he just made everything into mimics, including the dungeon itself. By the end it, the rest of the group all agreed that he is not allowed to DM anymore.
I was traumatized enough by mimics playing dnd in high school, so I wasn’t going to use any as a dm in my first campaign. But one of my players nagged me over and over again asking for a pet mimic. So I caved and set up a quest where he can find one. I bought the mimic colony miniatures pack and now I’m going to make him suffer.
A mimic shield for magic item would be sick. It could grapple as a reation an do the the 2d8 damage every turn the creature is grappled. Give you acid immunity? Give it a couple charges. But it can be killed maybe? AC of 12 if so. If you can kill it I would make it common no attunement. Maybe if you get hit you can you can either share the damage with it. Imma have to work shop this but it could be dope.
By the way, players in my last campaign learned quickly that exploring behind waterfalls is a bad idea. "Wow look! A treasure room is hidden behind the waterfall!" *GULP* *CUE ZELDA THEME*
Re: mimic house; A song’s lyrics jumped into my head “Last thing I remember, I was Running for the door I had to find the passage back To the place I was before "Relax, " said the night man "We are programmed to receive" "You can check-out any time you like" "But you can never leave!"
i ran a mimic encounter I tried running it like John Carpenter's The Thing. stalking the players silently, turning into some mundane object if they turn around. I had the party on edge, paranoid of everything... "OMG! did that chare just move?!" "NO! that wall painting, that's it... I SAW it!" ect. the problem was when they finally discovered it the fight was over in 1 round, why? MIMICS ARE SO GOSH DARN SLOW!!! a speed of 15. it double moves and the characters just walk up and smash. I even gave it an ability it doesn't have... wall climbing. I had it pull off some carnage moves. shoot out a pseudopod, grab a wall or the ceiling and pull itself up, but 15 feet just is not enough. all that tension built up when they killed it everyone left the table feeling disappointed.
What about a group of juvenile mimics that pose as non magical treasure items. They know they can't beat the adventurers, so they allow themselves to brought and sold as objects for people to use. Then they slowly eat chickens, piglets, or other small animals and then they move up to people as they grow up. And soon they slowly just start eating the whole town where the adventurers live and sold the objects.
My mimics are EVERYWHERE. °Its a wand on the table!" - Wizard Wizard goes to grab it, the wizard gets bit. And then the wand jumps off table and runs into hole in wall.
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.
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 had a session where people in a town where disappearing and all signs where pointing to a local merchant being the killer because that the last place the victims where Seen only to find out the shop got infected by a colony of mimics gave me an excuse to use all the mimic figure set 😅
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"
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.
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
@@Marb315 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.
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
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!!!!!
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.
"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.
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
I'm absolutely adding the mysterious mimic tavern to my games.
My players are going to hate me for this.
How has it gone?
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
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.
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 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.
Man I wish you did the whole episode as various pieces of furniture and household paraphernalia.
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
👀👀 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.
#1 tip: Pretend that you don’t run them
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
These types of "how to run" videos are always my favorites. So much cool inspiration!
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.
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!
"... and whoever sits at the head of the table gets attacked by 5 mimics." When your DM hates you.
Lol great little intro
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!
Kelly and Monty have obtained the Shadow Touched feat, and can now turn invisible once per day.
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.
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.
Getting real strong From Dusk Til Dawn energies from that mimic tavern idea.
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.
When you said "what does a mimic look like in it's natural form?"...I may have an answer based on our real world. Consider the following:
Mimics are creatures that evolved from cuttlefish. Cuttlefish are likely the most talented and skilled "mimics" in our world, able to copy colours, textures, and shapes with expert quality. These "mimic" cuttlefish of fantasy left the ocean in pursuit of prey, losing their ability to breathe water, but gaining a tougher hide. Further evolving an adhesive enzyme to aid in hunting, Mimics used their natural camouflage ability to hunt prey. Requiring more stability, their many tentacles reduced to four thicker, stronger "arms" to better support their new "mimic objects" hunting method.
So, riffing off this and the artwork in the Monster Manual, a Mimic in natural form is a four limbed, rubbery, purple cephalopod with four orange eyes and teeth instead of a beak. It's slow moving by nature as a cautionary evolution, using mimicry instead of speed to avoid predators.
Reproduction may occur through budding, but it's likely through laying eggs. These eggs, as well, should resemble something very plain that egg hunters would ignore. Pebbles, flagstones, piles of twigs or leaves, and the like are all great options. Again, calling upon our own natural world, consider the spiny burrs of the thistle plant. They're tiny round seeds covered in "velcro"-like spined hooks (Trivia: Velcro was actually inspired by these). These would be great Mimic eggs, capable of sticking to traveling creatures or objects and spreading through the natural world. Since these, too, resemble a harmless thing, they would be ignored by outsiders. Mimics might hatch from these burrs, consuming small walking insects at first, and growing quickly depending on available prey.
In the past, I've used mimics as tables, book shelves, and an outhouse (which is in Out of the Box Encounters). Dave of Nerdarchy has used a mimic as a bed, aka "Death Bed". I've seen Mimics as actual weapons, and would even consider Mimics as pets if treated well.
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..."
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
The simple answer to how to run mimics is don't. They are the WORST monster in the book. They're a means by which the GM can create a gotcha moment without putting any real effort in at all. They're so utterly pedestrian.
And to make matters worse, they all too often steal what should be a reward moment and replace it with a fairly uninteresting combat.
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.
Lol, that opening was fantastic, I've never "liked" a RUclips video so fast!
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
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.
Don't they have to have a certain amount of mass to eat a whole person? I'm not sure that a book or mug sized Mimic would be able to do that.
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.
The spider tailed horned viper is creepy looking and I'm not usually creeped out by reptiles or insects.
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.
When I first loaded the video, there was no sound. I thought this was their version of mimicking a mime.
Ik this is kinda off but there’s a wizard mimic subclass called the school of mimicry
That idea about mimics in a Library made me think of the Vashta Narada. Anyone else think the same?
Anytime it makes sense, I put a room of beds in an area. One day one of my players will attempt to rest. 🤞😅
One time my party set on a couch to speak with the villains on the other side of the table and turned out that the couch was a mimic
I imagine the Mimic is a mollusk and a member of the class Cephalopoda.
Making a town where every person is a changling and every thing is a mimic
What about a doppelganger with a pet mimic that has gotten loose in a city?
An interesting plot just popped in my head. Start the adventure with the squad of adventurers sent in to investigate a city with a failing government. Due to the an economic downturn, guards are spread thin and the squallers are seeing a rapid decline in poor/homelessness and nobody is leaving the district. Anyone holding political power in favor of helping the squaller has effectively disappeared. Ends up that several members of the high council have been swapped out with doppelgängers and they’ve unleashed a hoard of mimics to eat everything in the squaller to make room for renovations and the person who originally came up with the plan is long dead. Whenever the party believes that they have solved the case and are invited by the high council to a banquet, they end up becoming the main course. I’ve never DMed before but, it sounds like a good time.
Who… who hurt you!? But also I want to run all of these ideas
Two words: Mimic backpacks
That’s just the bag of devouring
Boxxy Morninwood might be a good mimic name.
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"
Hellow, its my first time comenting, and i was wondering. The creature that you say that could work well with the mimics. You say. Aboleths? Is it not a huge sea creature? Maybe i am misshearing. Can someone clarify.
TY in advance.
Can someone please answer?
Instant like from that chair joke at the start lmao
It anyone wants to steal my idea for an outhouse mimic, you can.
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 mimics are like molluscs.
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 😂
That open was adorable. LoL.
I actually had a PC that was a Mimic astral monk…it was awesome.
I absolutely love that concept!
Imagine a Mimic with a minor illusion spell and telepathy to lure pray into a dungeon 🤔 or a signpost would also be a nice mimic^^
that open is hilarious
SUCH A GREAT INTO FOR THIS! 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.
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.
This answers the questions about what the Mimic is, RAW: "The mimic can use its action to polymorph into an object or back into its true, amorphous form."
Additionally, the Mimic is a Medium creature, and there is no reason to suggest in the RAW that it could change its mass or volume.
I have always put the extra mass into the environment. They may not be just the plate, but also the top inch of the entire table. The books other than MM have other types of mimics.
@@jeffreypierson2064 I like that idea. IOW, that errant coin purse isn't just the coin purse, but the rubbish heap it's sitting on. That also brings up the idea of not just being able to mimic appearances, but mimic scents:
"Wow, whatever's cooking in that big cauldron sure smells good! I'll just take a look under the lid..."
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 just hosted a Christmas one shot where all my players are worker elves who discover an infestation of mimics hiding amongst the presents. After that initial encounter they found a lone mimic with its tongue stuck to a pole and left outside. Turns out this one was triple dog dared by the other mimics and then just left outside while it’s friends went to invade Santa’s workshop. My players interrogated the shit outta em
Secret ending my players sadly didn’t trigger was that if they failed to identify and deal with any of them, some poor child would’ve gotten a mimic for Christmas
This reminds me of a story I heard online about a guy who got to DM for the first time (for that group anyway), and he just made everything into mimics, including the dungeon itself. By the end it, the rest of the group all agreed that he is not allowed to DM anymore.
Urban murder mystery is Brillant. Mugs, books, random merchandise, that is legit scary.
DM: When is a door not a door.
Players: When it's ajar!
DM: When it's a mimic. Roll for initiative.
I was traumatized enough by mimics playing dnd in high school, so I wasn’t going to use any as a dm in my first campaign. But one of my players nagged me over and over again asking for a pet mimic. So I caved and set up a quest where he can find one. I bought the mimic colony miniatures pack and now I’m going to make him suffer.
A mimic shield for magic item would be sick. It could grapple as a reation an do the the 2d8 damage every turn the creature is grappled. Give you acid immunity? Give it a couple charges. But it can be killed maybe? AC of 12 if so. If you can kill it I would make it common no attunement. Maybe if you get hit you can you can either share the damage with it. Imma have to work shop this but it could be dope.
Mimics posing as everyday objects in a densely populated area...calm down, Stephen King.
Sounds like a great B Horror Movie 👍
Blood Orgy at Mimic Taverna
Doppleganger Dinner Party at Mimic Mansion
Murder and Mayhem at Mimic Motel
By the way, players in my last campaign learned quickly that exploring behind waterfalls is a bad idea. "Wow look! A treasure room is hidden behind the waterfall!" *GULP* *CUE ZELDA THEME*
Re: mimic house;
A song’s lyrics jumped into my head
“Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
"Relax, " said the night man
"We are programmed to receive"
"You can check-out any time you like"
"But you can never leave!"
i ran a mimic encounter I tried running it like John Carpenter's The Thing. stalking the players silently, turning into some mundane object if they turn around. I had the party on edge, paranoid of everything... "OMG! did that chare just move?!" "NO! that wall painting, that's it... I SAW it!" ect. the problem was when they finally discovered it the fight was over in 1 round, why? MIMICS ARE SO GOSH DARN SLOW!!! a speed of 15. it double moves and the characters just walk up and smash. I even gave it an ability it doesn't have... wall climbing. I had it pull off some carnage moves. shoot out a pseudopod, grab a wall or the ceiling and pull itself up, but 15 feet just is not enough. all that tension built up when they killed it everyone left the table feeling disappointed.
I am so thinking baaaadddd things for my players! Thank you. New twists on shape changers in general!!!
Doppelgänger and Mimic minions!
What about a group of juvenile mimics that pose as non magical treasure items. They know they can't beat the adventurers, so they allow themselves to brought and sold as objects for people to use. Then they slowly eat chickens, piglets, or other small animals and then they move up to people as they grow up. And soon they slowly just start eating the whole town where the adventurers live and sold the objects.
Anyone interested in giving a mimic personality, check out
Morning Wood: Everyone Loves Big Chest.
Brilliant & funny!
The bard told a joke. The party laughed, the waiter laughed, the table laughed... The party killed the table... Good night overall.
My mimics are EVERYWHERE.
°Its a wand on the table!" - Wizard
Wizard goes to grab it, the wizard gets bit. And then the wand jumps off table and runs into hole in wall.
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.
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 had a session where people in a town where disappearing and all signs where pointing to a local merchant being the killer because that the last place the victims where Seen only to find out the shop got infected by a colony of mimics gave me an excuse to use all the mimic figure set 😅
Mimics are well and good but they are no match for... "The Luggage'!
(Terry Pratchett fans represent;).
Can’t believe you guys didn’t mention Prey (2017). If you’re looking for inspiration on how to run Mimics, you need look no farther.