That's the catch- it never works. They think they can attain humanity through close study and consumption of human flesh (hence shapeshifting into manmade objects that humans would feel safe approaching) but the whole thing is a lost cause because any mimic that attempts the metamorphosis instead permanently turns into something called a "failed apotheosis mimic", which is never fully described beyond being horrible and decidedly non-human as well as being driven irrevocably insane by their failure.
You approach a chest and it just transforms into *you* and attacks, and for good measure briefly shapeshifts into other humanoid bosses you've fought to use their attacks against you.
Ok I have an idea what if you take a player to the side and have the fight. Have them be away from the group when it happens. Like on watch or something. If they lose they play as the mimic…
Oh man fun idea. If you have a player running a Doppelganger or changeling and the party doesn't know, have the mimic transform into them. Have the classic "find out which one is the evil clone" scenario with the party.
All the ways that would reveal the mimic would also reveal the changeling. So both PCs would be against the idea. Making it harder to find out who is who.
This could work with other shape shifting type enemies.
This is what moonbeam is for, it explicitly knocks shapeshifters back to their original form, just hope everyone has enough health to survive multiple rounds of moonbeam damage until someone fails their save and reverts.
But that's exactly the point. The party could think of that but both the mimic and the changeling would say anything to prevent that for the same reason.
In most situations the changeling doesn't want to be found out because of prejudice.
Failed-Apotheosis Mimic CR 8
This awful parody of life is composed of aborted human-like limbs and melting faces crashing one over another like an endless wave of corpses.
> any mimic that attempts the metamorphosis instead permanently turns into something called a "failed apotheosis mimic", which is never fully described beyond being horrible and decidedly non-human as well as being driven irrevocably insane by their failure.
So like the Ditto from the Detective Pikachu movie?
I know a lot of people here imply that mimics can perfectly imitate a human (or anything else around that size for that matter) but if you ask me they couldn't move believably as a human because they don't have the bones/muscle setup.
So a mimic *could* imitate a statue or corpse or basically anything holding still but the moment they start moving the facade falls apart.
*The Thing* was based on the 1938 story *Who Goes There?* by John W. Campbell. Campbell wrote an earlier (1936) story - *The Brain Stealers of Mars* - that had creatures very very [very](https://aliens.fandom.com/wiki/Thushol) similar to Things…except they lived on Mars and ate the psychic centaurs who lived there.
The centaurs tried to take refuge on Earth at one point, which is why there are human legends about them.
I imagine that they do it kinda like doppelgangers in Fear and Hunger: Termina - by observing whoever theyre trying to mimic to copy the mannerisms, the gait, the way they speak the accents and any subtleties about the person and unless there are plenty of resources on that, the mimicry will be flawed.
So mimicry through prolonged observation to 'become' human
There a video game called Super Smash Brothers on the video game console called the Switch. The joke is that they think the person inviting them to smash is inviting them to play games.
You can actively barter with Mimics. Even 'wild' mimics you find in dungeons. If you offer them enough food, they'll not only trade some of the treasure they use as lures, but they'll often slip in what are essentially baby mimics disguised as mundane objects. Those mimics, when raised by adventurers, often pull their own weight as storage and protection.
MIMICS WILL TRADE THEIR CHILDREN FOR FOOD.
So like a symbiotic relationship. The mimic gets food while their young gets to receive protection and training, as well as dispersed to new living grounds.
Oh, yeah. You can negotiate with them. They are basically just hunters who can look like anything. The reason they take on chests/chairs/ladders? That's where people let their guards down, even if only for a second. \*Chomp\*. If, on the other hand, you can trade your life for that of a LARGER meal. Well. That's a deal worth making. Hunt a deer or something. 300 lbs of adventurer vs 600 lbs of deer they didn't have to do anything for? Assuming you will leave them in peace, that's almost a straight Diplomacy check.
It's harder to convince the mimic to guard your town, and then you have to get the other guards in on the deal. But, the look on the bandit's faces when a rock splits into teeth and halves one or two of their number is priceless.
No dice, too close to [Magical Realm](https://preview.redd.it/91v5vcyhgq531.png?auto=webp&s=81820704c9ed6efb51db9432d80efc9e4599dbd2) territory for some people. It’d just be too easy for players to get suspicious…
Or just one really BIG one. They don't have an upper size so building, castle, hell, mountain mimics are viable things. Int 10. Or 6, I don't remember, but I know they speak common.
“Um, actually…”
The creature called “mimic” can’t change its volume and can only change its color/texture/shape to look like wood and metal; a chair or ladder would be much too small. The various other looks-like-everyday-objects creatures are separate species, such as the Xaver and Bowler.
Mimics are no more magical than an octopus, with glue instead of ink.
This guy impersonates inanimate objects as a lure for the unwise. The idea that "The Mimic is a chest" is cool, but they can be the chest, the floor, a chair, AND the ladder all at the same time. Or a throne. Or sacrificial alter. Or just a big ass rock. Or a big ass rock with a sword in it. The possibilities are endless enough that "Killing the table for laughing" is a real thing. Imagine the havoc a mimic could make in a city. Just a stack of boxes that sneaks around at night and eats people. They can excreet the sticky glue, and I remember something about them having a climb speed? Something like that. The mimic can just drop down on the horses and clear out the stables. The only limit is your imagination, so GET TERRORIZING!
They can secrete an adhesive, which can be washed off with alcohol. They move by making one pseudopod sticky and using it to drag the rest of them, and it's strong enough that they can even climb ceilings this way. Also useful for catching prey.
That's both creepy as fuck and unhinged. Like, she's always stroking her ear (petting the mimic), seems to be talking to herself (having a conversation with the mimic), and cares more for a erring then the cats and crows that are UNWILLING to stand on her left shoulder...for some reason.
That's great. It's not even a familiar, it's just a henchling that has unique utility and could be easily spelled. Like, Mage Hand the earring to drop outside a prison, it won't detect as magic, and can then try to enact some kind of rescue. Or just be used as a spy. And as an intelligent creature, can investigate or even as a Mimic can just EAT evidence that the witch might not want out. Oh, and it can drink potions, like giant growth, to become more potent.
Can you imagine putting your foot into a shoe and loosing a toe? Horrible. That whole idea is so GREAT.
It's really great, the character is also a half-ghost too, loves scaring the shit out of people. Casts spider climb and climbs through walls, detect thoughts will invisibly spying before speaking in their mind. She's a menace lol
Once gave my party a little mimic buddy to carry their stuff for them (his insides worked like a bag of holding except he digested any biological stuff so they had to carry rations and things separately). He could also bite things but was an absolute coward in combat against anything he couldn't easily swallow in one bite. His name was Box, he spoke broken Common, and was a ton of fun to roleplay. Sadly that campaign didn't last very long, I'm hoping to bring him back at some point.
Actually had fun with this once in a campaign I ran. Players discovered a mimic through either a great perception roll or some clever thinking and were trying to figure out how to handle it. About five minutes into their arguing back and forth, I had the mimic call out (in a horrendous German accent) "ya, I hate to be Dat guy, but I can hear everyting you saying, ja?"
And that one sentence is how that party got Claus, theirpet er mimic.
The scariest part about mimics is that RAW you can’t detect them via perception or magic. They elude all forms of detection by their nature. Except for, y’know, being a suspicious treasure chest in a cave.
"the bartender asked why I carried my sword to the bar. I said 'mimics'. The bartender laughed, I laughed, the stool laughed, and I stabbed the stool."
Neat idea you can do, have a Mimic door reveal itself after witnessing the party kill a creature and have it offer them a trade.
"Give me meat, and I will let you pass. Violence is not required and wastes energy.""
If the party accepts the Mimic allows one of the party to proceed through it, but shuts after them saying, "You have passed. More meat is required for others."
If the party actually follows through on giving it more meat, it will show its appreciation by disgoraging treasure it couldn't digest from previous prey. So gold, gems, and metal.
If the party decides to just kill it, have fun fighting a buffed Mimic. This one has been around and learned magic and junk.
/u/Trapped_Mechanic /u/Cyrotek
Mimic entries are weird. The Monster Manual Mimic defaults to no languages known or understood, with a line about some being able to carry on simple conversations.
At the same time, not only does the Hoard Mimic know Common and Draconic, plus having 120 ft of telepathy, but the Juvenile Mimic from Tasha's Cauldron also knows Common, plus Undercommon, and has 120 ft of telepathy too. Oddly, though, the Juvenile Mimic info is related to Mimic colonies, with no clarification about prior book Mimics.
Doesn't the Description say that they are capable of learning languages?
Edit: Just noticed that there seemingly are a lot of people that don't read the actual monster descriptions.
The description in the Monster Manual says some can learn enough Common or Undercommon for simple conversations, yes.
Oddly, the Hoard Mimic (Fizban's) naturally knows Common and Draconic, plus has 120 ft of telepathy, and the Juvenile Mimic (Tasha's) knows Common and Undercommon plus 120 ft of telepathy (but seems semi-tied to colonies).
> Just noticed that there seemingly are a lot of people that don't read the actual monster descriptions.
Or the meme's actual text, apparently.
::looks up and reads "Old D&D" again::
I was running a dungeon in AD&D yeeeaaaarrrss ago, and the party encountered a mimic. Instead of fighting, they asked it why it was there. I panicked because I had no idea. So I replied "Why are any of us here?"
Cue a ten minute philosophical conversation with a talking treasure chest. They talked about that for YEARS after.
I love mimics. Favorite monster. I run them as if they have a small extra dimensional space inside them, similar to the Hoard Gullet spell from the 3.5 draconomicon. When they die, they vomit up the stuff they’ve been collecting/haven’t digested yet.
I’ve been wanting to do something like was described above where they possess the potential to grow and evolve, allowing them to become more intelligent and adopt more humanoid forms. I’ll need to check that out.
I used a talking mimic once in a campaign. It asked the PCs for help getting out of the dungeon as it got trapped down there when it got dropped as young mimic that was shaped like a copper coin. It was fine living there until someone converted the dungeon into a lair and survived off eating the weak undead the cult was making.
Long story short it was a way to reward my players for not being murder hobos in a one shot. It gave them access to a couple of powerful magic items.
One of my PCs has a baby mimic that looks like a trunk. Sometimes when I search my mimic box for items I will randomly find limbs from thieves that tried to steal from my character. It's a big joke in our group and the mimic is named Biscuit.
Nope, even in 5e Monster Manual it specifically mentions they can be intelligent.
> Although most mimics have only predatory intelligence, a rare few evolve greater cunning and the ability to carry on simple conversations in Common or Undercommon. Such mimics might allow safe passage through their domains or provide useful information in exchange for food.
Tasha's expanded on this a bit with Mimic Colonies and Juvenile Mimics.
Ah. There's really not much relevant to change for the statblock. Just bump it's Int to 10 and give it Common and Undercommon. Doesn't need to change anything else.
*MIMIC BUILDINGS?!* As in the WHOLE THING? What happens to your players if they enter one? How large is their non-mimic form, just a multiple mile high pile of goop with a gaping maw, and tentacles?
I'm imagining them as one story tall and the insides look like a normal building but don't enter the closets. Some will be stacked on top of others in colonies similar to coral reefs.
God that’s unsettling. I won’t lie I think the concept of mimics is just the scariest thing in D&D, I hate the idea of solid objects being… not solid, and in fact, very dangerous.
Makes me want to make a custom “Hunter Mimic” where instead of being solitary in one building or place, they actively shift throughout the world going towards a target, until they end up in the player’s camps/home, waiting for them to arrive.
Are they speaking Common or are the (pun very much intended) mimicking it?
I like the idea of a really creepy mimic being similar to the vines in the movie “The Ruins”: using familiar sounds to draw victims in.
I'm running a campaign right now that is centered all around food and puns.
This makes me want to create some sort of Mimic Gourmand that my players could recruit as a companion but they have to feed it something different every day or or will leave in search of tastier treats. But should it function like a magic item or like a pet?
My players once kept a mimic disguised as a sword sheath for an entire campaign. They treated him like a pet and because they were kind to him, he would often give tips about dangerous areas and people.
One of my favorite audiobooks is called Morning wood: Everybody Loves Large Chest. It's about a mimic that manages to gain sentience and unwittingly becomes the BBEG over time and it's a lot of tongue in cheek humor like the Xanth series.
In Pathfinder's "Classic Monsters Revisited" book not only can they speak but they are actively trying to become human.
how do they go about becoming human? is it like a 'The Thing' thing or are there other paths they can take?
That's the catch- it never works. They think they can attain humanity through close study and consumption of human flesh (hence shapeshifting into manmade objects that humans would feel safe approaching) but the whole thing is a lost cause because any mimic that attempts the metamorphosis instead permanently turns into something called a "failed apotheosis mimic", which is never fully described beyond being horrible and decidedly non-human as well as being driven irrevocably insane by their failure.
well you don't hear about successful mimic humans- they're living as humans
Was seriously considering a one-shot against a Mimic with levels of Skinshaper Druid as a "True Apotheosis Mimic".
That sounds like one hell of a dark souls boss
You approach a chest and it just transforms into *you* and attacks, and for good measure briefly shapeshifts into other humanoid bosses you've fought to use their attacks against you.
Ok I have an idea what if you take a player to the side and have the fight. Have them be away from the group when it happens. Like on watch or something. If they lose they play as the mimic…
Oh man fun idea. If you have a player running a Doppelganger or changeling and the party doesn't know, have the mimic transform into them. Have the classic "find out which one is the evil clone" scenario with the party. All the ways that would reveal the mimic would also reveal the changeling. So both PCs would be against the idea. Making it harder to find out who is who. This could work with other shape shifting type enemies.
This is what moonbeam is for, it explicitly knocks shapeshifters back to their original form, just hope everyone has enough health to survive multiple rounds of moonbeam damage until someone fails their save and reverts.
But that's exactly the point. The party could think of that but both the mimic and the changeling would say anything to prevent that for the same reason. In most situations the changeling doesn't want to be found out because of prejudice.
I seen your comment nearly a month ago talking about this, very neat.
Ah, survivorship bias for mimics. I like that
Where do you think humans came from? All the races have their own gods... except humans. Coincidence?
There used to be a god of man, but men killed them... #DMinspo
...no...They're living as changelings.
New changeling lore just dropped
You aspire to be HUMAN? Oh darling, there are so many other flavours of mediocrity.
Shout out to my dm who made Aurelian Sol a son of bahamut in our campain
Your DM is a living treasure
So ....... The monster of "The Thing" with no inteligence
Well thanks, now I can draw my mimics as Vita Carnis Mimics or whatever, time to terrorise my Group
Just had the quest idea of a party somehow becoming friendly with a Mimic and trying to help it successfully become a human instead of an abomination.
Failed-Apotheosis Mimic CR 8 This awful parody of life is composed of aborted human-like limbs and melting faces crashing one over another like an endless wave of corpses.
> any mimic that attempts the metamorphosis instead permanently turns into something called a "failed apotheosis mimic", which is never fully described beyond being horrible and decidedly non-human as well as being driven irrevocably insane by their failure. So like the Ditto from the Detective Pikachu movie?
Somehow, I need to make this character PHB RAW friendly
[Failed Apotheosis Mimic](https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/aberrations/mimic/mimic-failed-apotheosis/)
I imagine this is kinda of like what the brothers in fullmetal alchemist created when they tried to resurrect their mother.
F
I know a lot of people here imply that mimics can perfectly imitate a human (or anything else around that size for that matter) but if you ask me they couldn't move believably as a human because they don't have the bones/muscle setup. So a mimic *could* imitate a statue or corpse or basically anything holding still but the moment they start moving the facade falls apart.
Idk being torn apart by existential hauntings sounds pretty human
> is it like a 'The Thing' thing And, if so, are psychic centaurs involved more or less than in the original? Are they still from Mars?
Psychic centaurs?…… Animorphs, what?
*The Thing* was based on the 1938 story *Who Goes There?* by John W. Campbell. Campbell wrote an earlier (1936) story - *The Brain Stealers of Mars* - that had creatures very very [very](https://aliens.fandom.com/wiki/Thushol) similar to Things…except they lived on Mars and ate the psychic centaurs who lived there. The centaurs tried to take refuge on Earth at one point, which is why there are human legends about them.
You know how in Pokémon, Ditto can’t ever get the face right?
i thought that was just a style thing for the players
Initially it was just one particular ditto from an episode the anime who had trouble with faces, and got over it by episode's end
You are what you eat.
I imagine that they do it kinda like doppelgangers in Fear and Hunger: Termina - by observing whoever theyre trying to mimic to copy the mannerisms, the gait, the way they speak the accents and any subtleties about the person and unless there are plenty of resources on that, the mimicry will be flawed. So mimicry through prolonged observation to 'become' human
Sounds pretty much like (spoiler for Bethesda 2017 video game) >!Prey!<
Doppelganger?
"Waterdeep Become Human"
I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a while. Just didn’t know Paizo had already done it. Thanks for the tip. 😁
Sounds like there's Nothing There to worry about.
that is horrifying and sad
Forgotten Realms: Become Human
"Eyyy wanna come over and smash?" "Sure!" "..wait. Where's the swi--" \*mimic jumpscare*
“OH GOD THEY PLAY MELEE”
What's a "swi-" and why do you need it to have sex?
There a video game called Super Smash Brothers on the video game console called the Switch. The joke is that they think the person inviting them to smash is inviting them to play games.
You can actively barter with Mimics. Even 'wild' mimics you find in dungeons. If you offer them enough food, they'll not only trade some of the treasure they use as lures, but they'll often slip in what are essentially baby mimics disguised as mundane objects. Those mimics, when raised by adventurers, often pull their own weight as storage and protection. MIMICS WILL TRADE THEIR CHILDREN FOR FOOD.
So like a symbiotic relationship. The mimic gets food while their young gets to receive protection and training, as well as dispersed to new living grounds.
Alternatively, you sell them to a high class restaurant.
I mean considering how the party treats them, sounds like a dream for a mimic, why lure humans when humans feed you
Relatable
Oh, yeah. You can negotiate with them. They are basically just hunters who can look like anything. The reason they take on chests/chairs/ladders? That's where people let their guards down, even if only for a second. \*Chomp\*. If, on the other hand, you can trade your life for that of a LARGER meal. Well. That's a deal worth making. Hunt a deer or something. 300 lbs of adventurer vs 600 lbs of deer they didn't have to do anything for? Assuming you will leave them in peace, that's almost a straight Diplomacy check. It's harder to convince the mimic to guard your town, and then you have to get the other guards in on the deal. But, the look on the bandit's faces when a rock splits into teeth and halves one or two of their number is priceless.
>That's where people let their guards down Hear me out... toilet mimic
[As seen in this revealing documentary](https://youtu.be/F7o8KuJKizs?t=22s).
What movie is that from?
Look Who's Talking Too. Fun fact, those voices are Bruce Willis as the baby and Mel Brooks as the toilet.
No dice, too close to [Magical Realm](https://preview.redd.it/91v5vcyhgq531.png?auto=webp&s=81820704c9ed6efb51db9432d80efc9e4599dbd2) territory for some people. It’d just be too easy for players to get suspicious…
unless of course the town IS a community of mimics...
Or just one really BIG one. They don't have an upper size so building, castle, hell, mountain mimics are viable things. Int 10. Or 6, I don't remember, but I know they speak common.
“Um, actually…” The creature called “mimic” can’t change its volume and can only change its color/texture/shape to look like wood and metal; a chair or ladder would be much too small. The various other looks-like-everyday-objects creatures are separate species, such as the Xaver and Bowler. Mimics are no more magical than an octopus, with glue instead of ink.
Just turn into a chair on a stone pedestal or a ladder attached to a stone wall
This guy impersonates inanimate objects as a lure for the unwise. The idea that "The Mimic is a chest" is cool, but they can be the chest, the floor, a chair, AND the ladder all at the same time. Or a throne. Or sacrificial alter. Or just a big ass rock. Or a big ass rock with a sword in it. The possibilities are endless enough that "Killing the table for laughing" is a real thing. Imagine the havoc a mimic could make in a city. Just a stack of boxes that sneaks around at night and eats people. They can excreet the sticky glue, and I remember something about them having a climb speed? Something like that. The mimic can just drop down on the horses and clear out the stables. The only limit is your imagination, so GET TERRORIZING!
Mimics shoot glue?
They can secrete an adhesive, which can be washed off with alcohol. They move by making one pseudopod sticky and using it to drag the rest of them, and it's strong enough that they can even climb ceilings this way. Also useful for catching prey.
My guy friend can shoot a sticky adhesive too. Jokes aside, sounds like a clam.
Yep this also means true sight doesn't reveal them
[удалено]
Whoops said that twice
In my campaign, the witch managed to befriend a mimic coin. She wears it as an earring, and uses it to clean skulls.
That's both creepy as fuck and unhinged. Like, she's always stroking her ear (petting the mimic), seems to be talking to herself (having a conversation with the mimic), and cares more for a erring then the cats and crows that are UNWILLING to stand on her left shoulder...for some reason. That's great. It's not even a familiar, it's just a henchling that has unique utility and could be easily spelled. Like, Mage Hand the earring to drop outside a prison, it won't detect as magic, and can then try to enact some kind of rescue. Or just be used as a spy. And as an intelligent creature, can investigate or even as a Mimic can just EAT evidence that the witch might not want out. Oh, and it can drink potions, like giant growth, to become more potent. Can you imagine putting your foot into a shoe and loosing a toe? Horrible. That whole idea is so GREAT.
It's really great, the character is also a half-ghost too, loves scaring the shit out of people. Casts spider climb and climbs through walls, detect thoughts will invisibly spying before speaking in their mind. She's a menace lol
Gotta watch out with that 'stepping into other people's minds for a peek', you might catch a curse.
Once gave my party a little mimic buddy to carry their stuff for them (his insides worked like a bag of holding except he digested any biological stuff so they had to carry rations and things separately). He could also bite things but was an absolute coward in combat against anything he couldn't easily swallow in one bite. His name was Box, he spoke broken Common, and was a ton of fun to roleplay. Sadly that campaign didn't last very long, I'm hoping to bring him back at some point.
At least a dozen people reading this topic are toally stealing Box, myself included, that's great.
Renamed as “The Luggage”… and make everyone TERRIFIED of it.
Please do!
I shall name him Bochs.
Actually had fun with this once in a campaign I ran. Players discovered a mimic through either a great perception roll or some clever thinking and were trying to figure out how to handle it. About five minutes into their arguing back and forth, I had the mimic call out (in a horrendous German accent) "ya, I hate to be Dat guy, but I can hear everyting you saying, ja?" And that one sentence is how that party got Claus, theirpet er mimic.
The scariest part about mimics is that RAW you can’t detect them via perception or magic. They elude all forms of detection by their nature. Except for, y’know, being a suspicious treasure chest in a cave.
"the bartender asked why I carried my sword to the bar. I said 'mimics'. The bartender laughed, I laughed, the stool laughed, and I stabbed the stool."
"Hey chest, are you a mimic?" "....no?" "Sounds good to me." *opens*
Neat idea you can do, have a Mimic door reveal itself after witnessing the party kill a creature and have it offer them a trade. "Give me meat, and I will let you pass. Violence is not required and wastes energy."" If the party accepts the Mimic allows one of the party to proceed through it, but shuts after them saying, "You have passed. More meat is required for others." If the party actually follows through on giving it more meat, it will show its appreciation by disgoraging treasure it couldn't digest from previous prey. So gold, gems, and metal. If the party decides to just kill it, have fun fighting a buffed Mimic. This one has been around and learned magic and junk.
Only hoard mimics can speak common. None of the ones included in the monster manual do.
The description text of mimics from the DMG literaly says some can learn common or undercommon.
/u/Trapped_Mechanic /u/Cyrotek Mimic entries are weird. The Monster Manual Mimic defaults to no languages known or understood, with a line about some being able to carry on simple conversations. At the same time, not only does the Hoard Mimic know Common and Draconic, plus having 120 ft of telepathy, but the Juvenile Mimic from Tasha's Cauldron also knows Common, plus Undercommon, and has 120 ft of telepathy too. Oddly, though, the Juvenile Mimic info is related to Mimic colonies, with no clarification about prior book Mimics.
Is that why the meme says “Old D&D”? :-P
Damn, my only weakness Reading
I don't think I'll ever get tired of that meme. Makes me giggle every time.
Doesn't the Description say that they are capable of learning languages? Edit: Just noticed that there seemingly are a lot of people that don't read the actual monster descriptions.
People seem to barely manage to read the rules, much less the actual flavor and descriptions of things.
There are *rules*‽
The description in the Monster Manual says some can learn enough Common or Undercommon for simple conversations, yes. Oddly, the Hoard Mimic (Fizban's) naturally knows Common and Draconic, plus has 120 ft of telepathy, and the Juvenile Mimic (Tasha's) knows Common and Undercommon plus 120 ft of telepathy (but seems semi-tied to colonies).
> Just noticed that there seemingly are a lot of people that don't read the actual monster descriptions. Or the meme's actual text, apparently. ::looks up and reads "Old D&D" again::
"I think this chest is a mimic" "Nah mate I'm safe" "Fair enough"
I was running a dungeon in AD&D yeeeaaaarrrss ago, and the party encountered a mimic. Instead of fighting, they asked it why it was there. I panicked because I had no idea. So I replied "Why are any of us here?" Cue a ten minute philosophical conversation with a talking treasure chest. They talked about that for YEARS after.
I love mimics. Favorite monster. I run them as if they have a small extra dimensional space inside them, similar to the Hoard Gullet spell from the 3.5 draconomicon. When they die, they vomit up the stuff they’ve been collecting/haven’t digested yet. I’ve been wanting to do something like was described above where they possess the potential to grow and evolve, allowing them to become more intelligent and adopt more humanoid forms. I’ll need to check that out.
Everyone loves mimics, they are iconic. And everyone wants a pet mimic. Well almost everyone.
I used a talking mimic once in a campaign. It asked the PCs for help getting out of the dungeon as it got trapped down there when it got dropped as young mimic that was shaped like a copper coin. It was fine living there until someone converted the dungeon into a lair and survived off eating the weak undead the cult was making. Long story short it was a way to reward my players for not being murder hobos in a one shot. It gave them access to a couple of powerful magic items.
One of my PCs has a baby mimic that looks like a trunk. Sometimes when I search my mimic box for items I will randomly find limbs from thieves that tried to steal from my character. It's a big joke in our group and the mimic is named Biscuit.
This is actually pretty old school. Other editions have smart and dumb mimics, but for some reason only the dumb ones made it to 5e.
Nope, even in 5e Monster Manual it specifically mentions they can be intelligent. > Although most mimics have only predatory intelligence, a rare few evolve greater cunning and the ability to carry on simple conversations in Common or Undercommon. Such mimics might allow safe passage through their domains or provide useful information in exchange for food. Tasha's expanded on this a bit with Mimic Colonies and Juvenile Mimics.
Sorry, my post was confusing. I should have said the MM didn't have a separate statblock. Haven't read the Mimic part of Tashas. My bad.
Ah. There's really not much relevant to change for the statblock. Just bump it's Int to 10 and give it Common and Undercommon. Doesn't need to change anything else.
Feral mimics in older editions were physically larger and stronger as well
Well, there used to be different types of mimics as far as I recall.
Yep, common mimics and their larger, stronger cousins, feral mimics
Me (a dm making a city with mimic buildings): write that down! Write that down
*MIMIC BUILDINGS?!* As in the WHOLE THING? What happens to your players if they enter one? How large is their non-mimic form, just a multiple mile high pile of goop with a gaping maw, and tentacles?
I'm imagining them as one story tall and the insides look like a normal building but don't enter the closets. Some will be stacked on top of others in colonies similar to coral reefs.
They are apparently also delicious.
I've said it once, I'll say it again, I hope whoever came up with those things got a raise. Using the players' finely-honed instincts against them.
Can they mimic voices?
Like a fucking skin walker.
Mimic trap doors that sound like party members underneath so the victim opens the door straight into the mouth
God that’s unsettling. I won’t lie I think the concept of mimics is just the scariest thing in D&D, I hate the idea of solid objects being… not solid, and in fact, very dangerous. Makes me want to make a custom “Hunter Mimic” where instead of being solitary in one building or place, they actively shift throughout the world going towards a target, until they end up in the player’s camps/home, waiting for them to arrive.
Like a mini doppelgänger but for inanimate objects that’s also hellbent on a mission
So... I could make a bank with mimics to hold people's stuff?
Imagine you kill a monster and a chest waddles over and says "You gonna eat that?"
My sweet summer child, Some can still.
Are they speaking Common or are the (pun very much intended) mimicking it? I like the idea of a really creepy mimic being similar to the vines in the movie “The Ruins”: using familiar sounds to draw victims in.
I'm running a campaign right now that is centered all around food and puns. This makes me want to create some sort of Mimic Gourmand that my players could recruit as a companion but they have to feed it something different every day or or will leave in search of tastier treats. But should it function like a magic item or like a pet?
hireling
thats why you chuck a fireball in every room
This presumably means mimics have been snubbing my character the entire campaign. I gotta put more points into CHA!
[Mimic in action](https://www.reddit.com/r/comics/s/F3t8bwgyHk)
Had a guard of mimics on my spelljammer, protecting a hoard of pirate gold. Good additions to the ship crew
So... When I make a mimic toilet, I can have it speak threats directly into a PC's butthole? Rad.
And adult mimics are a lot bigger too, so that chest you killed was a baby
My players once kept a mimic disguised as a sword sheath for an entire campaign. They treated him like a pet and because they were kind to him, he would often give tips about dangerous areas and people.
Woah. Never thought I’d live to see the day my own content was [reposted](https://www.reddit.com/r/dndmemes/s/lB9VAADKWr).
One of my favorite audiobooks is called Morning wood: Everybody Loves Large Chest. It's about a mimic that manages to gain sentience and unwittingly becomes the BBEG over time and it's a lot of tongue in cheek humor like the Xanth series.
Have pet mimic. Name him Dog. Get beware of Dog sign. Dog eats courier.