Don't be a Mimic

Monster Monday 2

You’ve made it through the hordes of goblins; past the corridors filled with traps and the magical defences. You were almost stopped by the unlocked door, but after just half an hour of different tactics, you manage to pull it open. Before you is the reward you’ve searched for - the chest, filled no doubt with gold and jewels and all the magic items you can eat. You’ve made it! You open the chest to see what your reward is, and your Dungeon Master asks the question which makes your stomach sink:

“So, you’re touching the chest?”

If there is one staple of adventuring life for Dungeons and Dragons enthusiastics, it’s the Mimic.

These sods are absolutely everywhere in dungeons, pretending to be everything they’re not and then eating anyone who touches them!

The barkeep asked us, “What’s a group of heavily armed adventurers doing in my tavern?”.

We replied, “Hunting Mimics.”

He laughed. We laughed. The table laughed. We killed the table.

Good times.

What is a Mimic?

As a dungeon master, basically endless fun. A mimic is a Monstrosity, which is quite fitting considering their appearance! You may know them from the Dungeons and Dragons movie:

Yeah, that’s pretty much them in a nutshell.

However, the Chest is just one of a functionally unlimited list of options for a Mimic to imitate. Mimics are intelligent creatures (well, they’re wise creatures anyway) and they instinctually know what to take the form of to attract an unwitting adventurer! Let’s go through some now, and give you Dungeon Masters some evil ideas!

Best Uses for Mimics

Chests

Chests are the obvious option for a mimic. A mimic taking the form of a chest is begging to be stabbed by any wary adventurer who knows anything about the existence of mimics. Most people won’t go near them without a convenient 10ft. pole.

A convenient 10ft. Pole

If you put a chest in a cluttered room in a dungeon, then consider presenting the party with a 10ft. pole propped up by the door. I’d give it about a 60% chance that someone who knows about mimics says “I pick up the 10ft. pole and poke the chest!”. You get to see that wave of emotions as you say “the pole sticks to the chest” and they feel elated at rumbling your ruse, and then their horror as you add “It’s also sticking to your hands.”

A Door.

Everyone who’s played enough D&D will know that doors are the bane of every party. An unlocked door has the capacity to stump a party for an hour, and a locked one - well, anticipate several bad rolls and a lot of kicking before that thing even starts to open. However, they are seldom suspected of Mimicry. What better way to help the players vent their frustration at doors than by letting them hack one to death?

A Potion

Cruel? Yes. Evil, in fact? Absolutely. But when a party member goes to drink that healing potion and it latches onto their face… ah, if these moments could last forever…

Set Dressing

Mimics work best when they’re understated and interactable. Saying “There’s a chest in the middle of the room” invites suspicion. Saying “The door opens into a room with a table to one side, and a chair propped against the door opposite, as if to hold it closed. On the floor, there is a threadbare rug, and in front of the door, an old mat says “please wipe your feet” in faded black lettering.”

Ok, so you’re looking for the mimic. Is it the chair blocking the way? It is the threadbare rug they will have to walk over, or the innocent doormat, inviting you to walk all over it?¹

Tempting Items

If you want to annoy your party - I mean for real - then you can replace tempting magic items for Mimics. Pick notorious ones, not just +1 bows. Opening a chest to find a deck of cards will see the party freak out, thinking it’s the Deck of Many Things. Undoubtedly, at least two of them - usually the most chaotic and the most lawful - will scrabble to get control of this item, to either prevent sheer mayhem, or to cause it. And then the deck of cards can try to eat them both.

And your players will never forgive you.

Active Liars

A little-known fact about Mimics is that they can learn to speak - and not just to copy words, they can actually converse. So when the party step into the first room in the dungeon and a voice calls from the well in the corner, “Is someone there?”, they will rush over to try and look down. And then the well will eat them. Muahahaha.

Mimic Colonies

Mimics are able to form colonies of dozens or even hundred of Mimics, and some of those Mimics can grow huge. They might imitate anything from a pick-your-own pumpkin patch (ideal for Halloween games) to an abandoned warehouse (where every crate is a Mimic) to as much as a small village (every house, every chair, every table).

Remember when I told you Mimics could learn to talk? Here’s where that can come in. A Mimic colony can reason with people and even form a symbiotic relationship with them. For example. a Mimic colony taking the form of a ship might offer to act as guards for the precious cargo, in exchange for being fed copious amounts of fish. I hae a single Mimic in my world which lives aboard a luxury sky-cruiser, and imitates a piano at all times, playing music for everyone and being tossed chicken drumsticks and other foods after each song (and had my players been more chaotic, it would also have proven a worthy bouncer). Here’s an idea to conjure with - a young boy is cursed to appear as a horrific beast, and stumbles upon a Mimic colony who takes him in. They reside in an abandoned castle, and take the form of every piece of furniture within. Think you know what I’m referring to? Be my guest:

Microxorn Mimics

It wouldn’t be a proper Monster Monday if I didn’t give you Dungeon Masters something new to play with. So, may I present the Microxorn Mimic.

Those of you who like to dissect a name will have an inkling of where this is going.

Micro: Means they are tiny.

Xorn: Means they eat precious metals and gems.

Mimic: Means your players will never forgive you.

Microxorn Mimics are a strange and tiny strain of Mimic. Presumable the result of some unusual combination of mimics and the elemental plane of earth, Microxorn Mimics imitate precious coins and gems, seeking to be collected by adventurers and stored in bags of coin. These mimics then burrow to the bottom of its new nest, to better avoid being discovered, and then starts to consume the precious metals and gems around them. Microxorn Mimic droppings resemble the lint and fluff commonly found at the bottom of such bags². If a Microxorn Mimic is removed from its nest, it will bite the hand which removed it and then scuttle away, usually leaving an adventurer to scour through its fluffy droppings in a forlorn hope of finding the fortune they once had.

Sometimes Microxorn Mimics will form ravenous swarms which actively seek out gold and jewels, attacking anyone with any on their person and greedily swallowing anything valuable. Pity the man with gold teeth when Microxorn Mimics are on the prowl.

Further Reading

If you love Mimics, then consider some of the following supplements for your D&D game:

The Mimic book of Mimics, from Mage Hand Press, has 22 pages of mimic lore and options, perfect for spicing up a campaign where the party “know all about” Mimics!

Fifty Magnificently Murderous Mimics, from Total Party Kill Games, is a pay-what-you-want guide for adding more Mimics to your game, using new statblocks, iincluding the terrifying-sounding Mimic Virus!

Finally, if you’re looking for a oneshot adventure for level 5-9’s which revolves around these pesky monsters, then look no further than Oops, All Mimics from Night Owl Odysseys!

Have fun terrorising your party, and happy adventuring!

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1. It’s all of them. Also the table, the door, and the sword you’re about to use. And your socks.

2. Every time you turn out your pockets to find one copper penny and a load of lint, suspect the penny. And wash your hands.