Best Forms for Sneaky Mimics

[DRD1812]

Treasure chests are passé. What are some good alternate forms for sneaky mimics? My best idea so far (http://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/mimic).

[nickl_2000]

How about a chandelier no one would suspect that until it fell on them?
If you want something that a PC would touch, a rug would work very well.
How about an alchemists table with various potions on top of it?
Or a door that is covering an otherwise empty portal? Alternately a trap door that appears to lead down to a lower level.
A vine or rope on the outside of the building that looks like it could be climbed as a way to get inside
A shiny suit of armor lying on the floor around other rusted out broken pieces (it looks magical)
A writing desk in the layer of the BBEG so the PCs want to look in there for more information

[Catullus64]

If you want something that a PC would touch, a rug would work very well.
A shiny suit of armor lying on the floor around other rusted out broken pieces (it looks magical)


You'll be putting poor ole' Animated Armors and Rugs of Smothering out of a job! I'm pretty sure the boys at the Monster Trade Union will want to have a word with you...

Now, for new mimic ideas:

A standard chest mimic, but it leaves its mouth open and covers it with coins and gems.
A painting. High DC perception check to notice that the eyes really are following you.
An entire room. A small one, to be sure, but a perfectly clean, featureless room with an empty doorway.
A sarcophagus. Examination of the corpse within reveals the bones to be fresh, and not a moment too soon...
The Souls Mimic: Again, have the mimic appear to be a standard chest, placed such that savvy players recognize it for a mimic... and then, once somebody hits it, have it turn into an unexpectedly large creature, which is a legitimately difficult encounter even without the element of surprise.

[GooeyChewie]

Step 1: Don’t be run by me. WARNING: Curse of Strahd spoilers ahead!!!


I’ve run three groups through the Death House. All three found the mimic, to vastly different results.

1. The first group had turned the ghouls in the hallway. The description of the mimic says it will attack the first creature which touches it, so the party soon found the mimic busily munching on a ghoul. They left it to eat its meal in peace.

2. This group outright defeated the ghouls, so the mimic was still in door form when they got to it. But the strange door seemed odd enough to justify inspecting without touching. I rolled to see how good of a door the mimic had made and got a 1. And so the door changed itself right in front of the player characters to include a sign which said “totally not a mimic.” The party avoided the mimic.

3. This group also turned a ghoul, and found the mimic eating it a bit later. They turned around and explored a bit, finding their way to the other side of the mimic. Now, knowing full well that there was nothing of interest on the other side and with the mimic giving them the stink-eye but clearly distracted by its meal... they attacked it anyway.

[Fayd]

I made a mimic an obviously locked/trapped door once, and it worked quite well. The room also had some animated armors, some flying swords, a rug of smothering, and a cloaker.

It looked identical to a room the PCs had already been in that just had traps.

They were on edge the Whole Time.

[Sage Tellah]

A rowboat in a shed on the side of a river the PCs have reason to cross. Let them get a good distance out on the water before getting sticky and dragging one to a watery grave.

[HolyDraconus]

A non moving mimic can't be detected as such with mundane means. As such, I frequently done plenty, from ladders, to beds, to inn counters, to lamp posts.

[Cespenar]

One arrow in a quiver.

[Cwyll]

A humanoid body well wrapped in webs in an old spiders lair.
They're bound to check it for loot (even if they claim they're looking to see if the poor fellow is still alive).
Have it's chest open up to bite them as seen in 'the thing'...

[Ryblackadder]

Perhaps a story related item? Sure a mimic can’t copy the magical or special properties of the item but if it looks exactly like the sword of ultimate super power they’ve been looking for they’ll likely just grab it instead of wondering what’s up with the sword itself. ESPECIALLY if there’s a trap already in place beforehand so they think they’ve dealt with it all!

[Asmotherion]

Weaponry, or any kind of mundane item like a book (thumbs up if you notice the referance), or a a smaller mimic (less hd, recalculate appropriatelly) in the shape of a coin purse.

Give the players an opportunity to actually capture and train the thing (over an extensive amout of time obviously). When done, make it function as the actual object, except when you "order" it not to, or if you have trained it to act some other way (for example, a coin purse could reshape as a mimic if anyone who is not the trainer attempts to oppen it).

It's at least as interesting a reward as a magical item, and provides a lot of RP oportunities along the way. Just a friendly suggestion.


Perhaps a story related item? Sure a mimic can’t copy the magical or special properties of the item but if it looks exactly like the sword of ultimate super power they’ve been looking for they’ll likely just grab it instead of wondering what’s up with the sword itself. ESPECIALLY if there’s a trap already in place beforehand so they think they’ve dealt with it all!

Mimic McGuffin is also an interesting trope to invest in. Especially if there are more parties interested in stealing it latter on. If you can train(or contain) that mimic, and then Bluff that your opponent "stole" it from you, they're in for a nasty surprise.

[Nifft]

The best possible form for a mimic is...


Taco Cart

Everybody loves tacos.

[Asmotherion]

The best possible form for a mimic is...
Taco Cart

Everybody loves tacos.

Slight problem with this one; What if, for arguement's sake, a Black Dragon met the mimic, and the mimic is actually Delicius? I think Mimics take non-consumable forms for a reason. When the predator becomes the pray, it means you fail at your job miserably :P

On the other hand, as a Dragon, if I saw a coffer full of shinny coins, I'd simply put it in my Hoard, thus the mimic would be in no threat of being consumed, and might have an opportunity to consume the occasional Daredevil that goes into said Dragon's Hoard, hopping to get some treasure.

Mimics know what they're doing!

[Nifft]

Slight problem with this one; What if, for arguement's sake, a Black Dragon met the mimic, and the mimic is actually Delicius? I think Mimics take non-consumable forms for a reason. When the predator becomes the pray, it means you fail at your job miserably :P

A taco cart is a mobile kitchen.

If you've got a dragon so stupid that its thought process is "tacos are delicious, therefore I'm going to eat the kitchen" -- then I don't think there's any expectation of coins or whatever being less edible than a kitchen.

Your dragon has brain problems, and nobody is safe.

[Mercurias]

I’m offended that no one has yet suggested a nice bag of luggage for their mimic.

Another option would be the ancient throne one of your player characters had been struggling through several dungeons to obtain, which explodes into fangs and tentacles once they sit in it. The actual throne is a much more modest piece of furniture in a chamber just behind.

The bed in the room given to one of the PCs for the night. Bonus points if they can’t figure out who put it there.

[Deox]

Following forms I have used or seen:

Bonfire
Mirror (this was used in an area with medusa-like creatures)
Ladder / Rope
Torch (wall sconce)
Assorted furniture (Bed, tables, chairs, rugs, etc.)
Bathtub
Lock (not the door, but the lock itself)
Kegs / Barrels (poor dwarves)
Assorted clothing (hats, boots, robes, necklaces, etc.)
Corpses
Saddle
Coins / Gems / Art

[Asmotherion]

A taco cart is a mobile kitchen.

If you've got a dragon so stupid that its thought process is "tacos are delicious, therefore I'm going to eat the kitchen" -- then I don't think there's any expectation of coins or whatever being less edible than a kitchen.

Your dragon has brain problems, and nobody is safe.

I was imagining more of a literal cart loaded with tacos, because that's the amout of interaction I was visualising a Mimic, Dragon and Tacos Would be able to have, by suspending my disbelieve and thinking Tacos in a medieval setting.

A taco cart, in a modern setting perhaps? That's not what I was going for, as it feels completely out of place in most D&D settings I'm fammiliar with. To each their own I suppose.

[DRD1812]

I’m offended that no one has yet suggested a nice bag of luggage for their mimic.

Another option would be the ancient throne one of your player characters had been struggling through several dungeons to obtain, which explodes into fangs and tentacles once they sit in it. The actual throne is a much more modest piece of furniture in a chamber just behind.

The bed in the room given to one of the PCs for the night. Bonus points if they can’t figure out who put it there.

I'm getting some Last Crusade vibes here. Nice!

[Aidan305]

A couple of months ago I pitted my players against a mimic in a boss battle. They had been informed that there was a mimic around and had been going around the tavern chatting with other characters and carefully poking at everything they could see, trying to track it down.

It turned out that the mimic was the tavern.

[Catullus64]

A couple of months ago I pitted my players against a mimic in a boss battle. They had been informed that there was a mimic around and had been going around the tavern chatting with other characters and carefully poking at everything they could see, trying to track it down.

It turned out that the mimic was the tavern.

Were all the other tavern patrons also elaborate organs of the mimic? If so, that's one committed mimic. If not, those are some unobservant (or complicit) tavern-goers.

[JakOfAllTirades]

If a Mimic pretended to be an Apparatus of Kwalish, the doomed PC's would happily climb right inside.

[Uigeadaily]

A Pagoda.

:3

If you want to be really dastardly, try an Outhouse Toilet. Not only will the PC be alone and split from the party but they will also be caught with their trousers down. Literally.

[Temperjoke]

If you really want to be mean, a treasure vault filled with lots of different treasure is actually one big mimic. That scary old house just down the lane, that no one seems to be living in? Yeah, it's a giant mimic. What's that weird deserted island that's not on any of the charts? Whoops, gargantuan-sized mimic!

[Lord8Ball]

I recalled a funny story about Eric and the gazebo which you could gain some inspiration from.
https://imgur.com/gallery/udP1cEq

[StoicLeaf]

If you want to be really dastardly, try an Outhouse Toilet. Not only will the PC be alone and split from the party but they will also be caught with their trousers down. Literally.

I've done this.
Only it was a drop toilet high up on a keep they had just liberated.
Dwarf sat down and realised the seat was sticky.
He managed to kill the mimic, it was entertaining nevertheless.

[Nifft]

What if you trained a mimic to behave like a big ol' dire roach motel?

Dire roaches check in, but they don't check out.

[Ivor_The_Mad]

How about a helmet or a door knob. Those are quite inconspicuous. Imagine you reach for the door and it bites you. Or even better a door its self.

DM: You are in a room with one door
PC: I open the door. Wow sure is dark in here. and damp too.

[ImproperJustice]

I think the classic ladder leading to a hole in the ceiling is the best.

PC gets stuck to ladder and the hole is just the mouth.

Reels the PC in and munches away.

The other I can thinknof was from the “Reverse Dungeon” which had a colony of mimics living in a storage room for antiques.

[iTreeby]

What if you trained a mimic to behave like a big ol' dire roach motel?

Dire roaches check in, but they don't check out.
House mimics eat rodents and pests and are harmless.

[Dappershire]

Ladder for climbing out of a pool of water that the PCs will have reason for swimming/getting pushed in.

As they climb out, it grapples, sinks, begins drowning it's prey.

[Blood of Gaea]

The cloak the parties ranger put on the coat rack before going to bed.

[DRD1812]

The cloak the parties ranger put on the coat rack before going to bed.

Don't be ridiculous! What kind of creature would ever disguise itself like that?

https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Cloaker#content

:3

[darknite]

I had a DM a long time ago make a Mimic Hot Tub. It was filled with hot, bubbling water radiating magic in a wizard's tower and had a sign saying something like, "Bathe as you were Born and Gain Strength!"

Of course the party fighter thought it was a method of boosting his strength when in fact it was a trap. Stripping out his armor he stepped inside and the Mimic attacked!

[Kurt Kurageous]

Look, folks, Mimics are low animal intelligence. They observe prey interacting with things, and that's what they imitate. IMHO, mimic doors and chests are DM punk moves. Anything the party HAS to interact with that is trapped is a DM punk move.

I have a homebrew adventure that has mimics that have NEVER FAILED to get interactions IN A ROW. They are:

A dead mule. It doesn't smell like a rotting mule, though, cause its a mimic.

An empty rusting iron animal cage in a room with two other rusting animal cages. It doesn't smell like rusting iron cause its a mimic.

A mute wood elf child (or any kid)crying, kneeling on the ground, arms lifted up, expecting to be picked up. It can't make sounds or speak cause its a mimic.

Even though they just came from a room with a mimic, they fall for the next one, AND the next one every single time, EVEN THOUGH I give perception DC 10-15 checks to notice what's wrong with each one.