Lets play: Pimp my Mimic!

[Thoughtbot360]

Mimics are kind of tired at this point, aren't they? I mean, sure it was funny the first time, but now every console RPG has them. And they are just chests that jump. Not terribly frieghtening for a prepared adventurer.

So how about we all pitch in post our custom designs for making Mimics deadilier and more dramatic? You don't need to add stats or anything, just the basic idea. Here's mine:

Rogue: Okay, so I detect no traps on the huge chest?
DM: You find no triggering mechanisms.
Rogue: And the party doesn't know where I am since I fell that trap door a while back?
Party: *in unison* Sigh...No.
Rogue: Good. I take 20 to open the lock.
DM: You notice the chest open not with a single latch, it has two sets of spikes that apparently lock into a mechanism on the other side of the chest opening. Suddenly a fouling cloud of particles arises from the chest. Make a fort check. *rogue rolls a natural 1*
Rogue: F**K!
DM: Its no problem, you're only coughing from inhaling a dust cloud. In the chest....you see dust.
Rogue: Dust?
DM: Yes, lots of dust.
Rogue: Dust.
DM: and some shell-like...things.
Rogue: -So, what is this? Anyting of value at all?
DM: I was getting to that. Suddenly you hear something click, and a long pole extends from the side of the chest.
Rogue: Hey, you said there were no traps!
DM: There were no triggers, yes. But now the chest has long, socketed arms. Whats your touch AC?
Rogue: uh, 17?
*rolls*
DM: It makes a snatch for you-and hits! Take 4 damage from the claws. The chest pulls you towards its maw (remember the spike like-things? Turns out they're teeth.), and as you get a second look, you notice an eye socket on one of the shells-the shell like things are pieces of human skulls! The dust must be bones from earlier adventurers that disentegrated with age! Make a grapple check!
Rogue: Escape artist! Escape artist! *rolls*
DM: You slip out of the mechanical claw and on to the ground. You swear you hear a voice in the air, it sounds like it said: "Treasure."
Rogue: I'm bolting.
DM: Well, making good use of the Run feat you get enough distance to-
Rogue: -Wait. I don't have the Run feat. Thats the wizard. The one who kept running ahead of the party to show off? The one who died last week? Kenny? We made South Park jokes, remember?
DM: Oh. Oh, dear. If thats the case....You won't like this. You won't like this at all.
Rogue: *groan* Why'd I have to be a Halfling?
DM: The Chest rises from the ground. You see long, study legs emerge from the ground. The Chest's arms extend down to the ground and it runs after you on all fours. Its right on top of you.
Rogue: But Constructs can't run! They can only hustle!
DM: It is hustling.
Fighter: *circles his arms* Do-do-do-da-doo-du-da-do-do, do-do-do-da-
Rogue: Can it, Carl!
Chest: TREASURE!!
Rogue: Hey, wasn't there a corridor with a ****load of traps back a little ways? I'll run through that! My Reflex saves and Uncanny dodge will see me through and the pit at least should slow down the chest!
DM: Okay, you trigger each trap in the corridor, the walls that slam together, the spikes in the floor, the arrows that explode, those walls that emerge halfway through to the other side of the corridor to slow down some guy trying to charge through the spikes, the pitfall...ugh just roll 10 reflex saves, announce with one is for the spike labyrith since its harder.
Rogue: *Matrix-es his way across the death hallway* Hah. Now lets see the chesty deal with that!
DM: The Mimic treasure chest stops for a second, then pulls out two giant hammers from its side. With its hammers it goes Wham! WHAM! And smashes a path thru the spikes and walls in the spike labyrith. It also nearly is smashed by the closing walls, but it slams them back to their resting positions with the hammers! It uses one labyrinth wall as a shield against the arrows destroys its way right to the pit.
Rogue: HOW DID I NOT NOTICE ALL THESE THINGS ON THE CHEST WHEN I WAS SEARCHING FOR TRAPS!?
DM: They were very well hidden.
Rogue: Imma punch you in da backada head! *Breathes deep* Well, it can't possibly get across the pit and it might be stupid enough to walk across the floor when the trap resets and fall in. It did all that with brute strength. Its probably very clumsy.
DM: The pit closes-and the Mimic shoves in the wall it used as a shield against the arrows, jamming the pit trap!
Rogue:
Mimic: TREASURE!
Rogue: But...I'm not treasure.
Fighter: Rogue, the other white meat.
Rogue: Oh, shut up Carl! Just shut up! I'm running away again!
DM: You run into a gang of kobolds armed with Spike Chains!
Rogue: Well, they can kiss my mobility feat! *dodges Kobolds*
Kobold: Hey, my chain's stuck on something....AARRGG! *is lifted up by the chain into the Mimic's maw*
Mimic: TREASURE!*crunch crunch crunch*
Fighter: Mmm! Tastes like Kobold!
DM: The kobolds scatter like freightened Kittens, the chest decides to chase after you....
Bard: This would be like frieghtning or something if Carl just stopped adding quips every other round. Oh well, anyone for the Indiana Jones theme?



-Post your own funky treasure chest, I'm looking forward to it!

[ocato]

That was great. I really liked that idea and I just might have to make a dungeon based on a Mimic Lord dungeoneer who is actually the king of his own den of traps, and each trap turns out to be a construct.

[Thoughtbot360]

That was great. I really liked that idea and I just might have to make a dungeon based on a Mimic Lord dungeoneer who is actually the king of his own den of traps, and each trap turns out to be a construct.

Post it here if you do.

[Hamster_Ninja]

and each trap turns out to be a construct.

That would be cool, but it would get somewhat hard to hear everyones actions in combat over the tears of the rogue in the fetal position begging for someone to just make the pain end.

[Starsinger]

My cousin once employed an Outhouse mimic... And while it wasn't particularly deadly, it did psychologically scar a poor Dwarf for the rest of his life.

[asqwasqw]

It's like the luggage from Discworld, with less feet. I like it...

[ghost_warlock]

Yeah, all it needs now is a "Wizzard" climbing out of it along with some guy with a demon-powered camera.

[PMDM]

I like the flavor. But I don't think you gave enough of a hint that the chest was a mimic. I had no idea what you were aiming for when you said "shells". Overall, a good post, though.

[asqwasqw]

I like the flavor. But I don't think you gave enough of a hint that the chest was a mimic. I had no idea what you were aiming for when you said "shells". Overall, a good post, though.

Isn't that the idea? Leave your PC's wondering what the heck it is until it starts the first bite. Then they start running... Also, you may want to remove the hammers and the hands, and instead give it a lot of strength and weight. Mimic smash!

[EagleWiz]

Did the rouge die?

[Fishy]

So, here's my cheap imitation of a Tucker's Kobolds variant. :P

Our adventurers are headed to an abandoned mine that's been converted into a kobold den. The little critters are acting like they own the joint now, and they have taken measures to make the place more annoying for Medium Sized creatures- extremely crude ones, as they haven't been there long.

The basic trap isn't even much of a trap: nothing more than a quarterstaff (or other long stick) wedged horizontally against the walls of the mine. The hurdles are at exactly the right height- safely over a kobold's head, and right in a human's gut.

Now, have one of the kobolds steal something important from the party, and sprint off into the den. He's short enough to move at full speed under the hurdles, but the party will have to decide if they want to jump or tumble over them, crawl under them, or smash them somehow. Dislodging a stick is a Disable Device check of basically DC0, knocking them out of the way is similarly easy, and sundering a wooden stick with a +2 greataxe isn't exactly an epic challenge. There is, however, a *lot* of them, and time is a factor.

Then give the PC's other things to worry about, like andgry kobolds shooting them in the knees with slings, or finding the one Kobold with the stolen MacGuffin in a den of identical kobolds- do it right, and the ever-present hurdles should blend into the background noise of annoyance. Then, turn it up a notch. That stick you just pushed out of the way wasn't propped up against the cliff wall, but a whole lot of loose and heavy rock- which the Rogue would have noticed if he hadn't tumbled right past it chasing the MacGuffin. The one the Fighter puts his sword through in frustration wasn't a cheap wooden branch, but a Staff of Magic Missile. Reflex saves for everyone!

Then, lead Our Heros through a deeper section of the tunnel- a branch that's partially collapsed and filled with rubble. It does't look or smell like the Kobolds come here often, but there's another half dozen sticks propped up between the rockpile and the opposite wall...

Do the PC's crawl past, leaving them flatfooted for the Mimic's opening full attack? Do they try and disable the hurdles again, getting themselves covered in it's (Ex) Adhesive? Or do they turn around and go hom, sobbing in despair whenever they see a quarterstaff?

[Thoughtbot360]

I like the flavor. But I don't think you gave enough of a hint that the chest was a mimic. I had no idea what you were aiming for when you said "shells". Overall, a good post, though.

Shells=Mangled, chewed-up skulls. Besides, what kind of mimic *advertises* that its a mimic?

Did the Rogue die?

What am I, a doctor?