Taking 20 Podcast - Ep 96 - Monster Series - Mimics

Episode Date: October 24, 2021

GMs, do your players like treasure?  Sure they do.  Everyone does; and that's why mimics are always medium-sized treasure chests in the corner, right?  Not so fast, my friend.  Mimics are more than mindless, opportunistic hunters.  Tune in for some tips and tricks for using these creatures in your game.

This week on the Taking 20 podcast. While a mimic is motionless, it is completely indistinguishable from the object that it's mimicking. It feels like a chest. It looks like a chest. It smells like a chest, but it probably tastes like acid. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to episode 96 of the Taking 20 podcast. This week, continuing the monster series all about mimics. First and foremost, I want to thank our sponsor, Coffee. That drink almost always has a rough morning.

It usually gets mugged. If you're enjoying the podcast, please consider giving it a rating wherever you found it. Also, if you haven't already, please tell your gaming friends about the podcast. Just in time for the giveaway at episode 100 gives them a chance to win it too. Also, as a reminder, I'll give details about that giveaway during episode 98,

so stay tuned for that. So I received an email from Thomas in Birmingham. He said I should know that baddie means something different to some of my younger listeners. Baddie can also mean a girl who is pretty, confident, and can take care of herself. As in, my friend hooked me up with a blind date last night and she was a baddie. I had no idea. Thank you, Thomas. To clarify though, when I use the term baddie in this podcast, I mean the big bad of an adventure or campaign. She might be a competent, beautiful female who's capable of taking care of herself,

so the baddie may very well be a baddie, but the baddie also doesn't have to be a baddie to be a baddie. This idea was probably baddie. Now it's stuck in my head and I can't help thinking baddie. Baddie. Bad. I unabashedly love mimics. I've been looking forward to this episode since I wrote the idea down weeks ago. And let me start off by saying mimics get a bad rap. Too many DMs treat them as mindless ha-ha-gotcha traps that look like treasure chests until they reveal their long tongues, myriad eyes, and sharp pointy teeth. But a mimic is a lot more intelligent than that and should be played as such.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's talk about what a mimic is. A mimic is an amorphous creature that can change its shape to mimic. See what I did there? You see, kids? Monsters are simple. Mimics mimic other things. Just like trappers trap things, ropers rope things, rangers range, and lurkers above, well, they lurk above. You see, DMing isn't that hard. Mimics are iconic to RPGs and have a long and storied history. Gary Gygax came up with a mimic in 1974, and they were described as shape-shifting subterranean creatures that didn't like sunlight. There's not a lot to go on there.

Take out the word shape-hifting and that could describe one of a hundred different creatures. Mimics first appeared in the Monster Manual, printed in 1977. It was described as an amorphous shapeshifting creature that could perfectly imitate stone or wood. In July of 1983, Ed Greenwood wrote an article for Dragon Magazine, issue number 75, called The Ecology of the Mimic. That solidified the creatures into what we know them today. He even broke them down into two subspecies, one big and dumb opportunistic hunter, and the other smaller, smarter, and could even talk. He further defined that they could take any shape that would fit their size. Mr. Greenwood also added to the legends

of mimics by telling the story of one that somehow lived in one of the busiest market squares of Waterdeep for two winters. It had taken the shape of a statue and was periodically feeding on street derelicts on the square every dark night. Eventually, the disappearances prompted an investigation. A sewer beside this strange statue was discovered to be filled to a depth of more than 60 feet with human and animal bones. I love that story. The thought of thousands of people walking by this statue, sitting next to it, eating lunch, having conversations, making plans, and the mimic is just sitting there. Still. Quiet. And watching everything going on around it.

Oh, that new statue is lovely. I say the sculptors to be commended for her work. By the way, has anyone seen my dog? Meanwhile, the statue gives a quiet burp and drops more bones into the sewer that night while the city sleeps. Mimics have been in role-playing games ever since. Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Quest III, NetHack, Terraria, Torchlight, even Borderlands 2 had the Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep DLC, and it had Mimics in it as well.

Mimics are amazing creatures. They gain their name from their ability to alter their body shape, color, and even skin texture. These changes are accomplished by changing the amount and color of pigmented liquid in their cells, making them look and feel like wood, stone, or depending in your world, maybe even leather, cloth, or paper. Mimics have an innate ability to change shape, and it's not a magical ability. In its native form, a mimic looks like living, wet, gray clay with firm skin, but they're rarely seen in this form. Holding a shape does not require any effort by the mimic. Once it forms a shape, color, and texture, it can hold it theoretically indefinitely, or at least until it becomes so hungry that it has to move.

When it's taking the shape of another object, it's virtually impossible to tell it's not that object. The true seeing spell doesn't reveal that it's a mimic. To spell magic doesn't force a mimic to revert to its natural form. It's a non-magical ability. The mimic is literally changing its body to the shape of the object that it's hiding as. The only way the characters will see the true form of a mimic probably is to kill it, after which it will revert to its gray, amorphous blob form. Mimics can form pseudopods to lash out and attack unwary adventurers. The pseudopods are covered in

an adhesive, acidic secretion that can grapple characters and pull them into the mimic's mouth that just formed on the side of the treasure chest they were going to loot. Mimics are immune to their own adhesive, and contrary to Bard's songs, Mimics don't get their tongues stuck to themselves. Further, Mimics can cancel the adhesive aspect of their attacks at will. Mimics tend to stay perfectly still until they choose to attack. That doesn't mean that they're stuck in whatever room they're born in. They can move, it's just rare to see it happen. In order to move, the Mimic will reach out a pseudopod, use its adhesive to grip onto something, and then pull the bulk of its body in that direction. Reach, drag, reach, drag. Oops, someone's watching. Still has a statue. But let's talk game specifics, though. In 5th edition,

Mimics are medium monstrosities with a shape-changer trait. They have an amorphous form and a challenge rating of 2, which means it's a really, really weak monster, even in low-level campaigns. Mimics can take the form of any item of similar size that doesn't have any sort of complex moving parts. It can't take the form of a working firearm, for example. While a mimic is motionless, it is completely indistinguishable from the object that it's mimicking. It feels like a chest, it looks like a chest, it smells like a chest, but it probably tastes like acid. Other than that, it's hard to determine that it's a mimic. The mimic secretes that adhesive that can turn on and off at will, and it requires no effort to maintain. Mimics in 5th edition have an intelligence of 5, so while they're not going to pass your math exam for you, they are semi-intelligent

and smarter than most animals, pets, and the host of this podcast. Wait a minute, that was uncalled for. According to D&D lore, mimics can become smarter over time and may even learn to speak. Mimic lifespan is currently unknown, so you can set them to be whatever maximum age you'd like. You could even make them immortal unless slain in combat, like jellyfish, certain lobsters, and my foot fungus. Okay, that, you know, that was just mean. In this case, the only way they die is from external effects like fire or starving to death. Pathfinder mimics are just a touch different. They are a CR4 creature, which means it's a little tougher than the 5th edition version. They also have an intelligence of 10, so they're just as smart as your average human. Mimics can speak and understand the common

language. Also, Pathfinder's stat block specifically states that the Mimics adhesive can be negated by strong alcohol. In Pathfinder's 2nd edition, Mimics possess complex alien minds, and while often cruel and self-serving, they also enjoy conversation with their prey from time to time. For unknown reasons, they are especially interested in humanoids. In 2nd Edition, Mimics have a strong dislike for others of their kind and tend to live alone. A Mimic can remain in this alternate form for extremely long periods of time,

sometimes remaining disguised in a dungeon chamber for decades. Regardless of how long it waits, the mimic always remains vigilant and alert, ready to strike at any moment. Mimics, by the way, across the board in every game system are neutral. Although mimics aren't inherently evil, some sages believe that mimics attack humans and other intelligent creatures for sport rather than merely for sustenance. Also, mimics are immune to acid in any form. I mentioned mimics can duplicate objects approximately their size, and classically that looks like a treasure chest. Why? Because, well, adventurers are drawn to treasure chests, but that's only one choice. Why couldn't a mimic be a small shelf, an end table in a bedroom, a kid's dresser, a throne, a luggage rack? Whatever.

So DMs, you may be asking, how can you use mimics in your game? The classic use for them are monsters that can catch the party unawares. This is low-hanging fruit and the most obvious use for a mimic. The PCs see a room that appears to be devoid of monsters, but there's a small bookshelf in the corner. They start nosing around, looking for left-behind goodies and treasure, and then bam, pseudopod out of nowhere. But mimics can also be monsters that serve as guards or lookouts in an area. One adventure I read long ago had a group of orcs who had a magic door that opened when you gave it raw meat. The door kept unwanted humanoids out of the orc camp, and the mimic was well fed.

Win-win. The most important reminder about every creature is that you can customize it and make it your own, and the same is true of mimics. Do you want one that can spit acid, has a sonic attack, or can look like a creature and make its skin look like fur? Sounds fun. You should do it. has a sonic attack or can look like a creature and make its skin look like fur? Sounds fun. You should do it. And in that vein, let me give you some of my favorite evil mimic ideas. To clarify, not that the mimics are evil, the ideas are. And I am. Mimics can pose as wooden items,

but it doesn't have to be a chest. Sure, that's the cliche. But what about mimic doors? The character tries to open the door and suddenly realizes she can't pull her hand off the door handle, and it burns. Oh god, it burns a lot. The door seems stuck, though when the barbarian charges his shoulder into it, it just wraps around him like a blanket. Why could mimic be a bed? It'll either have to only be a wooden bed, or the mimic would need to be customized so it can duplicate materials like a comforter or a duvet. Such a weird word, duvet. Let's go with bed covering blanket instead. Why not make mimics into chairs? A wooden chair that goes after your

legs if you sit in it or a wooden toilet that goes after your rear end if you sit in it. There's the stuff of nightmares. The turlet tries to eat your butt, but not in a fun way that can make you sick and give you shigella. Mimics can also look like stone, though. Make a mimic into a section of wall, ceiling, or floor. Remember, they secrete this adhesive and it requires no effort to keep, so they could stick to the ceiling, wall, or floor and look like part of the construction. They wait and watch, and when the moment is right, they strike their prey and get to eat. Why not make mimics look like stone stairs?

Imagine walking halfway up the stairs when suddenly you realize you can't lift either of your feet and the stairs are folding in on you. And where'd those teeth come from? Make a mimic into a statue like the one in Waterdeep. You can surprise players like stone golems, gargoyles, and other creatures that look like statues. But they don't have to look like work stone. What about natural rock and overhangs? I mean, we often think about mimics in furnished dungeons, but what about them that

look like stalactites, stalagmites, or just boulders? How about a mimic that hangs out like a promontory over deep water feature like the ocean? It patiently waits for a ship to sail under it, and then it drops all 900 pounds of itself onto the deck of the ship, maybe through a couple of decks, and maybe through the hull, and sinks the whole thing, and can eat them at the bottom of the ocean. We just started a pirate campaign and the PCs may have a nasty surprise one of these days. But my favorite trick, my favorite trick in the world, and I've used this in multiple campaigns throughout the years, make mimic babies look like treasure coins. They look like treasure coins. They feel like treasure coins. For all intents and purposes, they are treasure coins.

They may even stay dormant until they reach a certain age, and then they awaken. And from there, you have options. Maybe the little mimic coins scurry out of the player's packs in the night. All the players know is that there were 38 gold pieces in there when they went to sleep, and now there's not. Who freaking stole it? Maybe the mimic babies crawl out of the player's packs and attack. Now you have a baby mimic swarm.

Tiny little adhesive acidic pseudopods crawling all over the characters, attaching themselves and burning. They have the swarm trait so they're hard to damage outside of area of effect spells like burning hands. Which, of course, would be bad because your buddy is covered in these things. It's hard to burn them off without burning your friend to death. Why not a smaller mimic that can take the shape of a metal gauntlet? The character puts it on and it begins eating their hand. Or it takes the shape of a book that bites the character's fingers when they try to open it.

A mimic in the shape of a useful tool like a ladder or ten-foot pole. A mimic chandelier hanging from the ceiling like a trapper or lurker above. A mimic bookshelf with books or knickknacks to lure people in. A mimic that takes the place of some of the stones in the ring at the top of a well to eat people coming to get water. And if it's a wishing well, it scatters treasure around to lure unsuspecting people close enough to snatch them and pull them inside to digest them. Mimics are listed as being traditionally solitary, but as you've probably heard in other episodes, stat blocks are just a suggestion. There's nothing wrong with customizing monsters and making them your own. Imagine a group of, I don't know, gargantuan mimics that pose as an abandoned village to feed on unsuspecting

travelers. Make a large mimic take the shape of a tree and it feeds on lone passersby. Or a large mimic that takes the shape of part of a hotel or an inn. People think the room is haunted because the guests tend to disappear from that room and the owner tends to think that people in that room skip out on their hotel room bill. But the reality is much, much worse. Make them a gargantuan mimic that takes the place of an entire shop or tavern. The PCs enter, wonder where everyone is, and then the door disappears behind a wall of flesh. And wait a minute, what's that dripping off the ceiling? Ow, it burns. Is that... Oh, it's sticky too. Is that acid? Ow!

Next thing you know, there's teeth everywhere, and the players are trying to fight their way out of a mimic. Another fun one is that you could have a mimic take the shape of a ship or a wagon, so it's an entire living vehicle. Another one of my favorite tricks is to make a mimic that looks like a fake floor, but it's over a 20-foot pit. So as soon as someone steps on it, it wraps around the character, they both drop into a 20-foot pit, and now you've got a character by himself or by herself with a mimic at the bottom of a 20-foot pit. Something to remember, mimics can't be damaged by acid, so they can happily live around creatures that do acid damage, like onkegs or flumps or any creature that can swallow

whole like a purple worm. The mimic happily lives in the purple worm's stomach like a tapeworm, eating leftovers or whatever the big monster swallows. The player is all despondent because their character got swallowed by a purple worm, only to have to deal with a shiferobe that's trying to kill him inside the worm's stomach. Mimics also have 60-foot darkvision, so the pitch blackness of a worm's insides really wouldn't bother it at all. Or another one of my favorite tricks. The mimic is the shape of a chest, and it's wouldn't bother it at all. Or another one of my favorite tricks, the mimic is the shape of a chest and it's floating inside a gelatinous cube. This preys on party greed so easily. Some high hit point character volunteers to take the acid

damage and pull the chest, quote unquote, out of the gelatinous cube only to discover too late that the chest is sticky and it's pulling back. If it pulls the barbarian inside the gelatinous cube, only to discover too late that the chest is sticky and it's pulling back. If it pulls the barbarian inside the gelatinous cube, well, the mimic and the gelatinous cube get to split a meal. I mentioned that mimics can become intelligent as they age, so if you so choose, you could allow your party to negotiate with the mimic, talk to the mimic, learn lore from the mimic, or maybe even bribe it with treasure, offerings of food, or honeyed words to even befriend it and make it a guard at the door of your character's base of operations. Every now and then they return home to find some indigestible armor and weapons inside the front mimic of their base. They feed it a

goblin and the mimic reports what happened while they were gone. Also, mimics don't sleep. They don't take days off. They're perfect guards, and they're always vigilant. They might eat the food or package delivery person every now and then, but, you know, you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet. There are some general cautions I want to give you about using mimics, though. Mimics are rare and shouldn't be pervasive in your game. If you put too many mimics in your game and have too many encounters with them, your game will slow to a crawl.

Players will start poking everything with a spear or shooting it with a rifle. They'll become paranoid and assume everything's a mimic because you surprised them with a mimic a few times, so it's definitely going to happen again. Mimics can encourage your characters to destroy everything in a dungeon. Is that chest a mimic? The chair? Or the light fixture? I stabbed the rug on the floor. I think the door moved. Put an arrow in it. Yeah, the DM said the door moved because there's a draft blowing down the hall. Ah, that DM's lying to us. The characters find a storage room with furniture and it turns into an hours-long encounter where they're checking every single thing to see if it's a mimic. Or they just douse it with gasoline and toss in a torch and shut the door, so that

saves time. You know, arson. Mimics can frustrate your players and make them feel like you aren't on their side. It's virtually impossible to tell a mimic from an inanimate object, so if a player rolls really high on a perception check, they will likely still not detect the mimic. You're on your players' sides, always. And while it's fun to catch your players by surprise, you shouldn't put mimics in lots of rooms in every dungeon. Hell, I don't even use them in every adventure campaign or adventure path. It's been a long time since I pulled mimics out against my players. I need to pull mimics out against my players.

They are rare, but use them in fun ways, and they can be very, very memorable encounters. Last warning. Players generally don't like to feel stupid. A character entering a room that appears empty, quote unquote, and getting attacked by a previously unnoticed mimic, they'll feel foolish even if there was no way for them to roll high enough on their perception check to notice an immobile mimic. So to repeat, use them sparingly, use them rarely, and mimics can be fun, low-level encounters that can surprise your players, and hopefully everyone will have fun doing it. Please give me a follow on Twitter, at Taking20Podcast.

If you have ideas for an episode, send it to me on social media or email me at feedback at Taking20Podcast.com. Thank you so much for listening, by the way. Tune in next week when we'll talk about curses and cursed items. Once again, I want to thank our sponsor, Coffee. I tried a new brand of coffee called Kangaroo, but I couldn't keep drinking it. It just made me jumpy. This has been episode 96, continuing the Monster Series, all about mimics. My name is Jeremy Shelley, and I hope that your next game is your best game.

The Taking 20 Podcast is a Publishing Cube media production. Copyright 2021. References to game system content are copyright of their respective publishers.