Today we’re re-tooling the mimic. Make it more interesting because let’s face it. Most 5E standard monsters lack a certain jam, a certain je ne sais quoi. They lack MSG.

First let’s look into the lore that Forgotten Realms provides. Mimics were strange predators that assumed the form of mundane furnishings and household objects in order to attract prey.

In other words an ambush predator.

Behaviour:

Mimics had no concerns beyond surviving and acquiring food. Although some intelligent varieties of mimics were capable of basic communication, they had no culture, no moral code, and no interest in religion. More aggressive mimics could not be reasoned with in any capacity

Doug Stewart, Monstrous Manual as taken from Forgotten Realms

According to Forgotten Realms they would sometimes establish colonies in which they could communicate with one another and with mimics from outside the colony.

In addition, in my world, Mimics are amazing parents and although they have a low intellect score when a bunch of them get together they connect in ways not understood by modern (fantasy & magic) science that allows them a hive mind capable of telepathic speech, complex problem solving and a greater understanding of their prey.

Forgotten Realms mentions two different type of mimics, some that could speak and others couldn’t but that’s not applicable to me and my world so skipping that lot.

So. Solitary ambush hunters that reproduce asexually and make for great single parents. Not very smart, but once a few of them get together they start becoming more ‘sentient’, and if enough come together they form a colony. So mostly we’re going to be encountering them all by their lonesome or maybe a mimic and their pup. Whelp? Minimic?

Let’s look at them stat block.

First blush. It’s okay, nothing special. At 58 hit points a bit of a push over. No multi-attack either. Considering they’re most likely to be alone… uninspiring. They’ll probably stand up for three turns against a single level 4 combatant so a party of adventurers at anything but the lowest levels is going to have no trouble dispatching one. And again, solitary hunters so no back-up. In terms of action economy it’s doomed to fail unless going up against a lvl 1-2 party.

That is a big problem, not so much if it’s a hag having a pet mimic, but we want the mimic to be the star of the show. So let’s fire up our favourite statblocker and get tweaking.

Armour is fine. The HP is very low. I’m going to double and then some their HP. Our mimic is going to take a whole lot of damage with that AC and those low stats so let’s give them the capacity to take it.

A +5 in stealth is a little meek. These creatures have mastered hiding in plain sight, so +10. I don’t want them found by non-magical means or it has to be an extra-ordinary roll. And with +5 it’s perfectly possible that my players are going to catch this ambush predator with their passive perception.

The damage it puts out is okay. But let’s spruce up that adhesive bit and let them take half damage when they are grappling someone and the other half goes to the unfortunate soul that they are grappling. Give it a bit of staying power, and hopefully force some tactics.

Since the party is very likely to face the mimic in a battle with a severe number advantage, let’s give our Mimic some Legendary Actions.

Most ambush predators have a panic button, something they have to their advantage when an ambush goes wrong. Our mimic does not. Let’s fix that and take some inspiration from nature. With 15f of movement escape isn’t going to be an option as it’s never going to trot away in time. So inspiration from the octopus. As a legendary action it can cast Darkness around itself and move to reposition itself for another attack.

Now we’re cooking. And we see the strategy of the creature. Instead of getting stuck on a melee, who likely will tank the hits. The mimic is going to try and attach itself to someone for security and if it takes too much damage it’s going to reposition and try again on a different target.

I gave it climb because people should really look up more, and the thought of a mimic hiding as a chandelier and dropping onto the warlock bring me joy. People should look up more often!

It is cautiously ready for playtesting. I don’t know if the damage is all there yet, it wholly depends on what the party does. With any luck they’ll make up the difference for its low damage with the damage they’ll deal to their own friends.