The Mimic Weapon

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The Mimic Weapon

Post by Zilfer »

Posted this up on a Reddit thread under /DnD but figured I'd share here.

I'm currently, DMing a 5e Ravenloft game where I had a mimic disguise itself as a weapon, and basically duplicated the rapier a player that found it already had. I gave it oddities that it looked exactly like his other weapon including small dents, and he tried to differenciate one before bed tying a red band to one, only to have over night the other one have a red band as well. My idea behind this weapon is it's a mimic that has learned morphing into weapons is a great way to get free transportation around, often leads to it being used against 'food' and if anything it can often ambush people unsuspected when they are alone. (Say at an inn when they rest for the night) and the next morning there is nothing but the person's stuff left behind... I mean free sword might sell right for a bit of gold right?

Figured i'd share the idea in case anyone wanted to us it. I'm not 100% sure how this will play out in my own campaign. I've a few options/ideas going. If the Mimic attacks and is almost bested it might beg for mercy saying it's only hungry and no one feeds it. It would serve a master strong as the person beating it and it could 'open any lock' (skeleton key) or be easy to sneak into places where weapons normally aren't allowed (since it can become almost anything.) I'm thinking if the player keeps it 'fed' even unknowingly it won't attack him for quiet awhile, though it might try and get an easy meal if he is severely wounded in the middle of a fight to cause a bit more panic for the party one of the party's sword's is trying to eat the user. xD
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Re: The Mimic Weapon

Post by Rock of the Fraternity »

Cool idea! Can a Mimic make itself as strong and sharp as steel, though? If not, it might suffer from being wielded in battle.
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Re: The Mimic Weapon

Post by Zilfer »

That's a fair question though since a mimic can be almost anything, a coin, a bridge, a house, a door, a chest, I'm not entirely sure exactly what it can do and if it can increase it's density but for fun factors I will be allowing this mimic to be wielded like a weapon for now. If it's treated right (aka fed) it won't have a problem with the players.... probably. :)
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Re: The Mimic Weapon

Post by Mistmaster »

It's a perfect pet. Could even grow to care for the party.
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Re: The Mimic Weapon

Post by Rock of the Fraternity »

What if someone tries to enchant it?
Or sell it?
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Re: The Mimic Weapon

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Re: The Mimic Weapon

Post by Zilfer »

Rock wrote:What if someone tries to enchant it?
Or sell it?

Selling it probably would be fine, but Enchanting I'd play it like the person asks them to come back the next day or so. When they get back blood stains smear the walls and the sword is still in pristine condition. (Perfect if the party does not yet know it is a mimic) Nothing like a good mystery of why/what killed the enchanter! xD
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Re: The Mimic Weapon

Post by Dark Angel »

Now going off AD&D rules, common mimics are average intelligence and N in alignment, so they would be likely to engage in some activity like this as long as they are fed. The killer versions are bigger, dumber, and skew towards evil and I would argue they would less likely be able to passively live up to the contract of I hold you and you get fed from other things I attack. The issues lie in the other details (without knowing what changes have been made in higher editions) of any creature instantly adhering to the mimic upon contact (not a terrible issue for a sword wielder, but creatures struck and stuck can be an issue). Also the mimic can drastically alter it's size and shape, but it's overall 'bulk' cannot be changed (both versions are listed as 'large'). They also do not care for the light of day (which may not be a huge issue in a sheath or in the typically dreary Core weather). Also someone above brought up if the mimic would be damaged. AD&D lists their AC as 7 (not great by any means) and I would say having some form of weapon resistance would be needed.

Now given all that, not too likely going to be a thing to work with (assuming you have difficult players and the rules haven't changed too much), but there are two options right off the bat. One is to make a variant race where the mimic is smaller, tougher, intelligent, and has mutable powers at it's control. Then it can be able to shift into a weapon of most sizes, able to take impact damage (as I write this all I can think about is the first X-Men movie where Wolverine fights Mystique disguised as him and he cuts her 'claws' which have waaay less strength than his adamantium ones), and may lose the adhesive quality altogether. Alignment wise they could stay the same and just be driven by hunger and as long as it's fed it'll be fine. If not, they eat the wielder and seek out a new food provider.

The other option is to make a series of magical weapons with either the mimic's soul being trapped inside, making it something like an intelligent weapon, or a series of magical items that behave like the mimic you describe (perhaps even made from Mimic blood, etc). Now you have an enchanted weapon with the 'feeding' ability, toughness to endure combat, and the ability to shapeshift into any item (though for obvious reasons they would prefer weapons).

Sorry to crap all over your idea, but if the mimic is the same in 3rd/4th/PF/5th editions in anyway you will get a player calling foul and have to justify (overtly or not) whether or not they are right. Hopefully the suggestions help.
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Re: The Mimic Weapon

Post by Rock of the Fraternity »

Maybe juvenile mimics could work. They're not fullgrown yet, so the smaller size is only natural. They receive no parental care, so they might have better defences than an adult, boosting its hardness and AC until it grows bigger.
Heck, if the juvenile mimic imprints on its wielder, it could grow up to be a kickass companion.
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Re: The Mimic Weapon

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Rock wrote:Maybe juvenile mimics could work. They're not fullgrown yet, so the smaller size is only natural. They receive no parental care, so they might have better defences than an adult, boosting its hardness and AC until it grows bigger.
Heck, if the juvenile mimic imprints on its wielder, it could grow up to be a kickass companion.
I thought about that too (got plenty of old Dragon magazines with the chances of a mimic monster ecology being pretty high, but haven't checked), figuring the smaller size would be fine. But the lack of maturity and size might be an issue with it's ability to shapechange and it's intelligence. I figured immature ones where more likely to be in the shape of rocks and hollow logs to lure in smaller creatures until it gets large enough to come into it's own. It also may be less a condition of age and more of how much it consumes that determines the size of the mimic. A steady supply of PC encounters would turn that dagger into a two handed sword quite fast.
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Re: The Mimic Weapon

Post by Zilfer »

Dark Angel wrote: Sorry to crap all over your idea, but if the mimic is the same in 3rd/4th/PF/5th editions in anyway you will get a player calling foul and have to justify (overtly or not) whether or not they are right. Hopefully the suggestions help.
Haha, don't worry about it. I think I play in very different environment if your players would have a problem with it. xD My Players would either think it was cool, or clever that I put something like this in the game. And I can't wait until they find out.

My ideas behind it (regardless of what is written because DM makes the world eh?), was the mimic probably can control how strong it's adhesion is otherwise removing it from the ground or having it move around would be a pain in it's own ass if it just stuck to everything. Imagine having to pull your foot up every time you took a step because it was stuck xD. (That might be a good curse though.)

For the rule of cool, unless someone was specifically trying to sunder the sword mimic I don't think I'd have it take any damage. Though you do bring up a good point about the mimic possibly taking damage during the fight. If that works for you go for it!

The changing size is also an interesting idea as it eats it grows? That might be an interesting conundrum. Curiously do we know when mimics mate or do they grow big enough to just.... split part into two mimics? Ah monster ecology, some times not the most sensical.
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Re: The Mimic Weapon

Post by Rock of the Fraternity »

Hey ... a sword Mimic with control over its adhesive could do the old sword in the stone-bit! Only he who is worthy may draw this blade - worthy of the Mimic's interest, that is.
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Re: The Mimic Weapon

Post by Zilfer »

Rock wrote:Hey ... a sword Mimic with control over its adhesive could do the old sword in the stone-bit! Only he who is worthy may draw this blade - worthy of the Mimic's interest, that is.
That's actually pretty great. I still have the current player a bit confused on it, as it changed sizes on him when it was opportune to do so. It also attacked from within a giant frog when he was unconscious though no one on the outside could tell since they were frantically trying to bring the beast down.
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