Editor’s Note: I will only be using 5e materials as those are the materials that I currently hold in my possession and use for my 5e campaign.

Mimic, Monster Manual Pg. 220

I love treasure chests in any type of game, be it a video game or a tabletop role-playing game. You never know what you’re going to find in them, and that’s truly a wonderful experience. Sometimes it’s jewels that you can sell and sometimes its a cloak of flying or some type of magic item that makes you turn into an undead creature for 1 minute. However, there is one down-side… that treasure chest could be the inaugural best d&d monster of the week: The Mimic.

What it Is: The Mimic is a shape-shifting predator that is able to take the forms of inanimate objects to lure unsuspecting players/creatures. In dungeon crawls, they are mostly seen as chests due to the popularity of greed that comes from them. They are able to mimic any type of texture: wood, stone, etc., and they are able to fool anyone who believes they are just a normal item.  They are described as cunning hunters, who do most of their work alone and even though most are stupid as fuck, with basic hunting instincts… some do develop language skills and can be swayed into allowing safe passage if given food in return.

OMG: I love mimics. You can place them virtually anywhere and they will do the job that needs to be done. As a novice DM, I have found that the use of mimics is necessary to add a little danger to a mundane dungeon. These bastards are shapechangers! Holy crap! They can be anything they want to be: a chest, a toilet, even the ye old vibrator left in the drawer of the innkeeper’s wife.

It can also stick itself to creatures as an object and can keep still for, literally…. forever. It’s ridiculous.

They are a pretty useful monster to have, and any dungeon would feel shitty without at least 4,616,189,423,546,153 of these bad boys lying around.

You know, that’s a good idea for a dungeon: a massive room where out of 455,214,562,145 chests, only 4,521,875 are filled with treasure and the rest are mimics. You have to figure out which are which and hopefully not die. Plus, the treasure is somewhat useful like potions of healing, or really bad like a gemstone. Things that either make the player happy to have right then and there, or pissed off because they are out of potions of healing and the healer is tapped out.

Perfect.

Every Friday, I will bring you the best D&D monsters that I can find in the Monster Manual as well as any other supplemental manuals that I come across and enjoy.

Make sure to check Mondays as well when I bring you the stupidest monsters that D&D has to offer.