In Dungeons & Dragons there’s a monster called a Mimic that can polymorph into an object and back again. In 1970 in his book Future Shock the futurist and businessman Alvin Toffer coins the phrase Overchoice. The two are related because Overchoice is a mental state when people have a difficult time making a decision when given too many options and there are so many things a Mimic could pretend to be in a dungeon.
You might have encountered people suffering from Overchoice ahead of you in the fast food restaurant. If you’ve played D&D with an inexperienced DM, then you might have met your first Mimic pretending to be a chest in a dungeon. It’s worth asking the question “What else, other than a chest and door, could a Mimic pretend to be in a dungeon?” to try and avoid overchoice.
A few other things a Mimic could be in a dungeon
- A backpack
- A barrel
- A bed or camping roll
- A book
- A carried shield
- A chair
- A chandelier
- A coffin or sarcophagus
- A
corpse - A decorative
shield - A discarded weapon
- A dungeon map
- A flagstone
- A healing potion
- A helmet
- A ladder
- A lever
- A minecart
- A pile of gold coins
- A rug
- A saddle
- A scabbard
- A sconce
- A stalactite
- A statue
- A step in a staircase
- A suit of armour
- A tapestry hanging over an exit
- A warning sign that there are mimics in the area
- An ornate ring
- Clothing; a hat or cloak
- One of the ropes in a rope bridge
- A puddle
- Food
- A key
- A rope or ladder
- A map
As you can see, there’s no shortage of things a Mimic could be other than the Wizards of the Coast suggested chests and doors.
Do you have other suggestions? We’ve heard ‘the whole dungeon’ and ‘the chamber pot’ already.
Creative Commons credit: Mimic by Lillith.
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