Mimics do not always need to appear as chests and doors

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

1. A backpack
2. A barrel
3. A bed or camping roll
4. A book
5. A carried shield
6. A chair
7. A chandelier
8. A coffin or sarcophagus
9. A corpse
10. A decorative shield
11. A discarded weapon
12. A dungeon map
13. A flagstone
14. A healing potion
15. A helmet
16. A ladder
17. A lever
18. A minecart
19. A pile of gold coins
20. A rug
21. A saddle
22. A scabbard
23. A sconce
24. A stalactite
25. A statue
26. A step in a staircase
27. A suit of armour
28. A tapestry hanging over an exit
29. A warning sign that there are mimics in the area
30. An ornate ring
31. Clothing; a hat or cloak
32. One of the ropes in a rope bridge
33. A puddle
34. Food
35. A key
36. A rope or ladder
37. 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.