Spyke

Nah, telltale sign of a mimic. Their shadows don't match the lighting of the place they're in. Easy mistake for a rookie adventurer to make.

39

Just remember if this is a mimic, don't try and pull them out, push them in so the mimic coughs them out.

24
lemmy.ca

This is the type of bullshit that makes new players not want to become experienced player

37
lemmy.blahaj.zone

This is why I don't throw mimics at my players.

I do homebrew stuff, so all the surprise-bad-time monsters are surprises for everyone

20
Siethronreply
lemmy.world

If your players are wary of mimics even if you've never given them one you should give them one. They might not want mimics, but they do want that AHA I KNEW IT moment

13

True! The main thing is that surprises are only fun if they don't screw you over too bad. But once you're warned? Then you can play hardball 😈

4
kionayreply
lemmy.world

I'm not running anything, I was just curious what you have cooked up

2

Well in the session i'm prepping this week, there's a giant carnivorous bramble plant that's pretty hard to spot until you're already knee-deep in it. It's completely inert until you scratch yourself on its thorns. Once it's tasted your blood, though, it will grab you and drag you off to its heart, where it slowly drains you dry.

It makes traveling though the forest a very deadly proposition for anyone who doesn't know how to spot them.

6
psudreply
aussie.zone

Presuming you don't play Palladium fantasy, since no one does, you could steal this critter

Corpse creature

Lies in ruins looking like a week old corpse, wearing something obvious and valuable, such as a gold pendant

When someone tries to remove the valuable the corpse creature grabs them strongly by the neck and strangles them

The corpse creature doesn't collect loot, doesn't eat their kills, it's just out to bait and murder

In the Palladium system it has a strength of 23, you'd probably want to make it moderately powerful but only on its first attack

If a group approaches it'll keep playing dead, it only attacks lone individuals

2
HikingVetreply
lemmy.ca

Vote records that show my stalkers sock puppet accounts.

0
lemmy.world

Wack There a reason they're stalking you? Seems insane to stalk someone on lemmy

4

Thanks, looks like the account has been banned

1
kernellereply
lemmy.dbzer0.com

I'll downvote everytime I see someone publicly calling out downvotes. You're being harassed? That's annoying, send your findings to the mods and let them deal with it.

Making a comment everytime you get a downvote is fucking pathetic, it's literally the digital equivalent of making a scene in a public place. Move on, get your head out of your ass lmao

5
kernellereply
lemmy.dbzer0.com

"If you're not with me all the way, you're against me all the way" - Actual child behaviour

2
sopuli.xyz

If the DM, acting as DM, tells a new player that touching a chest won't kill them, the chest better not kill them. There's no joke here.

17
Soupreply
lemmy.world

The whole point of a mimic is to surprise the hell out of a player. The only bad form would be to place a mimic there which would be too strong to for the party.

4
Zaktorreply
sopuli.xyz

A DM talking to a new player is a person of authority talking to someone trying to understand a new hobby. Lying to someone is just lying, not setting up an epic surprise.

4
Soupreply
lemmy.world

Literally the entire point of a mimic is that they are a lie. A mimic isn’t really anything special if the DM just tells you it’s there.

The only thing irresponsible would be if the party was very clearly not strong enough to be able to handle it, but that’s not about new or veteran players that’s just about knowing how to design a fight.

1
Zaktorreply
sopuli.xyz

This isn't a DM describing a chest sitting in the middle of a room and stepping back to let the player react however they will, it's the DM telling a new and inexperienced player that the chest won't hurt them. That's just a lie and if the player acts on it, their experience isn't going to be surprise at the existence of camouflaged monsters existing, it's going to be "the DM lied to make me look foolish and hurt my character".

4
Soupreply
lemmy.world

Man, I don’t know who hurt you but you really gotta let it go. Maybe D&D just isn’t for you if you don’t like knowing everything ahead of time. Do you also get mad at movies with twists?

Frankly, I’d be more pissed that veteran player treated me like child and told me the surprise. Baby’s first mimic is a formative experience.

0
Zaktorreply
sopuli.xyz

I've explained in specific detail how describing a scene is a different thing than telling the player an outcome, but you have this weird belief that encountering a chest that's actually a monster is some character building moment like a frat hazing ritual.

This isn't personal grudge. I'm just trying to help other people learn how to run good games. And part of that is realizing that the DM is both describing things (that could be deceptive in the game world) and an authority at the table with real people who should interact with them honestly when describing options and outcomes. If the DM says "that chest won't hurt you" it's the same as them saying "you can jump that gap safely". If they then say "ah hah, you actually fall and take 2d6 damage". That's just a shitty DM.

With both your stance and how you've reacted here, I hope you either learn that or aren't anyone's introduction to the hobby.

3

It’s a fucking mimic, dude. Explain to me how the DM is supposed to use the fucking thing while also telling everyone it’s there. Explain how a responsible DM designing a dungeon is evil because they said “the chest looks like a chest” in reference to an encounter they are confident in the party’s ability to handle. This is not a rhetorical question.

It’s D&D, sometimes you fail at things and they don’t go the way you planned. You don’t know the answer beforehand, that’s part of it. If you want a perfectly safe environment where nothing bad ever happens that’s fine, that’s your right and there are groups and systems that go into that, but saying that DMs who don’t expose their fucking mimics are evil liars is wild behaviour.

0

... The DM would be God.

And the serpent would either be the DM by way of acting as an NPC, or be a vet player.

10

You reached the end

You should go for it. | Spyke