I have had an idea for a character brewing in the back of my mind for a long while now, and I would like to find out if this is already feasible or if I will have to work out some homebrew for it!
The idea is for a character who is an amputee, with only one arm. They have a symbiotic relationship with a tame mimic, who functions for them as an arm, but can detach and perform tasks on its own. The mimic would be able to change its form to suit the situations, and would have positive and negative sides - the mimic will get hungry with time, and may refuse to assist the character, but gives benefits for grappling and for utility.
If this is not an existing thing in the rules, would you think this would work best as a Class, a Race or a Race Variant (in the same way as lycanthropy)? I'm considering this as a sort of side-class, where you effectively level-up and train the mimic at the same time as your own character, and of course the pet mimic can die, so you may have to start from scratch (or continue adventuring with only one arm!)
I’d say no as it’s a monstrosity...most spells/abilities are limited to beasts. There’s formal rules in frost maiden that talk about taming and training griffons, which are monstrosities, but their INT is significantly lower.
my table rule is that you might tame / train beasts,monstrosities. and dragons up to INT 3....anything else would have to really be thought out.
If your DM approves, Tasha's Cauldron of Everything has a suggestion that when you visit and confront a mimic colony, a mimic colony may choose to bribe you with one of their young to leave them in peace instead of exterminating them.
This is a homebrew idea, pretty through and through. That said, there's a few pointers you might take inspiration from.
As Gamma pointed out, mimic colonies will occasionally send a young mimic with adventurers if it's that or having to fight and suffer extreme damage. That's one option, and some background possibilities.
There's also the prosthetic limb, which you're basically asking your mimic to duplicate for you. Thing is? Unlike the magic item, the mimic doesn't necessarily read your mind or obey your commands. Explaining how this mimic was bonded to you so closely that it can replace your arm well enough for you to function normally would be a heck of a story to write. perhaps the mimic ate your previous prosthetic limb and Something Weird Happened?
Regardless, you can also take a look at the rules for Find Familiar, which your independent-acting mimic would be roughly analogous to. That or the [Tooltip Not Found] from the artificer class. Both provide frameworks you can take inspiration from when deciding what your armimic would be able to do when acting independently.
It's an interesting idea, but it's gonna need plenty of homebrew massaging and some buy-in from your DM to make it work. Good luck.
Mimics, although smart enough to shapeshift into objects that attract prey, behave more like animals than some alien monstrosity. For this reason, I would argue that a really good Animal Handling check might allow you to earn the mimic's trust. After that, just give the mimic food for a few days, maybe make a few more Animal Handling checks, and then you have a pet mimic!
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I have had an idea for a character brewing in the back of my mind for a long while now, and I would like to find out if this is already feasible or if I will have to work out some homebrew for it!
The idea is for a character who is an amputee, with only one arm. They have a symbiotic relationship with a tame mimic, who functions for them as an arm, but can detach and perform tasks on its own. The mimic would be able to change its form to suit the situations, and would have positive and negative sides - the mimic will get hungry with time, and may refuse to assist the character, but gives benefits for grappling and for utility.
If this is not an existing thing in the rules, would you think this would work best as a Class, a Race or a Race Variant (in the same way as lycanthropy)? I'm considering this as a sort of side-class, where you effectively level-up and train the mimic at the same time as your own character, and of course the pet mimic can die, so you may have to start from scratch (or continue adventuring with only one arm!)
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I’d say no as it’s a monstrosity...most spells/abilities are limited to beasts. There’s formal rules in frost maiden that talk about taming and training griffons, which are monstrosities, but their INT is significantly lower.
my table rule is that you might tame / train beasts,monstrosities. and dragons up to INT 3....anything else would have to really be thought out.
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If your DM approves, Tasha's Cauldron of Everything has a suggestion that when you visit and confront a mimic colony, a mimic colony may choose to bribe you with one of their young to leave them in peace instead of exterminating them.
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This is a homebrew idea, pretty through and through. That said, there's a few pointers you might take inspiration from.
As Gamma pointed out, mimic colonies will occasionally send a young mimic with adventurers if it's that or having to fight and suffer extreme damage. That's one option, and some background possibilities.
There's also the prosthetic limb, which you're basically asking your mimic to duplicate for you. Thing is? Unlike the magic item, the mimic doesn't necessarily read your mind or obey your commands. Explaining how this mimic was bonded to you so closely that it can replace your arm well enough for you to function normally would be a heck of a story to write. perhaps the mimic ate your previous prosthetic limb and Something Weird Happened?
Regardless, you can also take a look at the rules for Find Familiar, which your independent-acting mimic would be roughly analogous to. That or the [Tooltip Not Found] from the artificer class. Both provide frameworks you can take inspiration from when deciding what your armimic would be able to do when acting independently.
It's an interesting idea, but it's gonna need plenty of homebrew massaging and some buy-in from your DM to make it work. Good luck.
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Mimics, although smart enough to shapeshift into objects that attract prey, behave more like animals than some alien monstrosity. For this reason, I would argue that a really good Animal Handling check might allow you to earn the mimic's trust. After that, just give the mimic food for a few days, maybe make a few more Animal Handling checks, and then you have a pet mimic!
Former Spider Queen of the Spider Guild, and friendly neighborhood scheming creature.
"Made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders."
My pronouns are she/her.
Web Weaver of Everlasting Narrative! (title bestowed by Drummer)