Shapechanger. The mimic can use its action to polymorph into a building by drawing its eyes, pseudopods, and teeth into its body, or back into its true form by extending them again. It can also polymorph its interior into fully furnished rooms, or revert such furnishings back into its interior's true, amorphous form. Its statistics are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies. If cleaned out thoroughly, the mimic’s shell can be converted into a dwelling.
Adhesive (Object Form Only). The mimic adheres to anything that touches it. A creature adhered to the mimic is also grappled by it (escape DC 19). Ability checks made to escape this grapple have disadvantage. The mimic can excrete, cease excreting, or dissolve its adhesive at will.
Damage Threshold (10): An attack must inflict at least 10 damage to harm the mimic, otherwise, the mimic takes no damage. If an attack deals 10 damage or more, the mimic takes the damage as normal.
False Appearance (Object Form Only). While the mimic remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from an ordinary building.
Grappler. The mimic has advantage on attack rolls against any creature grappled by it.
Innate Spellcasting. The mimic's innate spellcasting ability is Constitution (spell save DC 18). The mimic can cast any at-will spell it knows as either an action or as a bonus action. The mimic can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
At will: dancing lights (appear as candles or lanterns in body openings), prestidigitation (creates sensory effects).
Siege Monster. The mimic deals double damage to objects and structures.
Pseudopod. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 20ft., one target. Hit: 32 (4d12 + 6) bludgeoning damage. If the target is Huge or smaller, it is is grappled (escape DC 19) and the mimic can pull the creature up to 15 feet towards itself. Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and it must succeed on a DC 19 Constitution saving throw at the start of each of the mimic's turns or take 19 (2d12 + 6) bludgeoning damage, or half as much damage on a success. When the mimic moves, all creatures it has grappled move with it. The mimic has four pseudopods, each of which can grapple only one target.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit 32 (4d12 + 6) piercing damage plus 26 (4d12) acid damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it must succeed on a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw. On a success, the creature can choose to remain where it is or to enter the mimic's interior. On a failure, the creature is swallowed. A swallowed creature is blinded and restrained, has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the mimic, and takes 35 (10d6) acid damage at the start of each of the mimic's turns.
If the mimic takes 30 damage or more on a single turn from a creature inside it, the mimic must succeed on a DC 21 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, which fall prone in a space within 10 feet of the mimic. If the mimic dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse by using 20 feet of movement, exiting prone.
Lock Down The mimic drops any creature creature grappled by its pseudopods, retracts into its shell, then shuts and locks its doors and windows. While the mimic is locked down, it gains a +8 bonus to it AC against all attacks made from outside of it, and any door or window in or on its body is affected as it would be by an arcane lock spell. While it is locked down, the mimic can't attack with its bite or pseudopod, but may continue to take other actions and lair actions as normal. The mimic can end this effect as a bonus action.
This effect ends automatically if the mimic dies, is subjected to the knock spell, or a creature swallowed by the mimic causes it to regurgitate.
Lock Down. When an attack reduces the mimic to half its total hit points or less, it can use its Lock Down action. Once the mimic has used this reaction, it can't do so again until it finishes a short rest
Description
House hunters are enormous mimics that take the forms of buildings made of stone, wood, or thatch. Young house hunters imitate smaller structures such as outhouses and sheds while adults are the size of cottages and small houses. Ancient house hunters are larger still, and often imitate elaborate edifices such as inns or temples. Though individual sizes may vary, a fully grown house hunter typically occupies a 40' x 40' x 40' space.
House hunters can produce dim, flickering light, resembling candle or lantern light at any opening in their body. Additionally, they can imitate domestic noises (muffled voices, clucking hens, the tolling of a temple bell, etc.) and smells (food cooking, wood or tobacco smoke, fresh linens, etc.) to further make themselves seem inhabited.
House hunters have good hearing and can sense the vibrations from footsteps of Medium-sized and larger creatures as they draw near. They are also intelligent, delaying their attack until they can reap the maximum reward. For example, they won’t attack a single scout if there is a large party approaching behind.
The reproduction of these monsters remains a mystery, though adults have been seen digging a large hole in the earth, then depositing a single live young in the hole. The juvenile creature subsequently makes its way out of that hole and follows its mother.
A house hunter's shell grows in size with its owner, and is shaped over long periods of time to resemble particular buildings that the house hunter has seen during its travels. A house hunter is capable of changing the appearance of its shell, but the process is slow, taking several months.
Lair and Lair Actions
A House Hunter’s Lair
House hunters are semi-nomadic. They establish themselves only long enough to hunt. This usually means a period of time long enough for questions about their sudden appearance to subside and for locals to grow complacent enough of their presence that the house hunter can hunt. After feeding, house hunters move on before they are discovered.
As semi-nomadic creatures, house hunters do not have lairs. However, given that they mimic buildings with the specific intent of luring people inside, their interiors are by no means safe places, and act, for all intents and purposes, as the monster's lair.
Attacks against the walls, floors, and objects inside the house hunter constitute attacks against the house hunter, and the house hunter takes any damage dealt to these objects. Objects inside the house hunter share the house hunter's traits and statistics.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the mimic takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the mimic can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Form Eyestalk. One object located inside the mimic polymorphs into an eyestalk. An eyestalk is a Small monstrosity with AC 17, 15 hit points, the house hunter's ability scores, traits, and senses, and a walking speed of 0 feet. An eyestalk can be killed by normal means. The mimic can sense what the eyestalk senses. Killing an eyestalk deals 15 damage to the mimic.
- Form Pseudopod. Up to two objects located inside the mimic polymorphs into a pseudopod. A pseudopod is a Medium monstrosity with AC 17, 25 hit points, the house hunter's ability scores and traits, and a speed of 15 feet. A pseudopod cannot move out of the room it was formed in. A pseudopod uses the mimic's pseudopod attack, but with a range of 10 feet, pulling a target 5 feet on a hit, and deals only half damage. A pseudopod can be killed by normal means. Killing a pseudopod deals 25 damage to the mimic. When a pseudopod is killed, the mimic automatically grows two new ones to replace the destroyed on on the next initiative count 20, which appear in the same room as the destroyed pseudopod.
- Form Maw. One wall located inside the mimic polymorphs into a maw. A maw is a Large monstrosity with AC 17, 35 hit points, the house hunter's ability scores and traits, and a speed of 15 feet. A maw can only move along walls. A maw can use the mimic's bite attack, but deals half damage, or cast acid splash as a 17th-level spellcaster (spell save DC 18, 4d6 acid damage). A maw can be killed by normal means. Killing a maw deals 35 damage to the mimic.
- Pseudopod Attack. Each pseudopod inside the mimic moves up to its speed, following a pseduopod's movement rules, and makes an attack against one creature within range. If there is no eyestalk in the same room the pseudopod occupies, a pseudopod attacks with disadvantage.
- Maw Attack. Up to three maws inside the mimic move up to their speed, following a maw's movement rules, and make a bite attack or cast acid splash against one creature within range. If there is no eyestalk in the same room a maw occupies, a maw's bite attack has disadvantage and a target of a maw's acid splash has advantage on its saving throw.
- Collapse (Recharge 6). The mimic completely collapses one room inside it. Each creature in that room must succeed on a DC 19 Strength or Constitution saving thrown (target's choice), taking 52 (8d12) bludgeoning damage and is swallowed by the mimic on a failed saving throw, or half as much damage without being swallowed on a success. Eyestalks, maws, and pseudopods are immune to damage dealt by this action, and are not swallowed.
Regional Effects
The region containing a house hunter is influenced by the mimic's presence, which creates one or more of the following effects:
- Rumors spread through the region about buildings seemingly cropping up over night.
- There are a disturbingly large number of disappearances in the area containing the house hunter.
If the mimic dies, these effects end immediately.
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Posted Oct 17, 2019Awesome monster! Thanks for writing this.
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Posted May 17, 2020like the vine, love this
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Posted Jul 23, 2021This is going to work brilliantly for a little Hansel & Gretel-with-a-twist sidequest I have cooking. Nice one!