Shapechanger. The mimic can use its action to polymorph into a gazebo, porch, shed, or other similarly sized structure, or back into its 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.
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 18). Ability checks made to escape this grapple have disadvantage.
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 outdoor structure.
Grappler. The mimic has advantage on attack rolls against any creature grappled by it.
Pounce. When the mimic uses its deadly leap, it can make one swallow attack against one creature it knocks prone as a bonus action.
Pseudopod. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 20ft., one target. Hit 19 (2d12 + 6) bludgeoning damage. If the mimic is in object form, the target is subjected to its Adhesive trait, and the target must succeed on a DC 18 Strength saving throw. On a failure, the mimic pulls the target up to 15 feet towards itself.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit 19 (2d12 + 6) piercing damage plus 13 (2d12) acid damage.
Swallow. The mimic makes one bite attack against a Large or smaller creature it is grappling. If the attack hits, the target takes the bite's damage, the target is swallowed, and the grapple ends. A swallowed creature is blinded and restrained, has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the mimic, and takes 21 (6d6) 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.
Deadly Leap (Recharge 6). The mimic leaps up to 90 feet, landing in a space no closer than 30 feet away from where it started. Each creature in the mimic's space when it lands must succeed on a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 19 (2d12 + 6) bludgeoning damage and is knocked prone, and is subjected to the mimic's Adhesive trait. On a successful save, a creature takes only half the damage, isn't knocked [Tooltip Not Found] in the mimic's space where it is subjected to the mimic's Adhesive trait.
Description
Dread gazebo mimics prefer lush lawns and gardens to bleak dungeons and dank caves. Once a dread gazebo has found a spot it likes, it settles down and goes dormant. They can hibernate for up to 10 years, long enough for people to forget that the gazebo on the lawn turned up overnight. During their hibernation, a dread gazebo draws sustenance and water from the soil around it through its pseudopod. However, this plant-like method of acquiring nutrients is merely a supplement to its true diet; merely a method of staving off its hunger until the time is right to feed.
Where there are gazebos, there are eventually gatherings. Dances, parties, festivals... these are when a dread gazebo truly waits for, waking to feed on unsuspecting celebrants en masse.
Though individual sizes may vary, a fully grown dread gazebo typically reaches 30 feet in diameter and 15 feet in height.
The Tale of Eric and the Dread Gazebo
by Richard Aronson
In the early seventies, Ed Whitchurch ran "his game", and one of the participants was Eric Sorenson. Eric plays something like a computer. When he games, he methodically considers each possibility before choosing his preferred option. If given time, he will invariably pick the optimal solution. It has been known to take weeks. He is otherwise, in all respects, a superior gamer. Eric was playing a Neutral Paladin in Ed's game. He was on some lord's lands when the following exchange occurred:
ED: You see a well groomed garden. In the middle, on a small hill, you see a gazebo.
ERIC: A gazebo? What color is it?
ED: [pause] It's white, Eric.
ERIC: How far away is it?
ED: About 50 yards.
ERIC: How big is it?
ED: [pause] It's about 30 ft across, 15 ft high, with a pointed top.
ERIC: I use my sword to detect good on it.
ED: It's not good, Eric. It's a gazebo.
ERIC: [pause] I call out to it.
ED: It won't answer. It's a gazebo.
ERIC: [pause] I sheathe my sword and draw my bow and arrows. Does it respond in any way?
ED: No, Eric, it's a gazebo!
ERIC: I shoot it with my bow. [roll to hit] What happened?
ED: There is now a gazebo with an arrow sticking out of it.
ERIC: [pause] Wasn't it wounded?
ED: OF COURSE NOT, ERIC! IT'S A GAZEBO!
ERIC: [whimper] But that was a +3 arrow!
ED: It's a gazebo, Eric, a GAZEBO! If you really want to try to destroy it, you could try to chop it with an axe, I suppose, or you could try to burn it, but I don't know why anybody would even try. It's a @#$%!! gazebo!
ERIC: [long pause. He has no axe or fire spells.] I run away.
ED: [thoroughly frustrated] It's too late. You've awakened the gazebo. It catches you and eats you.
ERIC: [reaching for his dice] Maybe I'll roll up a fire-using mage so I can avenge my Paladin.
At this point, the increasingly amused fellow party members restored a modicum of order by explaining to Eric what a gazebo is. Thus ends the tale of Eric and the Dread Gazebo. It could have been worse; at least the gazebo wasn't on a grassy gnoll. Thus ends the tale of Eric and the Dread Gazebo. A little vocabulary is a dangerous thing.
The above is Copyright © 1989 by Richard Aronson. The author grants permission to reprint as long as all copyright notices remain with the text.
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Posted May 5, 2022The story in the description…