| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| unseenmage |
Posted - 05 Jan 2017 : 18:48:42
I've asked about this elsewhere but now am curious if the Realms have any precedent in the lore or books.
What does a mimic look like when it is knocked unconcious or mind controlled and commanded to reveal its true form?
What does a newborn mimic look like? (Are mimics born?!) |
| 14 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Sturma |
Posted - 21 Feb 2017 : 14:52:12
quote:
Wow, now that brings back old memories. Had the books, but never played it.
That game was a blast to play. It had the same optimistic spirit of high adventure that made me fall in love with the Realms. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 21 Feb 2017 : 13:55:05
quote:
Originally posted by Sturma
There's also a parallel between mimics and the player character race from Star Frontiers known as the Dralasites. They're essentially shapeshifting blobs whose default form is short and vaguely humanoid. Their reproductive characteristics are hermaphroditic and budding.
From the Alpha Dawn Expanded Rulebook:
"All Dralasites go through male, female and neutral stages during their lives (these phases can be controlled with medicines). Males release spores into the air, which drift until they become attached to a female. A young Dralasite then sprouts from its mother, eventually maturing and dropping off."
Wow, now that brings back old memories. Had the books, but never played it. |
| Sturma |
Posted - 21 Feb 2017 : 13:14:26
There's also a parallel between mimics and the player character race from Star Frontiers known as the Dralasites. They're essentially shapeshifting blobs whose default form is short and vaguely humanoid. Their reproductive characteristics are hermaphroditic and budding.
From the Alpha Dawn Expanded Rulebook:
"All Dralasites go through male, female and neutral stages during their lives (these phases can be controlled with medicines). Males release spores into the air, which drift until they become attached to a female. A young Dralasite then sprouts from its mother, eventually maturing and dropping off." |
| The Masked Mage |
Posted - 23 Jan 2017 : 12:30:17
quote:
Originally posted by AuldDragon
The 2nd Edition Monstrous Compendium entry on the Mimic says:
"They reproduce by fission and grow to full size in several years."
In fission, the "offspring" are two equally sized creatures, whereas budding splits a new smaller creature off from the parent.
Jeff
This would have been my guess. Reminds me of the Movie Evolution
|
| Fellfire |
Posted - 16 Jan 2017 : 05:21:46
I've got to second Darkness Without Form by Sean K. Reynolds Games. Extremely well written and cheap to boot. |
| TBeholder |
Posted - 12 Jan 2017 : 13:02:12
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Or... You could instead say that mimics lay "eggs", but those eggs -- like the "mama" mimic -- look identical to regular objects. Going that route, I'd have the eggs stay unhatched for a long period of time (years, maybe) before suddenly turning into a regular (maybe with fewer hit points/hit dice) mimic. And then they are undistinguishable from regular mimics, except maybe for being smaller.
The mimic could scatter its eggs, or it could hold them inside itself and refrain from attacking until the eggs are removed... So a mimic could turn into a treasure chest, and its eggs would be large gemstones.
Mimic eggs, you say?  |
| AuldDragon |
Posted - 06 Jan 2017 : 00:42:27
The 2nd Edition Monstrous Compendium entry on the Mimic says:
"They reproduce by fission and grow to full size in several years."
In fission, the "offspring" are two equally sized creatures, whereas budding splits a new smaller creature off from the parent.
Jeff |
| hashimashadoo |
Posted - 05 Jan 2017 : 21:19:27
quote:
Originally posted by unseenmage
Wow. Well, that was fast. Thank you greatly.
Said article doesn't have anything to say n the topic of whether Mimics are born or hatched or whatever would it?
Unfortunately not. It has an unusual amount of detail on HOW they change form and colour, but not how/if they procreate.
I'd generally agree with Wooly's hypothesis about budding, but the article does state that they kind of slough off a lot of dead skin layers and that isn't generally conducive to that kind of reproduction.
Maybe if they contain an internal egg sac (mimics apparently have lots of internal sacs) and an egg is ejected along with one of its castoff bits of skin... |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 05 Jan 2017 : 21:13:51
I don't recall reading about mimic reproduction; that book I referenced is one I've not read in a long time.
Me, I'd say that mimics grow larger and larger, and eventually bud off a smaller mimic.
Or... You could instead say that mimics lay "eggs", but those eggs -- like the "mama" mimic -- look identical to regular objects. Going that route, I'd have the eggs stay unhatched for a long period of time (years, maybe) before suddenly turning into a regular (maybe with fewer hit points/hit dice) mimic. And then they are undistinguishable from regular mimics, except maybe for being smaller.
The mimic could scatter its eggs, or it could hold them inside itself and refrain from attacking until the eggs are removed... So a mimic could turn into a treasure chest, and its eggs would be large gemstones. Party 1 of adventurers comes along, opens the chest, takes the treasure inside, and leaves. Party 2 comes along sometime months later, opens the chest, and it attacks... Meanwhile, the rogue in Party 1 is one day reaching into his purse for a gemstone to use as payment for something, and that fist-sized emerald suddenly sprouts tentacles and fangs and bites off his fingers.
At least, those are my thoughts.  |
| Brimstone |
Posted - 05 Jan 2017 : 20:45:55
You could always ask ED HERE. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 05 Jan 2017 : 20:19:59
quote:
Originally posted by unseenmage
Wow. Well, that was fast. Thank you greatly.
Said article doesn't have anything to say n the topic of whether Mimics are born or hatched or whatever would it?
Nope.
Sadly, nothing about its reproductive cycle is covered. This article was an early ecology article of Ed's, and thus generic and very brief. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 05 Jan 2017 : 19:51:10
There's a third-party book called Darkness Without Form - Secrets of the Mimic that puts a nice spin on mimics, and gives a lot of variant ones. It's written for Pathfinder. |
| unseenmage |
Posted - 05 Jan 2017 : 19:36:09
Wow. Well, that was fast. Thank you greatly.
Said article doesn't have anything to say n the topic of whether Mimics are born or hatched or whatever would it? |
| hashimashadoo |
Posted - 05 Jan 2017 : 19:02:56
According to Ed Greenwood's Ecology of the Mimic article in Dragon Magazine #75, a mimic's natural form is that of an amorphous gray blob. |
