The Mimic is a great monster because the party's approach to dealing with it changes as they get better at the game.
The first time a Mimic bites your thief's arm off, players will know to be on the lookout for them going forward. Actually, it usually doesn't even take that long - most people with any sort of background in gaming know what a Mimic is, and whenever I have a treasure chest in a dungeon at least one of my players worries about a Mimic.
This is how the Mimic goes from Monster to Trap. It transforms from an encounter into a problem that can be solved with creative thinking. Give the Mimic some of your rations, or hit it with a sleep spell/potion, and you can take the contents of the chest and be on your merry way.
However, some players take it even further. Once your players realize that the Mimic can be subdued in this way, they realize that they can use it against other enemies in the dungeon. After feeding it, pick it up and move it into the room where you saw those goblins. Make a loud noise, hide, and watch the goblins get themselves eaten.
This is how the Mimic goes from Trap to Treasure. Other examples of this are spring-loaded poison needles that poke anyone getting tricky with a lock, or spears that jut from the walls when you step on a pressure plate, or any trap that you can trick monsters into walking into.
Monster, then Trap, then Treasure. The progression of a great monster. Let's try to write some. Explanation of system-agnostic statblocks here.
Scribblies
Scribblies come from wizard apprentices who die while carrying their masters' loose scrolls. They only form if not given a proper burial.
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| SIXMOREVODKA |
Scribbly
HD 2 Size Small AC As zombie Speed As dwarf
Languages Common (Can speak, only understands written.)
Quill: Dodge 12, 1d6
Scribe - Anytime a spell is cast within the Scribbly's line of sight, it automatically records that spell onto itself, as a scroll. Any given Scribbly in a dungeon will already have one spell recorded onto it. It can store as many spells as it has HD. When it dies, any spell still scribed onto it is recoverable as a scroll. You can also show a Scribbly a page of your spellbook or a loose scroll and it will scribe that spell onto itself. This makes it friendly.
What spell does this Scribbly already have scribed? (1d4)
1. Sleep
2. Fireball
3. Polymorph (into Gelatinous Cube)
4. Summon (Elephant)
Recitation - As an action, the Scribbly can recite a spell currently stored on it. This causes it to cast that spell on a random target within the spell's range, consuming that scroll. It automatically takes this action whenever it takes slashing, piercing, fire, or acid damage (or damage of any other type that would harm the scroll - it's screaming out "oh no, not the precious scroll of fireball!" which counts as the verbal component for that spell).
Discussion: I haven't playtested this, but I like the idea of it a lot. I would only put it in an area with other monsters, or at least put it near them. If you put it on a random encounter table, it could be something like "2d6 orcs and their warlock leader wander into a room with one Scribbly," or whatever.
I'm hoping the progression here is "fight it once without realizing what its deal is" > "figure out its deal and try to exploit it for a free scroll" > "load it up with a dangerous spell by showing it the wizard's spellbook and then get it to wander into a room full of stupid enemies."
I would also experiment with older Scribblies that have higher HD. Make them more resentful of their fate, and meaner. And also let them trim off pieces of themselves to summon lesser Scribblies mid-combat. Would probably make for a good boss monster.
Belcher
Belchers look kind of like blobfish and occupy a similar ecological niche as the mola mola: it just isn't worth the trouble of hunting down for anything to really bother eating it. They're actually really shitty air elementals, holdovers from an ancient underground civilization that saw air and fire as opposites. (On Loom, elementals are spirits that form from cultural conceptions of "the elements" - so yeah you have the water/fire/air/earth ones, but also Xenon Elementals, Feminine Energy Elementals, and Piss Elementals [goblins consider piss to be a core element].)
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| Hollow Knight |
Belcher
HD 8 Size Medium AC As leather Speed As dwarf
Immunities Fire, Indigestion
Bite: Dodge 14, 1d6 + attached (detach check is DC 20 or whatever an unreasonably hard check is in your system.)
Dry Ice - The Belcher constantly vomits up vision-obscuring fog in a 30' radius around itself. If the Belcher is killed or leaves an area, its fog remains for a minute. Wind effects, unless continual, will only disperse the fog for a round.
Photophobic - Belchers will relentlessly attack light sources. They'll crawl up to explorers and eat their lantern(s). They only attack people if those people attack them.
Discussion: Belchers have a lot of health, and are a pain in the ass to kill. If you're trying to get past it, the best option is honestly to just douse your torch and move on. Or light up an arrow and shoot it down the hallway you just came from. Better yet if those manticores were still chasing you.
Again, I would only run these with actually threatening other monsters nearby. Or you could have it screech loudly when damaged, causing other nearby stuff to come investigate.
There's also the option of tying it to a rope and dragging it around as a free fog cloud.
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Update on Ability Scores, But Shitty:
I ran about half of The Meal of Oshregaal on Sunday with Deficiencies replacing Ability Scores and it went pretty alright. It definitely takes getting used to, and we didn't actually get into any combat, but I think it has promise. I didn't have any moments where we had to stop and go "wait, is this 18 good or bad" which I've seen happen a little bit with the GLOG. The whole thing might wind up being unnecessary, but we'll see. I think combat will be the real test.
