Scenario: Threaded Needle Tailors

Encounter Premise:

An abandoned building infested with mimics and the poltergeist who enjoys feeding them.

Location:

Threaded Needle Tailors, an abandoned shop of brickwork in the slums.

Suggested Presentation:

A party of adventurers can come to Threaded Needle Tailors for a variety of reasons. Perhaps an item or scrap of information they needed is rumored to once have been in the possession of the shop's owner, Emmerich Latch. Maybe they have received reports of people going missing near the structure, maybe even an NPC important to them. The abandoned building can be simply a piece of the scenery in the heroes' stomping ground that eventually draws their greedy eye.

No matter the reason the creatures inside are all challenge rating two, and likely would be quite a hassle for a beginning party if too many are used. If the player characters are 5th level or so a horde of mimics should be an appropriate obstalce. If they are much higher a dungeon master might consider using the stat block of a chuul for example but with the abilities and adjusted DCs of a mimic as a 'greater mimic', or even making Emmerich Latch a Deathlock with invisibility and telekinetic thrust.

Antagonists:

Emmerich Latch: The tailor who owned the shop died a miserable, angry man. Plagued by paranoia Emmerich obtained a pair of mimics and trained them to protect his shop from thieves and killers which never manifested. Affectionate pets, the monstrosities preserved their master’s corpse and turned the abandoned building into a colony. Unable to move on Emmerich now haunts the shop as a poltergeist, delighting in luring in victims to keep his pets, and their progeny, fed. See Specter - Variant Poltergeist, Monster Manual Page 279. However, if Emmerich's body (see basement) is destroyed the specter is likewise destroyed.

Mimics Either the original two creatures Emmerich raised, or them and their progeny depending on the party's level. The mimics can include: the shop sign, the ladder into the basement, the four vases in the second story hallway, and the broken door to the guestroom. See Mimic - Monster Manual Page 220

Encounters:

Outside: "Pitted and forgotten this pallid brick building radiates a sense of unease which encourages pedestrians to cross the street instead of falling under the shadow of its two stories. At some point the arched windows of its bottom floor were filled with red brick granting an impression of gaping sores on the pale shop’s walls. The sign above the door sways on rusted rungs. Its worn, chipped surface depicts a needle stabbed through a ball of yarn. The windows of the second floor are boarded up with a few loose planks dangling. One the left side of the structure hangs a wrought iron balcony hanging by a single bent screw. The right side is cluttered with trash and debris. The only entrance, the front door, is padlocked but the device is just as riven by age as the rest of the shop."

The sign above the door is a mimic. While the creature will snatch random, single passerby's if a group approaches the door it will keep its shape as long as it can. However, once a character interacts with the door, likely attempting to pick the lock or break it down, the mimic will strike. Whether the monster ensnares the victim or not it will then scurry up through the second-story window above it. If it is able to take a player character with it that character will likely be in great danger facing off against it one on one and their companions will race to assist.

The aforementioned balcony can potentially be used to ascend to the second floor. However, it’s a precarious option. A DC 13 (Strength) Athletics check or (Dexterity) Acrobatics check is required to climb the collapsed balcony without bringing the whole thing down. A small creature has Advantage on this check. On failure, the balcony comes crashing to the ground and the creature attempting to climb it must make a DC 13 Dexterity save or take (2d10) bludgeoning damage.

On successfully climbing the balcony a character can enter the Study/Workshop, see below.

The lock on the door is Theives Tools DC 15, and breaking down the door requires a DC 15 Strength check. The door has an AC of 10 and 20 hit points.

First Floor:

Showroom: "Clad in moth-eaten rags of once-finery dressing dummies dot the show floor like an indigent congregation awaiting a sermon. Many bear splintered gashes on their otherwise blank faces, giving them almost sinister expressions. One has a broken short sword blade jutting from its chest. A hole-ridden carpet reveals a trap door to access the basement. A simple chandelier dangles from the ceiling, its candles long spent. Past the pool of manikins is an oaken countertop with cubbyholes brimming with cobwebs behind along with a door presumably to a storage room or workshop. To the right of the counter, stairs ascend to the second level, its first step obscured by a pile of moldering cloth."

This is where Emmerich comes in. The poltergeist lingers in the showroom and will use its telekinetic thrust to subtly move manikins to give an impression that several of them are alive, and thus likely mimics. If one of the party has been snatched up by the sign mimic the rest attacking the harmless dummies will waste the heroes’ valuable time. Likewise, the players will suspect every object in the room of being another damn mimic. None of them are.

Emmerich will refrain from just directly attacking the heroes unless forced to do so. The specter will instead use its telekinetic thrust to bring the chandelier own on a character (Dexterity Save DC 13 or take 2d10 bludgeoning damage) or use the piled of rags on the steps to attempt to trip them up. Once these tactics have been expended the poltergeist will go dormant for a time, following the fools invading his home and waiting for the right time to strike.

Storeroom: "Without human habitation, a thick blanket of dust, mold, and cobwebs moved in. A handful of barrels occupy one corner of the storeroom. Grime-caked bottles of dye and other reagents are interspaced with ruined fabrics lining the shelves. The scent of dirt and age hangs heavy in the air. Nothing has been in here for a long time."

Of course, the players will likely suspect that some of the objects in the room may be mimics. However, none of them are. That won’t stop Emmerich, if still around, from using his telekinetic thrust to antagonize the trespassers. Barrels will tremble, bottles fall and break with bright patches of dye, or even fabric might fly off of the shelves to entangle the unwary. Just make sure not to overdo the spooking.

Basement: "The trap door’s hinges groan as their bent metal scraps against one another. A well-worn ladder extends down into the gloom below. At first glance, the floor down there is bare dirt, though a few silver coins glimmer amid the dust."

While the heroes might suspect that the trap door is a mimic it is actually the ladder. The monster will wait until a hapless adventurer is halfway down its ten-foot length before detaching from the mooring and curling around its meal as they fall to the floor. With how it is was attached the mimic will slam the trapdoor shut on the way down as well. Again, this is a dangerous situation due to the isolation of one character until their companions jump down to assist them. If the dungeon master wants to make matters worse Emmerich the poltergeist, if still viable, can slam the trapdoor back down once it is opened by a would-be rescuer.

"The only other thing is in the corner, a corpse now turned into a vile shrine by the abominations: Lovingly arranged atop a pile of mimic pellets consisting of indigestible metals and the link is a leathery corpse with wisps of pale hair clinging to its scalp. The body’s legs are terribly twisted and impaled by rusted ladder rungs, likely from falling when the actual ladder gave out. What sort of alien affection drove the mimics of this abode to create such a shrine may be hard to fathom, but it exists nevertheless."

The pile itself contains treasures, and any item(s) the party may have come to the shop looking for. However, much like the pellets left by birds of prey, the mess is a hotbed of disease. Digging out the treasure forces a disease check vs Sewer Plague (See Dungeon Master's Guide Page 257 )

Likewise tampering with the corpse will trigger a final encounter with Emmerich. The specter doesn’t want the ‘intruders’ to take what is his.

Second floor:

Hallway: "Covered in a ragged, red carpet the hallway stretches the full length of the second floor. The splinters of three doors hang like jagged teeth within their frames, ready to devour the foolhardy. A broken vase as tall as a man sits beside its unblemished twin at the landing. A similar pair sits at the far side of the corridor with wilted reeds drooping from their lips."

Here is where a dungeon master gets to be truly devious. Depending on the adventuring party’s level all, some, or none of the vases can be mimics. Likely the players will already be on edge and expecting an ambush. Make the first vase they attack normal, but the one beside it a mimic who then strikes before it can be attacked. The other two vases at the end of the hall will sit still until approached, or instead Emmerich the poltergeist can use telekinesis to throw one of them at the party, mimic or not. Depending on where the struck hero stands a Dexterity check might be appropriate either way to stop from tumbling back down the stairs.

Bedroom: "The double doors to the balcony have long since fallen to the street below and been crated off which left the room open to the ravages of weather and time. A once fine bed is now a heap of shattered timber and rotten linens. At the foot of the jumble sits an iron-banded chest covered in a thick layer of dust. The mirror on the wall is cracked so utterly one's reflection is unrecognizable. The wardrobe only has one door, the clothing inside spilled out like a roll of intestine."

The players might suspect that there are mimics in the room, giving them caution when moving through. However, there is not. The chest is not locked and contains several tomes and treatises on mimics and other monstrosities. It can contain other small treasures or clues to plot threads upon the discretion of the dungeon master. It is locked DC 15. Otherwise, searching the rest of the room proves fruitless. The bedroom's shattered interior door leads to the Hallway, above.

Guestroom: "There is not much here other than a bed with several crates stacked atop and beside it. A thick layer of dust tells the tale of how long it has been since the room enjoyed any habitation. The shattered remains of the door are scattered about the floor. Something definitely smashed its way in. The question is, where did it go after?"

Depending on the party's level and general state by this point the broken remains of the door still in the frame can be another mimic. It will lay in wait until a character is exiting the room to attack. The crates on and around the bed are full of dishware and other knickknacks of little real value. Emmerich never had time for guests.

Study/Workshop: "An exquisite, oak desk dominates the room, all four of its sides covered in alternating drawers and cubbies. Shears and scissors lay spilled across the surface. Deep notches mar the edges at regular intervals for measuring. A large book with a cover of polished-birch slats sits open-face on a stand. A pair (or trio depending) of comfortable chairs, wingbacked and claw-footed, rest beside it. Half-a-dozen small benches sit against the walls, covered with dusty cloth, and meticulously-arranged collections of thread."

The boarded-up window here is it bad shape, most of its planks loose. This is where the sign mimic will flee or drag its victim to after striking. Once inside it will continue to attack its meal, or if it came here to hide morphing into a copy of the two chairs. None of the items in the room are mimics unless the dungeon master chooses otherwise. The desk's cubbies are filled with pattern books and pamphlets. Its drawers have paper pattern parts, more thread, tailor measuring tapes and the like.

The book is Emmerich Latch's journal. Most of it is paranoid ramblings, complaints about neighbors and customers. It tells the tale of a very miserly, bitter man who owned the building. The below entry may shed some light on the heroes' predicament:

"The pair are growing quite nicely and Mr. Simonetti is correct; I cannot imagine my life without them. I have never been one for pets in the past. I always believed they were only for sentimental fools. However, one of them transformed into a pillow just to be close to me tonight and I felt an unfamiliar warmth. Not only are these mimics the perfect guards against the avarice of man but stalwart companions as well. I would not give them up for anything."