A Barrel of Mimics

I started with the name. I wanted a fun adventure based on a parody of the children's game Barrel of Monkeys. A Barrel of Mimics is a one-shot for four characters of 3rd level, and it runs 2–3 hours. The ledger at the Gilded Stag says eleven barrels. The cellar holds fourteen. Three of them are mimics, and an inspector from the Vintners' Guild is upstairs, about an hour from coming down to count. Your players' job is to help the monsters pass the inspection. It's a puzzle first, with very little combat. Players rock, knock or inspect barrels to find the mimics. Then they have to get the mimics out of the inn before the inspector starts tapping barrels. A barrel that screams is hard to explain. The adventure includes one nervous innkeeper, one stern wine inspector, an ancient talking cask, a smuggler, and one very enthusiastic chair. Ideas for your table A night off. Run it between heavier arcs, when the table wants to laugh more than roll initiative. Any inn on the party's road can be the Gilded Stag. What's in the download 1 DM book (PDF, 18 pages) 1 player handout (PDF, 3 pages) to send to players before the game 3 maps (.png) 6 character portrait tokens, round with transparent backgrounds (.png) 1 cover image (.png)