Item: Lightning In A Bottle
Wondrous Item - Rare - 1500-2500gp
A ball shaped clear flask with etched runes circling around in two rings that intersect at opposite points. In the middle is an ever-flickering orb of pure electrical energy. Bright light shines out to about 5 feet, and dim light extends a further 5 feet.
A creature can use an action to remove the cork stopper, after which lightning immediately streaks out in the direction the bottle is pointed, to a target within 120ft. The creature must make a DC16 Dexterity Saving Throw. On a failed save they take 10d6 damage, or half as much on a success. The lightning then arcs to the 3 closest creatures that are within 30 feet of the target. These creatures make the same saving throw, but take 5d6 lightning damage on a failure, or half as much on a success.
I’m sure it would be an understatement to say I’m the not the first to homebrew a ‘Lightning In A Bottle’ magic item for their TTRPG game, but I did come up with a fun mini-game for getting the lightning into the bottle in the first place. More on that in the future!
This item is great because it’s pretty easy to customize and scale with your party by taking a look at the various lightning based spells that already exist and throwing the most level-appropriate one into the bottle. Lore can explain this difference as either the potency of the lightning contained within, or the use of different runes etched into the bottle. Naturally, the price is going to fluctuate based on what level the spell is, which means you can easily price it as the same as a comparable spell scroll - Plus a little bit more since bottling lightning can be a dangerous business. This item is a little different though, as you may have noticed I didn’t use a spell from the official materials.
Aside from wanting to create an item that didn’t just mimic something a spellcaster could already do, none of the spells in the book had the effect I wanted, which allowed the lightning to hit a specific target within range and then explode and arc outwards to other conduits for its deadly energy. The 5th Level spell Chain Lightning was pretty close, so I tried to create a middle ground spell between that and the 3rd Level Spell Lightning Bolt, which is why the damage and efficacy sits somewhere inbetween. Now we can use Lightning bolt to create a 300-500gp item for adventurers levels 3-6, the item as described above for a party from levels 6-9, and Chain Lightning to make a 5000gp item for characters at levels 9 or 10 and above.
Note: Because I’m sure it will come up, if a character decides to throw it like they would for Alchemist’s Fire, the item would not be nearly as effective. Essentially treat the attack as though the ground is the target and therefore takes the brunt of the damage, and the 3 closest creatures within 30 feet of that point make a save to resist taking 5d6 lightning damage.
