Lightning-Catching Bottle (Patreon)

Wondrous item, rare

This bottle is stoppered with a pronged metal contraption that magically attracts bolts of electricity to it. When you take lightning damage from a hostile source while the bottle is on your person and not completely covered (such as by a bag or cloak), you can use your reaction to speak the bottle's command word to redirect and contain that lightning within the bottle. When you do, roll 3d10, reducing the lightning damage you take in this way by an amount equal to the total (to a minimum of 0) and harmlessly containing that lightning within the bottle. The bottle can contain up to 30 points of lightning damage in this way.

While holding the bottle, you can use an action to unstopper it and release the trapped lightning inside, duplicating the effect of the lightning bolt spell (save DC 15) with the following changes:

• The spell deals lightning damage equal to the amount contained in the bottle on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
• The line is 60 feet long, instead of 100.

You can restopper the bottle immediately after releasing the lightning in this way as part of the same action.

Once the bottle contains its maximum amount of lightning damage, any additional damage that's redirected to it isn't contained or reduced. Instead, when the bottle redirects lightning damage that would cause it to exceed the maximum amount it can hold, there is a 50 percent chance that the bottle and stopper shatter and are destroyed. When they're destroyed, each creature within 30 feet of the bottle must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 30 lightning damage on a failed save, or 15 lightning damage on a successful one.

The gnome looked tiny atop the rain-slicked spire. Clouds swirling around him, and his hair stood on end as sparks coursed through the air here at the storm's heart.

Light split the sky, silhouetting him in blinding light that seemed to tear him apart. Then came the thunder, crashing around him like a mighty wave. A cacophonous display of nature's raw power.

But just as quickly the flash vanished and the thunder rumbled to a purr, a glimmer could be seen congealed in the bottle held in the gnome's hand. The dancing, serpentine glow of a thunderbolt, now collected, gave light to an almost hauntingly mad grin.