Arkanobow (Patreon)

Weapon (longbow), very rare (requires attunement)

Arkanobows are weapons from a far-flung age and can sometimes be found in the lairs of sphinxes that have traveled through time. You can use the bow as described below, even if you aren't attuned to it.

The item appears to be a bow handle. While grasping it, you can use a bonus action to cause a pair of bow arms to spring into existence, one from either end of the riser, or make them disappear. The bow's crackling arms emit bright light in a 15-foot radius and dim light for an additional 15 feet. If you are proficient with shortbows or longbows, you are proficient with the arkanobow.

You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon. If you draw the bow without an arrow, the bow magically creates its own. The created arrow is already nocked, made of pure electricity, and disappears if you don't make an attack with it. On a hit, the weapon deals lightning damage, instead of piercing, and if the target is made of metal or wearing metal armor, you have advantage on the attack roll.

The weapon runs on a power source that's fueled by magic. The bow's arms can persist for up to 1 hour before the power source is empty. Deduct the time it persists in increments of 1 minute from the power source's total time. You know how much remaining time the source has while holding the weapon. Any creature can use an action to expend a spell slot level of 1st level or higher into the power source, adding to its total remaining time, by touching the bow as the spell slot is expended. The power source regains a number of minutes of power equal to the spell slot level that was expended into it. When found, an arkanobow has 3d20 minutes of power remaining, and it can't have more than 60 minutes of power at a time.

If you're attuned to the bow, you can use the following properties by deducting additional minutes from the bow's remaining time. The number of minutes you deduct depends on the property you use.

Jumpstart. You can use an action to deduct 5 or more minutes from the bow's remaining time to fire a special arrow from it, which harmlessly hits a creature that you can see within the bow's normal range. That creature can immediately use its reaction to move up to its speed, without provoking opportunity attacks. If the creature had 0 hit points, it first regains a number of them equal to 1d8 plus the number of minutes you deducted, up to 20 minutes. Once a creature regains hit points in this way, it can't do so again until it finishes a short or long rest.

Quicklaunch. You can use a bonus action to deduct 2 minutes from the bow's remaining time to make a single ranged weapon attack with it. If you already hit the target with the bow on this turn, you have advantage on the attack roll, and on a hit, the target takes an extra 1d6 lightning damage.

Mender sat at his desk with the odd blade before him in pieces. It wasn't the first time he'd taken it apart, not by a long shot, so he was familiar with how to put it back together. But after six months of work, that didn't feel like a lot to show for it.

He heard the door creak open. "I'm back, sir," said a familiar voice. "More from the desert. I think you'd take interest in this one."

"I've enough tile and trinkets fer now. Lest this is somethin' new?"

The boy scavenger slung his pack to his side to rifle through. "More or less, I think. It's another one of those mysterious handle things. Took it from an explorer camp. Fresh one. Fresh abandoned, too, by the looks of it."

He pulled out an empty handle. A bow's, by the looks of it. He handed it to Mender.

"Careful, sir. It's hot, and it shocked me something serious the first time I touched it."

Mender held the item in his hands. It took everything in him to hide his excitement. He turned it over in his hands and peered, carefully, down center.

"If I may sir, could this find be worth double? Given it has two sides and all."

"Gladly. Did you bring this straight to me?"

The boy nodded.

"I'll triple it then."