Static Charge

 

1st-level evocation (ritual)

Casting Time: 1 minute

Range: Touch

Components: V, S, M (the metal object or gem to be charged)

Duration:  1 week

(Wording as in Professor Jones' Handy Spellbook).

This spell charges a metal object or gem with frozen, or ‘static’ lightning.  While the caster lives, this lightning remains held in the object for up to one week.

Upon command, the caster can cause any of her or his ‘charged’ objects within 120’ to give off their charge, ‘earthing’ the charge as a bolt of electrical energy which passes through the nearest creature.  The affected creature must save vs dexterity or take 2d8 lightning damage – damage is halved if the save is made.   The lightning will earth through any living, undead or constructed creature.  If there are no such creatures within 30’, the charge is earthed harmlessly into the ground. 

The caster can have prepared as many Static Charges as their proficiency bonus plus their intelligence modifier.  So, a 7^th level wizard with intelligence 15 can have 3+2 = 5 charges prepared.

When casting this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the caster can choose to increase the duration of the Charge by an extra week for each level above first, or can increase the power of the Charge by 1D8 per level above the 1^st, or a combination of these.   Thus, using a fifth level spell slot, a caster could create a Charge which could deliver 4D8 damage, and the Charge would remain for a duration of 3 weeks.

When the spell duration ends, or the caster dies, the Charge becomes unstable and will be released.  Careful notation of the elapsed time is therefore crucial to the safe management of this spell.  There are several stories of casters who have died as a result of misremembering when their Static Charges were created.

Additional Notes

Static Charges are magical, therefore appropriate spells of Divination, such as Detect Magic, will detect a Statically Charged object.

There are procedures which can take a Static Charge and use the stored energy as a source of power for specialist devices and contrivances.  These are beyond the scope of the current work.

The discovery of the detailed behaviour of a Charge when released in mid-air or under water has been left as an exercise for more diligent students.

Similarly, students may wish to investigate whether a Static Charged gem can act as a magic slingshot bullet.