A beautiful dryad removes a branch from her tree. As it transforms itself from a branch to the rough shape of a bow, she pulls a few strands of her hair, and they weave into themselves to become a string. She kisses the bow, and its shape shifts again, the center strong and thick, the ends firm but flexible, and the string tight. As she places it in your hands, you can feel that this bow is somehow still alive. This is the Dryad's Gift.
You have a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon.
Ordinary branches, when drawn, transform themselves into arrows. They transform back into branches shortly after landing, or when removed from the wound of a living creature.
The string of this bow is unbreakable by nonmagical means, and to the user it smells faintly of sweet flowers. The user gains advantage to any saves based on harmful odors (such as a troglodytes Stench ability), and creatures that try to perceive the wielder of this bow by scent must do so with disadvantage.
This living bow can speak with the forest. By concentrating on a known recipient, and speaking to the bow, the wielder can send a brief message of up to twenty-five words. This message can only travel within the boundaries of a continuous forest, travels as fast as the wind, and can be understood by the intended recipient. The recipient can reply immediately with a message under the same restrictions. Note that this message is not private, and can be overheard by those able to speak with plants anywhere within the forest. To others, it is simply the rustle of branches and leaves in the wind.
Proficiency with a longbow allows you to add your proficiency bonus to the attack roll for any attack you make with it.
Notes: Damage, Combat, Bane, Ammunition, Heavy, Range, Two-Handed
This weapon is amazing. It has some amazing ability but none that make it broken. Its perfect for flavor and character.
I think I may try to homebrew the inverse of this with the Spore Druid in mind, specifically one who has decomposition on their person and rides a Stench Kow.
What would be the best way to credit you?
That sounds really neat, but your idea seems different enough that you don't really need to credit me, but if you want to give folks a link to see what inspired your own item, that would be cool!
I find it easy to build powerful magic items, but much tougher to build interesting low- to medium-powered items. When somebody mentioned to me that there weren't enough magic bows in 5E, I put together a handful, and this one was my favorite, so I posted it here. Glad you enjoy it!
This is really nice because it has lots of flavor and some very nice abilities, but none that are broken. Good job!
I love the flair and would def go great in my feywild plane sidequest
I would restrict this to Druid & Ranger. It seems too essentially tied to nature to overlook IMHO. I could easily see many in a party clamoring for this item, who thematically, it doesn't couple with if said DM were to leave items up for grabs.
In my home setting, it is the dryad giving the gift to a specific recipient, and the only expectation is they be proficient with bows. For a party without a ranger, this bow can help them fill in that gap, and feel more comfortable within a forest setting. This weapon is intended to reflect some of the abilities of the dryad, and not necessarily the user.
I like it.
I would love to see some of the other bows you created.