"As the warm glow flickers from jack-o'-lanterns, dark secrets are brought to light. Terrifying creatures rule the night and strike fear into eager souls who relish the unknown."

— James E. Garvey, The Legend of MacNawckett Castle, 2001

 

"For the night is dark and full of terrors."

— Melisandre of Asshai,
George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings, 1998

This lantern is made from a hollowed-out gourd or turnip with a face carved in it which is illuminated by a stout candle or burning coal. Though the meaning is all but forgotten, and they are often regarded as nothing more than a Harvestide decoration, the tradition of carving and placing jack-o'-lanterns is actually an ancient and effective folk-magic ritual to protect one's home from the spirits that roam the night at harvest time.

Carving a jack-o'-lantern takes a minimum of 5 minutes.  When a jack-o'-lantern is made, the creature carving it makes an ability check.  A +1 bonus is added to this check for every additional 5 minutes spent carving the jack-o'-lantern past the first 5 minutes, to a maximum of +5.  The result of this ability check sets the DC for the jack-o'-lantern's magical effect.

Once created, a jack-o'-lantern will last for 7 days without being lit, after which its magic dissipate and it begins to rot.

A jack-o'-lantern's magic only functions between sunset and sunrise,  and activates when it's candle or coal is lit, which requires an action. A jack-o'-lantern's light will burn for up to 6 hours before going out.  A jack-o'-lantern's magic goes into effect the moment it is lit and ends immediately when it goes out.  Once a jack-o'-lantern is extinguished, it's magic is expended and cannot be restored, even if it is relit.

When lit, a jack-o'-lantern sheds dim light in a 30-foot radius which persists even in magical darkness and wards off celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead. When a creature of one of these types attempts to enter a space lit by the jack-o'-lantern's light, it must make a Charisma saving throw with a DC equal to the ability check used to create the jack-o'-lantern plus 1 for each additional jack-o'-lantern within 10 feet of that jack-o'-lantern. If a creature would be subjected to multiple saving throws by multiple jack-o'-lanterns, it makes only 1 saving throw against the jack-o'-lantern with the highest DC.  On a failed save, that creature is frightened of the jack-o'-lantern for 1 minute, ignoring immunity to the frightened condition, and is pushed back to the nearest unoccupied space not within the jack-o'-lantern's light.  If a creature fails its save by 5 or more, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes any damage.

A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from the jack-o'-lantern as it can, and it can’t willingly move to a space within 30 feet of it. It also can’t take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there’s nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action.  Additionally, a creature that has been turned by this effect can’t enter the area again until the jack-o'-lantern goes out. 

Even if a creature succeeds on its saving throw, the jack-o'-lantern's magic hinders it; while the creature is within 30 feet of the jack-o'-lantern it is affected a it would be by the bane spell.  The spell ends for the creature once it moves out of range.

A jack-o'-lantern's effects extend into the Ethereal Plane, and creatures on the Ethereal Plane have disadvantage on their saving throw against its effect.  Destroying a jack-o'-lantern extinguishes it instantly.  A jack-o'-lantern has an AC of 10 and 1 hit point, and cannot be targeted by any attack roll made by a creature that has failed its save against its effect.  A jack-o'-lantern is destroyed instantly if it falls from a height greater than 2 feet.

As an action, a jack-o'-lantern can be thrown up to 20 feet, smashing it on impact. Make a ranged attack against a target creature, treating the jack-o'-lantern as an improvised weapon with the thrown property.  On a hit, the target takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage plus 1d4 fire damage.  If the target is a celestial, elemental, fey, fiend, or undead, it takes an additional 2d6 radiant damage.

Notes: Control, Debuff, Warding, Consumable, Bane