Lightning Box
 |
This section contains Potential-canon info, revealed by the creators from never-published sources |
Lightning boxes[1] are rarely seen outside the Core’s asylums. Apparently, a reclusive Lamordian doctor occasionally sells one of these devices to alienists whenever he wants to swell his coffers. I have yet to hear of anyone else who has ever unlocked the secrets of their creation. This device is a heavy, oblong crate with a hand crank at one end. One side features a gauge (marked one to ten in Lamordian) and two long, flexible metal wires. These wires have been coated in a black, tarry substance, leaving only the last few inches of each wire exposed. By rapidly turning the crank for ten minutes (a test of endurance in itself), the user builds up an electrical charge, as measured by the gauge. This electricity is then discharged into the first thing to touch the exposed wires.
Somehow, through some means well beyond my understanding, the lightning box produces this energy without the use of magic of any kind. When one lightning box was pried open by a suspicious group of alienists in Maykle, they discovered that the heart of the contraption was simply a rotating drum coiled in hundreds of feet of fine copper wire.
While the shock produced by a lightning box pales before even the simplest spells, it is still quite painful. A lightning box is cumbersome and fragile, however, rendering it useless in combat. A lightning box is of most use in two situations; both require that the creature it is to be used on be restrained. First, as mentioned, these devices are used by alienists in several of the Core’s asylums. These alienists claim that, when used in combination with hypnosis, skillful application of electric shocks to a diseased brain can actually hasten its recovery. Again, I am at a loss to explain just how this might work.
Of course, the judicious use of pain is just as useful when interrogating defeated foes.
DM's Description
Lightning Box: A lightning box can be used only on immobile subjects. Each jolt of electricity deals 1d6 points of subdual damage to the subject, and the subject must make a successful Fortitude save (DC 20) or be stunned for 1d4 rounds. A lightning box grants a +2 circumstance bonus to Hypnosis checks when aiding an insane subject’s recovery (see “Recovering from Madness” in the Ravenloft setting book). A lightning box also grants a +2 circumstance bonus to Intimidate checks.
To date, only Dr. Victor Mordenheim has mastered the creation of these devices; they are beyond the grasp of other craftsmen.
Statistics
- Medical Device: Lightning Box
- Item CL: See text
- Cost: 2,000 gp
- Craft (DC): See text
- Weight: 20 lb.
