Arkbow Magic Weapon (Longbow) - Legendary (Requires attunement by a Ranger) The Arkbow is a longbow that grants its wielder the power to carry the souls of beasts within the bow, and summon their spectral forms when loosing an arrow. You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic longbow. When you are within 10 feet of the dead body of a small, medium or large beast that has a CR equal to or lower than half your ranger level, you can spend one minute attempting to communicate with the beast’s spirit, achieved through a DC 15 Wisdom (Animal Handling) check. On a success, the creature’s spirit is persuaded to inhabit the Arkbow. The Arkbow can contain the spirits of any number of beasts, which leave the Arkbow if it becomes attuned to by another creature, and return if it is reattuned by a previously-attuned creature. Up to three times per day, you can summon the spirit of one beast inhabiting the Arkbow. You may summon a beast to an empty space within 10 feet of you, or summon it by attacking an enemy. To do so, make a ranged attack with the Arkbow. If you hit the target of the attack, the summoned creature appears in an empty space within 5 feet of the attack’s target, and may immediately make an attack against the target. On a miss, the summoned creature appears in an empty space of your choice which is both within the weapon’s range, and between 10 and 15 feet away from the attack’s target. Beast spirits summoned this way act immediately after you in initiative. They can be commanded as a bonus action. The beast spirits inhabiting the Arkbow count as both beasts and undead, and have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks. Beast spirits remain for one minute after being summoned, after which they return to the Arkbow. You can have up to three beast spirits active at one time, but you cannot summon the same beast twice. You can however, summon more than one beast of the same type, if each of those beasts of the same type inhabit the Arkbow, such as the spirits of two different wolves.
Designing this item, I focused on making it work as effectively an “ark” for the spirits of beasts that the user befriends, it allows you to form a large library of different beasts you can summon with the bow, which balances with the player as the CR of beast spirits you’re able to befriend raises with the user’s level.
