Pipes of Haunting 5e
Wonderous item (musical instrument), uncommon
You must be proficient with wind instruments to use these pipes. They have 3 charges. You can use an action to play them and expend 1 charge to create an eerie, spellbinding tune. Each creature within 30 feet of you that hears you play must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you for 1 minute. If you wish, all creatures in the area that aren't hostile toward you automatically succeed on the saving throw. A creature that fails the saving throw can repeat it at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. A creature that succeeds on its saving throw is immune to the effect of these pipes for 24 hours. The pipes regain 1d3 expended charges daily at dawn.
Commentary by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold
If you’re ever wondering what exactly the point is of proficiency with an instrument beyond flavor, the answer is to get some sweet magic items like the Pipes of Haunting! Not only do these look metal as hell, but they also provide a massive area of effect fear effect that encourages you to get into the thick of it.
The Frightened condition imposes disadvantage on the creatures' attack rolls and ability checks while they can see the source of the condition, and them from moving closer to the source of the fear.
Selective effects like this are somewhat rare; the Fear spell requires precise shaping to save your allies from its effect, while you can just opt to have the pipes ignore friendly creatures!
Once a creature passes a save from this item, either at the end of its turn or the initial save, it becomes immune to the effect for a day.
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