Path of the Possessed

Barbarians on the Path of the Possessed are those with a fiendish, ghostly, or otherwise bedeviled background. Perhaps they are a descendant of an archdevil or demon lord, or perhaps proximity to a haunted domain of undeath warped their body into a savage vessel of unholy fury. There are those who were set upon by beings of the elemental planes or the feywild or the shadowfell, and there are those were experimented on by a wizard who delved too deep into the study of bewitchment. Some barbarians that follow this path even willingly take on these ethereal monsters, exchanging power for servitude. There are many ways a barbarian could succumb to the savage thrall of the power of possession, and rarely are any of them good.

Many Possessed do not appear as a traditional musclebound barbarian, with even small children being capable of bearing this curse, drawing from the supernatural strength of their possessive puppeteer. However, when a barbarian that has been granted such abhorrent power flies into a rage, their bodies often transform. These transformations are often unique to each individual, though they generally consist of unsettling features spoken of in folk horror. Some transformations are subtle, affecting only certain parts of a barbarian’s body, such as a single oversized fiendish arm or eyes rolling back in their sockets to reveal glassy blackness on the other side, while other transformations affect the barbarian's entire body, practically turning them into full-fleged monsters themselves. There is little that is more terrifying than the twitching visage of a Possessed barbarian.

Barbarian Level	Feature
3rd	Uncanny Strength, Unholy Rage
6th	Malignant Precedence
10th	Puppeted Reprisal
14th	Revolting Outburst

Uncanny Strength

When you choose this path at 3rd level, the being that puppets your body curses you with terrible strength beyond the capabilities of a normal person. You gain the following benefits:

• You gain proficiency in the Athletics and Acrobatics skills.
• While you are unarmed and are not wearing a shield, your unarmed strikes can deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier on a hit. While raging, this damage increases to 1d12.

Unholy Rage

Starting at 3rd level, whenever you rage your body warps into a dreadful form, granting you unholy durability against magical effects and the baleful power of hellfire or the cold grasp of death to strengthen your attacks.

If you use the Reckless Attack feature while raging, you can choose to forgo your advantage on your attack rolls to deal an additional 1d12 cold or fire damage on one or more of your melee attacks this turn. When you choose to do so, you expend one of your barbarian hit dice for each attack you are adding the extra damage to. You choose which type of damage each time you use this feature. The extra damage increases to 2d12 at 6th level, 3d12 at 10th level, and 4d12 at 14th level.

Malignant Precedence

Starting at 6th level, the otherworldly occupant that shares your body aids you in spurning the influence of other beings. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed and frightened. If you succeed on a saving throw against being charmed or frightened while you are not raging, you can choose to enter your rage as a reaction.

Puppeted Reprisal

Beginning at 10th level, the ghastly inhabitant of your body hurls you into a vicious frenzy. While raging, you can use your reaction in response to taking damage to move up to half your speed toward an enemy you can see. If a creature hits you with an opportunity attack during this reaction, you can force that creature to make a Wisdom saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier) or be frightened of you for 1 minute, or until your rage ends. The frightened target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If the creature succeeds on its saving throw, you can’t use this feature on that creature again for 24 hours.

You can cause a creature to be frightened in this way a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Revolting Outburst

Starting at 14th level, you can charge and expel the might of your rage all at once to break free of your possessor, and unleash a devastating blast of negative energy. When you end your rage early as an action, you explode in an unholy furor. All creatures within 15 feet of you must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier). On a failed save, a creature takes 1d12 necrotic damage for each round of combat you've spent in rage (for a maximum of 10d12), or half as much on a successful one.

After you use this ability, you cannot use it again until you complete a long rest.