Path of the Fractured

I ran as fast as I could through the halls, trying to escape the screams of my friends and family and that accursed wailing. We had dealt with fierce warriors before, but that man, that thing, didn't even seem to notice we were fighting back at all. In a matter of seconds he had carved his axe into so much of my clan, but no shouts or taunts came from his lips. Only the sobbing. That damned sobbing. My skin grows frigid at the thought of the tortured look on his face, as if his actions weren't his own. As I sprinted through the walls I thought would protect me, the screams died away, and all that was left was my own pounding chest and the strangled laughter of a broken mind.

-- Hod Palebeam, The Drowned Bandit

 

Barbarians are famous for their immense rage and penchant for violence. However, living in a constant state of anger can cause some minds to fracture and grow disordered. When combined with the emotion-fueled power already granted to barbarians, these warriors become wildly unstable, and incredibly dangerous, killing machines. Or incredibly friendly healers. Or incredibly intelligent masterminds. Or whatever ability they require.

When a barbarian follows this path, they become quite versatile, even if they can be unsettling sometimes. Some call those who follow the Path of the Fractured insane, but most people value their lives.

Shatter

Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, your rage no longer consumes you with only anger. Instead of raging, you may choose one of the features below to use instead. You gain an additional option at 6th, 9th, and 12th level. These options all share the uses of Rage.

Anger

While raging, you gain the following benefits if you aren’t wearing heavy armor:

• You have advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws.
• When you make a melee weapon attack using Strength, you gain a bonus to the damage roll that increases as you gain levels as a barbarian, as shown in the Rage Damage column of the Barbarian table.
• You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.

If you are able to cast spells, you can’t cast them or concentrate on them while raging.

Your rage lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are knocked unconscious or if your turn ends and you haven’t attacked a hostile creature since your last turn or taken damage since then. You can also end your rage on your turn as a bonus action.

Apathy

While raging, you gain the following benefits if you aren’t wearing heavy armor:

• You have "advantage" on Intelligence checks and Intelligence saving throws.
• You can no longer have disadvantage or advantage on any check or saving throw, but if you normally would have either you may add your Rage Damage modifier to it instead.
• You gain 2 AC.

You may not perform a Reckless Attack while raging.

Your rage lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are knocked unconscious or if your turn ends and you have moved more than 20 ft. in one direction from your position the previous turn. You can also end your rage on your turn as a bonus action.

Fear

While raging, you gain the following benefits if you aren’t wearing heavy armor:

• You have advantage on Dexterity checks and Dexterity saving throws.
• When a melee attack hits you, you can make the creature make a DC 10+Rage Damage Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute.
• You gain 10 ft. of walking speed.

If you attempt to make a Charisma check or saving throw while raging, you automatically fail.

Your rage lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are knocked unconscious or if your turn ends and you are more than 10 ft. away from a hostile creature. You can also end your rage on your turn as a bonus action.

Joy

While raging, you gain the following benefits if you aren’t wearing heavy armor:

• You have advantage on Constitution saving throws.
• When you regain hit points, all friendly creatures within a 10 ft. radius regain the same amount of hit points, plus your Rage Damage modifier.
• You have resistance to psychic damage.

Your rage lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are knocked unconscious or if your turn ends and you are more than 15 ft. away from a friendly creature. You can also end your rage on your turn as a bonus action.

Love

While raging, you gain the following benefits if you aren’t wearing heavy armor:

• You have advantage on Charisma checks and Charisma saving throws.
• When you make an attack of opportunity, you can instead force the creature to make a DC 10+Rage Damage Charisma saving throw or become charmed for 1 minute. Creatures who are attracted to your gender must make this saving throw at disadvantage.
• Every 10 minutes you regain 1d4 hit points.

If you are able to inflict any condition aside from charmed, prone, unconscious, or restrained on another creature, you are no longer able to while raging.

Your rage lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are knocked unconscious or if your turn ends and you have damaged a creature whom you are attracted to. You can also end your rage on your turn as a bonus action.

Melancholy

While raging, you gain the following benefits if you aren’t wearing heavy armor:

• You have advantage on Wisdom checks and Wisdom saving throws.
• When you perform a Reckless Attack, you may add your Rage Damage bonus to your attack and damage rolls.
• Whenever you take psychic or cold damage, deal 1d4 of that damage to the attacker.

You may not be healed using divine magic while raging.

Your rage lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are knocked unconscious or if your turn ends and you have not been attacked or been within 10 ft. of a friendly creature who was attacked. You can also end your rage on your turn as a bonus action.

Mixed Emotions

Beginning at 6th level, your emotions begin to split more visibly. When you begin raging, you can choose to consume two charges and create a clone that uses one of your other Rage options. This clone has the same stats and equipment as you, but has its own initiative order, and acts according to its emotion. Additionally, you and your clone share attacks (i.e if you attack twice during your turn your clone cannot attack at all during its), and any magic items which have charges split their charges evenly between both, with the clone taking the additional charge if it is an odd number. 

If either you or your clone stop raging, the clone and anything it was created with disappear, and any magic item charges it did not consume return to you.

Unstable Critical

Beginning at 10th level, your critical hits gain strange effects based on your emotional state. Whenever you roll a critical hit, you can choose for one of the effects listed below to occur, depending on which Rage options you selected. You may not use options if you do not have the linked Rage option, or if a clone is using that option.

Anger

 The creature you attacked must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you for 30 seconds (5 rounds).

Apathy

Your attack deals a damage type of your choice instead of its normal type.

Fear

You can take the dodge or the disengage actions as a part of the attack.

Joy

You can cast cure wounds as a part of your attack, using your Strength modifier as your spellcasting modifier.

Love

Until your next turn, all attacks directly targeting you must choose another target or else not occur. 

Melancholy

 The creature you attacked has a speed of 0 ft. until the start of your next turn.

Fractured Thoughts

Starting at 14th level, your mind shatters into pieces, granting you incredible power. Choose one of the options below.

Con-fusion

When you rage, you may no longer summon a clone. However, its mind still remains inside you. While raging, you gain a second pair of ghostly arms that only you can see. You gain an additional attack, but if used the DM gets to determine the target, based on that clone's emotion. Additionally, you may have 2 weapons with the two-handed or versatile property equipped, or 4 one-handed weapons equipped at a time.

Emotional Shrapnel

While raging, you can no longer summon a clone. Instead, doing so will create 5 ghostly facsimiles of you. No friendly creatures can see these facsimiles. Each one starts with identical stats and equipment to you, but they, as well as you, each have 1/6 of your maximum hit points, with you getting any hit points that cannot be evenly distributed, and if you or one of your facsimiles does not have advantage with a stat, it becomes 10 until you stop raging.

Each facsimile uses a unique Rage option, and will act according to that emotion (these can either be controlled by you, the DM, or another player). Additionally, each facsimile gets one personality trait, ideal, bond, or flaw from your characteristics, but you no longer have any personality traits, ideals, bonds, or flaws while you are raging.

All facsimiles have independent initiative rolls, and any magic items which use charges are split evenly between all 6 of you, with you getting any charges that cannot be evenly distributed. You and each of your facsimiles are guaranteed one attack, but if you have any extra attacks they are shared among all 6 of you. 

If a facsimile stops raging, it and everything it was created with disappears, and all its remaining magic item charges return to you. If you stop raging, all facsimiles disappear, but you will only regain your stats, characteristics, and maximum hit points after a long rest.

Idiosyncratic Id

While you are raging, you can choose to spend an additional charge of Rage in order to use two Rage options at once. You gain the effects of two Rage options of your choice while you are raging. However, each time you utilize this feature, you must roll 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d10, 1d12, and 1d20. If the total amount is equal to your Intelligence score, roll 1d6 again to choose another ability score (1=STR, 2=DEX, etc.). Your Intelligence score and the other ability score switch values.

If your Intelligence score is less than 6, you only roll 1d4, 1d6, and 1d8.

You may use this feature in conjunction with Mixed Emotions, but your clone cannot use either of the Rage options you are using.

Severed Soul

While you have a clone active, you begin to lose a sense of individuality. You and your clone now share an initiative roll, and you directly control its actions. Additionally, you can see, hear, smell, taste, and feel through this clone. Additionally, if you or your clone drop to 0 hit points, the clone does not disappear.

If you die while you have an active clone, your soul transfers to it, as if by the clone spell. However, doing so gives you 1 level of exhaustion and you must remove one personality trait, ideal, or bond, and instead gain the personality trait, "I never know whether I'm real, or just a copy". If this feature would cause all of your personality traits, ideals, and bonds to become "I never know whether I'm real, or just a copy", you can no longer be revived by any means.