Path of Shadows

Barbarians who walk the Path of Shadows draw their rage from a tenuous connection to the darkness, and shadows within their very souls. That shadowy power bursts forth in the throes of rage, allowing them to strike with force and then fade away with none being the wiser, and in quieter moments as well, the shadows tend to gather around them, you might not notice such an individual were you not looking for them.

Such a barbarian might be inhabited by a shadowy spirit or be descended from shadowspawn, or affected by some ritual binding them to the shadowfell, or anything else. You can choose the origin of your shadowy abilities or determine it by rolling on the Origin of Shadows table, or come up with a different unique one.

Origin of Shadows

Gathering Shadows

3rd Level Path of Shadows Feature

When you enter your rage, shadowy magic infuses up to one weapon of your choice that you are holding. Until your rage ends, the weapon’s damage type changes to psychic, and it turns non-magical bright light for 5 feet around it to dim light.

When you use your reckless attack feature on your turn, the next time you hit a creature on this turn with a weapon attack using your shadow-infused weapon, the creature takes an extra 1d8 psychic damage from the attack.

Friend of Shadows

3rd Level Path of Shadows Feature

Thanks to your innate connection to darkness and the shadows, you gain the following benefits:

• You gain Darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. If you already have Darkvision, its range increases by 30 feet.
• You have advantage on death saving throws.
• You have proficiency in the Stealth skill.

Shadow Form

6th Level Path of Shadows Feature

While raging, your form becomes wispy and filled with shadows. When you enter your rage while you are in dim light or darkness, you can teleport up to 60 feet to an unoccupied location that you can see that is also in dim light or darkness. Until your rage ends, as a bonus action while you are in dim light or darkness, you can teleport up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space you can see that is also in dim light or darkness.

Dark Intimations

10th Level Path of Shadows Feature

You can drain the life essence from nearby foes thanks to your connection to the shadows. When you reduce a creature within 5 feet of you to 0 hit points, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Constitution modifier + your Barbarian level (minimum of 1 temporary hit point).

Trap Within Gloom

14th Level Path of Shadow Feature

You can magically shift another creature's perception: while raging, you gain a bonus action that you can use to force a creature you can see within 30 feet of you to make a Wisdom saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier). On a failed save, the target can't see or hear you, it can only see in shades of gray, and the target has disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks made to perceive any other creatures until your rage ends. The target can repeat the saving throw if you hit it with an attack roll, or force it to make a saving throw, or deal damage to it. On a successful save, the target is immune to this feature for 7 days.

Once you’ve used this bonus action, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.