Most barbarians rely on fury born of muscle and marrow. But you are not flesh—you are a construct of gears, plating, and power. Deep within your frame lies a volatile core: a reactor sealed away beneath layers of shielding, never meant to be accessed, let alone weaponized. Yet in the throes of rage, when protocols fail and restraint gives way to fury, the safeties disengage... and the meltdown begins.

The Path of the Meltdown channels an unstable internal energy source—whether arcane, alchemical, or atomic—harnessed through pure destructive will. As your rage intensifies, your core surges toward critical mass, unleashing heat, radiation, and raw force that warp the battlefield around you. You become a beacon of annihilation: brilliant, blinding, and lethal to all who draw near.

To most, you are a walking hazard—less warrior, more weaponized catastrophe. Your allies tread carefully; your enemies rarely get the chance.

Among Warforged enclaves, tales are whispered of those who “went critical,” leaving nothing behind but scorched craters and the faint sound of whirring turbines. Autognomes who follow this path are even rarer, often designed for containment and failing spectacularly in purpose.

Rage is no longer an emotion. It is a cataclysm, set to a ticking clock.

Control is optional. Detonation is inevitable

Irradiated Strikes

While raging, once per turn when you hit with a melee weapon attack, you deal extra damage equal to your Constitution modifier as radiant or necrotic damage (your choice).

Any creature that hits you with a melee attack must make a Constitution saving throw or take half the damage they dealt to you as radiant or necrotic damage (your choice).

Contained Breach

You gain resistance to radiant and necrotic damage. You also gain resistance to fire or acid damage, (your choice). 

Contained Breach - Acid

You reinforced your form against the dangers of acid and corrosion of your core.

Contained Breach - Fire

You reinforce your form against the dangers of fire and overheating of the core.

Unstable Feedback

When you are the target of a spell or magical effect, you can choose to trigger your unstable feedback (no action required). Roll a d6:

• On a roll of 1-3 you have resistance to the damage that would have been dealt or have advantage on the saving throw to avoid a negative effect/damage.
• On a roll of 4-6 The caster must make a Constitution saving throw or take radiant or necrotic damage (your choice) equal to your Barbarian level and have their spell fail.

You can use this feature once per rage.

Containment Failure: Meltdown Imminent

You've done it now. Your core is overheated, overclocked, and overflowing with power. Make good use of it, because it'll be hard to get back up after it ruptures.

While raging you can choose to put your core under extreme strain. Doing so is dangerous for you and your allies, but also dangerous for your enemies.

While raging, each time you hit with a melee weapon attack, you gain a Critical Charge. Each critical charge adds 1d8 radiant or necrotic damage (your choice) to your next attack. These charges can stack up to 6 times, equaling 6d8 radiant or necrotic damage. Once you reach 4 Critical Charges, you must roll a d20. On a roll of 14 or higher, nothing happens and you may continue as normal. On a roll of 13 or lower, your core will go critical and release it's built up energy. The counter for each roll gets higher by 1 after each round until you go critical. If you reach 0 hit points before hitting critical, your core automatically ruptures, using up all charges, and adding 2 extra charges on top, even if you already have 6. If your core goes critical by reaching 0 hit points, the only option for release is the explosion.

When your core goes critical, you may choose the way in which the energy is released: A beam or an explosion.

• The beam is 80 ft. long and 5 ft. wide. Any creature within the area of effect takes must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC= 8 + proficiency bonus + constitution modifier) or take  2d10 + (3d10 per charge) radiant damage, half on a success.
• The explosion is a 30 ft. radius sphere. Any creature within the area of effect must make a Constitution saving throw (DC= 8 + proficiency bonus + constitution modifier) or take 2d10 + (2d10 per charge) necrotic damage, half on a success.

After releasing this energy, you are incapacitated until the end of your next turn, as your core needs time to recuperate.