“The haze never leaves me. I breathe it. I bleed it. And one day, I’ll become it.”

There are some in Drakkenheim who carry raw delirium in their blood. These unfortunate souls are mere moments away from rapid corruption at the slightest provocation. Where others are twisted and broken by the haze’s touch, these barbarians embrace it—whether by choice, desperation, or cruel fate.

Every wound taken, every breath of tainted air, and every touch of delirium fuels the corruption in their veins. Most fear the inevitable transformation into a mindless monster, but the Path of the Corrupted treats it as a weapon. They channel their mutating flesh into grotesque displays of power: bone spurs that shatter armor, tendrils that seize prey, or wings that drag them into the sky.

But this strength comes at a price. Their rage is no longer entirely their own, boiling to the surface at the smell of blood. Their bodies warp further with every battle, until the line between mortal and abomination blurs completely. Even their allies cannot be certain if the warrior who stands beside them now will still be human—or dwarf, elf, or orc—when the fight is over.

Those who walk this path are feared, pitied, and sometimes worshipped as living avatars of the haze. They fight on knowing their end will be monstrous… and they intend to take as many enemies as possible with them before that day comes.

Level 3: Uncontrolable rage

Uncontrollable Rage
3rd-level Path of the Corrupted feature

Your fury is no longer entirely your own, surging forth at the scent of blood and the sting of injury.

• Triggering Rage. You can no longer choose to begin or end your Rage voluntarily. Whenever you take damage, you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC = half your missing hit points, rounded down) or immediately enter your Rage.

  • If you have 1 or more levels of Contamination, you make this saving throw at disadvantage.

  • When you enter your Rage in this way, you gain a number of Contamination levels equal to your missing hit points divided by 20 (rounded up)

• Compulsive Violence. While raging, if you are able to make a melee or thrown weapon attack against an enemy, you must do so. If no enemies are within range, you must move as close as possible to the nearest visible enemy.

  • If no enemies are visible, you must use your action to make an active Perception check to search for one.

• Rage Duration. Your Rage still ends early if you fail to deal damage, take damage, or cause an enemy to make a saving throw on your turn. You can extend it as normal by expending a bonus action each turn.

• Flesh-Fueled Recovery. Once per turn, when you gain one or more Contamination levels, you can expend a number of Hit Dice equal to the contamination levels you gained. You regain hit points equal to the total rolled + your Constitution modifier.

• Reckless by Nature. You can use your Reckless Attack feature even when you are not raging.

• Corruption-Fueled Strikes. While raging, you deal extra necrotic damage on every melee attack equal to your current Contamination level. (max = to your proficiency bonus)

Level 3: Inured to Corruption

 

If a spell, such as purge contamination, has the sole effect of removing Contamination Levels from you, the caster doesn’t need material components to cast the spell on you. In addition, if the spell would normally cause you to gain exhaustion, you don’t gain exhaustion from the spell. 

Level 6: Octarine Blood

You gain resistance to necrotic, poison, psychic, and radiant damage, and your hit point maximum can’t be reduced.

Level 6: Already a Monster

While you are raging, you ignore the Symptoms of any Contamination Levels you have gained, except for a Monstrous Transformation.
Whenever you would suffer a Mutation from contamination, you can roll twice and choose which Mutation you gain. 

Level 10: Consume Corruption

You gain the ability to cast the purge contamination spell. You can do so a number of times per day equal to your proficiency bonus. You do not need material components when casting the spell in this way. You can’t use this ability on yourself.

While raging you can consume contamination as a reaction on a successful unarmed or natural weapon attack roll. If done this way, the spells casting time is instant and you gain one contamination level so long as your target was also contaminated.

Level 10: Enduring will

You can survive even more contamination than most. The number of contaminations you can have before a monstrous transformation occurs is now equal to your level in barbarian. You still have the negative effects of contaminations. example. at level 10 you can have 9 levels of contamination safely. at 10 you would transform.

Level 14: Apex Mutation

Apex Mutation

When you enter your rage, you can choose to gain 6 levels of corruption. if you do roll a d12 to determine the mutation that manifests. The transformation lasts until your rage ends (unless otherwise specified). Natural weapons you gain count as magical for overcoming resistance.

1. Chitinous Juggernaut
Interlocking plates erupt under your skin.

2. Scythe-Limbs (knife hands)
Forearms unfold into serrated blades.

3. Serpentine Horror
Legs fuse into a muscular tail.

4. Ravenous Maw
Your jaw splits wide with rows of needles.

5. Raptorial Tendons
Limbs elongate with whip-fast tendons.

6. Ossified Spikes
Jagged spines burst from back and arms.

7. Tentacular Growths
Two Thick tentacles unfurl from your sides.

8. Wings of Sinew
Translucent, bat-like wings tear free.

9. Iron Talons
Wolverine.

10. Erupting Carapace
Crystal-and-shard growths bristle across you.

11. Bulging Monstrosity
Muscles swell; veins glow octarine.

12. Ocular Bloom
Dozens of eyes open across your body.

Bulging Monstrosity

Bulging Monstrosity – Your muscles grotesquely swell, veins pulsing with arcane power.

• Benefits: You gain immense physical power. You have advantage on all Strength-based melee attack rolls – your overgrown muscles steady your strikes. (Effectively, every swing with a Strength-based weapon or unarmed strike has advantage, without needing to Reckless Attack – though you can still choose to Reckless for other reasons.) Moreover, once per turn your melee weapon and unarmed attacks deal an extra 1d12 damage on a hit. This additional damage is pure muscle-driven force (use the same damage type as the attack itself). In short, you hit much harder than before – every successful strike bludgeons, cleaves, or gores with superhuman might.

• Drawback: Your engorged musculature comes at the expense of agility. You have disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws (your bulk makes it harder to dive away from fireballs, traps, breath weapons, etc.). In addition, your speed is slightly reduced – your walking speed decreases by 5 feet due to the sheer mass you’re hauling around. (For example, if you normally have 40 ft speed, it becomes 35 ft.) You’re a hulking brute, but a bit slower and clumsier in responding to area effects or finesse situations.

Chitinous Juggernaut

Interlocking plates erupt from under your skin. These plates lock together under your clothes and armor. These plates reduce your flexibility and impose a movement speed penalty. When your rage ends the plates fall off leaving fresh skin underneath with cracks where the plates grew from. these cracks scab over and heal within a week.

• +2 AC.

• Damage shaving: When you take damage from an attack, reduce it by your contamination level minus your constitution bonus. (after resistance).

• Drawback: Speed -20.

Erupting Carapace

Erupting Carapace – Crystalline shards and spiked carapace plates grow across your body. when your rage ends you drop 4d4 chips of delirium as the crystalline plates shatter around you.

• Benefits: Hardened crystal growths give you a +1 bonus to AC. Additionally, whenever a creature hits you with a melee attack, razor-edged shards crackle and explode from your carapace – the attacker takes 1d8 piercing + 1d8 necrotic damage automatically as retaliation. (This thorny rebuke applies to any melee hit, whether by weapon, fist, or natural attack.) As a bonus action (once per turn), you can emit a Shrapnel Pulse: choose any number of creatures within 5 feet of you – those creatures instantly take 2d6 slashing damage as your crystal shards pulse outward in a sudden burst. This pulse requires no attack roll and affects only chosen targets, allowing you to damage nearby enemies without harming allies.

• Drawback: Your body constantly sheds eerie, glowing motes of light from the crystalline shards. You emit bright light out to 30 feet (and dim light 30 ft beyond that). More importantly, these drifting motes make it impossible for you to hide from anyone nearby – you cannot be hidden from creatures within 30 feet of you. No matter the shadows or cover, if an observer is within that range, your position is revealed by the floating lights and glimmering shards. Stealth is nearly impossible in close quarters, and even at a distance your glowing silhouette can give you away.

Iron Talons

Iron Talons – Your hands sprout hardened, rending claws between your fingers. like wolverine. the claws fall out when you have 0 contamination.

• Benefits: Your unarmed strikes become deadly iron talons. On a hit, your claws deal 2d6 slashing damage + str. When you hit an attack with these claws you can attempt to grapple in addition to dealing damage (dc = 8 + str + proficiency bonus). if successful you gain advantage on attacks against the target and can crit on 18 and 19 vs the grappled target. These natural weapons have the light property and the nick weapon mastery if you have that mastery with any weapon.

• Drawback: these claws can extend and retract at will (similar to drawing a weapon) but are not without cost. They damage your hands as they extend dealing 2d4 slashing damage to you upon extension as they rip out of your skin. (1d4 per hand)

KNIFE HANDS

Scythe-Limbs – Your forearms warp into long, serrated bone-blades. if you are missing an arm it grows back. when your rage ends the blades (if still present) retract leaving your arms, hands and fingers in pristine condition.

• Benefits: Your unarmed strikes are replaced by these scythe-limbs (treat them as natural melee weapons). Each scythe-limb attack deals 2d8 slashing damage + your Strength mod, and you score a critical hit on a 19–20. Once per turn on a hit, you can cleave another foe: choose one creature within 5 feet of your original target and make an attack roll. If you hit, it takes slashing damage equal to your contamination level. Cleave damage cannot be modified or added too in any way.

• Drawback: You no longer have hands. You cannot hold or wield weapons, shields, or any objects that require hands – your arms are blades. This limits your ability to use tools, items, or weapons other than your natural scythes. (You might improvise some tasks with your teeth or feet, but fine manipulation is essentially impossible.)

Ocular Bloom

Ocular Bloom – Dozens of lidless, glowing eyes bud open across your body. they close and leave no trace when your rage ends. If you had the blind condition you lose it. Your eyes regenerate if they were gone.

• Benefits: Your vision expands supernaturally. You gain Blindsight and Truesight out to 60 feet, allowing you to perceive your surroundings (even in darkness or through obscurity) without relying on normal sight. You can see invisible creatures as if they were visible, and you have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks relying on sight. Nothing within 60 feet escapes your notice – even if an enemy is hidden or ethereal, your myriad eyes likely detect them. Your passive perception is 29. if you can see an enemy you know if and what damage types and conditions it is immune, resistant, or vulnerable too. In combat, when you hit a creature with a melee or ranged attack, you can designate that attack as a critical hit as you see the targets weaknesses.

• Drawback: Your body is studded with sensitive eyeballs – a glaring weak point. You are vulnerable to piercing damage. Stabbing and piercing attacks (spears, arrows, daggers, monster fangs, etc.) deal double damage to you. You cannot gain resistance to piercing from rage. If you take piercing damage you flinch, losing all benifits from ocular bloom until the end of your next turn. All those eyes mean more places to stab and cause you agony. You’ll need to be wary of archers and anyone armed with sharp spikes, as your mutation makes you particularly susceptible to being skewered. 

Ossified Spikes

Ossified Spikes – Jagged bone spikes burst from your back and arms.

• Benefits: You bristle with sharp spines that punish nearby foes. You exude a Thorny Aura – any creature that starts its turn within 5 feet of you (or enters that space for the first time on a turn) takes piercing damage equal to your contamination level minus your constitution modifier. They are automatically poked by your spikes just for being close (no attack roll or save). As an Action, you can unleash a Spike Burst: all creatures within 10 feet of you must make a Dexterity save (DC = 8 + your proficiency + your Constitution mod). On a failed save, a creature takes 3d6 piercing damage and is pushed 10 feet away from you as your spikes explosively extend; on a success, they take half damage and aren’t pushed. After the burst, the area within 10 feet of you is littered with shed spines, becoming difficult terrain for other creatures until cleared.

• Drawback: Your body’s new spikes destroy anything you try to wear. Armor, clothing, and other worn items are shredded by your protruding spines – effectively, you can no longer wear armor or normal garments on your upper body. This leaves you relying on your natural toughness  for protection. Note that magical items might only be damaged by this. up to dm's discretion.

Raptorial Tendons

Raptorial Tendons – Your limbs elongate and coil with whip-like speed.

• Benefits: Your reach for all melee attacks increases by 5 feet – your arms (or whatever weapon you hold) can strike far-off enemies with ease. You become a terror in close combat: enemies cannot escape your opportunity attacks by Disengaging (your lightning-fast strikes ignore the Disengage action). Additionally, you gain Harrier’s Step – whenever you hit a creature with an opportunity attack, you can immediately move 10 feet (this movement does not provoke opportunity attacks from others). This allows you to dart around the battlefield, harassing any who try to flee.

• Drawback: Your stretched, sinewy limbs make it hard to be subtle. You have disadvantage on Stealth checks because your exaggerated movements and creaking tendons are easier to spot or hear. Sneaking and hiding become decidedly more challenging with your gangly frame.

Ravenous maw

Ravenous Maw – Your jaw splits open into a massive, needle-toothed maw. when your rage ends the teeth all fall out and your jaw reforms. your mouth is numb for one hour and you cannot talk, eat, or drink during this time.

• Benefits: You gain a bite attack as a natural weapon. Your bite deals 1d12 piercing + 1d8 necrotic damage on a hit (add your Strength modifier as normal). Once per turn when you hit with your bite, you siphon vitality – you gain temporary HP equal to your Constitution modifier + proficiency bonus. Additionally, you can make a Reactive Lunge: when you reduce a creature to 0 HP, you can use your reaction to move up to half your speed and make one bite attack against another target. This lets you rush forward and chomp another foe in the frenzy of battle.

• Drawback: Your warped jaws make speech nearly impossible. You cannot speak intelligibly – only guttural snarls and hisses. This means you can’t cast spells with verbal components, and communicating with others relies on crude gestures or writing. (Socially, your terrifying maw may intimidate onlookers, but you won’t be engaging in polite conversation!)

Serpentine horror

Serpentine Horror – Your legs fuse into the muscular tail of a serpent. This mutation does not end when your rage ends. instead, it persists while you have levels of corruption. if your corruption ever hits 0 you must spend 24 hours to shed the tail during this time you are paralyzed. your legs and other lower extremities are regenerated when you finish the shed process.

• Benefits: Your lower body transforms into a snake-like coil. Your size becomes large. (your upper torso is the same size as it was before) Your base walking speed becomes 40 feet (if it wasn’t already), and you gain a climb speed equal to your movement – you can slither up walls and uneven surfaces with ease. As a bonus action, you can lunge and attempt to grapple a creature within 5 feet using your coiling tail. When you grapple a creature this way, the target is restrained (escape DC = 8 + your proficiency + Strength mod). At the end of each of your turns, any creature restrained by your tail takes 1d8 bludgeoning damage as you crush it. Bonus: your serpentine form is naturally stable – you cannot be knocked prone. you can only grapple one creature with your tail.

• Drawback: You lose the ability to use legs and related gear. You cannot ride mounts, and any boots or leg armor you were wearing are ruined by the transformation (you can’t wear footwear or pants made for humanoid legs). Moving by slithering also makes certain maneuvers (like jumping) impossible.

Tentacular Growths

Tentacular Growths – Two thick, sinewy tentacles unfurl from your ribcage or back. These tentacles do not disappear when your rage ends but when you have 0 contamination points. 

• Benefits: You sprout two tentacles that you can control. On your turn, you can use these tentacles to make melee attacks (they are treated as natural reach weapons for you). Each tentacle has 15-foot reach and deals 1d8 bludgeoning damage on a hit. If a tentacle hits a target, it immediately grapples that creature (escape DC = 8 + your proficiency + Strength mod). You can grapple up to two creatures at once (one in each tentacle). If a single creature is grappled by both of your tentacles, you immobilize it completely – the creature becomes restrained instead of just grappled. Additionally, you can use a bonus action to pull any creature grappled by your tentacles up to 10 feet closer to you (reeling in your prey).

• Drawback: Your tentacles are vulnerable appendages. If an enemy scores a critical hit against you with a slashing attack, they can choose to sever one of your tentacles, cutting it off. (If both are grappled onto a target, a single critical slashing hit could sever one.) A severed tentacle writhes and dies – you lose its benefits until it regenerates. After a long rest, your tentacle(s) grow back good as new. Also, keep in mind your tentacles, while strong, can be a liability if grabbed or targeted by enemies.

Wings of Sinew

Wings of Sinew – A pair of translucent, bat-like wings tear free from your back. These wings do not wither when your rage ends. the mutation stays until your corruption is 0, at which point they wither and fall off.

• Benefits: You gain a flying speed equal to your walking speed. You can now take to the air, swooping above the battlefield. Moreover, if you fly at least 20 feet straight in the air (horizontally, or diving/climbing vertically) immediately before hitting with a melee attack, the impact is devastating – the attack deals an extra 1d8 damage, and the target must succeed on a Strength saving throw (DC = 8 + your proficiency + Strength mod) or be knocked prone by the force of your dive-bomb strike. 

• Drawback: Your wings grant flight, but they are unstable. You cannot simply hover in place. If you end your turn in mid-air without having moved at least 10 feet that turn, your flight falters and you fall to the ground. In other words, you must keep moving to stay aloft – constant momentum is needed or you’ll stall out. (Be mindful of this to avoid plummeting at an inopportune moment!) Additionally, your wings are large and might get in the way in confined spaces underground or indoors.