Path of Life And Death

For some barbarians, the source of their rage is the unfairness of life. Those who travel down the Path of Life And Death do not care if they live or die, as long as they bring their enemies down with them. They fuel their rage with their own pain and as they get closer to death, their power increases exponentially. They might be seeking glory in death at the hands of a worthy foe, or they might simply want to go out as loudly and violently as possible.

Barbarians who follow this path gain incredible power in exchange for a much lower life expectancy. The sheer power they display might delay the inevitable, but it cannot stop it.

Reckless Gamble

Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you can toss away any notion of self-preservation. When you attack recklessly while raging via your Reckless Attack feature, you can decide to attack even more recklessly. Doing so makes your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20, but any attacks against you also score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20 until your next turn.

Wrath of the Hopeless

Beginning at 6th level, if you have no more than half of your hit points while raging, your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20 and you can make a single melee weapon attack as a bonus action for the duration of your rage. If combined with your Reckless Gamble feature, your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 17–20.

Prepare for the Worst

Beginning at 10th level, you can take a defensive stance as a bonus action while you are raging. When you are in this stance and another creature attacks you with a melee weapon attack, you can add half of your proficiency bonus (rounded down) to your AC for that attack, potentially causing the attack to miss you, and then make one melee weapon attack at that creature afterwards. If nothing attacks you before the start of your next turn, your rage immediately ends and you cannot rage again until you finish a long rest.

Nothing Left To Lose

Starting at 14th level, your willpower is so strong, you cannot fall below 1 hit point while raging. Every point of damage that would bring you below 1 hit point is stored until your rage ends, when you will take all of that damage as one attack. In addition, if you have no more than half of your hit points while raging, you have a +2 bonus to your melee weapon attack rolls.