Path of Ruin
Ours is the dark and pain,
Ours the end of all things.
We are the death of kings,
Civilization's bane.
Destruction we will bring,
And nothing will remain.
A Primal Path
Barbarians of this path have learned a simple but effective technique: destruction through self destruction. They've mastered dark powers that allow them to expend their own life force to destroy those around them. Barbarians on this path often bear a "mark of ruin", a manifestation of the darkness which concumes them.
Mark of Ruin
| d4 | Sign of Ruin |
|---|---|
| 1 | Your blood is black. |
| 2 | Light is dimmer in your presence. |
| 3 | You cry tears of blood. |
| 4 | Your body is cold to the touch. |
Consuming Shadows
When you choose this path at 3rd level, you can transform your blood into dark energy that punishes those that harm you. As a reaction whenever a creature you can see within 30 feet damages you while you are raging, you can choose to take an additional 1d6 necrotic damage to envelop that creature in shadows. The creature has disadvantage on Wisdom (perception) checks until the end of your next turn, and next time the marked creature is dealt damage before then, it takes an additional 1d12 + half your barbarian level necrotic damage.
Dark Presence
Also at 3rd level, you are a master of terror. You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill, if you were already proficient in Intimidation, you gain proficiency in another skill of your choice instead. Additionally, you have advantage on Charisma (intimidation) checks you make in dim light and darkness.
Black Blood
At 6th level, you gain resistance to necrotic damage, and if necrotic damage would reduce you to 0 hitpoints, it reduces you to 1 instead. Additionally, necrotic damage you deal to other creatures ignores resistance and treats immunity like resistance.
Consuming Burst
At 10th level, you've learnt to channel your lifeforce into bursts of strength and precision. You can expend your hit dice to gain benefits in the following ways:
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Burst of Precision. Whenever you miss a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend a hit die and roll it, you add the result to the attack roll, potentially transforming it into a hit.
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Burst of Strength. Whenever you fail a Strength or Constitution ability check, or a Strength or Constitution saving throw, you can expend a hit die and roll it, you add the result to the roll, potentially transforming it into a success.
Shroud of Ruin
At 14th level, your dark powers are dangerous for those around you. Whenever you take necrotic damage from your Consuming Shadows feature, you can unleash a wave of dark energy. If you do, each creature within 10 feet of you must succeed on a Constitution saving throw with a DC of 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier, or take the same amount of necrotic damage you dealt yourself + your Constitution modifier.