Path of the Weird
The Path of the Weird is not for the faint of heart. Or hearts.
These warriors are touched by an alien influence, that of the
Far Realm. Its endless expanse contains an infinite number of
horrors that make their way to the other planes, the ultimate
example of the fear of the unknown. Through the attention of
a Great Old One, an encounter with an aberration, or some
other incident, a Path of the Weird barbarian finds themselves
inextricably linked to the inky void that presses in all around
us, just waiting to swallow the Material Plane and all others.
This connection lends them an otherworldly power, that
manifests as a transformation of terror inducing weirdness,
along with an expansion of their minds.
This transformation corrupts a barbarian's visage,
rendering them disgusting to observers to an extreme level.
This form might have any number of facets, which you can
decide for yourself or roll on the table below to discover
randomly.
Weird Rage Traits
d6 Trait
1 Screaming mouths split your flesh.
2 Many eyes blink and twitch on your body.
3 Your skin warps and boils without pattern.
4 You grow extra heads that rapidly merge and reform.
5 Your tissue becomes clear, organs and bones visible.
6 Your joints dislocate and twist at odd angles
Path of the Weird Features
Barbarian Level Feature
3rd Weird Ward (10 ft.)
6th Project Thoughts, Twin Torment
10th Unspoken Threat
14th Mindbreaker, Weird Ward (30 ft.)
Weird Ward
Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you learn to
allow the touch of the Far Realm to twist you into something
alien. While you are raging, your appearance becomes bizarre
and disturbing enough to drive others mad with fear. When a
creature that can see you starts its turn within 10 feet of you,
you can force it to make a Wisdom saving throw (DC equal to
8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier) if you
aren't incapacitated. On a failed save, the creature is
frightened of you until the start of its next turn. While
frightened of you in this way, a creature can speak only
falteringly, the majority of its speech becoming incoherent
babble, rendering it unable to provide verbal components for
spells. At 14th level, the range of your Weird Ward feature
increases to 30 feet.
Unless surprised, a creature can avert its eyes to avoid the
saving throw at the start of its turn. If the creature does so, it
can't see you until the start of its next turn. If the creature
looks at you in the meantime, it must immediately make the
saving throw.
Credits
Input from the Discord of Many Things.
Art is Defilement by Timi Honkanen
Project Thoughts
At 6th level, while your body may become alien for only short
periods of time, your mind is much more malleable. You can
communicate telepathically with any creature you can see
within 10 feet of you, although you must share at least one
language for it to be able to understand you.
Twin Torment
Also beginning at 6th level, you learn to use your pain as a tool
to hurt others. As a reaction when you take damage, you can
choose a creature you can see within range of your Weird
Ward feature. That creature must make an Intelligence saving
throw (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your
Constitution modifier). The creature takes an amount of
psychic damage equal to half the damage you took on a failed
save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature
that is immune to effects that would read its thoughts is
unaffected by this feature. Once you have used this feature,
you can't use it again until you complete a short or long rest.
Unspoken Threat
At 10th level, your telepathy grows stronger, its range
increasing to 60 feet. Additionally, you have advantage on
Charisma (Intimidation) checks you make against creatures
you are communicating with telepathically that don't have a
form of natural telepathy.
Mindbreaker
Starting at 14th level, when you hit a creature with a melee
weapon attack, you can use your bonus action to invade and
weaken its mental defenses. For 1 minute, or until you use
this feature on a different target, if the creature fails its saving
throw against your Weird Ward feature, it is also stunned until
the start of its next turn. Additionally, for the duration, the
creature must make the saving throw even if it can't see you or
averts its eyes.