Barbarian Path
Path of the Ill-Omened
Barbarians often have a reputation for being wrecking balls, savage warriors who smash their through problems and leave only chaos in their wake. This reputation is often undeserved — most barbarians are reasonable people who only cause collateral damage when it's needed. For barbarians who walk the Path of the Ill-Omened, though, the reputation is entirely earned. Their rages carry a dreadful curse, inflicting misfortune on all those they meet.
The Path of the Ill-Omened is rarely chosen, but more often caused by the affliction of an incidental curse. This curse can take many forms or derive from many causes, but always troubles thouse around the barbarian, friend or foe. While some Ill-Omened struggle against their curse and seek to use it for good, others simply give in and embrace the chaos.
Path of the Ill-Omened Features
| Barbarian Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Cursed Rage, Agent of Disorder |
| 6th | Withering Blow |
| 10th | Shield of Misfortune |
| 14th | Ruinous Warrior |
Cursed Rage
When you choose this path at 3rd level, your rage carries with it an aura of misfortune. At the start of your turn while you are raging, you can choose to embrace your curse. If you do so, you and all hostile creatures within 15 feet subtract a d4 from all attack rolls until the start of your next turn. When one of your attacks hits with this penalty, it deals 1d4 extra damage.
Agent of Disorder
Also at 3rd level, you find yourself naturally prone to dismantling the world around you. Anytime you hit an inanimate object, it is a critical hit.
Withering Blow
At 6th level, your attacks are able to reduce your foes' vitality and slow their steps. Once per turn when you hit with a weapon attack, you can force the target to make a Constitution saving throw (DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier). On a failure, its speed is reduced by half until the start of its next turn, and it suffers 2d4 necrotic damage if it starts its turn within 15 feet of you.
Shield of Misfortune
At 10th level, you become more durable to the effects of harmful magics, and you learn how to extend this to your allies. You gain resistance to necrotic damage. At the start of your turn, you can reduce your hit points by a number equal to your proficiency bonus to extend this resistance to all creatures of your choice within 30 feet until the start of your next turn.
Ruinous Warrior
At 14th level, you learn to master your innate curse. You learn the spell bestow curse, which you can cast with your Constitution. You can cast and concentrate on this spell while raging. Once during each rage, you can cast bestow curse in place of one attack when you take the Attack action.
Path of the Ill-Omened quirks
The following are some optional quirks for a player of this path to choose from.
| d6 | Quirk |
|---|---|
| 1 | Your blood has a disconcerting oil-slick sheen to it. |
| 2 | Priests and diviners get chills when you pass near. |
| 3 | More than once, dead birds have been found after your passage, with foul and diseased livers. |
| 4 | You put extra care into maintaining your weapon's grip, after one too many grip-slips in combat. |
| 5 | Your battles always seem to cause a remarkable amount of collateral damage. |
| 6 | You were born under a cursed star. |
Change Log
v0.2
- Removed enemy damage from Cursed Rage
v0.1
- Rough Draft
Credits & References:
Path of the Ill-Omened created by somanyrobots Discord | Patreon
Art
In Garruk's Wake, by Chase Stone © Wizards of the Coast LLC
Background Image Stains
License
© 2026 somanyrobots, CC BY-NC 4.0
Fan Content Policy
This work is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
5E SRD Content
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available here.
The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available here.