Path of Blood

A barbarian who adopts the primal path of blood has pledged himself to a life without mercy. He has realized that in battle there is no kindness, no beauty, no nobility. When the ground is watered with the blood of enemies, there is naught left but to tread a path through the blood of the slaughtered until the next day of battle dawns. Those who live, live; those who die, die. Life is not about victory but survival, and the test of battle is the test of worthiness. A barbarian that follows this path does not bother to test himself against the weak; they will perish in the inevitable reaping to come.

The barbarian must never show mercy to an enemy that surrenders. He cannot tend the wounds of the injured, and he must behead helpless foes whenever possible, during battle if not immediately threatened and immediately afterwards if not. He despises healing magic items as tools of the weak and destroys them when possible, though he can accept healing spells and effects (but not from magic items) used by comrades in battle and he does not steal or vandalize equipment belonging to comrades.

Slicing Blow

When you choose this path at third level, your attacks aren’t just brutal and deadly, you know where to slice an opponent to make them bleed. As part of a successful attack, you can cause your opponent a bleeding wound. Your opponent is entitled to a saving throw equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom bonus. A bleeding wound does additional damage equal to your Strength modifier. This damage is reapplied for a number of rounds equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier. Your opponent may attempt to stop the bleeding by making a successful saving throw or receiving magical healing. You may only use this against an opponent once, and you may do it once per long rest for every four barbarian levels. You may use this ability against an opponent again after they have recovered from the first slicing blow.

Sapping Strike

At 6th level, as part of a normal attack, you know exactly how to hit your foe to reduce their overall combat effectiveness.

As part of a normal attack, you can force them to make a Constitution save (DC = your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom bonus). If your foe fails their save, you cause them to take one level of exhaustion. You can use this attack on the same opponent multiple times to give them additional levels of exhaustion. For every long rest, you may use Sapping Strike once for every four barbarian levels, to a maximum of five at 20th level.

Minced Meat

At 10th level, your attacks have become so precise that you can defeat even the mightiest opponent by bleeding them out. This ability works exactly the same as Slicing Blow, except that there is no limit to the number of times an opponent can be affected by your ability. You may still only use this ability once for every four barbarian levels per long rest.

Finishing Move – Decapitation

At 14th level, when your opponent is nearly finished, you may attempt a finishing move as a standard action. Your opponent must be down to 10% of their full hit points (if you ask, your GM must inform you whether or not your opponent is eligible for the finishing move). After you have announced your intention to use your finishing move, you make an attack. You must be using a weapon that deals slashing damage. If the attack hits, your foe is allowed a save equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier. If it makes its save, it takes normal damage but suffers no further consequences. If it fails its save, it dies immediately and you choose which limb is hacked off immediately (often the head). Further, if you GM allows death saves for adversaries, it is not allowed a death save.

You may make a finishing move once for every six barbarian levels per long rest.