UltimaGabe
First Post
Hey, everyone. Have any of you ever thought that the duration of Fatigue after a rage has finished was... well... weird? I mean, a Barbarian, after Raging, is fatigued "for the duration of the encounter"- an arbitrary length of time not used for any other effect in the entire game, to my knowledge. Why is this? Whether the battle lasts another in-game hour (something I hope no player ever has to sit through), or if it ends one round later, the Barbarian is still fatigued the entire time, even if another one starts up two rounds later. The duration of "the encounter" is ridiculous, because it really boils down to "whether or not the DM feels like letting you get your strength back". Not only that, but the Barbarian is fatigued for the exact same duration whether they Rage for a single round, or twenty rounds. And to top it all off, a Barbarian can't Rage more than once per encounter, even if the encounter lasts an hour. This is a relatively reasonable rule for a low-level Barbarian(that is, if you think that the "fatigued for the encounter" rule is reasonable), but what if they're an Epic-level Barbarian with the tireless Rage ability? He still can't Rage more than once per encounter, regardless of the duration. Anyone find this odd?
I thought up a potential (and, in my opinion, quite feasible) fix for this. Rather than having the fatigue last "for the duration of the encounter", instead have it last for the same duration as the Rage itself- that is, for every round spent in Rage, the Barbarian must spend one round fatigued. This way, if the battle happens to last for thirty+ rounds (which I've never seen), and the Barbarian bursts into Rage in the first round and stays with it until it's gone, there's a chance that by the end of the encounter he'll have his normal stats back. Plus, it would give some sort of an reason to end your Rage prematurely (in case there's a round or two with no enemies, so that you could be sure to be back at full strength before the reinforcements come). Also, I think that a Barbarian should be able to Rage more than once per encounter, as long as he can't use his Rage ability until the fatigue ends (and, of course, as long as he stays within his daily limit for uses of Rage). So if that 20th-level Barbarian manages to get himself into a battle that lasts 30 rounds, he can enter Rage a second time once the second one ends. After all, he's got at least 5 uses of it per day, so why not use 'em?
So, for ease of recognition, here's the Barbarian's Rage description, per the SRD, with my suggested changes:
Rage (Ex): A barbarian can fly into a rage a certain number of times per day. In a rage, a barbarian temporarily gains a +4 bonus to Strength, a +4 bonus to Constitution, and a +2 morale bonus on Will saves, but he takes a –2 penalty to Armor Class. The increase in Constitution increases the barbarian’s hit points by 2 points per level, but these hit points go away at the end of the rage when his Constitution score drops back to normal. (These extra hit points are not lost first the way temporary hit points are.) While raging, a barbarian cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except for Balance, Escape Artist, Intimidate, and Ride), the Concentration skill, or any abilities that require patience or concentration, nor can he cast spells or activate magic items that require a command word, a spell trigger (such as a wand), or spell completion (such as a scroll) to function. He can use any feat he has except Combat Expertise, item creation feats, and metamagic feats. A fit of rage lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the character’s (newly improved) Constitution modifier. A barbarian may prematurely end his rage. At the end of the rage, the barbarian loses the rage modifiers and restrictions and becomes fatigued (–2 penalty to Strength, –2 penalty to Dexterity, can’t charge or run) for one round per round spent in rage (so if a Barbarian with a constitution of 16 [20 while in rage] stays in his rage for the full 8 rounds, he is then fatigued for 8 rounds- however, if he were to end it after the third round, for example, he would only be fatigued for 3 rounds). A 17th-level Barbarian, as per the Tireless Rage ability, is no longer fatigued after his Rage.
A barbarian can fly into a rage whenever he wishes, but not while he is fatigued. If a Barbarian stays in rage for 5 rounds, and then the rage is ended (either because its duration expired or he ended it prematurely), he must wait until the 5 rounds of fatigue have passed before entering rage again, limited by his daily uses of rage. (A 17th-level Barbarian, since he is not fatigued after his rage expires, could spend another use of his rage ability to begin raging the round after his first rage expires.) At 1st level he can use his rage ability once per day. At 4th level and every four levels thereafter, he can use it one additional time per day (to a maximum of six times per day at 20th level). Entering a rage takes no time itself, but a barbarian can do it only during his action, not in response to someone else’s action.
What do y'all think?
I thought up a potential (and, in my opinion, quite feasible) fix for this. Rather than having the fatigue last "for the duration of the encounter", instead have it last for the same duration as the Rage itself- that is, for every round spent in Rage, the Barbarian must spend one round fatigued. This way, if the battle happens to last for thirty+ rounds (which I've never seen), and the Barbarian bursts into Rage in the first round and stays with it until it's gone, there's a chance that by the end of the encounter he'll have his normal stats back. Plus, it would give some sort of an reason to end your Rage prematurely (in case there's a round or two with no enemies, so that you could be sure to be back at full strength before the reinforcements come). Also, I think that a Barbarian should be able to Rage more than once per encounter, as long as he can't use his Rage ability until the fatigue ends (and, of course, as long as he stays within his daily limit for uses of Rage). So if that 20th-level Barbarian manages to get himself into a battle that lasts 30 rounds, he can enter Rage a second time once the second one ends. After all, he's got at least 5 uses of it per day, so why not use 'em?
So, for ease of recognition, here's the Barbarian's Rage description, per the SRD, with my suggested changes:
Rage (Ex): A barbarian can fly into a rage a certain number of times per day. In a rage, a barbarian temporarily gains a +4 bonus to Strength, a +4 bonus to Constitution, and a +2 morale bonus on Will saves, but he takes a –2 penalty to Armor Class. The increase in Constitution increases the barbarian’s hit points by 2 points per level, but these hit points go away at the end of the rage when his Constitution score drops back to normal. (These extra hit points are not lost first the way temporary hit points are.) While raging, a barbarian cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except for Balance, Escape Artist, Intimidate, and Ride), the Concentration skill, or any abilities that require patience or concentration, nor can he cast spells or activate magic items that require a command word, a spell trigger (such as a wand), or spell completion (such as a scroll) to function. He can use any feat he has except Combat Expertise, item creation feats, and metamagic feats. A fit of rage lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the character’s (newly improved) Constitution modifier. A barbarian may prematurely end his rage. At the end of the rage, the barbarian loses the rage modifiers and restrictions and becomes fatigued (–2 penalty to Strength, –2 penalty to Dexterity, can’t charge or run) for one round per round spent in rage (so if a Barbarian with a constitution of 16 [20 while in rage] stays in his rage for the full 8 rounds, he is then fatigued for 8 rounds- however, if he were to end it after the third round, for example, he would only be fatigued for 3 rounds). A 17th-level Barbarian, as per the Tireless Rage ability, is no longer fatigued after his Rage.
A barbarian can fly into a rage whenever he wishes, but not while he is fatigued. If a Barbarian stays in rage for 5 rounds, and then the rage is ended (either because its duration expired or he ended it prematurely), he must wait until the 5 rounds of fatigue have passed before entering rage again, limited by his daily uses of rage. (A 17th-level Barbarian, since he is not fatigued after his rage expires, could spend another use of his rage ability to begin raging the round after his first rage expires.) At 1st level he can use his rage ability once per day. At 4th level and every four levels thereafter, he can use it one additional time per day (to a maximum of six times per day at 20th level). Entering a rage takes no time itself, but a barbarian can do it only during his action, not in response to someone else’s action.
What do y'all think?
fly into a rage and enter the fray.
