D&D 5E Barbarian wants to damage himself to keep rage going

[jasper]

Roll to hit self with primary weapon. You are now hostile to yourself, and hostile to party.

 

[Undrave]

I'd allow them to take self damage in order to continue raging, but it would require an action and actual damage - not "1 point of damage that is reduced to 0". I think that is RAW.

An unarmed strike, unless you have the Tavern Brawler feat or a level of Monk, inflicts 1+STR in bludgeoning damage. To this you would add your Rage damage. Since there's no dice roll, it doesn't matter if its a crit or not so I wouldn't even bother rolling to attack.

At level 1, such a blow would usually inflict 6 points of damage (1+ 3 STR + 2 rage), your rage then reducing it to 3. I think spending an action and 3 HP to keep a rage going is a pretty balanced option. It's pretty much subpar to just throwing something random at an enemy.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

An unarmed strike, unless you have the Tavern Brawler feat or a level of Monk, inflicts 1+STR in bludgeoning damage. To this you would add your Rage damage. Since there's no dice roll, it doesn't matter if its a crit or not so I wouldn't even bother rolling to attack.

At level 1, such a blow would usually inflict 6 points of damage (1+ 3 STR + 2 rage), your rage then reducing it to 3. I think spending an action and 3 HP to keep a rage going is a pretty balanced option. It's pretty much subpar to just throwing something random at an enemy.

Yeah tbh I think it’s more balanced to just allow the Barbarian to keep raging as long as they don’t spend a round or longer at rest.

 

[Hawk Diesel]

If I get mad, and I can see the target of my anger, I don't just stop being angry if I don't act on that anger for 6 seconds (isn't that why you're supposed to count to 10?). This is especially true if I am running at that target or looking for / imagining creative and previously unexplored ways to inflict pain upon them.

I've tracked rage ending in my own games, but if a player gave me a reason it shouldn't end, any reason that made sense, I'd likely allow it.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Yeah tbh I think it’s more balanced to just allow the Barbarian to keep raging as long as they don’t spend a round or longer at rest.

If I get mad, and I can see the target of my anger, I don't just stop being angry if I don't act on that anger for 6 seconds (isn't that why you're supposed to count to 10?). This is especially true if I am running at that target or looking for / imagining creative and previously unexplored ways to inflict pain upon them.

I've tracked rage ending in my own games, but if a player gave me a reason it shouldn't end, any reason that made sense, I'd likely allow it.

I might count any hostile action toward an enemy: grappling/shoving, moving closer, attempting to move closer, or even just shouting at them.

Rule of Cool and all.

 

[Nebulous]

I think it’d be neat if raging had drawbacks as well as benefits and couldn’t be ended early.

If you go all Hulk even your allies are scared

 

[jgsugden]

An unarmed strike, unless you have the Tavern Brawler feat or a level of Monk, inflicts 1+STR in bludgeoning damage. To this you would add your Rage damage. Since there's no dice roll, it doesn't matter if its a crit or not so I wouldn't even bother rolling to attack.

At level 1, such a blow would usually inflict 6 points of damage (1+ 3 STR + 2 rage), your rage then reducing it to 3. I think spending an action and 3 HP to keep a rage going is a pretty balanced option. It's pretty much subpar to just throwing something random at an enemy.

Many DMs, myself included, will allow someone to 'pull their punch' and do less damage. Also, there are plenty of ways to injure oneself where the strength bonus is not added. For example, you might use a Finesse weapon (which doesn't benefit from strength or rage if you choose dex).

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I might count any hostile action toward an enemy: grappling/shoving, moving closer, attempting to move closer, or even just shouting at them.

Rule of Cool and all.

100% agree.

 

[Undrave]

I might count any hostile action toward an enemy: grappling/shoving, moving closer, attempting to move closer, or even just shouting at them.

Rule of Cool and all.

Use Intimidate as an action!

 

[Undrave]

Many DMs, myself included, will allow someone to 'pull their punch' and do less damage. Also, there are plenty of ways to injure oneself where the strength bonus is not added. For example, you might use a Finesse weapon (which doesn't benefit from strength or rage if you choose dex).

Yeah but if you pull your punch too much you end up not getting through the rage damage reduction and thus don't do damage at all