D&D 3E/3.5 Anoter 3.5 Barbarian question

Greenfield

Adventurer
I'm sure this has been asked and answered many times, but I'll ask again.

When does Rage end?

Many people I know play that Rage ends if the Barbarian goes down. But I've read the rules, and I can't find anyplace where it actually says that.

It's key, because the loss of hit points when the rage ends pretty much guarantees a dead Barbarian if it ends when he loses consciousness.

SRD said:
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 the duration of the current encounter (unless he is a 17th-level barbarian, at which point this limitation no longer applies; see below). A barbarian can fly into a rage only once per encounter. 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.
 

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It doesn't end when he goes unconsious.


It ends when one of the following 2 things occur

"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."


From the FAQ

Does a raging barbarian lose the effects of his rage
(including the extra hit points from his increased
Constitution) when he falls unconscious?


No. Nothing in the rage class feature indicates that the
effect ends if the barbarian is rendered unconscious. The Sage
shudders to think how many more dead barbarians would be
lying around the battlefield if being reduced to –1 hp meant that
the barbarian instantly lost additional hp equal to twice his HD!

As a general rule, activated effects remain active even if the
activating character is rendered incapable of acting (paralyzed,
unconscious, dead, and so on) unless the effect stipulates
otherwise

Basically it is a conscious action to prematurely end his rage - being unconscious does not allow him to make such a conscious decision.
 





Basically it is a conscious action to prematurely end his rage - being unconscious does not allow him to make such a conscious decision.


Yeah well...that's "lawyering" down to the bone. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever that a "frenzied/enraged" being retains this state of mind/emotion/nerves or whatever...when he falls unconscious/blacks out, when in fact his mind is nearly "not working at all".

Its not something with a switch you can turn on and off, and certainly it does have anything to do with "conscious decisions while being unconscious"

Having said that, i guess i could rule the same way FAQ proposes...for game balance purposes only... don't know... *shrug*
 

Yeah well...that's "lawyering" down to the bone. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever that a "frenzied/enraged" being retains this state of mind/emotion/nerves or whatever...when he falls unconscious/blacks out, when in fact his mind is nearly "not working at all".

Falling unconscious does not immediately flush the adrenaline overload from his system.

Its not something with a switch you can turn on and off, "

Firstly, yes it is in D&D - the barbarian can switch on or off the rage at will. Secondly, if it weren't then why do you think it would turn off when unconscious (see above)?
 

Barbarian rage resembles real world rage the same way military intelligence resembles intelligence. (Note that we're talking about full berserk rage, not just being pissed off.)

Real world, rage comes over you as a loss of control, usually in response to some outside event. D&D rage comes over you in a 100% controlled manner, and only on your action (as opposed to it being triggered by some outside event.)

D&D rage can run for a while, or be turned off like a light switch. Real world rage fills you with adrenaline, runs your blood pressure and heart rate up, and often causes you to breath heavily, hyperventilating your blood full of oxygen. It takes a body a while to come down from that, even if the person is no longer conscious. So I can see it lasting a while after someone goes down.

D&D rage somehow gives you *more* self control, in the form of heightened Will saves. Real world berserk rage is a total loss of self control. I can see an argument for the person ignoring some effects, but the general boost to Will saves seems weird.
 

Yeah well...that's "lawyering" down to the bone. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever that a "frenzied/enraged" being retains this state of mind/emotion/nerves or whatever...when he falls unconscious/blacks out, when in fact his mind is nearly "not working at all".

Its not something with a switch you can turn on and off, and certainly it does have anything to do with "conscious decisions while being unconscious"

Having said that, i guess i could rule the same way FAQ proposes...for game balance purposes only... don't know... *shrug*

Then how can a barbarian "prematurely end his rage" as the rules state he can?

It is not really rules lawyering but reading what is written down in the book.

When 3.0 came out we ran it that when a barbarian went unconscious then his rage ended and we had a PC die because of it. Only years later after reading the FAQ and then checking the actual text (basically the same in 3.0 as it is in 3.5) we realized the error of our ways.

This is a game and not a real life situation after all, everything in D&D is fantasy and the combat system is extremely vague and simple when compared to real life.
 

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