Barbarian's Hit Points gained by Rage

[Dax Doomslayer]

Hi All,
I was just wondering how you would handle the following: A first level barbarian has 12 hit points. When the barbarian rages, his hit points increase to 14. Now say he takes 23 points of damage from an Ogre's club. What happens? Does the barbarian drop and then die the next round (-9 with the rage hit points)? Does the barbarian drop dead as a stone right there (-11 without the rage hit points)? When are those hitpoints gained from rage lost? They are not temporary hitpoints and thus lost first. How should this be handled? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[melkoriii]

Hi All,
I was just wondering how you would handle the following: A first level barbarian has 12 hit points. When the barbarian rages, his hit points increase to 14. Now say he takes 23 points of damage from an Ogre's club. What happens? Does the barbarian drop and then die the next round (-9 with the rage hit points)? Does the barbarian drop dead as a stone right there (-11 without the rage hit points)? When are those hitpoints gained from rage lost? They are not temporary hitpoints and thus lost first. How should this be handled? Any help would be appreciated.

The Barbarian loses the HP gained from Raging when the duration from Raging ends.

So a Barbarian that has a CON of 14 when raging will have the HP for 5 rounds. If at the end of 5 rounds he drops to -10 or below, s/he is dead.

 

[Grog]

Doesn't the rage automatically end when the barbarian loses consciousness? If so, the barbarian in the above example would be dead the moment after the club hit him.

 

[gfunk]

The same problem existed in 3.0.

IIRC, the Sage ruled that the Rage lasts until the specified duration as long as his hp are greater than -10.

If you want a real-world rationale then think about an adrenaline surge that lasts a set number of rounds.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

In 3.5 the text states that the rage continues even if you are unconscious.

Note that if the barbarian weren't raging he would be dead anyway. I don't see rage as making barbarians weaker in this manner. (Of course, the AC penalty may contribute to damage being taken.)

 

[Dr. Zoom]

Doesn't the rage automatically end when the barbarian loses consciousness?

No, it lasts its entire duration at which point the barbarian's Con drops back to normal as does his hit points.

 

[Darklone]

Condolences to the long list of barbarians I've seen killed while unconscious on the ground and the rest of the group forgot the end of the rage...

 

[Dax Doomslayer]

Hi Folks,
Thanks for the input. In light of the answers, this brings me to another question then. If the barbarian is still standing even while in the "negative hitpoints" does he need to roll to stabalize? Does he continue to lose one hit point a round?? Thanks for all the help!!

 

[kreynolds]

Hi Folks,
If the barbarian is still standing even while in the "negative hitpoints"...

With the exception of certain feats or class abilities (of which the Barbarian doesn't get from the class), if he's at negative hit points, he isn't standing. He's on his back, so to speak.

 

[Dax Doomslayer]

With the exception of certain feats or class abilities (of which the Barbarian doesn't get from the class), if he's at negative hit points, he isn't standing. He's on his back, so to speak.

OK - please bear with me because I'm thick Thus is it being told that if with the additional hitpoints the barbarian is dropped below 0 hit points, he drops? If that is in fact the case, what happens to the Rage?Is it a GFunk stated that it lasts until the duration is over or does it end immediately upon being dropped? Also, when would the barbarian die? Would it be at -10 for the original hit points or -10 with the rage hit points and then once the rage ends, the character dies if no healing is administered? I would also assume the character would need to stabalize each round as normal. I'm all kinds of confused now . . .Any help is appreciated.