barbarians rage - who is my friend?

[Alpha Polaris]

But there is apparently a feat in the book of exalted deeds that, 'allows barbarians to tell friend from foe no matter how deep into his rage he is' or something like that.

Could you tell me the name of that feat ? I shuffled through BoED without finding it, and it would be very interesting for my soon-to-be Frenzied Berserker (Barbarian 2 / Fighter 4 until now).

 

[Ottergame]

If bezerkers couldn't tell the difference between friend and foe, all barbarians would have killed themselves off years ago.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

He doesn't know what he's talking about. "Telling friend from foe" is no Skill. Maybe you could see it as a skill, but it's nothing that appears anywhere in the SRD.
Barbarians don't lose control, only the Frenzied Berserkers do.

Your DM might be a little behind on matters: In AD&D, barbarian rage let the barbarian indeed lose his control, and silly things like everyone having to lie flat down were done. But this is a major drawback, and one not every RPG-rookie can deal with. It was OK then, for barbarian was an optional thing. But now the Barbarian is a core class, something that, per default, every player can pick up. Putting such challenges into a core class is wrong, for these should be comparatively easy.

For the same reason, PrC's won't appear in the PHB, and no standard PC-race has a level Adjustment.

 

[Particle_Man]

Y'know, an illusionist could really play havoc with a party that contains a barbarian.

DM: "You see your enemy in front of you!"
Barbarian: "I attack!"
Bard: "What? No, wait! Argh! Gurgle! Gasp! Death Rattle!"

 

[Darklone]

Y'know, an illusionist could really play havoc with a party that contains a barbarian.

DM: "You see your enemy in front of you!"
Barbarian: "I attack!"
Bard: "What? No, wait! Argh! Gurgle! Gasp! Death Rattle!"

In my parties, it would rather be the bard who plays that joke with the wizard...

 

[Scion]

Thanks all I'll try to reason with him. He isnt my dm yet, but might be at some point so it is best to get strange things out of the way. If he wishes to houserule it that is one thing, but it isnt core apparently.

As for the feat name, I dont know. I saw the feat when I was browsing through his BoED and made mention that it granted a non-ability. He said that it granted that ability because normally barbs couldnt tell. etc etc, hence the thread

But I believe that it also gave you some sort of nimbus, if I can get hold of a copy at some point I'll try to find it again.

 

[Alpha Polaris]

Y'know, an illusionist could really play havoc with a party that contains a barbarian.

DM: "You see your enemy in front of you!"
Barbarian: "I attack!"
Bard: "What? No, wait! Argh! Gurgle! Gasp! Death Rattle!"

Sure. Just like the typical fighter would act otherwise ("I power attack him to death"). Or the typical rogue ("I run, hide, wait for him to pass by, and sneak attack him to death"). Of all warrior types, only the paladin stands a good chance against an illusionist, because he can actually make the save.

Now, the bard also has Break Enchantment and Song of Freedom, if he really needs it.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

The feat is Righteous Wrath.
The relevant line is "While raging, you maintain clarity of mind unusual among barbarians. You are perfectly able to deal nonlethal damage, stop your attacks to show mercy, and distinguish friend from foe even in the heat of your rage."

Doesn't I think it's more flavour text (it isn't the main use of the feat), as barbarians are able to do this, anyway.

 

[BSF]

It is easily just as arguable that recognizing your friends is Wis based. Especially when you consider that dogs & horses have a much higher Wis then they do Int.

This sounds like a case of bad interpretation by the DM. The barbarian never completely loses control. Gently encourage the DM to re-read the barbarian core class and then the Frenzied Berserker PrC.

 

[Alpha Polaris]

As for the feat name, I dont know. I saw the feat when I was browsing through his BoED and made mention that it granted a non-ability. He said that it granted that ability because normally barbs couldnt tell. etc etc, hence the thread

But I believe that it also gave you some sort of nimbus, if I can get hold of a copy at some point I'll try to find it again.

Ok, I found it. Not Nimbus of light, like your last post would have had me think, but Righteous Wrath, which I overlooked in the summary, since the primary effect is to impose a shaken effect on evil foes struck during rage.

Now the secondary effect states:

While raging, you maintain a clarity of mind unusual among barbarians. You are perfectly able to deal nonlethal damage, stop your attacks to show mercy, and distinguish friend from foe even in the heat of your rage

.

So the RAW mentions nothing about frenzy or frenzied berserkers, so I guess it means the frenzied is still out in the cold regarding friends and foes. Still (oops, thread hijacking detected), what do you guys think about it ? Would this feat work around frenzy ? Is the a valid quest for my PC, to first change alignment and then seek some way of gaining Righteous Wrath ?

Edit: I got beaten badly...