Frenzied Beserker...

[Tyrion]

This is definitely nonstandard magic, but it shouldn't be too hard to set up some spells/magic items that incapacitate the frenzied berserker were he to attack his party. In a frenzy he would never volunteer to waive his saving throw against say, Hold Person, but before combat he might agree to some contingency-type thing where he fails his save preemptively against a Hold effect.

Just an idea, at any rate.

Yeah, there are a lot of solutions. Casting Levitate (with a wand if you don't want to waste spell slots) on the Berserker beforehand, then raising him in the air while he flails impotently during Frenzy works. Also, you can just Summon crappy monsters for the Berserker to beat on until his rage runs out if you need to.

I disagree that the Berserker is selfish. If you can save the party with your enhanced combat capabilities and prevent turning on them by using magic, how is that selfish?

 

[Endur]

Well, its selfish because most GMs aren't going to let your magic keep the bersker from killing you all of the time.

You might be able to use magic to dodge the bullet once or twice. But, eventually, the berserker is going to kill party members and/or innocent bystanders.

What happens if you are in an anti-magic null field. Guess what, the berserker shreds your party.

Or if the invisible enemy wizard is busy dispelling any spells you try to use to stop the berserker from killing your party?

Or ... 101 possibilities on how your friend will kill you.

Tom

Yeah, there are a lot of solutions. Casting Levitate (with a wand if you don't want to waste spell slots) on the Berserker beforehand, then raising him in the air while he flails impotently during Frenzy works. Also, you can just Summon crappy monsters for the Berserker to beat on until his rage runs out if you need to.

I disagree that the Berserker is selfish. If you can save the party with your enhanced combat capabilities and prevent turning on them by using magic, how is that selfish?

 

[Crothian]

The best solution is to get the FB a really high will save. There are feats that can do this as well as multi classing that really make the will save to get out of a frenzy simple.

 

[Vocenoctum]

Well, its selfish because most GMs aren't going to let your magic keep the bersker from killing you all of the time.
::snip::
Or ... 101 possibilities on how your friend will kill you.

Tom

Well, for the Berserker (as opposed to the Frenzied Berserker) he doesn't HAVE to go Frenzy. He should reserve it for a circumstance where there are so many enemies around that he has plenty of targets and needs the bonus.

 

[Privateer]

Re: frenzied NPC

I'm not sure, but last I heard, playing a frienzied bezerker is risking your PC being made a permanent NPC each time he frienzies. You hurt a PC, and you can't pick your targets, and you lose the character.

What an odd house rule; unless I missed something, this isn't official. Just so you know; you sounded like you thought this was an official rule. And even if it was an official rule, I'm sure a DM would make an exception for an attack that you cannot control, just like if you were Dominate Person -ed.

In my campaigns, screwing the other PC over is quite enjoyable, especially when they turn evil

 

[durath]

I'm selfish

I've seen so many threads about how playing a Frenzied Berserker is rude or selfish. I'm really sick of that tired old rhetoric. For all of you out there saying this I have to wonder if you have ever played in a campaign with a Frenzied Berserker.

I've played a frenzied berserker for many months now. Granted I designed my PC to have a good will save so that I could pull out of the frenzy. I've got a multiclassed cleric/barbarian/FB.

Want to know how many times I've been unable to pull out of my frenzy? Big fat zero.

How many times have I even struck another party member?
Another zero.

Heck, I've even resisted going into a frenzy a couple times.

This class is just ripe with Role-playing possibilities. When my PC first got the class I incorporated it into his background. He explained how among his people this sometimes happened. He explained his new "condition" to the party. After this they made contingency plans should I ever not pull out of the frenzy.

Bottom line is, don't bash a class if you haven't played it or seen it in action a good deal. What's more, most players aren't out to "screw" the other PC's. They simply want to expand their RP abilities and try out new concepts.

 

[David Argall]

frienzy penalty

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Originally posted by David Argall
I'm not sure, but last I heard, playing a frienzied bezerker is risking your PC being made a permanent NPC each time he frienzies. You hurt a PC, and you can't pick your targets, and you lose the character.
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"What an odd house rule; unless I missed something, this isn't official. Just so you know; you sounded like you thought this was an official rule. And even if it was an official rule, I'm sure a DM would make an exception for an attack that you cannot control, just like if you were Dominate Person"

I mistyped and didn't identify this as a Living Greyhawk rule. And the "attack you can't control" argument is deemed defective here since you can control it by simply not taking the class. The same reasoning is applied to being a lycanthrope in LG. You are allowed to be one, but once you know you are and have had a chance to be cured, you risk becoming a permanent NPC every time you play. You may involuntarily change form and the DM then decides you attack a PC and then decides you have accepted the LE alignment and are no longer a legal PC. End of PC.

 

[wolff96]

Re: frienzy penalty

The same reasoning is applied to being a lycanthrope in LG. You are allowed to be one, but once you know you are and have had a chance to be cured, you risk becoming a permanent NPC every time you play. You may involuntarily change form and the DM then decides you attack a PC and then decides you have accepted the LE alignment and are no longer a legal PC. End of PC.

Just out of curiousity, since I'm not familiar with the Living Greyhawk Rules...

What about Wereboars and Weretigers? They're "always neutral" by default. So changing into one of them should net you a True Neutral alignment.

 

[Zerovoid]

Re: frienzy penalty

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by David Argall
I'm not sure, but last I heard, playing a frienzied bezerker is risking your PC being made a permanent NPC each time he frienzies. You hurt a PC, and you can't pick your targets, and you lose the character.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What an odd house rule; unless I missed something, this isn't official. Just so you know; you sounded like you thought this was an official rule. And even if it was an official rule, I'm sure a DM would make an exception for an attack that you cannot control, just like if you were Dominate Person"

I mistyped and didn't identify this as a Living Greyhawk rule. And the "attack you can't control" argument is deemed defective here since you can control it by simply not taking the class. The same reasoning is applied to being a lycanthrope in LG. You are allowed to be one, but once you know you are and have had a chance to be cured, you risk becoming a permanent NPC every time you play. You may involuntarily change form and the DM then decides you attack a PC and then decides you have accepted the LE alignment and are no longer a legal PC. End of PC.

That seems really same to me, since the Monstrous Manual says you only take on the alignment of your new form when you voluntarily change shape.

 

[David Argall]

LG weres

"What about Wereboars and Weretigers? They're "always neutral" by default. So changing into one of them should net you a True Neutral alignment."

Presumably, but 1st you have got to meet one and fight with it. I rather suspect the brass is rejecting all such uses of them.


"the Monstrous Manual says you only take on the alignment of your new form when you voluntarily change shape."

As with most words, the definition of 'voluntary' can be flexible. Since you didn't get cured, it is thus your voluntary choice to change form and thus you are at risk each time it happens.
Perhaps not adequate reason, but adequate excuse. They don't want evil PCs for dubious PR reasons, and don't want excessively powerful PCs for good game reasons, so they don't want were PC, and so they get the axe.