D&D 4E How does the 4E Barbarian Rage ability work?

[Bagpuss]

Sure it is... Paladins for example have that limitation for Lay on Hands. I take it you haven't played/seen the Paladin in play yet?

Yeah but that's a minor ability Rage is sort of a barbarian's thing. Besides keying it off milestones, gives more reason to adventure on, making it X many times a day encourages the party to rest sooner.

 

[DracoSuave]

Rage is a barbarian thing, which is why all their dailies have it, and all their at-wills are improved by it.

It's a mechanic no other class has in any way or form.

Rage Strike -really- is a way of giving barbarians the archtypical heavyboom dailies without them having to sacrifice a powerslot to take it.

Let's face it, 9[W]+Str is an obscene about of kaboom. Don't these guys get a daily that attacks six times? Take that Blade Cascade!

 

[abyssaldeath]

Actually, Hurricane of Blades(six attacks) is an encounter.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Yeah but that's a minor ability Rage is sort of a barbarian's thing.

I agree, but you only get 1 daily ability at level 1 (ie 1 Rage) as it is. I call that pretty minor. If it is keyed off of a secondary ability score, you can at least have the option of using it more than once/day.

Besides keying it off milestones, gives more reason to adventure on, making it X many times a day encourages the party to rest sooner.

This is actually a very good point...

 

[Tale]

I agree, but you only get 1 daily ability at level 1 (ie 1 Rage) as it is. I call that pretty minor. If it is keyed off of a secondary ability score, you can at least have the option of using it more than once/day.

I'm glad it's something they probably won't be using more than once a day in most situations. It's a rage. He's getting insatiably mad. He's not an Angry Marine (ALWAYS ANGRY! ALL THE TIME!). He's still a (relatively) well adjusted individual. He just gets angrier than normal when the situation calls for it.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Here is another question about Rage Strike...

Rage Strike Barbarian Feature
You channel your primal rage into a devastating attack.
At-Will ✦ Primal, Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Requirement: You must be raging and have at least
one unused rage power.
Target: One creature
Effect: Before the attack, you expend an unused rage power.
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: You deal damage based on the level of the rage
power you expended:
1st level 3[W] + Strength modifier
5th level 4[W] + Strength modifier
9th level 5[W] + Strength modifier
15th level 6[W] + Strength modifier
19th level 7[W] + Strength modifier
25th level 8[W] + Strength modifier
29th level 9[W] + Strength modifier
Miss: Half damage.

So, at level 5 you get your 2nd Daily Attack Power (ie your 2nd Rage).

Lets say I use my 1st level Daily and rage. I then want to expend my 5th level daily and use Rage Strike. In order to use Rage Strike, I am required to have at least 1 unexpended Rage (which I do, my level 1 one). But as soon as I expended it, it is no longer unexpended, therefore I don't meet the requirement to use Rage Strike... So does this mean you actually have to wait until level 9 in order to use Rage Strike (and at that point, only be able to use it 1/day) thus satisfying the requirement to (a) Rage, (b) expend a Rage and (c) have at least 1 unexpended Rage.

 

[Tale]

Here is another question about Rage Strike...



So, at level 5 you get your 2nd Daily Attack Power (ie your 2nd Rage).

Lets say I use my 1st level Daily and rage. I then want to expend my 5th level daily and use Rage Strike. In order to use Rage Strike, I am required to have at least 1 unexpended Rage (which I do, my level 1 one). But as soon as I expended it, it is no longer unexpended, therefore I don't meet the requirement to use Rage Strike... So does this mean you actually have to wait until level 9 in order to use Rage Strike (and at that point, only be able to use it 1/day) thus satisfying the requirement to (a) Rage, (b) expend a Rage and (c) have at least 1 unexpended Rage.

Requirements only have to be met before. Not also after.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Just to go off on a tangent for a minute... I've noticed that the Barbarian powers are called Evocations (like how Clerics use Prayers, Wizards use Spells, Fighter use Exploits). So this leads me to believe the Sorcerer will indeed be Primal (as opposed to Arcane) and also use Evocations.

So, what are the other power sources, and what do you think those powers would be considered? For example, I remember one as possibly being Shadow power source. Would a class who had a Shadow power source use Curses, or Hexes or something else?

 

[almagest]

My personal feeling on this.

Too complicated, and exceptionally unsatisfying. The Rage mechanic is someone just getting WAY to clever.

The thematic feel of the Striker class is that it allows you to do X bonus damage, and gives you ways to enhance that mechanic.

This Barbarian right now, gives you your special. Once per day, that provides a minor enhancement for the rest of the encounter. And then as you go up in levels, you can dish out "Some damage" and then go on.

Right now, if I were rating this class, I would say it's a failure. Plain and simple. Go back figure out how to make Rages, provide different options to ALL attacks, (even if its only against one target, or some variable to that per round). And then let us try it.

Right now, this just comes across as way to clunky and not well done.

I don't like it and would not encourage someone to playtest this further. Cause as it stands, it's not friendly, or coherent. And I recognize it's a playtest class. And not fully finished. But they seemed to think this was a good direction and I feel in all honesty it's a gigantic miss.

Go back and find some mechanic that allows significant damage dealing, but in this case, change the mechanic to something that feels like one of the other strikers. Bonus damage, figure it out. But this way just feels wrong.

So you think it's done wrong, but don't give a reason why, nor a suggestion to fix it. It also doesn't sound like you've tried it in an actual play session, either. You've also declared that no one else should playtest it at all, because you don't like it.

So, overall, a lot of opinion, but no substance.

 

[jbear]

What I first noticed about the play test barbarian was that they didn t give any feats to accompany it and didnt explain the secondary role as either defender or leader.

I really have a strong gut feeling that when you can see the complete barbarian with special feats, secondary role abilities and specially designed magic items tailored to fit the problem of the rage strike gap at level 1-4 and the barbarians 15min working day will be resolved.

I also wonder if the Half Orc will have an encounter ability that counts as raging or some way to provoke raging as the feat which provokes being bloodied for the Dragonborn.

Then again its just a hunch. Anyway I'm sure they will have it ironed out by the time they release it. Maybe the martial Powers book will shed new light on the issue as well...