Rage/Frenzy

[Khazidhea]

Well one of my players wants to prestige as a frenzied bezerker(from complete warrior) and he wants to be able to rage and frenzy at the same time and stack the benefits, so i guess my question is can you do that?

 

[Drowbane]

Yes, absolutely.

Unnamed bonuses and all that. Frenzied Berserker is easily one of the most potent PrCs out there for the whole rage-schtick. Its really easy to lose control and wipe out your own party though.

 

[Theroc]

Well one of my players wants to prestige as a frenzied bezerker(from complete warrior) and he wants to be able to rage and frenzy at the same time and stack the benefits, so i guess my question is can you do that?

Lol, I had considered doing a Barb/'serker in a campaign once, but decided it'd be too easy to annihilate my allies, and they'd have no reason to stay around such a person.

 

[frankthedm]

Well one of my players wants to prestige as a frenzied bezerker(from complete warrior)

A good deal of folks would recommend against allowing the frenzied berserker into a game. The class trades the group's safety for piles of damage. Either the FB will be a liability to the group and/or the PRC will be a Getting something for nothing if the character has a way of negating the drawback.

Heh, I would suggest tearing the class out of the book to start a camp fire. It is one of the main reasons that I do not give WotC books a blanket 'okay' in my campaigns. Contrary to some folks opinions WotC comes out with just as much broken stuff as anyone else. (And to be fair, they also come out with just as much stuff that is freakin' brilliant.)

The Auld Grump

FB is, imnsho, perhaps the single most broken prestige class WotC has published. (Unless you count the pre-errata ninja of the crescent moon.)

Yes. Just ban the FB and both you and your PCs will be happier in the long run for it.

Well swarms (especially some of the higher CR ones from the MM3) can do a lot of total damage, just not usually to one target. It's true though that that puts the players at a much greater risk of death.

It's difficult justify realistically how someone at -410 can keep on fighting. I can see how FBs can be much more trouble than they're worth in many campaigns.

Easy answer: don't cut the character any slack because he's a PC.

If you're adventuring with a guy and he goes nuts and turns on you, you don't adventure with him any more. Even if you don't kill one another, that necessary bond of trust is broken. You'd tell the madman that either he leaves or you do, but you don't work together any longer, period.

It's just like if there's one guy stealing from fellow party members. You wouldn't tolerate it in real life, don't tolerate it in game.

... failing that, you know Prestidigitation can make ground glass taste juuuust like salt ...

I agree. He's essentially saying, "hey, everybody!!! I'm gonna do a bunch of p.c.p., then run around with an axe. Who knows what'll happen? Cmon, it'll be fun!"
Hell with that.

I'd take that even one step further and, as others have suggested, the minute he turns on the party, devote all resources to taking him out, permanently. If anything, the notion that this player has been developing his character towards taking this PrC makes it all the more unacceptable if/when he turns on the party. It's like saying that he's been gradually becoming less and less stable all the time, so if the party has to finally put him out of the way, it's a matter of self-defense at that point.

Wand of Kill Him in His Sleep?

Seriously, rip pages 34, 35, & 36 out of Complete Warrior. There's no really reasonable way to play this class as written. Traps will send him into a Frenzy...

At some point, you know it's time to take Old Yeller out back of the barn and put him out of his misery.

I would ask the DM why he would even consider allowing such a silly class into his campaign. Immune to being killed no matter how much damage it takes?

Why is it so important for the FB player to have an ability that is both questionably designed and has such a high potential for friction?

 

[Runestar]

It is highly debatable if the righteous rage feat from BOED will let the FB work around his drawback though.

On another hand, it is not that hard to boost your will save so you can avoid going into berserk mode reliably.

 

[risner]

Many people don't realize that not all PrC are designed (or intended) to be used by players.

Who really believes FB was intended to be a player PrC? It seems clear to me that it is best used (designed) for NPC's. The same for Beholder Mage and Ur-Priest.

 

[Christian]

Just for a counterpoint--I played in a party with a frenzied berserker and had a blast ... The player had a very interesting personality and background that both made the character enjoyable to interact with and reasonably justified the other characters' willingness to keep him in the party. So it can be done!

 

[krupintupple]

yeah, the FB is great.

....for the DM.


it's all shades of broken when attempting to adventure in a PC environment, but great as a lone and perhaps suicidal NPC. personally, even if i had a player who managed to get his will save to something like +20 and completely avoid the frenzied rage against his friends, i'd still at least once per session place him in situations where there's a reasonable chance he fails it, otherwise, he's getting a HUGE something for no real penalty.

one of my favorite tricks was to roll his ability in towns, when someone may have slighted his barbarian honour, or bumped into him accidentally. unfair? hardly. underhanded? entirely.

i really dislike a PC to get a free +6 to two scores, become unkillable and be able to triple power attack output for a mere 5% chance (if fully optimized) of going berzerk at the end of combat.

 

[Drowbane]

Hey! Nothing wrong with Ur Priests... :evilgrin:

 

[Jlord]

They are not all that bad.
I had a halfling frienzied berserker, and the parties motto was "let's just slap Fury Hillslaughterer in ass and throw him in the next room."