RE: Barbarian's HP in Rage

[Christian]

One way I've thought of to help players of Barbarians to keep better track of where they stand is to factor those extra hit points into the unconscious and dead levels on your character sheet when you're raging. Eg. when your 10th level barbarian goes into a rage, instead of adding 20 hit points to his total and then taking them away when the rage ends, you could note that he's now disabled at -20 hit points, unconscious at -21, and dead at -30. That way, it would always be clear to you exactly where your character stands ... and falls.

 

[master arminas]

One feat that is great for barbarians worried about sudden death due to the ending of a rage is Fearless Destiny (Races of Destiny, page 152). Now, you have to be human--or half human--spend a feat on Heroic Destiny (eh) and have a character level of 6th or higher to take it. However, once per day, any effect that would reduce you to -10 hit points or fewer instead reduces you to -9 hit points and leaves you in a stable condition. Effects that kill you without reducing you to -10 hit points (such as death effects or disintegrate) function normally.

It's only once per day, but it can be a real life-saver.

Arminas tar Valantil
Grand Master of the Ebon Rose

 

[RigaMortus2]

It's only once per day, but it can be a real life-saver.

Arminas tar Valantil
Grand Master of the Ebon Rose

I find that simply bribing the DM has the same result. And will save you a feat!

 

[Krensus]

Ok, they do more damage, but wouldn't other classes excel at that more so? i.e. fighter or rogue etc? I mean i thought barbarians were the type who could rage run in without caring much, but it just seems to delay the effect. If it was Temp hit points first, that'd be worth it...

am i wrong?

The way to look at a Barbarian's rage is not as an infinite source of life, but a potion that quick fixes some of the damage you take from the low AC. That it adds to your max is nice, but just an added bonus as you're going to have the most HP in the party and anything that can one shot you could one shot anyone. Basically rage buys a turn for the healer to heal someone else who needs it and put a heal over time on you to keep you somewhat stable until he can make it around to you.

As for damage, with the right build Barbarians are crazy. My 3 Bbn/2Ftr's max damage on a crit charge right now while raging is (7 (21 Str) +1 (Greataxe +1) +15 (Leaping Power Attack for 5)+1d12) x3= 3d12+69. While it could be argued that a fighter could use this build to the same effect, barbarian movement and the amazing Uncanny Dodge ability simply puts barbs over the top.

 

[Squire James]

A level 13 barbarian in my campaign just full-attacked an AC 27 opponent for 240 hp damage yesterday. While strong, I don't consider his build or his items as ridiculous. It's amazing what Power Attack and a pair of crits with a greataxe can do...

The foe who thought he was pretty safe at 234 hp was impressed too.

 

[Thurbane]

IMHO, without optimizing it with feats and the like, rage is quite an underpowered ability - especially at lower levels...

 

[shilsen]

IMHO, without optimizing it with feats and the like, rage is quite an underpowered ability - especially at lower levels...

Interesting. In my experience, that +2 to hit and +3 to damage (with a two-hander) is especially important at lower levels, where it can make the difference between hitting (and dropping) an enemy and failing to do so.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Interesting. In my experience, that +2 to hit and +3 to damage (with a two-hander) is especially important at lower levels, where it can make the difference between hitting (and dropping) an enemy and failing to do so.

I find the same thing.

At high levels, +2 to hit is easy to come by. At level 1, that's a big boost in attack power. In fact, it's better than what a Fighter can can get assuming all things are equal (ie stats).

 

[Thurbane]

I've always found the bonuses offset by the AC penalty (especially for a character fighting with a two handed weapon, and trying to stay in lighter armor so he can enjoy his movement bonus), and the exhaust after your X rounds of raging...

 

[irdeggman]

I've always found the bonuses offset by the AC penalty (especially for a character fighting with a two handed weapon, and trying to stay in lighter armor so he can enjoy his movement bonus), and the exhaust after your X rounds of raging...

Even with power attack?

I don't consider that using feats to optimize in this case since it is a no-brainer for anyone using a two handed weapon at all (and no prerquisite feats to take).

What I mean is that it is not a real difficult choice to take a single feat at first level in order to maximize the fighting style.

At 1st level a raging barbarian with a two handed weapon and power attack is very likely to fell a foe with a singel blow, while everyone else is not (even a rogue with sneak attack). Also the barbarian is much more likely to surrvie the first round and get in two attacks before taking any appreciable damage (d12 hit dice as a base plus a usually higher Con score than most other characters).

Remember that a barbarian still gets his fast movement when wearing medium armors - so while wearing a breastplate (+5 to AC) a human can still move 30 ft while others can only move 20 ft in the same armor.