Level Up (A5E) The Berserker Rage HP Cap Makes No Sense

[W'rkncacnter]

so, berserker rage lasts 1 minute (10 rounds). you can have maximum amount of rage HP equal to 5 times your berserker level. this seems reasonable, right?

except look at this table.

Level​	Rage HP/Round​	Theoretical Rage HP Cap​	Real Rage HP Cap​
1​	2​	5​	20​
2​	2​	10​	20​
3​	2​	15​	20​
4​	2​	20​	20​
5​	2​	25​	20​
6​	2​	30​	20​
7​	2​	35​	20​
8​	2​	40​	20​
9​	3​	45​	30​
10​	3​	50​	30​
11​	3​	55​	30​
12​	3​	60​	30​
13​	3​	65​	30​
14​	3​	70​	30​
15​	3​	75​	30​
16​	4​	80​	40​
17​	4​	85​	40​
18​	4​	90​	40​
19​	4​	95​	40​
20​	5​	100​	50 (actually 100 due to capstone)​

the theoretical HP cap is based on the cap given by the rage feature (i.e. 5*level), while the real cap is based on the total amount of hit points you can possibly accrue in a minute. as you can see, starting at level 4, the theoretical cap either matches or exceeds anything you could possibly ever get, meaning it's just sort of...redundant for most of the game. is this a problem? i guess not really. it's just kind of strange.

 

[Selganor]

Just wondering... since the Rage Hitpoints are Hitpoints and not Temporary Hitpoints...
Does this raise the maximum hp you can have?
Can someone heal you up to your sum of hp and rage hp?

 

[W'rkncacnter]

Just wondering... since the Rage Hitpoints are Hitpoints and not Temporary Hitpoints...
Does this raise the maximum hp you can have?
Can someone heal you up to your sum of hp and rage hp?

i don't believe so. it's true that rage hitpoints aren't temp HP, but that doesn't mean they're hitpoints. it seems, from the way rage specifies you lose your rage hitpoints first, like they're some third, more sinister thing.

maybe i read it wrong, though, in which case magical healing could be the reason why there's a rage HP cap.

 

[bigfaceless]

Is this not just a situation where a specific rule beats a more general rule?

As I'm reading it one a5e.tools, they aren't "hit points" or "temporary hit points" but "Rage hit points." The rules governing them are unique and supersede the general rule about how many hitpoints a character can get in a minute.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

Is this not just a situation where a specific rule beats a more general rule?

As I'm reading it one a5e.tools, they aren't "hit points" or "temporary hit points" but "Rage hit points." The rules governing them are unique and supersede the general rule about how many hitpoints a character can get in a minute.

i think you misunderstood - there is no "general rule about how many hitpoints a character can get in a minute". im talking solely about how many rage hit points it's possible to accrue in one minute versus the cap for them the rage feature sets. it's all the same specific rule.

 

[Dragongrief]

I think it is primarily for lower level characters, however it could come into play for higher level characters.

The Berserker rage doesn't require taking damage or attacking an enemy. It only ends if you fall unconscious, or willingly end it (unless there's errata - I didn't check the tools site).

Take a 20th level berserker who runs around in a perpetual rage (unlimited uses). Every two minutes they would hit the cap and wouldn't be able to gain more until they had been injured.

Other tier 3 and 4 levels might take a third rage to be at max, but not a bad idea if you have them and are closing in on a boss fight.

 

[xiphumor]

Simple answer: You can rage twice in a row without losing the benefits of the first rage.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

The Berserker rage doesn't require taking damage or attacking an enemy. It only ends if you fall unconscious, or willingly end it (unless there's errata - I didn't check the tools site).

it also ends after a minute, at which point the rage hit points immediately dissipate. as far as i can tell there is no feature that extends this maximum duration, nor can you expend a use of rage to keep a single rage going (although if im misreading that feel free to correct me).

Take a 20th level berserker who runs around in a perpetual rage (unlimited uses). Every two minutes they would hit the cap and wouldn't be able to gain more until they had been injured.

no - at the end of each minute the rage would end, dissipating the hit points, and would need to be restarted, with a rage hit point pool of 0. also your rage hit point gain doubles as part of the capstone, so you'd hit the cap (but never exceed it) at the end of each rage.

Simple answer: You can rage twice in a row without losing the benefits of the first rage.

yeah, that would be a fair house rule for this.

 

[Sepulchre]

I don’t see anything that prohibits a Berserker from refreshing the duration of their rage before it expires. It would also be an odd restriction in my opinion.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

I don’t see anything that prohibits a Berserker from refreshing the duration of their rage before it expires.

i don't see anything that allows them too. it'd be a strange assumption to make that they can just do it.