Unconscious Rage / Stance

[SabreCat]

I could have sworn that powers with ongoing-effect keywords Stance and Rage ended when the user became unconscious. But the keywords as defined on PHB2 page 220 say only that they end at the end of the encounter or when you enter another stance/rage.

Now, presumably if you're unconscious you don't still, e.g. deal Rain of Steel damage to adjacent enemies. But once the Leader gets you back up, I guess you just carry on Raining?

EDIT: A quick glance at the wording on Rain of Steel confirms my intuition about the time during which you're unconscious--you can't make opportunity attacks then. But beyond that..?

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Nope, there are really no explicit effects of being unconscious aside from what is listed in the condition entry for it. Noting of course that unconscious also includes helpless and prone. The most important consideration is you can take no actions obviously, which in and of itself means you cannot OA and thus cannot flank.

In principle there is no reason why a stance or rage is effected in any way by the state of the character unless the power says different, or the mechanics of its operation make it effectively useless. Once you get up again it will continue to work just like before. This is GENERALLY true of all types of effects in the game. PHB2 does tell us that Conjurations and Polymorphs end when the caster/target dies, but not when they become unconscious. Although of course AFAIK every conjuration there is basically requires a sustain action, except spirit companions, which still vanish when you go unconscious.

I certainly haven't memorized every stance or rage in the game. I think MOST of them probably do nothing when you're unconscious, but there are probably some that still have some use even then.

 

[UltimaGabe]

I certainly haven't memorized every stance or rage in the game. I think MOST of them probably do nothing when you're unconscious, but there are probably some that still have some use even then.

I'm sure the ones that give your DR or Regeneration would be useful when unconscious.

 

[Danceofmasks]

I'm sure the ones that give your DR or Regeneration would be useful when unconscious.

Well ... regeneration only functions if you have at least 1 hp.

 

[MrMyth]

The original playtest version of the Barbarian indicated that a rage ended when you dropped. That doesn't appear to be the case in the final version. I imagine that is where the confusion is from.

As others have mentioned, most rages don't look like they would have an effect while unconscious - and ones that do still seem reasonable. With Frost Wolf Rage, for example, enemies that hit your unconscious form will take damage - since you are still covered by icy spikes, or whatever. The same seems to go for most stances.

Once you get back up, you are still in the midst of the rage, or able to pick back up the momentum of the stance, or whatever - remember that if you drop for a round, thats only a handful of seconds before an ally gets you back on your feet and shoves you back into the fray! Seems reasonable enough to me that the adrenalin still is kicking in and keeping you moving.

 

[SabreCat]

Something similar to this topic came up in a game last night. We could find no reason to believe that a Swordmage's mark goes away when she's knocked unconscious. Can't act on it until you're back on your feet, but I guess the -2 is magical in nature rather than the "getting in your face / distracting you" of a generic mark!

Losing Swordmage Warding was a pain, though...!