Author Topic: Berserk rager attempt  (Read 1586 times)

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Chemus

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Berserk rager attempt
« on: February 15, 2009, 04:01:25 AM »
Quote from: SRD

I'm attempting to use the berserking sword as a means of gaining rage and large size while raging. The sword's ability has much the same language as the mountain rage ability for mimicking the rage ability, and I'm trying to use those similarities to marry the two.

Does this have a prayer of being correct, or am I on thin ice with a flamethrower?
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VennDygrem

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Re: Berserk rager attempt
« Reply #1 on: February 15, 2009, 04:43:27 AM »
Are you asking if using the sword would get you a second stacking of Mountain Rage? All it would do is get you the normal benefits of a regular Barbarian's rage. Most rage effects stack with eachother, unless there are typed bonuses (like morale bonuses to will and such). So you'd Rage (mountain rage) gaining +6 str, +4 con, and Large size, +2 to will, and -2 ac., and when you use the sword in battle, you'd get another +4 to str and con and another -2 to AC. Just like going into Frenzied Berserker (including the inability to stop attacking things, even your allies), this works like stacking Frenzy (or other similar effects) on Rage.

Unless I'm mistaken, in this case you'd have a cumulative +10 Str, +8 con, +2 Will, -4 AC, with large size. You wouldn't get any mountain rage enhanced bonuses from the sword, such as the extra +2 str or another size increase.

You also can't use the sword to trigger Mountain Rage. If you used just the sword without also using your class-granted Rage, you get just the normal effects of regular Rage (+4 Str and con, +2 wis, -2 AC), plus being unable to stop raging and attacking creatures until you or everything else is dead.

While Racial Emulation works fine on paper, make sure your DM is ok with it, because otherwise they've got full rights to call shenanigans on this.

Brainpiercing

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Re: Berserk rager attempt
« Reply #2 on: February 15, 2009, 08:01:06 AM »
While this sword may not work, I am also interested in items that grant more rages/day, without having to take a feat. Is there anything? A lot of class abilities get items like that. It seems stupid that a Barbarian is stuck with having to take Extra Rage, and makes Barb dips very inefficient from a rage perspective. Perhaps with the ability to get more rages people would stop taking a level of Barb for Pounce alone.

ksbsnowowl

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Re: Berserk rager attempt
« Reply #3 on: February 15, 2009, 11:12:44 AM »
As someone else mentioned in the Simple Questions thread, a gutworm symbiont from the Fiend Folio may help you.  It'll probably still hang on a DM's whim, though.
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Brainpiercing

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Re: Berserk rager attempt
« Reply #4 on: February 15, 2009, 01:52:45 PM »
As someone else mentioned in the Simple Questions thread, a gutworm symbiont from the Fiend Folio may help you.  It'll probably still hang on a DM's whim, though.


Nice, thanks. I DO use these things in games, sometimes, but I forgot about the Gutworm.

Chemus

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Re: Berserk rager attempt
« Reply #5 on: February 15, 2009, 02:44:21 PM »
OK, I was unclear on what I was going for.

I want to use changeling to bypass the need for levels in Stoneblessed to get the ability to be a goliath; losing 1 BAB is no big loss, but it stinks. I don't see how changeling with racial emulation is on shaky ground for a racial substitution level: the changeling is counted as a member of that race, just like the 3rd level ability of .

I wanted the rage-emulating ability of the sword to allow for rage 'at will', so to speak, so that it would activate the mountain rage without using up the rage per day (moronic mechanic! 1/day is asinine.) I was not looking to stack the rage abilities, but rather use the mountain rage whenever the berserk effect of the sword activated.

Since the gutworm can't be taken away, it's not a bad choice, and I hadn't remembered it. It pretty much requires that you be evil, and gives some pretty hefty penalties to enduring hardships, as well as the penalties to interacting with non-evil critters. It's on par with the sword as far as abilities, except that your companions can be within 30' with impunity during a battle. The sword will require that the user pretty much acts alone without the ability to aid another or flank, since you have to attack the nearest creature. But hell, if there are necropolitans or other undead party members, you can still have flanking buddies. The being 30' from allies would be SOP for a charger type though.
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Brainpiercing

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Re: Berserk rager attempt
« Reply #6 on: February 15, 2009, 03:45:53 PM »
Um... all you need to beat is a DC15 Will save for the Gutworm. Sure you'll take a penalty when talking to non-evil people, but then you can just act the grumpy beatstick.
The fatigue after 8 hours is the only real drawback, IMHO.
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VennDygrem

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Re: Berserk rager attempt
« Reply #7 on: February 15, 2009, 06:58:43 PM »
As I mentioned before though, the sword would not trigger your mountain rage. The only thing that can do so is Mountain Raging, ie: Using your 1/day class ability. If you're worried about using it more often and are willing to use a feat to get racial emulation and such just for that, why not also spend a feat for Extra Rage?

Remember, if you're following Barbarian throughout, you get more than 1 Rage throughout your career as normal (2/day at 4th lvl, and one extra every 4 levels after.

Alternatively, you could try using RobbyPants's Barbarian Rewrite, which gives Rage as 1/encounter instead of per day (though it grants no con bonuses, it gives an extra bonus to fortitude and lasts 5 + con mod rounds instead of 3, and at 1st level you gain temp hp when raging equal to 2xclass levels each round). Just get your DM to ok the racial sub levels which would give you the size and extra +2 strength, and you're golden with rage 1/encounter.