Where most barbarians define themselves by nigh-unstoppable rage, a few streetfighters and urban warriors have mastered different techniques. By working up a surge of adrenaline, they hit just as hard, and substantially faster, than their counterparts, while dodging the inevitable counterattack.
Class: Barbarian.
Level: 1st.
Replaces: If you select this class feature, you do not gain rage, or any later improvements to that class feature, nor do you gain indomitable will.
Benefit: Once per day, the barbarian can enter a state of adrenaline-fueled fury, increasing both his physical might and his reaction time. He temporarily gains a +4 bonus to Strength and a +4 bonus to Dexterity, but he takes a -2 penalty on ranged attack rolls beyond short range (30 feet).
He can enter this state as an immediate action, even when flat-footed at the start of combat, so he may apply the enhanced Dexterity modifier to his initiative check.
While in a state of ferocity, the barbarian cannot use any Charisma- or Intelligence-based skills (except for Intimidate), the Concentration skill, or any abilities that require patience or concentration, nor can he cast spells or activate magic items that require a command word, a spell trigger (such as a wand), or spell completion (such as a scroll) to function. He can use any feat he has except item creation feats and metamagic feats. Ferocity lasts for a number of rounds equal to 4 + his Constitution modifier (if positive). The barbarian may prematurely end his state of ferocity. At the end of ferocity, he loses the ferocity modifiers and restrictions and become sickened (-2 on all attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks) for the duration of the current encounter (unless he is a 17th-level barbarian, at which point this limitation no longer applies). Abilities that normally render him immune to being sickened (such as the Strong Stomach feat, Cityscape 64) reduce the penalties to -1, but do not remove them entirely.
The barbarian can invoke ferocity only once per encounter. At 1st level he can use this ability once per day.
