While raging, a barbarian cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except for Balance, Escape Artist, Intimidate, and Ride), 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 Combat Expertise, item creation feats, and metamagic feats.
The Hexblade's curse is not a Skill or spell, and doesn't require concentration to use. Arcane Strike is a feat; it is not any of the prohibited feats.
So, you are correct.
TK
While we're on barbarians, how long, in your games, will you let a raging barbarian "stop", meaning do nothing combat oriented, before losing his rage? What I'm thinking of is this: The party clears a room in a dungeon and the barbarian has, let's say, six rounds of rage left. He wants to jump the door to the next room so that, if there are any foes there, he will still be raging. The party, however, convinces him to stop while they spend two rounds gulping down cure light wounds potions. Should the barbarian be allowed to keep his rage even though he's stood around for a good twelve seconds not doing anything "raging"?
Or, does/should the rage simply stop after the end of the encounter?
The rage ends at the end of the encounter. Once all of his opponents are gone and the barbarian sees that his allies have relaxed their guard, the fight is over and the barbarian doesn't have anything to rage at any more, even if he wants to.
I would say you should let it go if there is a reason to believe he might have more foes to face in the next couple rounds. So, in your "next room" scenario, yes. But, in an open field or a bar after all the fight is over, no.
Well, provided that he has a reason to believe there are foes in the next room, and the DM rules that the barbarian can keep his rage knowing this (as the argument is moot otherwise), should the barbarian be able to keep raging while the rest of the party sips potions, or should he only be allowed to keep it if he immediately sets to breaking down the next door and killing whatever is on the other side?
And if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around the hear it, does it make a sound?
Well, provided that he has a reason to believe there are foes in the next room, and the DM rules that the barbarian can keep his rage knowing this (as the argument is moot otherwise), should the barbarian be able to keep raging while the rest of the party sips potions, or should he only be allowed to keep it if he immediately sets to breaking down the next door and killing whatever is on the other side?
I say that he should only keep the rage if he immediately, perhaps still in initiative, works to break down the door and attack them.
And if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around the hear it, does it make a sound?
An old question, one that could readily be solved with automated logging components and a strategically placed monitoring device.
Unfortunately, my protestations for funding fall on deaf ears at the University of Houston's Philosophy department. So I guess we'll never know.
Or, does/should the rage simply stop after the end of the encounter?
Does it? No.
Should it? I don't think so, but it wouldn't be an absurd house rule.
Well, provided that he has a reason to believe there are foes in the next room, and the DM rules that the barbarian can keep his rage knowing this (as the argument is moot otherwise), should the barbarian be able to keep raging while the rest of the party sips potions, or should he only be allowed to keep it if he immediately sets to breaking down the next door and killing whatever is on the other side?
I say that he should only keep the rage if he immediately, perhaps still in initiative, works to break down the door and attack them.
i would have to agree here with chris... and can see the sort of situation that would occur:
player a: ok guys, lets take a moment to--
player b: rahr! destroy, maim, break door!
player a: ah, damn...
horde of (insert creature here) is seen beyond smashed door
tog
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On this side topic of a rage's length... In the PC game, Temple of Elemental Evil, the PC's fatigue lasts an amount of time equal to his rage's length, round for round. Personally, I found this mechanic to be rather clever- as it encapsulates the "fatigued till encounter's end" quite nicely, but gives a solid time limit to the player's fatigue. If the PC wants to end their rage early, they can avoid a longer fatigue period.
Additionally, this allows the DM to cope with the "is it two separate encounters or one extended fight?" issue, by simply preventing a player from activating their rage until after the recovery period has passed. Thus, the barbarian isn't automatically punished because the fight moved into the next room, making the "encounter" longer- if his rage ended mid-fight, he just needs to tough it out until his fatigue period passes, and then he can begin raging again.
Maybe it's just me, but this seems to fix the whole "rage usage" and "fatigue length" issues quite nicely.