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I felt it was a pretty big oversight not including the rule specifically in 3.5. It would be nice to see the rule for it written out. It should especially be talked about with the introduction of rage points.
Does a barbarian that is raging, continue to rage when they are at negative hit points. In 3.5, there is nothing that suggests that they come out of rage at that point -- which would probably automatically kill them. If this is true, does the raging barbarian still use up rage points? Can they use rage points for other raging abilities?
Just a few things that should probably be addressed.
Well, they'd have to spend a rage point to do so anyways, which would be pretty useless.
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Well, they'd have to spend a rage point to do so anyways, which would be pretty useless.
Why? A 6th level raging barbarian gets to -2 hp (unconscious and dying). If they come out of rage they loose 12 more hit points which kills them. Assuming that they have the rage points to spare, they could keep in rage and hope that the healer comes to their rescue before they come out of rage. Or, if the barbarian can do other rage actions while unconscious, they could do renewed vigor which could bring them up to positive hit points.
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Well, they'd have to spend a rage point to do so anyways, which would be pretty useless.Why? A 6th level raging barbarian gets to -2 hp (unconscious and dying). If they come out of rage they loose 12 more hit points which kills them. Assuming that they have the rage points to spare, they could keep in rage and hope that the healer comes to their rescue before they come out of rage. Or, if the barbarian can do other rage actions while unconscious, they could do renewed vigor which could bring them up to positive hit points.
The old barbarian rage was dealt with in the D&D FAQ -- they continued to rage for the duration of their rage, keeping them alive, even if unconscious.
I would think it should be spelled out that a barbarian can spend rage points while unconscious, either to keep alive, or for renewed vigor to regain consciousness...
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I've already brought this up in another thread.
The barbarian's ability to gain extra hit points by temporarily increasing their constitution leads to situations where they're very fragile when they're 'low' on hit points. Many PCs will continue a fight while they have 20 hit points. If the barbarian does it, they very well can die just by having their rage end. I don't like a smart player leaving combat in the middle of his rage to go get healing - it doesn't fit the flavor of the class.
So, while it is something of a change, I'd like to suggest a different mechanic for the barbarian to get his extra hit points. Instead of increasing his constitution (which also has the effect of giving him a better fort save) why not just give him temporary hit points that are lost FIRST instead of last. If the barbarian is using rage points instead of number of rounds + Con mod the number of rage points can be set to not reflect the necessity of an increasing Con. If temporary hit points aren't used, perhaps fast healing could be applied instead.
I like the barbarian getting more hit points. I don't like those hit points being the last ones lost, since that means that a 'healthy' barbarian can frequently die when their rage ends. Since hit points are an abstraction anyway, giving them temporary hit points isn't a big change to the function, but is a major change to the way the combat ends.
This also will help with the 15 minute adventuring day, since if a barbarian gains 20 hit points when raging, and takes 20 hit points during the battle, they'll actually be 'fine' (no hit point loss) after their fatigue ends.
For flavor and mechanic reasons, a change along this line works well.
+1 on suggestion to use temporary hit points instead of real ones.
Doug
For flavor and mechanic reasons, a change along this line works well.
Agreed. I prefer temporary hit points too. Currently I think rage is the only case where a character can gain hp that go away last. All other forms of hit point increase are temporary hp that are lost first.
Actually this would be a good rule to apply to all temporary Con boosting effects. Bear's Endurance can cause the exact same thing to happen if it is dispelled near the end of combat.
I suggested the temporary hitpoints in the Alpha 1 section. Good to see other supporters.