Sorry if some of this has been hashed, rehashed and necrohashed already. Typing it was good for my thought process, at least.
On one hand, I can't help but note that 1 round of rage is by far the most powerful thing you can do with a rage point. Start throwing in other powers and you start burning away your rage pool at an alarming rate; you can't tie your shoes without spending two of them.
On the other hand, your barbarian is going to get a TON of ragepoints. It's not long before he's able to rage every round of every fight and still not use them all. Plus, some of those powers are so handy (or cool) that it would take a lot of willpower for the standard player to conserve his points.
What I forsee is seasoned players relying on their standard rage for most fights to save ragepoints until the climactic encounters in which they really need them.. at which point they fly into a deeper level of rage (fists a-flaming, teeth a-gnashing, crits a-confirming). I kind of like that. But the idea that 1d6 points of damage is worth the same as 8 rounds of rage takes some getting used to.
Giving him a more fluid resource (one which he CAN burn through in just a few rounds) also makes the barbarian feel less like a fighter, who can just keep plucking away with full-attacks until his HP run out. He has to manage his resources or he's going to burn out just like a wizard does. Again, a noticable change, but a nice one. It occurred to me while I was writing this why rage powers are so expensive- as an alternative to having a cap on uses per round.
"Yea kid, you can burn every point you have right here and now, but it'd be a pretty reckless move."
Perfect fit for the class.
I don't know how much of a "nova" (burn all your resources at once to kill everything) effect his rage points will have, but I suspect that each rage power only being usable once per round should be enough of a restriction.
The changes to rage really change how the class plays, but I like the changes. Overall I come away with the impression that the barbarian didn't get as much of a boost as the fighter, but he also didn't need it as much.
Specifics:
I like the shield and medium armor proficiency (and usability with fast movement). Some will say it breaks theme (because lightly armored barbarians aren't as viable now) but in my experience too may barbarians just took 2 fighter levels anyway, and having less proficiencies to gain from that helps.
Elemental rage made me double-take, but I guess the idea of all classes being a bit magical has crept further and further into the game, and since it's an elective you aren't muddying up anyone's non-magical archetypes.
Surprise Accuracy either looks too good or under valued. 4 rage points for a bonus equal to your level on one attack, when +1d6 elemental damage for the round costs 8? +1 to the attack per rage point spent (with a cap equal to level) sounds fair to me; actually, it would still be a bit of a bargain.
Don't like Quick Reflexes. I might spend the 4 rage points to make the attack if I already had that power, but I wouldn't spend one of my precious rage abilities on that power when I can just take Combat Reflexes instead. Yea, yea, not every barb qualifies for Combat Reflexes, but I still don't think this'll see much use.
I like the array of "extra attack" and defensive powers but I wish there were more "HULK SMASH"-type abilities to match them. Charging in and dealing a ton of damage with one blow is both fun and iconic for a barb. but there aren't many options for that here, which is surprising.
That barbarian bite is an awesome power, but please change the flavor to be less specific. The image of Krusk chewing on a beholder made me laugh out loud but it's also somewhat hard to take seriously.
At high levels, post-rage exhaustion can last forever. Using all your rage powers every round, it isn't hard to burn the lion's share of your rage points in one fight, after which it could take you ten minutes or more to catch your breath.
*cough* *pant* *wheeeeeze*
At least this goes away at level 17
Trap sense continues to strike me as a weird and unfitting power, but it's been there since 3.0, and doesn't greatly affect class balance one way or the other. Whatev.
I assume it's based on the idea of parties sending the barbarian ahead to find traps or ambushes for them (using his face).
1) I definitely agree that plain old rage is by far the most cost-effective thing you can do with your rage points. At least they cut the costs of some of the other powers from Alpha 2 (12 points for 1 round of 1d6 fire damage?!?).
2) At higher levels, being fatigued is not much of a punishment if you can afford a wand of Lesser Restoration.
2) At higher levels, being fatigued is not much of a punishment if you can afford a wand of Lesser Restoration.
Yea, point.
Also, I missed. I was aiming for races and classes.
I went to delete this right after I posted, but I couldn't find it, even like an hour after posting. Weird.