Barbarian Rage: Temporary Hit Points

[Quandary]

(quoted from Barbarian thread)

glass wrote:

Jason Bulmahn wrote:

Moment of Clarity (Ex): The barbarian does not gain any benefits or take any of the penalties from rage for 1 round. This includes the penalty to Armor Class and the restriction on what actions can be performed. This round still counts against her total number of rounds of rage per day. This power can only be used once per minute.

A thought about this -I'd be inclined to allow the barbarian to keep the Con bonus during his moment. Otherwise, this ability could be fatal.

WOW, that's for sure!

(especially given one usage of Moment of Clarity would be using a Healing Potion/Wand before dropping Rage)
Honestly, I'm hoping ONE of these solutions for "Rage Bonus HPs" is adopted:

Jason once mentioned he was considering treating them as "Temporary HPs"
(perhaps on a per-day basis to negate exploitation from re-entering Rage?)
Given there's little practical difference, it seems easier to simply grant the Barbarian 2 extra HPs per Level (i.e. 1d12+2 base) than bother with Temporary HPs and supporting rules like this.

My 1st suggestion was applying damage to a 'separate' Rage HP pool *LAST* (after normal HP = 0 or -1), so when you drop Rage & lose the Bonus CON, you tend to end up between -1 to -CON hp instead of DEAD MEAT (@high levels when the BONUS hps >= CON score, thus killing you past the point of healing when you drop Rage). This version DOES 'absorb' the additional damage, but always leaves you at minimal hit-points, unlike Temporary Hit Points.

OR an enhanced, Rage-only version of Die-Hard, letting you function normally (while Raging) up to -2 hp/level, as well as calculating your "Dying" range by the same formula (overtaking your normal "Dying" range once 2hp*Level > CON Score). The second aspect applies outside of Rage as well (otherwise there's no point), meaning it synergizes with the actual Die-Hard Feat (which intuitively feels right to me that Barbarians might get extra mileage out of Die-Hard). This version doesn't absorb/negate any damage, but enhances the Barbarian's survivability by increasing their "Dying" range before they reach "Dead Meat".

Those last two options could probably be worded better, but I think I summarized them well enough to bring them both to attention. I really hope this issue is dealt with SOMEHOW, since a Class Feature that turns suicidal at higher levels just doesn't seem justifiable. As is, it either A) Becomes a Suicidal "last stand" for glory (which is fine, but not something to be enforced by Class Feature rules), B) The high-level Barbarian drops Rage prematurely to avoid the problem (meaning they get nothing out of the upper levels of the ability), or C) He crosses his fingers that he can be healed at least (CON Score) HPs before his Rage Points run out (or default to Option A).

I feel that all three solutions I mentioned are superior to this state of affairs. I probably MOST prefer the third ("Enhanced Die-Hard") and the second option, especially because I feel that they best preserve the "intent" of the 3.5 rules (since they tend to leave you Incapacitated/Dying-but-not-Dead). As I mentioned, I'd prefer simply having 2 more HPs/ Level than bothering with Temporary HPs and any rules necessary to make them 'balanced'.