Ok, when you go into rage you get +4 con, i.e basically extra H.P = Character Level x2. When you go out of rage either voluntarily or from falling unconscious or to negative H.P you lose these h.p correct e.g. if you were 8th level and fell to -1 you are now at -17.
Yes.
So, if you had just guarded life at 8th with 12 con then at -1 you would be at -17, converting 8 to non lethal and stabilizing and you're at -9 hp w/ 8 non lethal. In effect it's your negative HP + your character level. At 8th level you would die at -5, at 9th level you'd die at -4 etc etc. At level 12+ dropping below 0 = insta-death. Thus when you reach a level equal to your con score, dropping below 0 = death with guarded life or dropping below 0 when your level reaches 1/2 your con score = death w/o guarded life.
Am I correct in saying this?
It took a while for me to understand the phrasing here, but I get what you are saying now.
In a good sense you are right. Guarded life helps protect you from death but barbarians have this very unfortunate side effect to their rage.
Some notes though:
- Barbarians should not have 12 con. Constitution determines hit points, rage time, AND the amount of negative hit points you can reach before death. It is a very important stat to have as high as possible. Probably second priority after strength.
- Those temporary hit points from rage aren't meant to keep you alive: they're meant to keep you fighting until you die. This isn't so bad. You get to fight at a point where anyone else would be unconscious. If you're playing a barbarian and see your health get dangerously low or your rage run dangerously low, consider quaffing a potion or running towards the party healer.
Yep, raging vitality is pretty much a must have.