Viking fighter and multiclassing into Barbarian

[Korlos]

I have a viking fighter and I am looking at multiclassing.

If I multiclass in to base barbarian, do I have two pools of rage or do the levels stack to determine the bonus rounds of rage you get every other level? The Rage class feature doesn't state that it stacks with another class the way Uncanny Dodge or Trap Sense do.

[Oddman80]

I think you would have two separate pools of rage.
While the text of the Viking's level 4 ability says it gains the rage ability as a barbarian 3 levels lower, the Actual Name of the ability is Berserker (Ex), while the name of the level 1 Barbariian ability is Rage (Ex)

a Viking 4/Barbarian 1 should effectively have total of 8 + 2x(Con Mod) rounds of Rage.

[Weirdo]

Features that don't say they stack don't stack. You get two different rage pools.

Source: FAQ:

FAQ wrote:

unless an ability specifically says it stacks with similar abilities (such as an assassin's sneak attack), or adds in some way based on the character's total class levels (such as improved uncanny dodge), the abilities don't stack and you have to use them separately.

[Scott Wilhelm]

The wording of your link, d20pfsrd makes me think that the pools stack, pool together, if you will.

Viking wrote:

At 4th level, a viking gains the rage ability as the barbarian class feature, but her barbarian level is considered to be her fighter level –3.

My thought is that "as the Barbarian Class Feature," means that Vikings are another kind of Barbarian in Pathfinder just like in History.

But the pfsrd isn't official. Double check.

[Chess Pwn]

They don't stack.

[Korlos]

Scott Wilhelm wrote:

But the pfsrd isn't official. Double check.

That's true. Can't find it in the PRD, though. Doesn't look like the Player Companion series is listed there. Guess I'll have to get the PDF next payday.

Followup question: If the character has two separate pools of rage and he takes the urban barbarian archetype, would he have the option to use Controlled Rage with the Viking rages?

[Chess Pwn]

no, it only modifies the barbarian's rage.

[Oddman80]

yeah.... there is no Urban Viking archetype for the Viking Fighter Archetype...

That said... why do i find the idea of an Urban Viking so much more amusing than an Urban Barbarian?

Is THIS what i am picturing?

[Korlos]

Oddman80 wrote:

yeah.... there is no Urban Viking archetype for the Viking Fighter Archetype...

That said... why do i find the idea of an Urban Viking so much more amusing than an Urban Barbarian?

Is THIS what i am picturing?

If a Viking fighter 4 multiclasses into Urban barbarian is what I mean.

[Oddman80]

I understood what you meant...

what i was saying was, the only hypothetical way that your Viking Fighter 4 could get his (4+Con Mod) rounds of rage to be modified in the same way that the Urban Barbarian's Controlled Rage modifies the Barbarian's Rage (Ex) ability.. would be if there were am Urban Viking archetype for the Viking Fighter archetype... but as there is no such thing... therefore it can't work.

So if you were making a Dex based character, and were hoping for a Controlled Rage Dex Boost for your Viking, you are out of luck.

[Korlos]

Oddman80 wrote:

I understood what you meant...

what i was saying was, the only hypothetical way that your Viking Fighter 4 could get his (4+Con Mod) rounds of rage to be modified in the same way that the Urban Barbarian's Controlled Rage modifies the Barbarian's Rage (Ex) ability.. would be if there were am Urban Viking archetype for the Viking Fighter archetype... but as there is no such thing... therefore it can't work.

So if you were making a Dex based character, and were hoping for a Controlled Rage Dex Boost for your Viking, you are out of luck.

Viking grants Berserker(EX) which in turn grants Rage(Ex), as the barbarian ability. Controlled Rage states "When the barbarian rages..." Your position is that using the word 'barbarian' to refer to the character restricts the ability to only Rage(Ex) abilities gained from the barbarian class?

[Weirdo]

That, and the fact that "This ability otherwise follows the normal rules for rage" including using separate rage abilities for multiclass characters.

I'd let it stack and let urban barbarian cross over because it's less complicated and doesn't look OP, but that would be a houserule.

[Entryhazard]

Please don't get caught up in the literal string by which abilities are named, it painfully reminds me of people arguing about the Life Oracle's Channel not counting as Channel Positive Energy

[Weirdo]

The fact that the viking's ability is called "berserker" is irrelevant. Per the FAQ, abilities that don't specifically say they stack are used separately. The example given was Channel Energy, regardless of terminology.

[Entryhazard]

Weirdo wrote:

The fact that the viking's ability is called "berserker" is irrelevant. Per the FAQ, abilities that don't specifically say they stack are used separately. The example given was Channel Energy, regardless of terminology.

Yes, I was stressing that the reason they don't stack is that rage from different sources needs to state to stack, not that the abilities have different names