Towering Ego + Rage

[YingYanck]

Hey,

does a Mesmerist/Barbarian still get his Towering Ego bonus to WILL saves while he is in rage?

Cheers,

YingYanck

[haremlord]

I asked a similar question here, so I'm curious about that as well.

Basically, if they cannot cast spells while raging due to the emotion descriptor hitch (not because of the "ability requiring concentration" since there are ways to get around that bit), then they lose Towering Ego as well, but whether a barbarian's (or bloodrager's or skald's) rage qualifies as a "non-harmless effect with an emotion descriptor" or not is the question.

[DM_Blake]

This question boils down to how these two rules interact:

"While in rage, a barbarian cannot use ... any ability that requires patience or concentration."

"If the mesmerist is under any effect that would prevent him from providing the emotional component of psychic spells, he loses this bonus on saving throws."

I don't have my book here and it's not in the prd or srd yet (that I can find) so I cannot say for certain, but my initial impression is that these two rules look incompatible to me, at least until I could research it properly.

[Kazaan]

Psychic magic has two types of components; Emotion and Thought. Thought is based in concentration so if an ability like Towering Ego had, instead, noted that it doesn't work if you can't satisfy the Thought component, then doing it under Rage would be a no-go. But Emotion components are described as such:

d20 wrote:

Emotion components represent a particular emotional state required to cast the spell.

A psychic spellcaster marshals her desire in order to focus and release the spell's energy. It is impossible to cast a spell with an emotion component while the spellcaster is under the influence of a non-harmless effect with the emotion or fear descriptors. Even if the effect's emotion matches the necessary emotion to cast the psychic spell, the spellcaster is not in control of her own desires and animal impulses, which is a necessary part of providing an emotion component.

Remember that Rage isn't about "losing" control (except, perhaps, for the Savage Barbarian, but that's a corner case). Rage is about delving deep into your Id. It isn't "imposed" upon you because you do it completely at will so the caveat about "not in control of her own desires and animal impulses" is not an issue since Rage isn't about losing control.

So I'd say you're a go on combining Towering Ego with Rage. Still no spellcasting since that, in any fashion, requires concentration.