RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32
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So an interesting occurrence happened in my Friday night game. There is a barbarian that just picked up the Acute Scent (which gives him scent as an imprecise sense when he rages).
In the game (Extinction Curse if it matters), they entered a large room that was cut in half by bars (like an animal cage). On one side of the bars are the bad guys hiding in the foliage. The Players are on a different side, so the bars keep the sides from one another.
Can the barbarian rage and use his Acute Scent to detect if there are bad guys around?
Reaction 1: No, nothing seems to be an enemy so he can't rage.
Reaction 2: Yes, and while he does scent something not normal, he doesn't perceive it, so he then falls out of rage (and fatigued for a round).
Reaction 3: He rages, senses the bad guys, and continues to rage even though he can't find the bad guys.
I'm not sure how I should have run this. Especially since i am hesitant to take player agency away from them (e.g. not allowing them to rage when they want to rage.) At the time I went with the third action. But thinking back on it, I am not even sure the RAW is, much less what the RAI. Can anyone comment, explain, or offer a different explanation?
Not #1. Taking the Rage action has no "perceive an enemy" requirement. It's just that once you can't perceive any enemies you lose rage.
And not #2, because smelling them is perceiving them even if imprecisely. If it was supposed to be more than that they would have said "observe" or something else with a game-technical meaning, instead of the plain English "perceive."
So #3, as long as the bad guys stay in smelling range.
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Until/unless you have detected an enemy first, you cannot rage. You could seek them and if you detect they are there and can reasonably determine they are an enemy and not just some random NPC, then you could rage and then use the scent to keep track of them or improve your level of detection.
Though I think there is an argument that people make that you should be able to treat hazards or obstacles like the portcullis as an “enemy” for the purposes of rage. By rule you can’t, but a barbarian should be able to rage in order to break or lift things. It seems like an “obvious” use of their rage. But, that’s a GM call so YMMV
Until/unless you have detected an enemy first, you cannot rage.
Could you cite the rules text that says that?
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32
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Until/unless you have detected an enemy first, you cannot rage.Could you cite the rules text that says that?
There isn't one, but I have seem GMs rule this way at tables. Basically the RAW says: This frenzy lasts for 1 minute, until there are no enemies you can perceive, or until you fall unconscious, whichever comes first. You can’t voluntarily stop raging.
Reversing that logically would say: This frenzy lasts for 1 minute, while there are enemies you can perceive, and you stay conscious. You can’t voluntarily stop raging.
Still the choice to rage or not (after all a barbarian doesn't have to rage every combat) remains in the player's hand IMO. So his point is moot as far as I am concerned.
BTW, I did go with option/reaction 3 and that is how I will play /rule it in the future.
You can rage and then auto detect creatures with a scent within range. But I wouldn't allow you to automatically keep the range unless they were actually perceived as a threat by the player, usually this is the case but it is not universally so.
But it should be fine, nothing stops you from entering the rage. Just maintaining it.
But I wouldn't allow you to automatically keep the [rage] unless they were actually perceived as a threat by the player, usually this is the case but it is not universally so.
Agreed on all counts.
But I wouldn't allow you to automatically keep the [rage] unless they were actually perceived as a threat by the player, usually this is the case but it is not universally so.Agreed on all counts.
Damn auto correct, I wish the forum was more forgiving with editing posts r_r