A future gm of mine is prepping to run a pfs/ish game in the future for Strange Aeons and i was tempted to run a sunder magic barbarian. Currently its a half orc, though i am tempted to do unchained and go android, but either way, the gm says he thinks he saw/heard of, an FAQ that said rage cycling no longer worked, that if you were unable to be affected by fatigue, then you could not rage at all, or be a barbarian. Does anyone have reference to this, or know what he was talking about? It's my understanding rage cycling has existed as long as barbarians have, and its kind of a huge part of the class, by becoming immune to fatigue, you can end your rage at the end of your turn, and re-enter it the following turn to use your 1/rage powers.
Unchained barbarian did away with the 1/rage powers, on purpose. Every (?) power is permanent, 1/round or 1/day now. That's likely not what your GM is referring to, but it's a possible alternative for you.
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The GM might have been thinking of changes with the Unchained Barbarian or maybe PF2 Barbaian (haven't played it), or they might have been thinking of a specific method of Rage Cycling that was FAQ'd out of existence.
The main issue is whether or not the GM is willing to let you Rage Cycle, regardless of what changes have or haven't been made. If the GM doesn't like the idea of you Rage Cycling then it doesn't really matter what the rules say.
I have a Primalist Bloodrager who Rage Cycles , but I've made a decent effort to avoid annoying my GM with it. The only 1/rage power I have is Strength Surge, and I usually use that for smashing down doors . When need to Rage Cycle I always drop out of Rage for 1 full round so that it doesn't seem as meta-gamey. This still lets me use my powers every 2 rounds if I want to, but hasn't made the GM get annoyed at the overuse of powers that are thematically 1/combat.
Talk to your GM about it and see where they stand. You'll be less likely to butt heads with the GM if you're on the same page.
If you are interested in Rage Cycling, you can do an Oracle dip (like MrCharisma) or you can get a flawed Scarlet and Green Cabochon (Ioun Stone) for 8,000gp and pick up the rage power Internal Fortitude at level 8.
You will be sickened rather than fatigued when you exit your Rage, and then when you re-enter Rage, you're immune to the sickened condition.
If you are interested in Rage Cycling, you can do an Oracle dip (like MrCharisma) or you can get a flawed Scarlet and Green Cabochon (Ioun Stone) for 8,000gp and pick up the rage power Internal Fortitude at level 8.
You will be sickened rather than fatigued when you exit your Rage, and then when you re-enter Rage, you're immune to the sickened condition.
That was exactly my plan. He is running a lot of home ruked stuff so the generic barbarian would work much. Better in the system he has ...designed.. and he isnt agaibstvrage cycling he just thought it was done away with. Theres no definitive answers here why he thought that, but we did play pfs a lot back in the day so maybe it's some abstract pfs thing... either way of you guys cant find it, I think it's safe to say he has misremembered. Thanks. We are doing a highly customized version of strange aeons with a wound system where you make saves against "wounds" rather than actual ho damage, so a monster con with dr will be quite fun/powerful. I am intending on becoming a magic launderer, hence the concern with rage cycling as well as lots of mind magics that might force me into or out of rages.
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Note: The below is not meant to tell you what to do, I just want to provide some other viewpoints to the issue.
It's my understanding rage cycling has existed as long as barbarians have, and its kind of a huge part of the class
It has existed as long as Pathfinder has - the Barbarian class is older than that, and rage cycling wasn't a thing in 3.x (because there were no Rage Powers). The changed made to unBarb (and the selection of Barb as one of the classes to change) pretty much prove that ragecycling is not something Paizo ever intended, or approves of per se. They never FAQ'd or errata'd it away, though.
Also, considering that probably 98% of all Barbarian characters never use it (either ebcause they don't know about it, don't want that cheese, or simply play in a level range where it's not feasible yet), I really don't think Rage Cycling is "a huge part of the class".
Rage doesn't always mean you're screaming foaming at the mouth.
Well, it is where the whole concept for the class originated from. Berserkers were a type of viking warrior that allegedly "were as mad as dogs or wolves, bit their shields, and were strong as bears or wild oxen, and killed people at a blow, but neither fire nor iron told upon them." Snorri Sturluson, islandic poet, ~1225
There are specific archetypes for "controlled anger", Urban Barbarian, Dreadnought, and Geminate Invoker. There's also the Darechaser prestige class.
Now, combat often isn't roleplayed, with players merely describing their mechanical actions and not what's done in-universe, and for that type of game, rage cycling can easily be just another weird mechanical thing that isn't really represented in-game.
But I firmly believe that people should always realize the consequences of their decisions, and a consequence of using rage cycling is that they've utterly disconnected the mechanics from the flavor (the roll-playing from the role-playing, if you will). I don't think there can be talk about "taking a moment to breath" when it's only a second or so!
A great example is Chun Li in the 90s street fighter. After maybe half way through the fight she arguably has a Rage Effect going. Her power speed and endurance get a second wind. But even during that she has moments where she "dips" and doesn't follow up.
That looks more like a Monk using ki powers to me!