Obviously, the big draw of the barbarian is being able to say "I would like to rage", but I've always found the ability a bit odd, personally. It kind of leads you to a single personality... the angry guy. You can get a bit fancier and be the not-angry guy who gets angry sometimes, but that's not much deeper, personality wise.
Of course, I'm sure we've all seen the barbarian whose Rage wasn't actually a rage... I, myself, once player a Warforged whose Rage was simply an increased efficiency mode at the risk of damaging his parts.
But what I'm really interested in is... what ways have you explained your Barbarian's Rage in a way that didn't shoehorn you into "angry hit them person"? My fiance is going to be playing a Gnomish Totem Barbarian, whose totem is granted by the fact that they literally have an eagle's heart... the eagle, aside from being a very rude bird in general, is pissed at being stuck in a gnome's body and that rage feeds into the character sometimes... just as an example.
I think the Totem path opens it up to be explained by the animal spirit being in the character for the duration of the rage. I prefer the class more as a Berserker or Shamanic Warrior. Even the Rage is more of a Fury, it does not really require a source of anger, and to avoid the angry guy just rename it Battle Trance.
I don't like doing angry/brooding characters in general, so the "always angry" barbarian never really fit with my play style. What I tend to do instead is just say that he is "channeling" the spirit of his totem during battles.
I once played a barbarian that didn't get angry when he raged but it was more like excitement almost. Like getting yourself hyped up for something. My barbarian liked fighting so when he started fighting and went into his "rage" it was more like he just got hyped up and excited and he started fighting with reckless abandon.
I once'd RPed in a different system very similar to D&D 3.5; however, not to be named, a Multi-classed Samurai Barbarian. I made his 'rage' function as cold calculated moments of viscous. efficient, and unyielding hatred. It was pretty cool and in line with the Samurai vibe I was going for.
When a Barbarian rages, he doesn't have to become angry, all the posts above are great examples if what rage could be, though if you want to be more literal, why not simply make him pump up. Have him pace around, hit his pecks a few times, get the adrenaline running. Think of a boxer right before he starts a fight, he'll "dance" around, getting in the game, focusing on his fight, warming up.. Add a few yells in there and that's pretty good rage roleplay.
I've always used the rage as a surge in testosterone or adrenaline - a way for him to amp up his energy output.
Just puffing out his chest and being a big shot; I play him without anger, but egotistical arrogance. His finesse with his sword comes from the exhilaration of feeling better than those around him as a warrior, not because he is 'seeing red'. A different take on the norm, but it's fun to play and yields nice debate opportunities with other players.
Of course, I'm sure we've all seen the barbarian whose Rage wasn't actually a rage... I, myself, once player a Warforged whose Rage was simply an increased efficiency mode at the risk of damaging his parts.
I saw something very similar to this in the Adventures in Middle-Earth player's guide that came out last year. For their barbarian equivalent, they called it Battle-fury and described it as having your traditional rage or a "cold, deadly precision". I can only imagine the latter description as being "in the zone", like when your playing a sport or instrument and the crowd fades away as you hone in on what you have to do.
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A professional engineer and amateur writer who has played D&D since 2015 (started with 5e) and has been a DM more than a player. When I'm not playing god I'm usually your friendly neighborhood rogue.
I find especially going totem barbarian can give you a lot more flavor when going into your rage. Currently playing a bear totem (Tabaxi male) and having tons of fun with his spirit animal being a mother bear, and all the feelings that are coming with him now seeing the party as his "cubs".
Years ago I read the Pendragon Cycle by Stephen R. Lawhead. I think was in the 2nd book 'Merlin', when Myrddin fought in a battle in a battle-trance state while he saw everything going slow and he was lethal.
For me that it's a example of Rage which fit well with a Elf Barbarian for example.
Edit: Add a quote, it isn't from the book, but very similar.
'They swung, parried, lunged and fought like crazed men caught up in an ancient battle awen'
I find especially going totem barbarian can give you a lot more flavor when going into your rage. Currently playing a bear totem (Tabaxi male) and having tons of fun with his spirit animal being a mother bear, and all the feelings that are coming with him now seeing the party as his "cubs".
That sounds fantastic! As interesting as ways to explain Rage without rage can be, an angry Rage can still be done in some pretty creative ways!
I have a barbarian who treats it, without saying as much, as a psychotic-violence mode- it is rage but between his dialogue and my descriptions the character becomes more prone to graphic displays of intense violence, it's almost like an empathy delimiter for him. I'm also a fan of zen rages, sort of like the void from Wheel of Time and the role it plays in the blademasters of that setting.
It could be good to distinguish Rage which all the barbarians get from Frenzy which is the Berzerkers forte and more appropriate fits the "angry and reckless" stereotype.
Rage could be the battle ready, heightened state while Frenzy is loss of control. I highly recommend The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. His depiction of Logan nine-fingers is I think perfect when it comes to berzerking.
Logan is a smart and calculating warrior but when The Bloody Nine takes over.....
I think they chose the term, i go into a rage, because that shits real. Have you ever gotten angry, like really angry, you can do insane things. I got a friend, he's a freshman. He does baseball and is pretty athletics, but is in no means a weightlifter. Well he is at the skate park, and there is some jerk that has a sharp brake wire broken off his bike. Its hanging on, but its pointed forward, like a jouster would have a spear in front of him. So he's purposely is ramming into people thinking its funny, my friend tells him to knock it off. So he rams into my friend, cutting up his wrist when he falls, he now has a huge scar on his wrist. So my friend is there on the ground with a bleeding wrist and he does the one thing humans do best, he gets angry. Now the fences surrounding the skate park are like 8 ft. at least, and my friend is about 5' 6. This wasn't no wimpy fukin trick bike either, this was a 50 lb. mountain bike. So he shoves the kid off, picks up the mountain bike, and throws it over the fence. He threw a 50 lb. mountain bike almost 3 ft. over his head, about 3 ft away from the fence popping one of the wheels off.
I have a Barbarian who is a really good person who doesn't want to harm anyone, but the gods make him become a mindless killing machine if they see fit
I had a barbarian who didn't rage, like ever... instead, he'd go Super-Saiyan... that was always fun! I even dipped into druid later on to turn him into a large ape. But the rest of that story can go on a different forum.
Another one was a guy who just really enthusiastic about the things he was good at. He just happened to be really good at hitting things! So he'd yell out "Wooooooooo!" like Rick Flair (old school wrestling fans get it) he was also a bit of a showboat.
My barbarian follows the Path of the Ancestral Spirit. In battle, his ancestors appear and provide aid.
To Schlomo the Barbarian, this takes the form of annoying parents and extended family who drop by to express how disappointed they are in him while he is fighting for his life. His mother asks why he couldn't have become a Shaman like his cousin (Shamans make a very comfortable living). They can provide guilt which fuels his rage-like state. Seinfeld fans can picture George's parents showing up in times of extreme duress...to add more duress.
On more than one occasion Schlomo has swung his axe while screaming, "Yes, I'm wearing a clean loincloth!"
Obviously, the big draw of the barbarian is being able to say "I would like to rage", but I've always found the ability a bit odd, personally. It kind of leads you to a single personality... the angry guy. You can get a bit fancier and be the not-angry guy who gets angry sometimes, but that's not much deeper, personality wise.
Of course, I'm sure we've all seen the barbarian whose Rage wasn't actually a rage... I, myself, once player a Warforged whose Rage was simply an increased efficiency mode at the risk of damaging his parts.
But what I'm really interested in is... what ways have you explained your Barbarian's Rage in a way that didn't shoehorn you into "angry hit them person"? My fiance is going to be playing a Gnomish Totem Barbarian, whose totem is granted by the fact that they literally have an eagle's heart... the eagle, aside from being a very rude bird in general, is pissed at being stuck in a gnome's body and that rage feeds into the character sometimes... just as an example.
To me, it is not anger, it is more like a more primitive state.
I think the Totem path opens it up to be explained by the animal spirit being in the character for the duration of the rage. I prefer the class more as a Berserker or Shamanic Warrior. Even the Rage is more of a Fury, it does not really require a source of anger, and to avoid the angry guy just rename it Battle Trance.
I don't like doing angry/brooding characters in general, so the "always angry" barbarian never really fit with my play style. What I tend to do instead is just say that he is "channeling" the spirit of his totem during battles.
I once played a barbarian that didn't get angry when he raged but it was more like excitement almost. Like getting yourself hyped up for something. My barbarian liked fighting so when he started fighting and went into his "rage" it was more like he just got hyped up and excited and he started fighting with reckless abandon.
I once'd RPed in a different system very similar to D&D 3.5; however, not to be named, a Multi-classed Samurai Barbarian. I made his 'rage' function as cold calculated moments of viscous. efficient, and unyielding hatred. It was pretty cool and in line with the Samurai vibe I was going for.
When a Barbarian rages, he doesn't have to become angry, all the posts above are great examples if what rage could be, though if you want to be more literal, why not simply make him pump up. Have him pace around, hit his pecks a few times, get the adrenaline running. Think of a boxer right before he starts a fight, he'll "dance" around, getting in the game, focusing on his fight, warming up.. Add a few yells in there and that's pretty good rage roleplay.
I've always used the rage as a surge in testosterone or adrenaline - a way for him to amp up his energy output.
Just puffing out his chest and being a big shot; I play him without anger, but egotistical arrogance. His finesse with his sword comes from the exhilaration of feeling better than those around him as a warrior, not because he is 'seeing red'. A different take on the norm, but it's fun to play and yields nice debate opportunities with other players.
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A professional engineer and amateur writer who has played D&D since 2015 (started with 5e) and has been a DM more than a player. When I'm not playing god I'm usually your friendly neighborhood rogue.
I find especially going totem barbarian can give you a lot more flavor when going into your rage. Currently playing a bear totem (Tabaxi male) and having tons of fun with his spirit animal being a mother bear, and all the feelings that are coming with him now seeing the party as his "cubs".
Years ago I read the Pendragon Cycle by Stephen R. Lawhead. I think was in the 2nd book 'Merlin', when Myrddin fought in a battle in a battle-trance state while he saw everything going slow and he was lethal.
For me that it's a example of Rage which fit well with a Elf Barbarian for example.
Edit: Add a quote, it isn't from the book, but very similar.
'They swung, parried, lunged and fought like crazed men caught up in an ancient battle awen'
Awen means Inspiration in welsh
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I have a barbarian who treats it, without saying as much, as a psychotic-violence mode- it is rage but between his dialogue and my descriptions the character becomes more prone to graphic displays of intense violence, it's almost like an empathy delimiter for him. I'm also a fan of zen rages, sort of like the void from Wheel of Time and the role it plays in the blademasters of that setting.
It could be good to distinguish Rage which all the barbarians get from Frenzy which is the Berzerkers forte and more appropriate fits the "angry and reckless" stereotype.
Rage could be the battle ready, heightened state while Frenzy is loss of control. I highly recommend The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. His depiction of Logan nine-fingers is I think perfect when it comes to berzerking.
Logan is a smart and calculating warrior but when The Bloody Nine takes over.....
I think they chose the term, i go into a rage, because that shits real. Have you ever gotten angry, like really angry, you can do insane things. I got a friend, he's a freshman. He does baseball and is pretty athletics, but is in no means a weightlifter. Well he is at the skate park, and there is some jerk that has a sharp brake wire broken off his bike. Its hanging on, but its pointed forward, like a jouster would have a spear in front of him. So he's purposely is ramming into people thinking its funny, my friend tells him to knock it off. So he rams into my friend, cutting up his wrist when he falls, he now has a huge scar on his wrist. So my friend is there on the ground with a bleeding wrist and he does the one thing humans do best, he gets angry. Now the fences surrounding the skate park are like 8 ft. at least, and my friend is about 5' 6. This wasn't no wimpy fukin trick bike either, this was a 50 lb. mountain bike. So he shoves the kid off, picks up the mountain bike, and throws it over the fence. He threw a 50 lb. mountain bike almost 3 ft. over his head, about 3 ft away from the fence popping one of the wheels off.
Myron Craw- Isles of Famine
I have a Barbarian who is a really good person who doesn't want to harm anyone, but the gods make him become a mindless killing machine if they see fit
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D&D Beyond FoundersTotem Barbarian always made me think of the cartoon Bravestarr, where he'd call upon animal totems to give him powers.
The Rage ability (and all of the others) can be explained by channelling a specific totem.
(the intro is first 2 mins of this video - fast forward to 2 minutes in for animal totem powers)
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I had a barbarian who didn't rage, like ever... instead, he'd go Super-Saiyan... that was always fun! I even dipped into druid later on to turn him into a large ape. But the rest of that story can go on a different forum.
Another one was a guy who just really enthusiastic about the things he was good at. He just happened to be really good at hitting things! So he'd yell out "Wooooooooo!" like Rick Flair (old school wrestling fans get it) he was also a bit of a showboat.
Love the Bravestarr reference. And surprised. It doesn’t come up that often.
My barbarian follows the Path of the Ancestral Spirit. In battle, his ancestors appear and provide aid.
To Schlomo the Barbarian, this takes the form of annoying parents and extended family who drop by to express how disappointed they are in him while he is fighting for his life. His mother asks why he couldn't have become a Shaman like his cousin (Shamans make a very comfortable living). They can provide guilt which fuels his rage-like state. Seinfeld fans can picture George's parents showing up in times of extreme duress...to add more duress.
On more than one occasion Schlomo has swung his axe while screaming, "Yes, I'm wearing a clean loincloth!"