Not at all. It's called rage, but it can be whatever you fluff it to be. I personally think that being angry is dumb, so I'd fluff it as a fighting trance, or intense focus.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Well, I have a couple barbarians in my current campaign and we were wondering what sort of threshold their characters would have to cross to start raging... and for these characters, they do rage when they get angry, so I was wondering if anyone had decided on an anger threshold for their own characters and, if so, what that would be.
If you're requiring them to "get angry" in order to use their class feature in combat, I would recommend that they be angry all the time because the class was balanced on the assumption that they can Rage whenever they want as long as they have uses of it. It would be like telling a wizard he could only cast Sleep after nightfall, or Fireball if there was a flame nearby.
If you're asking if getting angry outside of combat triggers Rage, note that Rage immediately ends if you don't take damage or attack something within ~6 seconds. It's constrained pretty tightly to combat and it's already pretty easy to lose one of your few uses in lower levels as it is. Losing them outside of combat would be somewhere between unfortunate and crippling. I would recommend not making it tougher on them unless they're really asking for it, even though it might seem thematic.
A big part of being a barbarian is that you have mastered your Rage to the point where you can focus it and call it up on demand. If you can't do that, you're just a Fighter with anger issues.
Rage is not anger. Anger is anger. Rage is this whole other thing. Rage is what lets a mom lift a car off her baby and lets a guy shot 9 times survive anyway. Rage is the thing lets a guy who doesn't fight move fast enough to knock people down and come off as way baddass when their really more barfly. Rage is rage, it is this whole other thing that is as tangentially related to anger as we are to Orangutans.
Rage is not anger. Anger is anger. Rage is this whole other thing. Rage is what lets a mom lift a car off her baby and lets a guy shot 9 times survive anyway. Rage is the thing lets a guy who doesn't fight move fast enough to knock people down and come off as way baddass when their really more barfly. Rage is rage, it is this whole other thing that is as tangentially related to anger as we are to Orangutans.
Interesting observation. So, in your eyes, Rage is an adrenaline rush of massive proportions?
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Like IamSposta said, rage is not the same thing as anger. You can be angry and not want to bash in someone's face. Anger can be "hot" or "cold". Rage is often a type of hot anger, irrational, uncontrollable, and relentless, but you don't always have to be angry. You just have to be desperate, like when you're pushed to the brink of life and death. You don't rage when someone insults you, or when someone steps on your foot. You rage when your wife dies and some Russian mobsters beat you up, steal your car, and kill your dog. You rage when you're surrounded by a group of thugs kill/severely injure a party member and attempt to rob you. You rage when you're on a raft floating towards a waterfall and a group of alligators are attacking you.
Rage is not the same as anger. Rage does often involve anger, but is more associated with desperation.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Rage is not anger. Anger is anger. Rage is this whole other thing. Rage is what lets a mom lift a car off her baby and lets a guy shot 9 times survive anyway. Rage is the thing lets a guy who doesn't fight move fast enough to knock people down and come off as way baddass when their really more barfly. Rage is rage, it is this whole other thing that is as tangentially related to anger as we are to Orangutans.
Interesting observation. So, in your eyes, Rage is an adrenaline rush of massive proportions?
The adrenaline dump is part of it, yes. But rage is... rage is an imperative to change the world so undeniable, that it can grant a person abilities only found at the extreme of human capability. An adrenaline dump is one of the tools that allows that. So is cursing apparently, and a slew of other things. But it is a a point where a person can reach that point where reality must yield in the face of their will to change it within the theoretical limitations of the humanoid body and spirit.
Even without adrenaline, some folks are just too ornery to die easy. Some folks are just too stubborn to give. Some folks are just too driven to fail. All of that is rage. Where the person just decides not to bend to reality, so reality has to, and they don’t die, or give, or fail.
Like IamSposta said, rage is not the same thing as anger. You can be angry and not want to bash in someone's face. Anger can be "hot" or "cold". Rage is often a type of hot anger, irrational, uncontrollable, and relentless, but you don't always have to be angry. You just have to be desperate, like when you're pushed to the brink of life and death. You don't rage when someone insults you, or when someone steps on your foot. You rage when your wife dies and some Russian mobsters beat you up, steal your car, and kill your dog. You rage when you're surrounded by a group of thugs kill/severely injure a party member and attempt to rob you. You rage when you're on a raft floating towards a waterfall and a group of alligators are attacking you.
Rage is not the same as anger. Rage does often involve anger, but is more associated with desperation.
No, you don’t even need to be angry to be enraged. Rage is in imperative. It just so happens that violence is one of the most direct and readily available avenues to change.
Oh, this wasn't supposed to make it tougher for the characters... one of my players was interested in the idea. He's a Path of the Wild Soul (archived) Barbarian, and he thought it would be interesting if sometimes his wild magic shot out uncontrollably when he reached a certain anger threshold. I was wondering what sort of threshold that could be.
I am playing a Barb who has very little control over his emotions. As a generally logic-based person myself, it can be difficult for me to RP him (which is why I made my character this way).
Therefore when the situation arises, I will often let the dice decide how he will react. If, for instance, someone insults him in a tavern, I may roll a d6: 1, he runs off crying, 2-3 he ignores it, 4-5 he laughs and makes a joke out of it, 6 he gets mad, charges in and attacks.
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See title.
Just wondering how your characters do it. Can rage be triggered whenever a barbarian gets angry, without the player activating the ability?
Not at all. It's called rage, but it can be whatever you fluff it to be. I personally think that being angry is dumb, so I'd fluff it as a fighting trance, or intense focus.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Well, I have a couple barbarians in my current campaign and we were wondering what sort of threshold their characters would have to cross to start raging... and for these characters, they do rage when they get angry, so I was wondering if anyone had decided on an anger threshold for their own characters and, if so, what that would be.
If you're requiring them to "get angry" in order to use their class feature in combat, I would recommend that they be angry all the time because the class was balanced on the assumption that they can Rage whenever they want as long as they have uses of it. It would be like telling a wizard he could only cast Sleep after nightfall, or Fireball if there was a flame nearby.
If you're asking if getting angry outside of combat triggers Rage, note that Rage immediately ends if you don't take damage or attack something within ~6 seconds. It's constrained pretty tightly to combat and it's already pretty easy to lose one of your few uses in lower levels as it is. Losing them outside of combat would be somewhere between unfortunate and crippling. I would recommend not making it tougher on them unless they're really asking for it, even though it might seem thematic.
A big part of being a barbarian is that you have mastered your Rage to the point where you can focus it and call it up on demand. If you can't do that, you're just a Fighter with anger issues.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Rage is not anger. Anger is anger. Rage is this whole other thing. Rage is what lets a mom lift a car off her baby and lets a guy shot 9 times survive anyway. Rage is the thing lets a guy who doesn't fight move fast enough to knock people down and come off as way baddass when their really more barfly. Rage is rage, it is this whole other thing that is as tangentially related to anger as we are to Orangutans.
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Interesting observation. So, in your eyes, Rage is an adrenaline rush of massive proportions?
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Like IamSposta said, rage is not the same thing as anger. You can be angry and not want to bash in someone's face. Anger can be "hot" or "cold". Rage is often a type of hot anger, irrational, uncontrollable, and relentless, but you don't always have to be angry. You just have to be desperate, like when you're pushed to the brink of life and death. You don't rage when someone insults you, or when someone steps on your foot. You rage when your wife dies and some Russian mobsters beat you up, steal your car, and kill your dog. You rage when you're surrounded by a group of thugs kill/severely injure a party member and attempt to rob you. You rage when you're on a raft floating towards a waterfall and a group of alligators are attacking you.
Rage is not the same as anger. Rage does often involve anger, but is more associated with desperation.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
The adrenaline dump is part of it, yes. But rage is... rage is an imperative to change the world so undeniable, that it can grant a person abilities only found at the extreme of human capability. An adrenaline dump is one of the tools that allows that. So is cursing apparently, and a slew of other things. But it is a a point where a person can reach that point where reality must yield in the face of their will to change it within the theoretical limitations of the humanoid body and spirit.
Even without adrenaline, some folks are just too ornery to die easy. Some folks are just too stubborn to give. Some folks are just too driven to fail. All of that is rage. Where the person just decides not to bend to reality, so reality has to, and they don’t die, or give, or fail.
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Basically, this:
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
No, you don’t even need to be angry to be enraged. Rage is in imperative. It just so happens that violence is one of the most direct and readily available avenues to change.
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Oh, this wasn't supposed to make it tougher for the characters... one of my players was interested in the idea. He's a Path of the Wild Soul (archived) Barbarian, and he thought it would be interesting if sometimes his wild magic shot out uncontrollably when he reached a certain anger threshold. I was wondering what sort of threshold that could be.
In that case you do it whenever it’s funny.
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I am playing a Barb who has very little control over his emotions. As a generally logic-based person myself, it can be difficult for me to RP him (which is why I made my character this way).
Therefore when the situation arises, I will often let the dice decide how he will react. If, for instance, someone insults him in a tavern, I may roll a d6: 1, he runs off crying, 2-3 he ignores it, 4-5 he laughs and makes a joke out of it, 6 he gets mad, charges in and attacks.