Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Feriin 11-18-04, 08:10 AM	When a raging barbarian hits negative hitpoints does his rage end? ( and thus lose all of his raging HP , effectivily putting the barbarian way below negative 10 hp) The PHB only says that a Barbarian losses his rage after the encounter is over. I could see letting a barbarian keep on raging when in negative hitpoints if they pass thier 10% stabilize then pass the 10% to become concious.
Nuke 11-18-04, 08:26 AM	I'm really interested in the answer to this myself. Personally I think it would go away. I just don't see how you could be in a state of rage when you are no longer concious. But we have a player in our group who swears that he read somewhere that it doesn't go away when being dropped. He's never been able to show us where he read that, so we've always just ruled that it doesn't. I'd be really interested if there is an official ruling on this?
Kialindo 11-18-04, 08:35 AM	I personally have always ruled that if a barbarian is dropped to neg hp during a rage their rage ends on their next action unless they are stabalized (in which case the rage is extended to their next action) or they are healed back to positive HP in which case their rage continues as normal .... Rage actually has a VERY nasty drawback that most people don't realize until it is too late ... and this drawback gets worse as you go up in levels .... While you do gain extra HP from rage these HP do not go away like all other temporary HP gained from spells but rather at the end .... so a 10th level character will gain a bonus 20 hp from their con increase so if they end their rage below 20 they will instantly drop into negative hp and if they end their rage at or below 10 hp they are DEAD...... So by instantly ending rage when a Barbarian drops into negative you are basically giving the Barbarian a possible death sentence any time they rage .... SO I use the above rule to at least give the party a chance to save their fallen comrade ... Just my opinion and house rule
miniatures_buyer 11-18-04, 08:40 AM	It is true. A barbarian does not loose its rage if he falls unconsious. The only way for barbarian rage to end is as per the rules under rage: 1) The barbarian may prematurely end his rage -OR- 2) 3 + the barbarian's constitution modifier rounds have lapsed since he raged.
starfire311 11-18-04, 08:56 AM	Yeah according to the rules there are only 2 to end the rage, and falling unconscious isn't one of those. otherwise barbarians above 5th level wouldn't fair too well.. first time they get knocked unconscious they die.
Naeron 11-18-04, 10:32 AM	According to the rules Rage stops either when the duration expires or when the Barbarian concsiously decides to end it. Even Calm Emotions doesn't cancel Barbarian Rage it just supresses it for the duration of the spell. When a barbarian falls unconcious their rage continues until it would normally end. At that point in time their CON drops and they will lose 2 HP/HD. So even if they stabilise at -1 a 5th level Barbarian will die when their rage duration expires due to losing 10HP as their CON drops. Their only hope is external healing.
Cantankerous 11-18-04, 11:03 AM	I've done something a bit different with the Barbarian and their Rage ability. In basis it works as per the PHB, but with these exceptions: 1) The extra hit points DO go away first 2) The Rage ability is linked inextricably to the Illiteracy. If the Barbarian ever becomes literate, (he does not now automaticly become literate if taking a level in any other class) then he looses touch with that inner Rage and con no longer Rage at all. This precludes Wizard as a possibility for a Barbarian, but no other class is automaticly precluded. It would render useless the Scribe Scroll Feat of the Sorceror useless and makes taking more than five levels of any Knowledge (except Nature) skill impossible, and precludes one ever getting any of the following skills, even if they are class skills for another class: Decipher Script, Forgery, or any Craft or Profession skill requiring literacy . Also, any the following skills receive a -5 circumstance bonus when they would normally be hindred by the Barbarians illiteracy: Appraise, Gather Info, Perform, Spellcraft and Use Magic Item. It evens the whole thing out nicely without making the classes primary ability a deadly deficit at higher levels. Isshia