Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 shintashi Jul 11, 2015 8:12:16	So one of my players chose an Air Genesai for their Barbarian's Race. It seemed nonconventional, but they were disappointed that the Goliath had more downtime flavor text than combat advantages (which is true - no giant weapons and no actual resistance to cold, for example, even though when they read the text, that's the first thing they thought it meant), and didn't want to play a Dwarf.   Well anyway, the Barbarian was Raging, and it occured to us they could float in the air.   If you are able to cast spells, you can’t cast them or concentrate on them while raging.
#2 Macv12 Jul 12, 2015 3:17:30	Prohibiting spellcasting or concentration on raging barbarians seems more like a flavor thing anyway. Like, it doesn't seem to circumvent any overpowered mechanical tricks. A barbarian spending actions casting spells instead of making their pumped-up melee attacks, or trying to maintain concentration while drawing the attention of every enemy in sight, is really paying the price right there in the downsides of doing those things. Plus barbarians are already MAD, adding a casting stat in there is punishing yourself. IMO raging shouldn't disallow spells in the first place, since this inherent cost already discourages it, but a player should still have the option to go that route if they're okay with that cost.   So I think you can feel free to pick and choose what "kinds" of spells are allowed. Sorcerer spellcasting is another one that fits thematically with a barbarian, depending on interpretation. If you run it that a sorcerer can just "feel" a spell to cast it, a barborcerer flinging firebolts makes sense.
#3 Nevvur Jul 12, 2015 10:31:05	They prefer to be called Sorbarians.   ---   Letting your air genasi barbarian cast a racial spell while raging is narratively appropriate, but as with any house rule, you need to examine what the normal rules are trying to accomplish before changing them. Generally speaking, one thing the rules are trying to accomplish is to maintain balance. Now consider a high elf barbarian. Should he be able to cast his wizardly racial cantrip while raging? Probably not, but you're creating a mechanic to fit a narrative so that air genasi can, thus generating imbalance in the races. It's a tiny imbalance, and won't ever come up if the party never hosts an elf barbarian, yet if the house rule is not consistent and impartial, it probably isn't a good one.
#4 shintashi Jul 12, 2015 11:26:57	if an ability is based on anger and rage, and the racial ability is also based on anger and rage, then it stands to reason, that the house rule governing it also sets up a requirement the Elf cannot meet, although the elf can meet other requirements for circumstances the genesai might not. Of course, the air genesai in our group is in the same group as the Aara coca cola bird man, who gets flight all day long, uses missile weapons to render them completely untouchable by melee range weapons, and frequently gets +1-2d6 (3-7) sneak attack bonuses to their attacks, which outshines the +2-3 bonus the barbarian recieves.   Actually, i can parallel the two:   Bird Man. . . . . . . . . Air Genesai d8+2d6+3. . . . . . . . d8+1+2 (12 str) <--Sneak attack with bow vs. Barbarian Rage attacks AC 14. . . . . . .  . . . . AC 18 with shield melee immune . . . . melee resistant missile normal . . . . .missile resistant flight unlimited . . . .  levitation 1 minute 120+ range. . . . . . . .melee range d8 +3 normal . . . . . .d8 +1 or d8+3 finesse (16 dex)   This is about where we are right now, the group is level 3-4.   As to Elves, if pushed, they average twice as many long rests as other races (via taking half the time of other races for trance), meaning they could theoretically cast their entire spell allotment or special abilities as other races. This could be argued either way - but we don't have any Elves in our game, so I haven't had to decide on whether to rule the "4 hours a day" as once per day, or rule 4 hrs as a long rest that can be repeated.
#5 Yunru Jul 12, 2015 12:20:47	Elves still take 8 hours to long rest. They just only have to sleep trance for 4 of it.
#6 akr71 Jul 14, 2015 7:07:17	I look at the Genasi in a similar light as the Draconic Bloodline sorcerer or Tiefling.  The air genasi druid in my group was/is a wood elf, born to wood elf parents and raised as such and then the elemental characteristics started to manifest themselves.  I would rule that levitate is an ability, not a spell, however I would also follow the spell description - if the spell levitate requires concentration, so does the elemental ability (I don't have the PHB in front of me).   I view the barbarian's rage as 'anti-concentration' - he or she gets so pumped for the battle, they have a hard time concentrating of anything else.  A 'live for the moment' type thing.   Having said all that, if the player of an air genasi barbarian made a compelling argument why the should be able to levitate and rage, I would probably allow it.  A dual axe weilding, levitating, raging, dashing barbarian flying through a horde of kobolds would be a fearsome sight!  Basically turn yourself into a humanoid missile and careen through a horde of enemies.
#7 Saeviomagy Jul 14, 2015 18:48:18	The only remotely powerful thing that the barbarian anti-casting and concentration rule does is stop hunters mark (and hex) from working for raging barbarians. I honestly don't think it's that big a deal, and I'd feel happy dropping the rule. If my player can justify bookish wizard-casting while in a rage (and I'm sure it's possible - see harry potter and the methods of rationality for an example), then why not?