CharOP Question: Gestalted Rage Mage?

[RedMage125]

I'm well aware of the lackluster qualities of the Rage Mage PrC.

But, a friend of mine may be running a gestalt game soon (somethign I have never done). I was wondering if Rage Mage could be worthwhile in such a scenario?

Take Sorcerer and Barbarian gestalted until Rage Mage requirements are met. Alternate Gestaled Rage Mage levels with Sorc and Barbarian, so that spellcasting ability never suffers. End result is Gestaled Sorc15|Barbarian15/Rage Mage 10. So the character has full level 20 Sorcerer casting. Maybe take Extra Rage in there to get more Spell Rages as well.

It sounds kind of fun, would this make the Rage Mage better?

[Rebel7284]

I see very little benefit to Rage Mage in gestalt beyond maybe a 2 level dip.

The broken spell progression means you have to keep on taking plain sorcerer on the other side. The capstone is useless as it's trivial to get full BAB and small enhancement bonuses are nothing to write home about and can be replaced by cheap items. The free quicken you get only works with low level spells and only 2-3 times a day. When I am left wondering if a plain Sorcerer20//Barbarian 20 may be better in some ways, it's a pretty sad state of events.

Edit: also you need a houserule to have spellrage work with Extra Rage. Extra rage specifies rage or frenzy. If it DOES work, it makes taking more than 2 levels of Rage Mage an even weaker choice.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

I would go Desert Half-Orc (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/environmentalRacialVariants.htm#desertHalfOrcs), Sorcerer 4// Barbarian 1/ Half-Orc Paragon (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/racialParagonClasses.htm#halfOrcParagon) 3, then start taking Rage Mage alternating between Sorcerer and Barbarian. That ends up at Sorcerer 9/ Rage Mage 5// Barbarian 6/ Half-Orc Paragon 3/ Rage Mage 5, not in that order. If you're not using fractional BAB, that will get you to level 14 with +14 BAB and Sorcerer 14 spellcasting. Your last six levels should definitely include Abjurant Champion 5, probably a level of Paragnostic Apostle as well.

Realistically, Rage Mage does not get Spell Rage often enough for it to reliably be your primary combat buff. A gish uses spells to buff himself in combat, and Rage has no synergy with that. Quite the opposite actually, since Rage precludes spellcasting apart from Spell Rage. You'll be better off with a prestige class that has synergy with your spell buffs, such as Master Transmogrifist or Paragnostic Apostle or a more standard gish class like Abjurant Champion. You would even be better off with ten levels of Spellsword over ten Rage Mage levels, even on a gestalt character. To add insult to injury, the capstone ability is not even worth spending a level on, you'll only want that tenth level for the extra use of Spell Rage it grants.

[RedMage125]

Hmmm, was kind of half-expecting that.

DM has pretty much restricted Unearthed Arcana to gestalt. This is the first time I've ever met a DM who allows anything from that book. So no racial paragons or "environmental" variant races.

I was just wondering, because I saw mention of Rage Mage the other day, and a day later, I was told of this gestalt game, and it made me wonder if gestalt could make it viable.

Extra Rage could be applied to any "rage-like" ability, as long as the character still meets the prerequisite for the feat. So a Bear Warrior can use extra rage to get extra "bear time". This was clarified in a Sage Advice, after Andy Collins took it over. So extra Spell Rages could work.

So...I'm thinking of how this COULD work, given the problems highlighted.

Also, worth mentioning, is that this DM is not a "high op" DM, so a "medium op" should be sufficient. I'm thinking that Rage Mage could still work, and I plan on mostly taking buffing spells and debuff spells. Almost no point in taking "blaster-role" spells. Maybe Disintegrate. Just because I love the spell, and a Quickened Disintegate after a full attack should pretty significantly damage anything.

Also worth mentioning that this is one of those DMs who severely frowns upon "dipping" into PrCs. But even that aside, I was trying to contrive a situation to see if I can make this class work. I've got some backup ideas on the burner, but I want to know if I've really run this one to its full conclusion before dropping it.

Oh, and we used rolled stats, keeping nothing below a 10. Mine are 18, 18, 17, 16, 15, 13 (my dice LOVE me), so MAD isn't an issue.

So...I'm thinking...Sorc4|Barb4 is enough to qualify for Rage Mage, right?
Level as follows:
5- take Sorc|Rage Mage
6- Barbarian|Rage Mage
7-Sorc|Rage Mage
8-Frenzied Berserker|Rage Mage

and so on, alternating Sorc with FB while finishing out Rage Mage.

I'm willing to entertain switching Sorc levels for any full-caster prestige class in which I qualify, in fact I would love suggestions. I know I might need to crank out another few levels of Sorc in there, as many full-caster PrCs require 3rd level spells.

For example, continuing the above method I'd be able to go:
9-Rainbow Servant|Rage Mage
10-Frenzied Berzerker|Rage Mage
11-RS|RM
12-FB|RM
13-RS|RM
14-FB|RM
15 thru 19 -RS|FB
20-RS|Sorc (allowable because of making up for lost caster levels)

Rainbow Servant may not be the best idea, but it highlights the point. I'm VERY unfamiliar with playing a sorcerer (I usually play wizards, wanted to change it up a little), and so I'm not familiar with good sorc PrCs

Also, I'm aware that I would not be able to cast while in frenzy, but I'm counting on the high Will save of Sorc (or caster PrC) to help prevent "premature efrenzyation"

Oh, and as far as feats go, I confirmed we may, in fact have 1 flaw, but not 2. He doesn't want human fighters running around with 5 feats at first level.

Really what I guess I'm looking for now is a good Sorc PrC. I'm thinking FB may be a bad idea, but haven't fully decided on that, either.