What if Barbarians Raged as a Reaction ?

[Osuniev]

Thematically, Rage can be many thins, but it often is seen as a sort of supernatural anger. It's fueled by attacking and being hit.
What if Barbarians could rage as a Reaction to being hit (or simply being attacked ? Or seeing a FRIEND get hit ?)

What would change ? Would it be a big buff to the class ? What if they could ONLY rage as a reaction ? Would THAT be a nerf ?

Finally, would it make various tactical options more interesting for Barbarians by freeing their Bonus Action, such as :
- Two-Handed Combat
- Shield Master shield bash
- Berserkers bonus attacks
- Charger bonus attack
...

I'm interested in your opinions both in terms of balance and theme.

[stoutstien]

I've played around with different actions for rage and couldn't find an angle to make it work without making the best options better. Not that they couldn't take the buff I didn't want to empower it as a dip any further. I ended up adding a feature at lv 7 that allows entering rage as part of a weapon attack and it's 'free' if that attack is also a critical hit.

[Magicspook]

This is a really interesting thought... I will ponder this matter.

[Psyren]

It would be a small buff to their first round of combat. As long as the bonus action rage isn't removed in favor of this one I wouldn't mind.

[Jerrykhor]

If the Barbarian can choose to Rage as a bonus action or Reaction, that would be a buff. If he can Rage only as a reaction, then he would be punished for having high Initiative, and would be anti-synergistic with Feral Instinct. Raging as a reaction to an ally being attacked sounds like it should be a Subclass thing, maybe his Rage is fueled by the power of friendship.

The other question is, if Rage as a reaction to being hit, would he still get Resistance to that attack?

[KorvinStarmast]

The other question is, if Rage as a reaction to being hit, would he still get Resistance to that attack? Good question, the answer ought to be yes (makes it an interrupt like the Shield spell) but there are other reactions that aren't interrupts. I'd say "yes, word the house rule that way" or it's no improvement .

[Pex]

Barbarians can already do it in equivalency through Feral Instinct. Even if they were surprised they get to act in that surprise round anyway if they bonus action rage. They get to roll initiative in that surprise round, of which they have advantage.

It is not exactly the same thing. It is annoying to be attacked for full damage before your turn because you still rolled low or at least not high enough in initiative. The niche is there though.

[Yakmala]

I've always wished this was an option. I've played more than my fair share of Barbarians over the years, and there have been many cases where my ability to sustain during a big boss battle came down to how well I rolled on my initiative. Roll low and I'm likely getting hit by a big spell, melee combo or breath weapon before I can rage, significantly increasing the opening round damage I take.

I wouldn't want raging as a Reaction to replace raging as a Bonus Action. After all, I could roll high on my initiative. But as an ability picked up during the course of leveling, this would be a great enhancement to the class.

[heavyfuel]

It would make PAMbarians better. An extra attack hitting for something like 18 dmg (with GWM) can easily be the difference between an enemy with low HP and a dead enemy. This has massive impact on the first round of combat.

I honestly just let Barbs rage for free on their turn. It hasn't broken anything

[Quietus]

It would make PAMbarians better. An extra attack hitting for something like 18 dmg (with GWM) can easily be the difference between an enemy with low HP and a dead enemy. This has massive impact on the first round of combat.

I honestly just let Barbs rage for free on their turn. It hasn't broken anything

This was my approach for my own homebrew rules, too. Just letting it be a non-action means you're providing a buff two TWF barbarians (a notoriously low powered fighting style), to eagle totem barbarians (rarely picked when compared to bear), and to berserkers (which now get a full additional round of bonus action attacks for their point of exhaustion). Sure, it buffs the other types of barbarians as well, particularly PAMbarians, but barbarians are among those classes who can particularly benefit from multiple high stats - and taking PAM reduces the opportunity to do so. It creates trade-offs, and generally buffs the underpowered or underused options more than anyone else.

[Osuniev]

The main idea of making it a Reaction is to emulate the moment where the anger rises in the Barbarian, which I feel is much more logically a reaction to something.

[CTurbo]

I love the idea of Barbarians raging as a reaction and have played it that way before. It does work. I never liked... "I decide to get really angry"




I want to play a Barbarian where I don't have a choice if/when I raged. Like I can make a (Con)save to see if I rage or not when something happens that would make me angry or hurt.

If I got hit by an attack, the DC would be a bit low.
If an ally got hit by an attack in front of me, the DC would be a little higher.
Getting yelled at or repeatedly failing some kind of physical or mental skill would prompt a rage check too.

I think this change would be fun, but some of the other rage rules would have to be changed like the amount of rages per rest would need to be increased and the act of raging would need to be either a free action or reaction.

[MrStabby]

Thematically, Rage can be many thins, but it often is seen as a sort of supernatural anger. It's fueled by attacking and being hit.
What if Barbarians could rage as a Reaction to being hit (or simply being attacked ? Or seeing a FRIEND get hit ?)

What would change ? Would it be a big buff to the class ? What if they could ONLY rage as a reaction ? Would THAT be a nerf ?

Finally, would it make various tactical options more interesting for Barbarians by freeing their Bonus Action, such as :
- Two-Handed Combat
- Shield Master shield bash
- Berserkers bonus attacks
- Charger bonus attack
...

I'm interested in your opinions both in terms of balance and theme.

I like it as an idea. It seems thematic and not a bad buff to a class that feels like it needs one.

My concern though is that I think it is a bit peripheral and doesn't really address what I thik are the bigger concerns I have about the class (lack of out of combat capabilities and lack of things that feel unique when not raging).

I guess that the option of a reaction based rage can maybe help you in those mid levels where you can't rage enough; just a bit more flexability in holding it back to see if you need it.