Frenzied Rages

Not all barbarians call upon the primal rages that their more typical brothers and sisters do. Instead of inner strength and ferocity they call upon an inner reservoir of heightened speed and reaction. These barbarians utilize a power akin to rages, but rather than the brute power of a bear they gain the feral grace and speed of the wild cat.

At level 1 a barbarian may choose to forgo the Rage, Greater Rage and Mighty Rage class abilities and, if she does, she may instead gain Frenzy, Greater Frenzy and Mighty Frenzy class abilities at the appropriate levels. The Frenzy class ability may be used to qualify for feats and prestige classes that have the rage class ability requirement. While in a frenzy, a barbarian cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except Acrobatics, Fly, Intimidate, and Ride) or any ability that requires patience or concentration.

Frenzy

The Frenzy class ability provides the barbarian with the same amount of rage points as the normal Rage class ability, and a frenzy costs the same activation and upkeep cost as its corresponding rage. Additionally rage powers function in the same way for frenzies as for rages. While in frenzy the barbarian gains a +6 bonus to her Dexterity. Additionally all weapons function as if they were one size category smaller than they are for the purposes of determining whether a weapon may be finessed and off-hand penalties. While in a frenzy a barbarian may deal one additional attack at her highest attack bonus when making a full-round attack.

Greater Frenzy

When entering a frenzy, the barbarian may choose to enter a greater frenzy instead, this costs 2 rage points to initiate and 2 rage points each round to maintain. While in a greater frenzy the barbarian gains a +8 Dexterity bonus and may perform two additional attacks at her highest attack bonus when making a full-round attack. Additionally all weapons function as if they were one size category smaller than they are for the purposes of determining whether a weapon may be finessed and off-hand penalties.

Mighty Frenzy

When entering a frenzy, the barbarian may choose to enter a mighty frenzy instead, this costs 3 rage points to initiate and 3 rage points each round to maintain. While in a mighty frenzy the barbarian gains a +10 Dexterity bonus and may perform two additional attacks at her highest attack bonus when making a full-round attack. Additionally all weapons function as if they were one size category smaller than they are for the purposes of determining whether a weapon may be finessed and off-hand penalties.

New Rage Powers

In addition to the normal rage powers, a barbarian may additionally gain the following new rage powers:

• Swift Step: At the start of her turn the barbarian may expend a swift action to move 5 feet for every two points of Dexterity modifier she has (for example, a Dexterity of 18 corresponds to a modifier of 4 – which would allow for 10 feet of movement). This movement cannot exceed half the speed of the barbarian and the movement provokes attacks of opportunity normally, additionally using the rage power denies the barbarian her Dexterity bonus to armor class until the start of her next turn. If the barbarian is in a mighty frenzy she instead retains her Dexterity bonus to armor class. (4 rage points)
• Frenzied Wielding: As a free action the barbarian may consider any weapons she wields as finessable until the end of her turn. (2 rage points)

Effortless Raging

A barbarian may choose to forgo the ability to reduce damage on her person, thereby giving up her damage reduction class ability. Instead she gains Effortless Rage 1 at level 7, at 10th level and every 3 levels thereafter the Effortless Rage increases by 1. When using a rage power the barbarian may reduce the cost of the power by her effortless rage rating – though this cannot reduce the cost of a rage power to less than half. For example, at 13th level a barbarian with effortless raging only requires to spend 2 rage points to activate the Quick Reflexes rage power, and only spends 9 rage points to activate level 3 Increased Damage Reduction.

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