Author Topic: Madborn Spellcaster... able to cast spells, or not?  (Read 1113 times)

Offline ksbsnowowl

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Madborn Spellcaster... able to cast spells, or not?
« on: December 30, 2014, 11:25:48 PM »
The Madborn Template (5Nations, p 123) puts someone into a constant state of rage by fracturing its consciousness, etc.  It says specifically:

Quote
Rage (Ex): A madborn is constantly in a state of rage similar to a barbarian’s rage. In this state, the madborn gains a +4 bonus to its Strength and Constitution scores, a +2 bonus on Will saves, and a –2 penalty to Armor Class. An effect that counters rage, such as the calm emotions spell, temporarily suppresses this ability and negates these bonuses and penalties.

Psionics (Sp): At will—cause fear, daze monster, expeditious retreat, lesser confusion. Save DCs are Charisma-based. Caster level equals the madborn’s Hit Dice.
So, it is in a constant state of rage similar to a barb's but not exactly the same.  The fact they gain several at-will psionic abilities seems to indicate that they are capable of casting spells.

If a Sorcerer became a madborn... he could cast his spells?

Offline Leviathan

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Re: Madborn Spellcaster... able to cast spells, or not?
« Reply #1 on: December 30, 2014, 11:43:54 PM »
I would rule that he can cast spells. In my reading, the phrase "similar to a barbarian's rage" is a hint to the reader about what sort of ability he is reading. That phrase, by itself, does not have any value for the rules. Instead, the second and third sentences of the Rage ability tell you what the ability does.

(Note that I would have made a different ruling if the ability had instead had "similar to a barbarian's rage, except ..." -- in that case, you would take the existing barbarian rage ability and amend it according to the rest of the text.)