Ragecaster (3.5e Prestige Class)

Ragecaster
"This hand of mine glows with an awesome power! It's loud roar tells me to defeat you! Take this! My love! My anger! And all of my sorrow! Erupting... burning... FINGER OF DEATH!"

For many casters such as sorcerers, magic is all about imposing their will on the universe. Through strong force of will and strength of spirit, they create fire and lightning, destroy and reforge. And yet the concept is not far different than the art of giving into one's rage, improving one's own physical abilities through adrenaline, hotblood, and pure unfettered emotion. So it occurred to some magically talented barbarians that the world of magic and the world of matter need not be opposites, but rather two sides to the same coin. The ragecasters fuel their spells with anger, and in turn their magic gives them the courage to face any battle head on.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the ragecaster.

You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a ragecaster, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day, caster level, and spells known.

 : The ragecaster muscle be able to fight and cast and move all at once. If the ragecaster's spellcasting had arcane spell failure in armor, the ragecaster can now cast in light armor, ignoring arcane spell failure. If they could already cast in light armor or greater the armor type rises by one (light to medium to heavy).

They do not gain any of the other benefits of the barbarian class.

Ragecasters can only cast spells from the Evocation, Transmutation, Conjuration, Abjuration and Necromancy schools while in a rage.

 : At 2nd level, a ragecaster can shorten the duration of his rage in order to fuel extra strength into his spells. While raging and casting magic, a ragecaster can choose to shorten the duration of his rage by 1 round, and gains a +1 bonus to caster level for the spell. At every even level, the amount of rounds he can subtract from the duration rises by 1, and the caster level rises by 1. In addition, he gains half the bonus to caster level as a bonus to spell DCs.

The caster level bonus from these spells are particularly effective on spells which deal hp damage. The ragecaster increases the damage caps on any spell he increases the caster level for by the same amount. Thus a ragecaster (CL 11th) who casts a fireball deals 10d6, but if he reduces his rage by 3 rounds, his CL rises to CL 14 and the fireball deals 13d6 points of damage. The damage cap increase has no effect on non-hp damage sources, such as ability damage.

He may use his Strength to determine bonus spells per day instead of whatever his casting ability normally is, if better.

 : At 3rd level, a ragecaster gains the arcane strike bonus feat from Complete Warrior. This allows him to sacrifice a spell slot as a free action and obtain the spell level as a bonus to attack rolls, and an additional +1d4 points of damage per spell level to all attacks made in that round.

 : At 5th level, a ragecaster no longer becomes fatigued at the end of his rage. In addition, he may use multiple rages per encounter instead of being limited to just once per encounter.

 : At 5th level, a ragecaster can make a standard action to do a normal attack. If he hits, he may cast any touch, ranged touch, or single target spell on the target as part of the attack.

 : At 6th level, a ragecaster's magical power is imbued right into his essence. His caster level for all of his spellcasting becomes equal to his character level.

 : At 7th level, a ragecaster can cast spells rapidly so he can use spells while he stabs. He can use quicken on spells equal to half his ragecaster level without increasing their spell level. For example at ragecaster 7 he can quicken spells up to 3rd level.

 : At 9th level, a ragecaster's arcane strike improves, dealing +1d6 damage per spell level rather than +1d4 spell level. In addition he can choose to have his attack to explode outward, dealing the same damage as his melee attack caused out to all creatures in a 20 ft radius burst, with a Reflex save for half damage DC 10 + 1/2 HD + his spellcasting ability score. The ragecaster is immune to his own explosion, but allies are not. The initial creature only takes the initial damage and not damage again from the explosion.

He may use his Strength to determine spell DCs instead of whatever his casting ability normally is, if better. He still needs his original ability score to determine what level of spells he can cast.

The epic ragecaster gains a bonus feat (selected from the list of epic ragecaster feats) at 11th and every four levels after.

Epic Ragecaster Bonus Feat List: Armor Skin, Blinding Speed, Chaotic Rage, Damage Reduction, Devastating Critical, Dire Charge, Energy Resistance, Epic Endurance, Epic Fortitude, Epic Prowess, Epic Speed, Epic Spell Focus, Epic Spell Penetration, Epic Toughness, Epic Will, Fast Healing, Great Charisma, Great Constitution, Great Dexterity, Great Intelligence, Great Strength, Great Wisdom, Improved Combat Casting, Improved Whirlwind Attack, Incite Rage, Legendary Climber, Legendary Leaper, Legendary Prowess, Legendary Wrestler, Mighty Rage, Overwhelming Critical, Penetrate Damage Reduction, Perfect Health, Permanent Emanation, Ruinous Rage, Spell Knowledge, Spell Opportunity, Spell Stowaway, Spellcasting Harrier, Superior Initiative, Tenacious Magic, Terrifying Rage, and Thundering Rage.

Ex-Ragecaster
Ragecasters who become lawful cannot advance further in ragecaster. They don't lose anything though.

Playing a Ragecaster
Combat: You're a barbarian! You're a sorcerer! You're a sorcerer barbarian! Be in the front lines or hang in back, you can do both just fine! Heck, do both at the same time!

Advancement: Gish friendly classes help a ragecaster grow both sides of magic and strength. However thanks to inherent caster level, the ragecaster can afford to lose more caster levels than a normal gish.

Resources: Ragecasters are usually functioning as a tribal shaman in their groups, and do not have any real organizations.

Ragecasters in the World
"I didn't think "if looks could kill" was literal. He was so pissed off that the guy just burst into flames shortly before he pounded him into the wall."

NPC Reactions: Ha, look at the stupid barbarian, all muscle and no brains. I bet h- OH GOD I'M ON FIRE.

Ragecaster Lore
Characters with ranks in Knowledge Arcana can research ragecasters to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Ragecasters in the Game
Adaptation: This is a replacement to the Rage Mage class from Complete Warrior.

Sample Encounter: The barbarian king is a mighty spellcaster as well, and he has the entire tribe under his dark sway.

EL 10: PENDING