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I was looking at classes and subclasses, and saw the Path of the Zealot barbarian, and the question if it could become almost immortal came to mind. At level 14, the Path of the Zealot gains the following feature:

Rage Beyond Death Beginning at 14th level, the divine power that fuels your rage allows you to shrug off fatal blows. While you're raging, having 0 hit points doesn’t knock you unconscious. You still must make death saving throws, and you suffer the normal effects of taking damage while at 0 hit points. However, if you would die due to failing death saving throws, you don’t die until your rage ends, and you die then only if you still have 0 hit points.

Combined with the normal barbarian feature at level 15:

Persistent Rage Beginning at 15th level, your rage is so fierce that it ends early only if you fall unconscious or if you choose to end it.

Could a level 15 Zealot barbarian just fight the Tarrasque by itself and live?

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    \$\begingroup\$ "Could a level 15 Zealot barbarian just fight the Tarrasque by itself and live?" was the line that prevented me to vtc, I think that is enough of a different question on its own, the rest is an obvious duplicate of the linked question. \$\endgroup\$
    – Akixkisu
    Commented Dec 31, 2022 at 11:21
  • \$\begingroup\$ I revised your question to ask specifically about the barbarian fighting the tarrasque, it is revision 4, click this link to see it, is that a good question to you? As your question is currently written, I think it's just a duplicate of the question in the banner, but refocusing on the tarrasque would not be a duplicate. \$\endgroup\$
    – Thomas Markov
    Commented Dec 31, 2022 at 11:33
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    \$\begingroup\$ @ThomasMarkov I do read this question differntly - nothing here is about a 20th level barbarian, it is about a level 15 barabarian, and the the OP did read "Persistant Rage" as turning rage into unlimited duration. Unless you get to level 20 for unlimited rages, like in that other question, that is a quite different situation. I also think that the Tarrasque here is merely an example of a high-level threat. I'll reopen the dupe, and you can VTC for clarity, if you like? \$\endgroup\$
    – Nobody the Hobgoblin
    Commented Dec 31, 2022 at 12:27
  • \$\begingroup\$ Let us continue this discussion in chat. \$\endgroup\$
    – Nobody the Hobgoblin
    Commented Dec 31, 2022 at 13:07

1 Answer 1

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For one minute, yes

The barbarian's rage feature (p. 18 PHB) says:

Your rage lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are knocked unconscious or if your turn ends and you haven’t attacked a hostile creature since your last turn or taken damage since then. You can also end your rage on your turn as a bonus action.

So, the rage will end after one minute1. Persistent Rage does not change when it ends, only when it ends early.

1 ... unless you spend another one of your rages before it ends, which can extend the duration. At level 15 you have 5 rages per long rest, so at most you could rage for 5 minutes. Once you hit level 20, you have unlimited rages. Here is a question about how that could play out. Short answer: power word kill, sleep or other effects that put you unconscious or kill you instantly without death saves still work. Massive damage could too, although the Tarrasque would not manage that, not even on a critical hit for the hp a typical barbarian has by level 15.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I sugested a refocusing of the question on the tarrasque fight, if OP decides to use that version, your answer will need to be revised. \$\endgroup\$
    – Thomas Markov
    Commented Dec 31, 2022 at 11:34
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    \$\begingroup\$ Side note: playing an Elf, Half-Elf or Warforged will negate the danger of Sleep or similar effects (Warforged is best because Elfs would technically still be susceptible to, for example, non-magical poison that knocks them unconscious, while Warforged simply don't sleep at all). Plus, their other racial benefits are quite useful for barbarians as well, such as CON +2, poison resistance, not needing to breathe, or a flat +1 to AC. \$\endgroup\$
    – PixelMaster
    Commented Dec 31, 2022 at 13:25
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    \$\begingroup\$ @PixelMaster: Zealot barbarians don't need to breathe while they're raging, that "just" puts you a 0 hp and can't stabilize from successful death saves. An Aasimar zealot could dive into lava, swim under / through it for 4.8 minutes, then hop out and use healing hands to stabilize herself. Or indefinitely at level 20, with unlimited rages. But yeah, it's nicer not to lose all your HP from lack of air, and the other Warforged benefits are nice. (Although if you make it to lvl14, Con becomes less important for a Zealot due to Rage Beyond Death, but still nice in general.) \$\endgroup\$
    – Peter Cordes
    Commented Dec 31, 2022 at 13:57

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