headband of havoc and skald

[Chess Pwn]

can a skald use the headband of Havoc to have one of their rage powers Be four levels higher?

This band of raggedly stitched animal skins and teeth focuses a barbarian wearer’s bloodlust. When the wearer enters a rage, she selects one of her rage powers. For the duration of the rage, that power functions as if the wearer’s barbarian level were four levels higher.

[havoc xiii]

Errr I don't own any headbands whose been using my name again!

[Rub-Eta]

No. It's for barbarians' rage, not skalds' raging song.

[Chess Pwn]

But the item doesn't say you need to be a barbarian to benefit from it. And a skald uses his level as his barbarian level for rage powers

[Chess Pwn]

anyone else care to weigh in on this?

[Dread Knight]

Chess Pwn wrote:

But the item doesn't say you need to be a barbarian to benefit from it. And a skald uses his level as his barbarian level for rage powers

It does say you need to be a Barbarian

Headband of Havoc wrote:

This band of raggedly stitched animal skins and teeth focuses a barbarian wearer’s bloodlust. When the wearer enters a rage, she selects one of her rage powers. For the duration of the rage, that power functions as if the wearer’s barbarian level were four levels higher.

Once per day when the wearer is attacked or has to make a saving throw against a hostile effect, she may spend 2 rounds of rage to begin a rage as an immediate action.

This rage becomes active prior to resolving the attack that triggered it and lasts until the start of her next turn (at which time she may continue to rage as if she had begun the rage in the normal manner).

[LoneKnave]

Well, you have to be a barbarian to "amplify your bloodlust", but the other effects doesn't seem to be dependant on being one.

However, being a barbarian 4 levels higher doesn't mean anything (the skald levels don't stack with barbarian levels for the purpose of determining the rage power's strength).

However, when the item was made skald did not exist, and the way the item would work with the skald is ambiguous enough that I'd say it works.

[Chess Pwn]

Is that a binding restriction? Because in the effects of what it's doing I don't feel is tying it to only Barbarian. But this does make two against it.

Side note, Would you say that this headband would work for a primalist bloodrager? If so how is it different than the skald?

[LoneKnave]

The problem really is that up until after the playtests the classes were made with the "no multiclassing with parent classes", and this was changed to "their abilities don't stack, unless said so" (even when it would make sense).

A primalist bloodrager's rage powers also, by RAW, wouldn't improve from taking plain Barbarian levels.

Is this stupid? Absolutely. But if your DM is stickler to RAW, I'm pretty sure the headband wouldn't work for either class. I'm thinking it may work for the rage subdomain/inquisition, or maybe the Viking, but not sure.

[Dread Knight]

No it says Barbarian wearer so unless you have levels in Barbarian it won't do anything for your character same if an item said Wizard wearer and modified arcane spells on the Wizard/Sorcerer spell list it wouldn't work for Arcanists or Sorcerers since they aren't a Wizard wearer despite using the same listed spell list and casting the same types of spells.

[LoneKnave]

It says "barbarian wearer" in the fluff line. This is pretty obvious, since the mechanics are void from that line.

[Adept_Woodwright]

I'd probably let it work, but have it apply only to the skald (i.e. apply after the transmission of bonus effects)

for rules:

Skald:

When starting an inspired rage, the skald chooses which rage powers (if any) to add to the song, and all affected allies gain the benefit of these rage powers, using the skald's level as their effective barbarian level. The skald uses his skald level as his barbarian level for the purpose of selecting rage powers that require a minimum barbarian level. If the rage power's effects depend on the skald's ability modifier (such as lesser spirit totem), affected allies use the skald's ability modifier instead of their own for the purposes of this effect.

"all affected allies gain the benefit of these rage powers, using the skald's level as their effective barbarian level" I parse that as: transmit bonus, everyone has effective barbarian levels with respect to rage powers. Anyone could increase effective barbarian levels for rage powers with the correct item.