Method of restarting a rage in the same encounter?

Question

A barbarian can fly into a rage only once per encounter.

^{(Barbarian class description → Rage feature description)}

This line is making me sad; I want to be able to end a rage and start a new one more frequently than that. Is there anything that will let me do that? Feat, magic item, class feature, racial feature, a template, whatever, anything that gets around that limitation is of interest—though I sorely doubt there will be anything.

Note D&D 3.5e has no general definition of “encounter,” it’s a purely “the DM calls ’em as they see ’em,” situation (barring Tome of Battle’s definition but that is really for its own purposes, even though many tables use it as a general definition). This does not matter to this question at all, because the point of this question is to “fly into a rage” more than once in a single encounter, not to somehow technically leave the encounter in order to restart rage. I highly doubt there is any valid answer to this question that does not involve some option that undoes the quoted rule explicitly—which is exactly what I want. I also know that this probably doesn’t exist—that’s OK too. The question can go unanswered if it does not have an answer. (An answer saying nothing exists could be fine if that can be backed up, but considering the absurd breadth of 3.5e material, that would be very difficult. I already know it probably doesn’t exist, so a negative answer would have to somehow prove that it definitely doesn’t exist.)

Any Wizards of the Coast-published, Dragon, or Dungeon D&D 3.5e material is acceptable. Third-party materials and homebrew are not.

Answer 1

Berserker Strength ACF (PHB2 p.33) counts as rage for the purpose of interacting with any other abilities that trigger on a rage, but has different bonuses, different activation criteria, and doesn't actually inherit any rules from the barbarian classfeature.

In particular, it has no per-day or per-encounter limits, and instead activates every time you drop below a certain hp threshold, and ends every time you are unconscious, helpless, or healed above that hp threshold. So you can start a berserker episode many times in one encounter if you are damaged and healed repeatedly (or knocked out and revived repeatedly).

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The above can be improved by Ettercap Berserker feat (UE p.43) or Bear Warrior PrC (CWar p.16), either of which puts a Constitution bonus back into rage's benefits (after berserker strength traded away your original one). Gaining hp due to changing Con isn't technically healing, so it doesn't end the berserk; instead you continue berserking despite having hp above the threshold.

This means that when you're in the appropriate range of health, such that your un-buffed hp would be below the threshold but your buffed hp is above, then any small amount of healing will briefly toggle berserk off, which loses your Con bonus and corresponding hp, which turns it on again. Not an infinite loop, just happens once per instance of healing. Result: less finicky managing of precise amounts of damage than berserker strength alone would need (plus you're tougher of course).

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Wolverine or Badger (MM1) have a racial ability that's named "rage" and has similar benefits, but doesn't actually say that it inherits anything from the barbarian classfeature, neither rules nor interacting with other abilities. If your DM takes the dubious interpretation of making "rage" count as "rage" due to the name, but simultaneously not adopting barbarian's limitations, then this could work for you.

It activates whenever you take damage, and lasts until "your opponent is dead". Since that's phrased in the singular, I think it refers only the the creature whose attack triggered the rage, and their death doesn't have to be the end of the encounter if they had allies.

Weretouched Master (ECS) has a classfeature with the same caveats as wolverine.

Answer 2

Cursed items.

This would surely be a rather desperate way to start a second rage within one encounter, but you could – after your regular rage has ended – draw a sword (or other weapon), cursed berserking (DMG, p. 276)

This item appears to have the characteristics of a +2 greatsword. However, whenever the sword is used in battle, its wielder goes berserk (gaining all the benefits and drawbacks of the barbarian’s rage ability). He attacks the nearest creature and continues to fight until unconscious or dead or until no living thing remains within 30 feet. Although many see this sword as a cursed object, others see it as a boon.

It may be controversial, whether „going berserk“ counts as „a rage“ with regard to feats and other abilities but I think, the wording „gaining all the benefits and drawbacks of the barbarian’s rage ability“ suggests that it does.

I have to admit that using such a sword would be a bit, err …, hazardous. Your allies should keep distance and have some good strategy to get you out of trouble when things get totally out of control (cast Benign Transposition, maybe). But I could think of situations when drawing such a sword might be worth considering. Also, if you have Quick Draw, you don't have to spend an action before going berserk with that weapon.

It might also be an option to craft/obtain a cursed magic item based on the spell Mindless Rage (Spell Compendium, p. 142). This spell forces a creature to attack the caster. Also, ...

While under the effect of a mindless rage spell, the subject can make use of all its normal melee combat skills, abilities, and feats—either offensive or defensive. (...) An interesting side effect of mindless rage occurs when the spell affects any character or creature that has the rage ability (such as a barbarian). In these cases, the mindless rage spell automatically activates the creature's rage ability (and counts as one of the creature's uses of rage for that day).

(emphasis mine)

A magical item can be cursed in a way that it has an Opposite Effect or Target.

These cursed items malfunction, so that either they do the opposite of what the creator intended, or they target the user instead of someone else. The interesting point to keep in mind here is that these items aren’t always bad to have. (DMG, p. 272)

A DM could allow a cursed wand of Mindless Rage that forces its user to attack the target. (Downside: you would have to use a standard action to activate the wand and have enough ranks in Use Magic Devise).

Maybe one could also think of a cursed Ring of Spell Storing, which directs its stored spells onto its user instead of the intended target. If the spell Mindless Rage would be cast into such a ring, it could be used by a barbarian (but would also take a standard action).

There are no clear rules on how cursed items are created in the DMG. You need some „malicious, chaotic or insane spellcaster“ and usually have to add a Bestow Curse spell in the process of creating.

Conclusion: I don't believe these ideas are of much help, as they make your barbarian partly lose control over his actions and put him at high risks. But since you asked for anything that gets around the limitation of one rage per encounter, I gave it a go. :)