I'm not fond of the Barbarian's Rage ability. Whenever I roll up a Barbarian character, I think of the character more as a "brick" - strong, powerful and seemingly unstoppable, like...
I don't envision any of these characters (or my own) as being in a battle trance, foaming at the mouth with rage.
The Barbarian's Rage, however, is fairly key to the class in 3.X edition.
What are alternatives to giving a Barbarian a Rage ability?
Looking at this thread, there are a few of rage-substitute class features that fit the style you want: - Berserker Strength (PHB 2, p 33): Lose rage. Gain a rage that activates every time your hp drops to below 5x your barbarian level. - Crafty Hunter (UA, p 58): Gain favored enemy, archery combat style, improved archery combat style, and greater archery combat style. Lose rage and indomitable will.
The best way to simulate Fezzik is with monk. Call him a brute, but the various unarmed attacks and some of the class features (suitably renamed) fit him quite well, especially with "Decisive Strike (PHB 2, p 51): Lose flurry of blows, gain ability to make one attack that deals double damage." and "Durable (UA, p 58): Gain damage reduction as barbarian. Lose speed enhancement bonus and bonus to AC (but not wisdom to AC)."
The best way to simulate He-man is with Ranger. He even has an animal companion and dual-wields.
The best way to simulate Ox, especially with his superhuman strength and durability is Psychic Warrior, fighter, or equivalent with... a depressing number of templates.
The best way to simulate Bamm-Bamm ... is with Psychic Warrior, his "hitting the floor and causing it to shake" is a great reflavouring of "Shout"
The essence is found in OOTS, where your job "title" doesn't come from your class levels.
The only official alternative mechanics for barbarians I'm currently aware of are:
all from the Unearthed Arcana supplement.
I think the hunting barbarian is closest to what you ask for, since it replaces rage, greater rage, indomitable will, tireless rage, mighty rage with favored enemy (as ranger), archery combat style, improved archery combat style, and archery combat style mastery (as ranger).
What if you kept the mechanics but changed the way it feels - called it "Fearlessness" or "Heroic Might" or some such thing?
Or, if you don't like the limited-duration limited-uses-per-day feel of Rage, give the character a better DR bonus. I'd try one that's equal to half the character's Barbarian level (rounded down). Giving the character a flat STR bonus is probably a bad idea, but perhaps a +1 melee damage bonus, as an Extraordinary ability, that increases by 1 every time the character takes a Barbarian level that otherwise would have had a Rage ability? That would be cool in lower-level play, although pretty weak at higher levels...
Or perhaps take a look at the Berserker class in Iron Heroes. Again, by changing the name and description, you get a character that gets more dangerous the more he's being smacked around.
The only official 3.5 rage alternatives are as follows:
Berserker Strength (PHB2): Lose rage for extra strength and damage reduction whenever your health falls beneath 5*barbarian level.
Ferocity (Cityscape, web enhancement): Lose rage for bonuses to Strength and Dex.
Whirling Frenzy (Unearthed Arcana): Change rage for bonuses to AC, reflex saves and strength.
Crafty Hunter (Unearthed Arcana): Lose rage for favored enemy and archery combat styles as the ranger.
That being said there are tons of other alternative features for the barbarian that don't replace rage, or you could use the alternative class features of another class to make a build like the barbarian without it actually being a barbarian.
If bad comes to worse, you can play test some of the homebrew here, but some of it won't be balanced in the slightest. All in all thought it works pretty well.
