comrade raoul
Explorer
While I agree with Andy Collins' sentiment that Power Attack should be more appealing to "the greataxe-wielding barbarian" than to "the twin-dagger-wielding halfling rogue," I that think allowing wielders of two-handed weapons to gain double the usual benefit from the feat is a huge mistake. Therefore, I plan on using the standard, 3.0 version of Power Attack, with two changes:
- Characters do not benefit from Power Attack when attacking with light weapons (although they still benefit from the feat when attacking with natural weapons, such as unarmed attacks). (Note that this is also an aspect of the 3.5 version of Power Attack.)
- Add the following new feat, Improved Power Attack:
Improved Power Attack [General]
You can deliver brutal strikes a two-handed weapon.
Prerequisite: Str 17, Power Attack, base attack bonus +4.
Benefit: When wielding a two-handed weapon (or a one-handed weapon held in both hands), you can double your Strength bonus when adding it to damage rolls (instead than multiplying it by 1.5). You suffer a -1 penalty to your attack rolls when using this feat.
Note that at Strength 18, this provides a +2 bonus to damage for the price of a -1 penalty to attack rolls, the same 2:1 ratio of the 3.5e Power Attack feat, but without causing damage potential to go through the roof. This ratio increases with higher-Strength characters (it's 3:1 at Str 22, 4:1 at Str 26, and 5:1 at Str 30), but the damage should generally stay manageable.
- Characters do not benefit from Power Attack when attacking with light weapons (although they still benefit from the feat when attacking with natural weapons, such as unarmed attacks). (Note that this is also an aspect of the 3.5 version of Power Attack.)
- Add the following new feat, Improved Power Attack:
Improved Power Attack [General]
You can deliver brutal strikes a two-handed weapon.
Prerequisite: Str 17, Power Attack, base attack bonus +4.
Benefit: When wielding a two-handed weapon (or a one-handed weapon held in both hands), you can double your Strength bonus when adding it to damage rolls (instead than multiplying it by 1.5). You suffer a -1 penalty to your attack rolls when using this feat.
Note that at Strength 18, this provides a +2 bonus to damage for the price of a -1 penalty to attack rolls, the same 2:1 ratio of the 3.5e Power Attack feat, but without causing damage potential to go through the roof. This ratio increases with higher-Strength characters (it's 3:1 at Str 22, 4:1 at Str 26, and 5:1 at Str 30), but the damage should generally stay manageable.
