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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kahuna Burger" data-source="post: 1470292" data-attributes="member: 8439">but to me it doesn't. See thats the problem, even a real life example isn't so clearcut. Concentration and lining up a shot are, to me, the opposite of power attack, which is all about sacrificing that concentration. I would call what you are decribing a coup de grace, pure and simple. Rather than taking several hits and counting on the cumulative damage to do the job, you are taking a helpless target (poor little wood chunk  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /> ) and lining up a single smiting blow. If you wanted to split it in one blow but not bother aiming and just kept taking mighty swings and missing half the time and doing major damage the others, that would be power attack to me...On a rules basis, I would definitly side against power attack and coup de grace working together. Partly thematic (wild swings vs a single thoughtful action) and partly rules based (no attack roll* = no penalty from attack roll = no bonus to damage roll.) But really, why worry? If you are using a big enough weapon to power attack with and have the strength bonus for power attack, are you really that worried the target will make the fort save? (I've had a failed coup de grace once and that was a low str character using a dagger. The group treated it as a big joke that my weapon had somehow bounced off the guy's jugular...) *and I take it as a given that there's no attack roll, Camarath... The idea that someone could roll a die with no impact on the outcome and call it an attack roll with a penalty to it would get a good hard roll of the eyes from me as a DM and the same ruling. A roll with no impact on the outcome of an action is a nervous gesture; the action has no associated roll.kahuna Burger</blockquote>

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