Power Attack questions (two)

[Winterthorn]

A player in my game asked me two questions regarding his fighter PC tonight, and I don't have the PH with me right now. I thought to seek a knowledgeable response or two from you folks

1)How does Power Attack interact with the bonus damage from a magic weapon? Frex: if the wpn has a +2 to damage, does PA raise it to +3? My instincts say "no"; I don't see how magic could be augmented by a combat feat--"apples vs oranges". What do you folks say?

2) If one grips a weapon with 2 hands (damage increase of 1.5), like the bastard sword, does a 4th level fighter using Power Attack at maximum advantage receive only a +4 to damage, or does the PA benefit extend to the 2 handed use such that he gets a +6?

Thanks in advance for the wise council to clear things up

-W.

 

[Kai Lord]

Power Attack in no way affects the enhancement bonus of a magic weapon. It is based purely on Base Attack Bonus, so a 4th level Fighter (+4 BAB) could Power Attack for up to +4 damage regardless of whether he attacked two-handed or not.

 

[Crothian]

I think you are over complicating things. THe only thing that matters for power attack is BAB. For every one point of penalty you take (no bigger then your BAB) you get +1 damage. Nothing else effects that.

 

[the Jester]

What they said.

So let's say we have a 4th-level fighter with an 18 str using a greatsword+1 two handed with a maximum power attack. If he hits, his damage is:

2d6 (base)+6 (1-1/2 str bonus)+1 (enhancement) +4 (power attack), or a total of 2d6+11.

 

[Darklone]

1)How does Power Attack interact with the bonus damage from a magic weapon? Frex: if the wpn has a +2 to damage, does PA raise it to +3? My instincts say "no"; I don't see how magic could be augmented by a combat feat--"apples vs oranges". What do you folks say?

Yeah, to clarify: It still counts as a +2 weapon but the damage adds up. Sorry if I misinterpreted that question, but I understood it that way:

scimitar +2, fighter lvl4 with strength 18:
Power Attack +4 yields 1d6+2(magic)+4(strength onehanded)+4(power attack)

Not:
1d6+0(Magic not stacking with Power Attack)+4+4