Power attack rules question

[kaomera]

Benefit: When making a melee attack, you can take a –2 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack hits, you gain a +2 bonus to the damage roll (or a +3 bonus to the damage roll with a two-handed weapon).

Emphasis mine. I don't think you should get the damage bonus if the attack misses, even if you roll damage.

 

[ValhallaGH]

Well, reaping strike lets you do damage on a miss, so evidently, you still manage to hit in some way even though the die says that you technically missed.

Some way like swinging so that he backs into an iron spike, or so that the fighter clips some nearby object sending splinters into the target.

It doesn't say you still hit, just that you swing so that your foe feels it.