Power Attack with two-handed weapon

[Darkness]

Ogres are CR 2.

CR 3 in D&D 3.5.

 

[Goolpsy]

does a twohanded weapons guy get double damage for each penalty he takes for Power Attack ??

 

[Darkness]

does a twohanded weapons guy get double damage for each penalty he takes for Power Attack ??

In D&D 3.5, using PA with a weapon wielded two-handed gives you +2 damage (rather than +1) per point of attack penalty you take, yes.

 

[Krelios]

CR 3 in D&D 3.5.

Oops, that's what I get for not having my books with me. Thanks for the correction.

 

[Storyteller01]

If CR is calculated by what an average party of four (covering the basics) can kill, what CR would on Ogre (CR 3) be for a single fighter, mano-a-mano?

 

[Tatsukun]

Let’s see if this is real, or if it’s only a matter of comparing a level 10 fighter with a level 3 monster.

So, let’s look at, say, a Fire Giant (CR 10, just like a Human Fighter 10)

The above-mentioned fighter is attacking full out with PA, for a total of…

Greatsword +12/+7 (2D6+30) [Average 37]

His AC should be around (Armor 10, Dex 1, Natural 2, Deflection 2) = 25

Hp will be something like 60+(10*Con) so maybe 90 Hp



The giant, on the other hand…

Melee +20 / +15 / +10 (2D8+15) [Average 24]
(Power attacking for 8) Melee +12 / +7 / +2 (2D8+30) [Average 39]

Ac is 21

Hp are 142

So as it is, the giant has 50 more HP, an extra attack, and reach (plus other stuff like fire immunity). The fighter will have his hands very full! Of course, it gets MUCH worse if you figure the Fire Giant is an NPC and gets gear. Then it’s bye bye fighter!

Long story short, power attack is not broken. Or if it IS broken, it’s not because a level 10 fighter can kill a CR 3 monster pretty often.

-Tatsu

 

[Tatsukun]

If CR is calculated by what an average party of four (covering the basics) can kill, what CR would on Ogre (CR 3) be for a single fighter, mano-a-mano?

CR 3, however 4 of them would be EL 7. That's one per PC, so it's like one on one.

Of course, the ogres will still be a mildly noticable bump in the road for the level 10 party.

But you know (RBDM here) once they hit level 11, you can throw 8 ogres at the party, get a very rough EL of 11, and give out no Exp because each monster is only CR 3 ! !

(Evil laugh) Bwahah hah hah hah hah ! ! !

Do it four or five times a day ! !

-Tatsu

 

[Pinotage]

If CR is calculated by what an average party of four (covering the basics) can kill, what CR would on Ogre (CR 3) be for a single fighter, mano-a-mano?

One other way of looking at it is by using the square of the CR or character level as an indication of its power. So a 10th level character has a power of 100. 4 such characaters would have a power of 400, and since a challenging encounted for such a party is 25%, a power 100 creature or CR 10 would do.

For a single 10th level fighter of power 100, power 25 would be a challenging encounter using 25% of its resources. Since a CR 3 ogre is power 9, that fighter should be able to handle 3 for a typical encounter (power = 27 ~ 25).

Pinotage

 

[Lamoni]

What I think is nice is that you don't have to do all that figuring for CR. A CR 3 monster is CR 3... always. If a party of 4 kills it, they get xp for killing a CR 3 monster... divided into 4. If a party of 1 kills it, he/she gets xp for killing the CR 3 monster... all to him or herself.

It is quite simple, and simple is good. Of course there may be a more fair way of working it, but at the expense of simple/easy, fair isn't always a good thing.