What does two-handed mean?
The FAQ is attempting to rectify a problem caused by poor terminology. The problem is the SRD (and printed books) has one term (“two-handed”) in use to describe two different traits of a weapon. One use of the term references how a weapon is used (actually “a weapon wielded with two hands”) and the other the size of the weapon relative to its user (actually “a big weapon that normally requires two hands to use”). This is one more problem that should be ironed out in the next edition or errata’d in this one.
IMO the problem is with the use of the term to describe weapon sizes. It was probably done to keep the rules easier to read, without realizing it came at the expense of being harder to understand. Instead think of the weapon size categories (light, one-handed, two-handed) as 1, 2, 3 or least, lesser, great (to borrow the nice alphabetized magnitude sequencing I first saw used to describe dragonmark feats in Eberron CS).
Size 1 or least weapons (formerly light)
cannot be wielded with two hands unless otherwise noted. (I am not certain how this change applies to weapons used by users in a different size category than the weapon was made for.) (Of course, this means the classic two-handed overhead dagger strike has only dramatic effects, so with a little editing the designers can keep STR bonus x 1.5 while eliminating the PA loophole. For now I’ll keep it simple.)
Size 2 or lesser weapons (formerly one-handed)
may be wielded with two hands unless otherwise noted.
Size 3 or greater weapons (formerly two-handed)
must be wielded with two hands unless otherwise noted. (The lance is a weapon that is “otherwise noted” to be wielded with one hand while mounted.)
Power Attack grants any weapon of any size that is wielded with two hands (could be a Size 3 greatsword or a Size 2 long sword) 2x damage, not the normal 1x.
If you use one term per meaning, the problem clearly rests in the Power Attack description. Here's the full PA feat, format courtesy of Creative Mountain Games:
SRD said:
POWER ATTACK [GENERAL]
Prerequisite: Str 13.
Benefit: On your action, before making attack rolls for a round, you may choose to subtract a number from all melee attack rolls and add the same number to all melee damage rolls. This number may not exceed your base attack bonus. The penalty on attacks and bonus on damage apply until your next turn.
Special: If you attack with a two-handed weapon, or with a one-handed weapon wielded in two hands, instead add twice the number subtracted from your attack rolls. You can’t add the bonus from Power Attack to the damage dealt with a light weapon (except with unarmed strikes or natural weapon attacks), even though the penalty on attack rolls still applies. (Normally, you treat a double weapon as a one-handed weapon and a light weapon. If you choose to use a double weapon like a two-handed weapon, attacking with only one end of it in a round, you treat it as a two-handed weapon.)
A fighter may select Power Attack as one of his fighter bonus feats.
My read is PA is intended to work with
weapons wielded with two hands based on the entire first sentence of the benefits section. (A straight substitution becomes a bit confusing in the section covering double weapons and requires an educated guess as to the first replacement. That can be cleared up with a small change to the rules governing double weapon use to reflect the actual terminology.
SRD formatted by CMG said:
POWER ATTACK [GENERAL]
Prerequisite: Str 13.
Benefit: On your action, before making attack rolls for a round, you may choose to subtract a number from all melee attack rolls and add the same number to all melee damage rolls. This number may not exceed your base attack bonus. The penalty on attacks and bonus on damage apply until your next turn.
Special: If you attack with a (PICK ONE: weapon wielded with two hands OR Size 3 weapon), or (ARE THEY ARE RESTATING THE TWO-HANDED USE POWER ATTACK RULE HERE?) with a Size 2 weapon wielded in two hands, instead add twice the number subtracted from your attack rolls. You can’t add the bonus from Power Attack to the damage dealt with a Size 1 weapon (except with unarmed strikes or natural weapon attacks), even though the penalty on attack rolls still applies. (Normally, you treat a double weapon as a Size 2 weapon and a Size 1 weapon. If you choose to use a double weapon like a (GUESSING) Size 3 weapon, attacking with only one end of it in a round, you treat it as a weapon wielded with two hands.)
A fighter may select Power Attack as one of his fighter bonus feats.
A full rewrite might look like:
modified SRD said:
POWER ATTACK [GENERAL]
Prerequisite: Str 13.
Benefit: On your action, before making attack rolls for a round, you may choose to subtract a number from all melee attack rolls and add the same number to all melee damage rolls. This number may not exceed your base attack bonus. The penalty on attacks and bonus on damage apply until your next turn.
Special: If you attack with a weapon wielded with two hands instead add twice the number subtracted from your attack rolls. You can’t use Power Attack with a Size 1 weapon (except with unarmed strikes or natural weapon attacks). (Normally, you treat a double weapon as though each end were a weapon wielded with one hand. If you choose to use one end exclusively this round, treat that end as a weapon wielded with two hands.)
A fighter may select Power Attack as one of his fighter bonus feats.
Once resolved, I’d say PA can’t give a 2x damage bonus (for a “weapon wielded with two hands”) out of a lance wielded by a mounted user, because though the lance is clearly a Size 3 (greater) weapon it is not wielded with two hands in that case. Whether or not the lance can be used with two hands while mounted is an exercise for the user.
Does that make sense?
