Weapon Stunt: Uncanny Blow + Power Attack

[Legildur]

1) When wielding a one-handed exotic weapon two-handed, you deal 2xStr damage instead of 1.5xStr. No one is disputing this.

2) If you have Power Attack, the one handed exotic weapon is treated as two-handed for the purposes of Power Attack bonus damage only. --Not for all purposes, as Karinsdad is (accidentally, I believe) implying, but only for Power Attack. So when wielded one-handed, the weapon deals Strx1.0 damage and does not gain the two-handed weapon +4 bonus on disarm attempts--but it does Power Attack at 2-for-1.

That's how I see it. I don't see why the feat would re-iterate the wording from a basic PHB feat under the 'benefit' sub-heading if it weren't meant otherwise. (unless of course it was listed under a 'normal' sub-heading).

Mind you, this exact topic has been covered about half-a-dozen times before and not definitively resolved either way....

 

[Seeten]

Karinsdad has it right. --Almost. The two statements for the feat are completely independent. Therefore, you have:

1) When wielding a one-handed exotic weapon two-handed, you deal 2xStr damage instead of 1.5xStr. No one is disputing this.

2) If you have Power Attack, the one handed exotic weapon is treated as two-handed for the purposes of Power Attack bonus damage only. --Not for all purposes, as Karinsdad is (accidentally, I believe) implying, but only for Power Attack. So when wielded one-handed, the weapon deals Strx1.0 damage and does not gain the two-handed weapon +4 bonus on disarm attempts--but it does Power Attack at 2-for-1.

This is the literal RAW of the paragraph. Is it the intention of the writers? Well, the Complete Warrior has been out for a very long time now, and this has not been errata'd. Seems clear to me that it's intentional. *shrug*

It seems to me for 2) you are reading into the text things that are not stated. I agree the feat is terrible, I simply fail to see your interpretation by the raw.

I'd house rule it in my campaign to do something, not sure if it'd do what you are listing, but something, but as far as I can tell, by the rules written, it does nothing.

 

[KarinsDad]

Karinsdad has it right. --Almost. The two statements for the feat are completely independent. Therefore, you have:

1) When wielding a one-handed exotic weapon two-handed, you deal 2xStr damage instead of 1.5xStr. No one is disputing this.

2) If you have Power Attack, the one handed exotic weapon is treated as two-handed for the purposes of Power Attack bonus damage only. --Not for all purposes, as Karinsdad is (accidentally, I believe) implying, but only for Power Attack. So when wielded one-handed, the weapon deals Strx1.0 damage and does not gain the two-handed weapon +4 bonus on disarm attempts--but it does Power Attack at 2-for-1.

This is the literal RAW of the paragraph.

Actually, this is not the literal RAW.

If the sentence said "If he has the Power Attack feat, he treats the weapon as two-handed for purposes of determining his bonus on Power Attack damage.", then you interpretation would be correct.

However, it instead states:

If he has the Power Attack feat, he treats the weapon as two-handed for purposes of determining his bonus on damage rolls.

I emphasize the word rolls here because rolls have nothing to do with "just power attack damage".

Damage rolls have to do with all damage. There is no explicit listing of Power Attack only, hence, it must mean all damage.

Literally, the prerequisite could be anything: "If he has green eyes, he treats the weapon as two-handed for purposes of determining his bonus on damage rolls."

Nothing in this text states that this is PA only. It states that if the "if statement" is met, then the rest of the statement is true.

The only thing the rest of the statement does is treat the weapon as two handed for determining damage. That is the literal RAW.

Hence, treat the weapon as being used two handed or as I originally stated:

UB for a Bastard Sword would be: D10 + 2 * Strength two handed
UB with Power Attack feat would be: D10 + 2 * Strength one handed
UB using Power Attack feat would be: D10 + 2 * Strength + 2 * PA one handed

 

[Hypersmurf]

Nothing in this text states that this is PA only. It states that if the "if statement" is met, then the rest of the statement is true.

Still all predicated on the assumption that the rest of the paragraph is not contingent on the "When wielding a one-handed exotic weapon in two hands" clause being true, of course.

Which I don't think can be assumed cavalierly.

-Hyp.

 

[Scharlata]

That's the weak spot.

I guess I'll contact Customer Service *Sigh*

Kind regards

 

[KarinsDad]

Still all predicated on the assumption that the rest of the paragraph is not contingent on the "When wielding a one-handed exotic weapon in two hands" clause being true, of course.

Which I don't think can be assumed cavalierly.

It can if you are taking it literally.


Plus, if you assume that the rest of the paragraph is predicated on that clause, then the second sentence is basically irrelevant.


So, people have a choice in their interpretation. Read the text literally where both sentences have different and distinct relevant meaning, or read it assuming that everything in the paragraph is concerned with that clause and ignore the second sentence completely.

 

[Scharlata]

That's the weak spot of the description.

CustServ did response very quickly:

Question: Dear CustServ,
how does the second sentence of the class feature Weapon Stunt: Uncanny Blow of the Exotic Weapon Master (Complete Warrior, p. 31) interact with the Special note of the Power Attack feat (PHB, p. 98)?

Response (Chris L.) 06/02/2006 10:52 AM
Actually the first sentence given in the Uncanny Blow ability is the advantage. The second sentence simple reiterates what is given in the Player's Handbook, and is essentially redundant. I hope this information is useful.

That ends any interpretation for my humble self.
Thank you all for your effort.