I'm a fairly seasoned gamer and DM, but i have never known the answer to this question. I was hoping the paizo community could help me out.
So i have a dragon using power attack. lets say for simplicity's sake the dragon has a +30 attack bonus and a strength bonus of 10. so nor mally he does a bite at +30 and deals 2d8+10 damage. when he power attacks for 10 he has an attack bonus of 20 and deals 2d8+20. simple right. now lets say his attack bonus with a claw is +30 also, he deals 2d6+5 on a hit. if he is power attacking for 10 his attack bonus goes down to +20 but what does he gain on his claw attack should the new damage be 10 higher ( for 2d6+15 full benefit from power attack), 5 higher(for 2d6 +10, 1/2 benefit from power attack) or no bonus (2d6 +5, no benefit from power attack)?
In the power attack feat it says that light weapons don't get the bonus from power attack unless the weapon is a natural attack or unarmed strike. I haven't found anywhere that it says what to do with secondary attacks or attacks that only recieve half the creature's strength bonus.
I've come across this before but just came across it agin preparing for my game this saturday. It really annoying. Anyone have any ideas??
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In the power attack feat it says that light weapons don't get the bonus from power attack unless the weapon is a natural attack or unarmed strike. I haven't found anywhere that it says what to do with secondary attacks or attacks that only recieve half the creature's strength bonus.
You're right, it doesn't make any specific notes about secondary weapons or things with half strength bonuses. It *DOES* state, however, that natural attacks and unarmed strikes gain the normal benefits from Power Attack. This is no different than using Power Attack as a Two-Weapon fighter. You apply the full bonus from Power Attack to ALL such attacks UNLESS one of the attacks is a light weapon (most 2-weap fighters keep a light weapon in the off-hand, but those who don't would gain this benefit). It's one of the reasons I like my 2-weap fighters to have a bastard sword or battleaxe in the main hand and the off hand is an unarmed strike. You get the benefit of having a 'light' weapon in the off-hand for 2-weap fighting penalty reduction, but still gain full PA from it!
ok thanks that makes alot of sense. Also on the dragon's tail slap which 1.5 times strength damage he should double the power attack, right? so normally he has +30 2d8+15. when power attacking for 10 he as +20 2d8+35? this seems really powerful to me, but I guess it follows the rules of power attack.
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Also on the dragon's tail slap which 1.5 times strength damage he should double the power attack, right?
That's a reasonable house rule (and one that I use) but a tail slap isn't a two-handed weapon, so by the rules, it only gets a 1x damage bonus from Power Attack.
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.
Yes, while natural attacks can be used in grapples, similar to light weapons, they are not light weapons. On the same note, while some natural attacks do strength x 1.5, similar to two handed weapons, they are not two handed weapons.
So in the end, power attack for a dragon = the same bonus to each natural attack.
thanks guys,
thats very helpful. I never knew how to adjudicate that. so basically even though different natural attacks use different strength bonuses they all use the same power attack bonus. Thank you for the help.