Yes and no - A braced weapon technically uses a "Ready" action. When you "ready" an action, you specify what condition will trigger the action. For what it's worth, anybody can ready any weapon against a charge - e.g., a halfling can ready to bite a charging rhinoceros, if he wants to. The only benefit to using a "brace" weapon is the extra damage.
So, technically, you are readying a "brace" weapon with a condition of "When an enemy charges me". The first enemy that charges will trigger your action, but you can choose not to take it - the rules are a bit fuzzy on what happens in this case, you might or might not lose the readied action if you choose not to take it. Personally, I think it works like Attacks of Opportunity - you don't have to take an AoO the first time someone provokes, you can save it for later this round if you want to, and likewise, you don't have to take a readied action the first time someone triggers it, you can save it for later this round if you want to.
If someone triggers your readied action and you take it, you're done. If you don't take it (presumably), and then someone else triggers it, you can again decide to take it or not, and so on, until you finally decide to take it when it gets triggered or all the enemy's turns are done and it's your turn again (which means you never got to take your readied action at all).
As for your second question, yes, Power Attack can apply to any attack unless otherwise excluded by specific text that says you can't use Power Attack with that specific attack. There is no such text regarding bracing weapons, so they can Power Attack if you wish. Yes, it sounds silly to brace with extra power, but the rules do allow it.
I got one, do you have to use the brace attack on someone that charges YOU or just someone that you threaten while they are charging?
I have a phalanx fighter that can brace as an immediate action. Does the charging person have to be charging me, or can their target be someone next to me?
It appears there is no language to state that the charging character on the receiving end of a readied brace must be charging the person bracing.
Personally, I think that makes sense and reasonably represents the actions of many longspear men bracing against cavalry.
- Gauss
Pizza Lord, perhaps I wasn't clear in my post. Allow me to clarify:
Since there is no language to state that you must be the person charged to execute the readied action "brace" against a charging creature AND since it makes sense to me and reasonably represents the actions of many longspear men bracing against cavalry then yes, I believe you can brace against people who are not charging the person bracing.
More clear? :)
- Gauss
Ahhh, yeah my second sentance is more implied than explicit. When you have many cavalry charging a much larger group of longspear men then some of the longspear men will be bracing and attacking cavalry that are not directly charging them.
If however you were only allowed to brace against the creature charging you then the whole mass braced longspear vs mass calvary concept would not work.
- Gauss
Bracing against charge has to be one of the least used things in the book, I personally am a big fan of phalanx soldiers immediate action version, and wish it was available as a feat.
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So here is a question, if I was a 5th level phalanx fighter with a reach weapon, and someone charges me and I ready an action as an immediate to brace against charge - woould I get the readied attack with double damage at 10ft, then an attack of opportunity when they left that threatened square (continuing their charge, assuming their reach of 5 ft.)?
So here is a question, if I was a 5th level phalanx fighter with a reach weapon, and someone charges me and I ready an action as an immediate to brace against charge - woould I get the readied attack with double damage at 10ft, then an attack of opportunity when they left that threatened square (continuing their charge, assuming their reach of 5 ft.)?
No most reach weapons don't threaten the 5 foot square; also you can't draw two AoO from the same person for the same action.
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Yes, but it is not two AoO - one is a readied action, the other is an AoO.
Also, you draw the AoO before the target's action, correct? So the target would still be at 10 ft, which the reach weapon threatens. If what you are saying is correct, you wouldn't get an AoO on a charge with a reach weapon at all.
So here is a question, if I was a 5th level phalanx fighter with a reach weapon, and someone charges me and I ready an action as an immediate to brace against charge - woould I get the readied attack with double damage at 10ft, then an attack of opportunity when they left that threatened square (continuing their charge, assuming their reach of 5 ft.)?
Yes the first is a readied action that resets your init. to right before them for the next round. It is not an AoO, You then Get the AoO for them moving into and leaving the 10ft square you threaten. The AoO does not do double damage as the ready attack does though. This makes a brace reach weapon a little better than the nodachi, but a keen nodachi is super sweet when you brace and roll a 15 or higher and get tripple damage.