Can I choose how much Deadly Aim (or Power Attack) to use after 4th Level?

[FilmTraveler]

Let's say I'm Level 5 but I'm facing a slippery opponent and don't want to risk the -2 attack penalty to gain +4 damage. But I'm willing to risk -1 to gain +2. Can I choose on any given attack to do so?

You used to be able to do something similar in the old Power Attack rules, so can I do this with Deadly Aim (or Power Attack) in Pathfinder? Otherwise the feat, as you level up, become increasingly risky to gain the attendant reward.

This may, of course, be up to the GM per campaign. But is there any kind of general consensus already? Couldn't find anything about it in my search. Thank you!

[My Self]

Short answer is no.

The Pathfinder version of the feat gives no provision for taking a penalty or gaining a bonus any less than the full amount. The change from the 3.5 version to the Pathfinder version was deliberate. It got rid of some of the fiddly numbers and gave you a binary choice of whether to take a penalty to hit to get extra damage, or to just hit normally.

Of course, some GMs may like the 3.5 version better, and as you said, there is table variation.

[TriOmegaZero]

No, you cannot. It is an on/off switch now, not a scale.

[The Dragon]

No. This is modified 3.5e power attack, and has nothing to do with that ability. It is also the reason the pf version is weaker.