Two-Handed Weapons in One Hand

[shaventalz]

There are two FAQs on the subject of using two-handed weapons one-handed, especially in regards to extra damage from Power Attack and 1.5x Strength. FAQ #1 and FAQ #2. A quick reading of them both seems to give a contradiction.

FAQ #1 wrote:

Power Attack: If I am using a two-handed weapon with one hand (such as a lance while mounted), do still I get the +50% damage for using a two-handed weapon?

*Yes.

FAQ #2 wrote:

Weapons, Two-Handed in One Hand: When a feat or other special ability says to treat a weapon that is normally wielded in two hands as a one handed weapon, does it get treated as one or two handed weapon for the purposes of how to apply the Strength modifier or the Power Attack feat?

*If you're wielding it in one hand (even if it is normally a two-handed weapon), treat it as a one-handed weapon for the purpose of how much Strength to apply, the Power Attack damage bonus, and so on.

#1 says you do get the extra damage from Power Attack, and #2 says you don't. The FAQs were posted 2 months apart, so it seems unlikely that there were significant changes in the design team between the two rulings.

How should this be interpreted? Is it intended that only the lance gets the extra damage, because it doesn't explicitly say to treat it as a one-handed weapon? Or is one of these incorrect? On a similar note, should effects that let you add 1.5x Strength (like Dragon Style) receive the Power Attack boost?

[Andy Brown]

FAQ #1 is wielding a two handed weapon in one hand. This is still a two handed weapon so gets the extra damage.
FAQ #2 is wielding a two handed weapon as a one handed weapon. This is not a two handed weapon so doesn't get the extra damage.

[Darksol the Painbringer]

The first FAQ is for the Lance. The second FAQ is for everything else.

[SlimGauge]

One case (the lance wielded in one hand by special rule) changes ONLY wielding. The other case (treating a two-handed weapon as a one-handed weapon) changes ALL ASPECTS to those of a one-handed weapon.

[wraithstrike]

No, there is no contradiction. This question has come up before.

The 2nd FAQ is saying that if you have a feat or special ability that allows you to treat a two-handed weapon as a one-handed weapon then you treat it as a one-handed weapon for everything.

If you have something like a lance that naturally allows you to treat it like a one handed weapon then you apply the power attack for a two-handed weapon. It just so happens that the lance is the only weapon that does that.

[Nefreet]

Darksol the Painbringer wrote:

The first FAQ is for the Lance. The second FAQ is for everything else.

^ this.

But, honestly, this is like a weekly question at this point. There really should be a clarification/combination of the two FAQs.

[Matthew Downie]

wraithstrike wrote:

If you have something like a lance that naturally allows you to treat it like a one handed weapon then you apply the power attack for a two-handed weapon.

The lance allows you to wield it in one hand. This is not the same as treating it as a One-Handed Weapon, any more than it is the same as treating it as a Light Weapon.

[shaventalz]

I suspected that was the intended reading, but thought a second (or third, or fourth) opinion would be a good idea. They really ought to clarify those clarifications.