Post/Author/DateTime	Post
war_thog 01-23-08, 09:18 PM	Power Attack does not specify any situations when it cant be used. Just give a minus on your atk roll. Now Coup De Grace auto hits. Can you still PA when you arent actually rolling?
Lyndis 01-23-08, 09:46 PM	By RAW, yes. By common sense, probably yes.
JamesMaissen 01-23-08, 10:34 PM	Power Attack does not specify any situations when it cant be used. Just give a minus on your atk roll. Now Coup De Grace auto hits. Can you still PA when you arent actually rolling? You can have your character power attack when making a double move. I've actually not only done this, but benefited from it (when making an AOO). -James
Tordak 01-24-08, 09:59 AM	Yeah, Coup de grace gives you an automaticaly sucessful attack roll (and a confirm threat; it's like 'taking 20' on an attack roll), but is still considered a roll; you can use your PA.
mvincent 01-24-08, 02:36 PM	Anecdote: an enemy bulette had finally been put into a deep slumber (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/deepSlumber.htm), and my power-attacking, scythe wielding (i.e. automatic x4 damage) Paladin of death was about to coup de grace it when the party's rogue says "let me do that... it's what I'm good at". ... and his light tap of a sneak attack merely awoke the beast, causing us to have to fight it all over again.
StevenO 01-24-08, 07:45 PM	Wouldn't that be part of what makes a Headman's Axe so dangerous?
windquake 01-25-08, 06:43 AM	I would allow my party to PA when CDGing, BUT, I would remove the autohit. Sure if it a creature by itself it won't really matter, but in the middle of a big fight, you may not risk needing to take an extra round. Of course it would be a pretty easy hit roll given that the target is helpless, etc. -Windquake
kjenks 01-25-08, 09:02 AM	Yes, you can use Power Attack to give a damage bonus on a coup de grace. Power Attack gives a damage bonus "to all melee damage rolls." Is coup de grace a melee damage roll? Well, it isn't a ranged attack, so yes, it's a melee damage roll. The fact that coup de grace doesn't require an attack roll doesn't matter. The wording of the Power Attack feat is different from the Combat Expertise feat, which does require an "attack action or the full attack action." There are a couple of other situations where creatures can inflict melee damage without an attack roll: attacking an inanimate object as a full-round action and the Trample ability from the Monster Manual. (I'd include grappling in that list but for a poorly-worded FAQ entry.)
war_thog 02-04-08, 07:13 AM	Thats what I thought too but I just wanted to see what others thought. Ive devised a combat strategy that makes a RM halfling work perfectly fine in a combat. Sleeper hold them, then PA coup de grace their face *with 3d6 of sneak too* Tis good fun to kill the DM's biggest baddest assassin in 2 rounds :P
kjenks 02-04-08, 08:17 AM	That doesn't work. You can only use coup de grace if the victim is helpless. Grappling someone doesn't make him helpless.
fatal error 02-04-08, 02:31 PM	I'm thinking Sleeper Hold has something to do with that.
Wih 02-05-08, 12:16 AM	I'm assuming he means the Sleeper Hold from the class Reaping Mauler. (which is what he meant by "RM")
mplindustries 02-05-08, 01:32 AM	For the record, Power Attack is usable every round on every action for the rest of eternity, even if your action is reading a book, eating some soup, sleeping, etc. Power Attack (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#powerAttack) "On your action, before making attack rolls for a round, you may choose to subtract a number from all melee attack rolls and add the same number to all melee damage rolls. This number may not exceed your base attack bonus. The penalty on attacks and bonus on damage apply until your next turn." The only requirement is that you choose a number before you make attack rolls. However, nothing about it requires you to make attack rolls, just that if you do, you choose the number first. You can shoot a bow, and as long as you declare your Power Attack number, you'll get the benefit if you somehow make a melee attack before your next turn. And moreso, you won't get the penalties on ranged rolls. So, it applies to coup de grace, it applies to attacking objects, it applies to anything to can think of that is considered a "melee attack." If applies a penalty to the hit roll, sure, but if there's no hit roll, then there's also no penalty.