Greetings fellow adventures!
A little query in regards to fight defensively
You can choose to fight defensively when attacking. If you do so, you
take a –4 penalty on all attacks in a round to gain a +2 to AC until
the start of your next turn.
Is that a -4 to the attack roll, damage roll or both?
I noticed that in description of Shooting or Throwing into a Melee the attack roll specifically is mentioned
If you shoot or throw a ranged weapon at a target engaged in melee
with a friendly character, you take a –4 penalty on your attack roll.
Two characters are engaged in melee if they are enemies of each other
and either threatens the other. (An unconscious or otherwise
immobilized character is not considered engaged unless he is actually
being attacked.)
This leads me to believe that as one roll is not specifically mentioned it would be for both.
Best Answer
'Attacks' or 'attack roll' both refer to the attack roll only, not damage. If damage should be included, it is explicitly mentioned.
So fighting defensively gives a -4 penalty to attack rolls only. Damage is unchanged.
If you look at it thematically, it would make sense for the character's swing to be less precise while fighting defensively (and thus give a penalty on the attack roll, resulting in a higher chance of miss). IF he/she would hit, though, the damage his/her weapon would do should still be the same (i.e same weapon, same force behind the swing, etc)