The Great Weapon Master feat in 5e says, in part:
Before you make a melee attack with a heavy weapon that you are proficient with, you can choose to take a -5 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack hits, you add +10 to the attack’s damage."You can choose..." It should be an option to invoke the penalty+damage; it should not happen for every attack. Forcing it lowers the combat flexibility of the character taking the feat.
Along with the apparent problem with not getting a bonus attack (
https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=696024#Post696024), this severely lowers the power of the feat. Note: I have not tested the loss of bonus attack with my current character; I just picked up the feat and noticed the fiat application of the penalty+damage.
