D&D 5E Giant Weapons

[Oofta]

The problem with using a giant's short sword as a two-handed weapon is that the handle width is going to be and difficult to grasp. A claymore's handle may have a slightly larger diameter than a dagger, but not three times with diameter.

You might be able to shave it down to size, but that may affect the magic of the item.

 

[BookBarbarian]

Aaaaactually.......

If that frost giant is 15' tall, that axe in the picture is approx. 7-8ft long....agreed not easy. If however you take the view that a Greatsword is analogue to a traditional claymore, and a greataxe something like a danish/sparth axe, that puts length in the region of 5-5.5ft. A particularly strong individual (in D&D parlance, 20 STR puts someone stronger than an ogre), could in theory chop a foot or so off the haft and use the weapon two handed.

In theory.....

However, from the weight alone you'd want some kind of penalty I would say. If you were desperate to allow it. And if there was good reason in narrative terms.

[NB: I'm largely being contrary here. I'm just saying that verisimilitude in D&D is a really flexible thing and in a slightly crazy, Megasword style game, then having a houserule in the back pocket for crazy-size weapons isn't to worst thing in the world...]

The length isn't the problem. The mass increases proportionally to the length cubed. That's a huge (get it) increase in weight. That isn't to say I'd completely disallow it, but I'm more in favor of PC's finding creative ways to make it work.

For example: perhaps it's a magic ruby in the hilt that makes the Giant Weapon magic. The players could spent effort, or have a quest to get that ruby into a Medium sized weapon. Or perhaps it's the blade of the greatsword that is enchanted, and a nearby dwarf clan craftsman can make you a greatsword out of it, at the cost of the rest of the enchanted material.

I'm just spitballing here, but then again I'd be spitballing it in my games too.