BG2 tweakpack request: two-handed axes?

[rrchristensen]

Dear modders, firstly, let me thank you all for providing all these excellent fixes, tweaks, NPCs, etc. Having come back to BG & BGII after a decade away, I am enjoying the game fully as much as my first run through back in the day - your work keeps BG fresh. Secondly, having installed pretty much everything out there in terms of add-ons, I find myself desiring one more tweak to really rock my world: two-handed axes, in the style of the two-handed bastard swords and katanas available through the BG2 Tweakpack. I know Wesley Weimer offers some ready-made such weapons in the Underrepresented Items mod for BG2, but 1) they are all +5 weapons and overpowered for my purposes, because 2) I'd like to start wielding axes two-handedly starting in Candlekeep and work my way to Godhood through BG-Trilogy. It would be nice to be able to pick up any axe and wield it in one hand or two, depending on one's wishes. If we consider in-game information, the battle axe is described as a four-feet pole topped by an axe head; the bastard sword is described as a four-feet/four feet-10 inches sword, so I feel that, size-wise, axes could qualify as two-handed. Can anyone help?

[rrchristensen]

(and for some reason my PC/this forum won't let me do line breaks, so I apologise for the wall of text above)

[CamDawg]

Well, I've got this coded up, but the ranged abilities of axes complicates things some. Transforming a stack of axes only yields one on the other side, and the 2H versions look and animate as halberds. Otherwise, seems to work fine.

[Mike1072]

Well, I've got this coded up, but the ranged abilities of axes complicates things some. Transforming a stack of axes only yields one on the other side, and the 2H versions look and animate as halberds. Otherwise, seems to work fine.

I'd have assumed the stackable throwing axes would be considered too small to be wielded two-handed.

[rrchristensen]

Well, I've got this coded up, but the ranged abilities of axes complicates things some. Transforming a stack of axes only yields one on the other side, and the 2H versions look and animate as halberds. Otherwise, seems to work fine.

 

 

I don't know much about coding, but would it be possible to assign this modification to battle-axes (those that do 1d8 damage when wielded in one hand), while not assigning it to throwing-axes (that do 1d6 damage whether thrown or held)? Perhaps by excluding axes that already have the "can be held or thrown" ability from also gaining the "can be wielded in one hand or two" ability. That could be a way around the problem you describe. It also makes aesthetic sense to disntinguish between these two types of axes, as Mike1072 points out above.

 

Thank you very much for looking into this. I think it'll be a great addition to the game, both for reasons of coolness and for tactical reasons: those fighter-types with proficiency points in excess will be able to specialise in axes, axe-and-shield style, AND two-handed weapon style, and switch according to need. This adds much variety and utility to a somewhat bland (if powerful) category of weapons.

[Jarno Mikkola]

Transforming a stack of axes only yields one on the other side...

The easiest and most pleasing option is to avoid the stack-able, meaning the non enchanted items.

Yes, it can be coded to be 1-handed axe with everything else excluded, but there you might run to the fact the some people might want to edit the weapons to be throw-able as well.

Yes, that weapon ends up with 3 headers, three optional ways to use it at, yeah a +5 axe can have that, I see no problem there.

[CamDawg]

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'll just make throwing axes (magical or otherwise) not have a 2H option. That'll still leave plenty of options for 2H wielding.

[Jarno Mikkola]

Hmm, I was thinking, yes a dangerous fact... The War Hammers could be used with two hands.

And if we go deep enough to this, the Spears could be used with one... The Romans, Greeks etc. used them with giant shields... but then comes the fact that the game has no good animation for it...