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I was recommended to post this here because I didn't realize at the time that I was side tracking from a previous question with a new one.

This is my question and reasoning behind it. Can I use a pair of weapons that are designated as two-handed, using one in each hand, for example, perhaps if I have the dual wielder feat and proficiency with two-handed weapons? Granted, I admittedly do not know much about 5e; I'm running off the ability back in Baldur's Gate that allowed my half-orc to dual-wield warhammers in melee battle. Is this scenario still applicable in 5e or not?

I'm curious because I thought of playing a half-goliath / half-dwarf dual wielding siege axes. I've also considered a half-dwarf / half-giant with the same weapons.

In other words, is there a character build that could make this weapon style work now, like what I did in past editions?

I figured the character race I picked would help mitigate the size and weight problems with these weapons though I'm not sure. But the biggest point was just wondering if this could work and what caveats to expect if a DM would allow it.

My specific question is: Can you wield a two-handed weapon in one hand? If so, can you dual-wield two two-handed weapons, each held in one hand?

V2Blast
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Bradley Lindsey
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    While it’s definitely good to ask a new question when you have more questions, we do need questions here to be pretty specific. Is the question whether or not you can do this, officially, under the rules? There’s a lot of confusing things in this question, like I don’t think “half-goliath” or “half-dwarf” are really things you can do in 5e, and I don’t think “siege axe” is a weapon in it. But mostly, I don’t really know what your question is. We aren’t a discussion forum, so a question has to be more than “what do you think?” – KRyan Jan 21 '20 at 03:14
  • That is what I was asking. If the option is still there from previous editions. Or how it can be done now. – Bradley Lindsey Jan 21 '20 at 04:18
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    *Trivia:* Comments on answers to this question indicate that the video game Neverwinter Nights 2 (and likely others) that was based on Third Edition included the feat Monkey Grip and that there the feat allowed a creature to wield two-handed melee weapons in one hand. However the treeware version of the feat for the tabletop RPG does not offer that option. Still, a lot of folks assume dual wielding megaswords or whatever in Third Edition is as easy as taking the feat Monkey Grip because of how the video games implemented it. – Hey I Can Chan Jan 21 '20 at 04:25
  • My first and main xp with dnd was Baldurs Gate on pc. Since then ive only played maybe four or five sessions of 3.5 and one session of pathfinder all run on houserules so I have no xp with 5e and was trying to figure out how I could still do this or if it was even officially allowed. – Bradley Lindsey Jan 21 '20 at 04:31
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    @HeyICanChan confirmed: https://nwn2.fandom.com/wiki/Monkey_Grip – user-781943 Jan 21 '20 at 04:37
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    Welcome to RPG.SE! Take the [tour] if you haven't already, and check out the [help] for more guidance. This question isn't a perfect match, but you might find it informative: Is there an equivalent to the Monkey Grip feat in D&D 5e? – V2Blast Jan 21 '20 at 05:53
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    See also: Can I dual wield two handed weapons in D&D 5e? – Miniman Jan 21 '20 at 05:55

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One-handing a two-handed weapon is improvising

Two-handed weapons have the two-handed property:

Two-Handed. This weapon requires two hands when you attack with it.

If you are wielding a two-handed weapon in one hand, then it is an improvised weapon. It's up to the DM to provide the stats and properties for such a weapon. Generally a two-handed weapon has a one-handed counterpart, so it's fairly simple:

Often, an improvised weapon is similar to an actual weapon and can be treated as such. For example, a table leg is akin to a club. At the DM's option, a character proficient with a weapon can use a similar object as if it were that weapon and use his or her proficiency bonus.

As such, one-handing a greatsword may yield stats similar to a longsword, perhaps with a smaller damage die due to its unwieldy nature.

Don't forget the Dual Wielder feat

Dual Wielder lets you dual wield bigger weapons than you normally could:

You can use two-weapon fighting even when the one-handed melee weapons you are wielding aren't light.

If your DM lets you, then you can do it

By improvising one-handed grip on two-handed weapons, and using the dual wielder feat, you could dual wield two-handed weapons.

However, be aware that you will be carrying a lot more weight than using more appropriate weapons. Also be aware that your DM may want to give you lower damage die than equivalent weapons - for example instead of having your greatsword deal 1d8 like a longsword when one-handed, have it deal 1d6 since it is difficult to use.

Warhammers can be dual wielded with the dual-wielder feat

Warhammers are 1 handed weapons with the versatile property. If you do not have the feat, you can use light hammers which are 1 handed light weapons.

Adeptus
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user-781943
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  • Thank you that's exactly what I was trying to figure out. – Bradley Lindsey Jan 21 '20 at 03:52
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    @BradleyLindsey No worries :) – user-781943 Jan 21 '20 at 04:03
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    Could downvoters explain why they dislike this answer? Give the answerer a chance to improve their work – Mark Jan 21 '20 at 07:30
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    Not a downvoter, but a couple of improvements I can think of are: 1) the section about the Duel Wielder feat seems to imply that it will let you duel wield two handed weapons, so maybe make it more explicit that it doesn't allow you to do that RAW, and 2) there's a section about oversized weapons somewhere, might be PHB, MM or DMG (can't remember and away from books at the moment), but that seems like it would be a good addition to the improvised weapons section. – NathanS Jan 21 '20 at 10:40
  • Isn't there something about some races counting as a size larger than they are and being able to one hand , two handed weapons? I thought there was and thats what i was going for with the half blood races there. – Bradley Lindsey Jan 21 '20 at 12:48
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    @BradleyLindsey No, there is nothing for any race that allows them to wield two-handed weapons in one hand. As far as I can tell, the only "counts as a bigger size" special note is for Goliaths in relation to carry weight and that's it. – RevanantBacon Jan 21 '20 at 15:05
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    @RevenantBacon a handful of other races, including e.g. Firbolgs, share that trait, with the same constraints. – Louis Wasserman Jan 21 '20 at 17:39
  • What about the powerful build racial trait? It allows you to use a weapon one size larger than you with no penalty. Because the way the rules is phrased makes it seem like if a giant picked up a humans two handed bastard sword the giant would also need to use two hands to wield it. Right? – Bradley Lindsey Jan 22 '20 at 00:43
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    @BradleyLindsey, Powerful Build is what RevenantBacon and Louis were talking about. It only applies to carry weight. A human's two-handed weapon will still be two-handed for Firbolgs, Goliaths, etc. There are no (official) player races larger than Medium, so no PC giants. – Adeptus Jan 22 '20 at 03:05
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    @BradleyLindsey In previous editions (specifically 3.x) that was a thing, but 3.x also had much more complicated rules for weapon sizes. – T.J.L. Jan 23 '20 at 18:45