Isn't there a mod that allows you to upgrade weapons in the game? Or maybe one that would bring some of the seriously underdone weapon classes up in line with the better ones? I mean, I accept that a short sword has 1D6 base damage and a longsword 1D8, but then even the magical properties are inferior typically. I mean Blackrazor has the same proc rate for level draining as Short Sword of Mask +5, but drains 4 times more levels, hastes, strengthens, and heals on top of it? And that's not even mentioning the immunity to fear and charm or the regeneration!

Side note: Why make short swords suck so bad and then design two NPC's to use them? WTF?

Item Revisions

Tries to make almost everything in the game worthwhile and nerfs some of the more powerful stuff a bit.

http://forums.gibberlings3.net/index.php?showforum=157

Check the item index to see if this is what you're looking for. If it is, download version 3 beta and the hotfixes from the links provided in the forums (not version 2 which is linked on the mod description on Gibberling 3).

It's a similar idea, but I don't think I want to use it. It totally reimagines some of the weapons, removing both the level drain and the entangle from Short Sword of Mask +5? They add in poison damage and stealth stuff, but I'd rather have seen a tweak of the original stats to bring them inline with other items. Something like raising the number of levels drained and making the entangle deal damage over time (like the vines are squeezing them, poking them with thorns or poisonous). Plus they don't really improve short swords at all, I mean, they actually nerf Kundane to +1/2 APR! And they increased the backstab multiplier by 1 when using Short Sword of Backstabbing +3, but Celestial Fury x5 is still better than Short Sword of Backstabbing x6. Meh. Although as an offhand... but still.

I appreciate the link though, it is the sort of thing I was looking for, just not done how I'd have liked.

If you have an editor (I prefer Near Infinity) you can do this yourself. Just copy the base item and make adjustments how you see fit. You can then simply spawn the new-and-improved item ingame using the console and ditch the old one, or you can set up your own smith character who will upgrade the item(s) for you. That's a lot more work than just using the console, though.

With regards to Blackrazor, though, it really doesn't work as advertised. In theory all of the negative effects on the enemy and all the positive effects on you are supposed to happen at the same time, but they actually trigger separately. So you will often get healed and hasted apparently at random, and the opponent will often get levels drained without giving you anything in return. Black Blade of Disaster does the same thing. It's possible to fix them to work properly, though, which is what I did even though I never actually use them. (Even the BG2 fixpack doesn't align the abilities together.)

I'm thinking I just may do that. It's the only way I can see to have Mazzy use short swords like I want to without resenting their lack of power...

What I did was to use Item Revisions as a base (most ideas are quite good, although sometimes it goes overboard) and change certain items to my liking.

You could use Near Infinity directly on the installed items or you could tweak the files from the itemrev folder (before you install the mod) in order to keep things smooth with other mods.

Keep in mind that editing items, especially with secondary effects and spell-like abilities, is not as straightforward as you may think. Also the item's description and the actual item are two separate things, it doesn't update automatically.

If you want a ready made solution you could install Item Upgrade, a well known mod from Weimer, but many believe that it leads to overpowered items. If you don't care about that you might find some cool items there.