I am a seasons 2014 player aboyut to get involved in my first 2024 game which will also be my first AL game for about 5 years (and I only played a few times then). The question could go in rules and game mechanics but what I am after is what I should expect a DM to rule in AL. In all my games a lot of the VSM rulres are simplified or waived because they are so hard ot understand (I wish it was something addrss in in 2024 edition)
I had a character concept a a Paladin sworn to protect all life, with a bit of a nature / druidic theme. This would involve taking magic initiate for spells like fearie fire and shilleligh.
If used a shield would I be able to cast shilleligh? There are a few things that I think might work?
I can use my sheld as a spell focus to cast the spell (this would imply that Shilleligh is a paladin spell for me which I don't think is the case)
I can cast shilleligh while my weapon is sheathed, as this could as holding (or I can hold it as part of the somantic component, it then becomes imbued with magical energy when I equip it
On the face of it war caster should help but RAW I am not sure it does.
AL plays using RAW .. Rules As Written .. so you shouldn't find DMs using house rules since one of the goals is to have a similar play experience at any AL table.This is also why these forums are particularly useful for AL since the answers usually correspond to RAW and a DM can obtain opinions on rulings and get some insight that might affect how they rule when running the game.
In my experience, many DMs will pay at least some attention to spell components and casting restrictions. If a spell requires a purchased component for example then the DM may ask to make sure that the character has purchased and logged that component. For example Chromatic Orb needs a diamond worth 50gp or Identify needs a pearl costing 100gp ... so a DM could ask about those though often they won't bother. (In this case it is usually just to make sure that the character has a consistent log since characters can buy whatever they need between sessions - other than spending some gp - there isn't usually any impact of making sure that a character is spending what they need to on material components).
Similarly, depending to some extent on the knowledge of the DM, they will tend to enforce spell casting constraints.
Shillelagh looks like it could be problematic, even for a Druid. The problem is that the character needs to hold the club or staff but the club or staff is not the material component for the spell (druid or ranger has a work around). The material component is mistletoe. This means that the character needs to hold the staff in one hand and requires the other hand free to manipulate the material component whether that is mistletoe, a component pouch or a spellcasting focus. A druid gets around the issue because they can use a staff as a spell focus so if they have such a staff they can also use it as the weapon to enchant with Shillelagh. They don't need an extra hand free for somatic components since the hand manipulating the material component can also perform the somatic components.
A paladin can use a Shield or Holy symbol only for their paladin spells.
Warcaster only helps with somatic components and this situation is an issue where you really need to hold two material components (the spell focus and the weapon).
A sheathed weapon is not being held (or at least most DMs would rule it that way).
The only way I can see that this spell could be cast while wearing a shield is if either the weapon or the shield can be considered the material component (focus) for the spell. One solution for that is the Ruby of the War Mage magic item - common, requires attunement - which allows you to use the weapon as the material component when casting spells. This isn't restricted to paladin spells unlike the holy symbol.
The alternative is to take one level in druid so you can use a staff as a spell casting focus for Shillelagh.
Sorry I can't be more help.
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I am a seasons 2014 player aboyut to get involved in my first 2024 game which will also be my first AL game for about 5 years (and I only played a few times then). The question could go in rules and game mechanics but what I am after is what I should expect a DM to rule in AL. In all my games a lot of the VSM rulres are simplified or waived because they are so hard ot understand (I wish it was something addrss in in 2024 edition)
I had a character concept a a Paladin sworn to protect all life, with a bit of a nature / druidic theme. This would involve taking magic initiate for spells like fearie fire and shilleligh.
If used a shield would I be able to cast shilleligh? There are a few things that I think might work?
AL plays using RAW .. Rules As Written .. so you shouldn't find DMs using house rules since one of the goals is to have a similar play experience at any AL table.This is also why these forums are particularly useful for AL since the answers usually correspond to RAW and a DM can obtain opinions on rulings and get some insight that might affect how they rule when running the game.
In my experience, many DMs will pay at least some attention to spell components and casting restrictions. If a spell requires a purchased component for example then the DM may ask to make sure that the character has purchased and logged that component. For example Chromatic Orb needs a diamond worth 50gp or Identify needs a pearl costing 100gp ... so a DM could ask about those though often they won't bother. (In this case it is usually just to make sure that the character has a consistent log since characters can buy whatever they need between sessions - other than spending some gp - there isn't usually any impact of making sure that a character is spending what they need to on material components).
Similarly, depending to some extent on the knowledge of the DM, they will tend to enforce spell casting constraints.
Shillelagh looks like it could be problematic, even for a Druid. The problem is that the character needs to hold the club or staff but the club or staff is not the material component for the spell (druid or ranger has a work around). The material component is mistletoe. This means that the character needs to hold the staff in one hand and requires the other hand free to manipulate the material component whether that is mistletoe, a component pouch or a spellcasting focus. A druid gets around the issue because they can use a staff as a spell focus so if they have such a staff they can also use it as the weapon to enchant with Shillelagh. They don't need an extra hand free for somatic components since the hand manipulating the material component can also perform the somatic components.
A paladin can use a Shield or Holy symbol only for their paladin spells.
Warcaster only helps with somatic components and this situation is an issue where you really need to hold two material components (the spell focus and the weapon).
A sheathed weapon is not being held (or at least most DMs would rule it that way).
The only way I can see that this spell could be cast while wearing a shield is if either the weapon or the shield can be considered the material component (focus) for the spell. One solution for that is the Ruby of the War Mage magic item - common, requires attunement - which allows you to use the weapon as the material component when casting spells. This isn't restricted to paladin spells unlike the holy symbol.
The alternative is to take one level in druid so you can use a staff as a spell casting focus for Shillelagh.
Sorry I can't be more help.