Am I being too harsh in my players if I insist that a spell casting focus is treated the same as a wielded weapon?
it’s not very situational this will come up, but something like the fear spell will make players drop all held items. Some classes like cleric and paladin can have their armour or shield be their focus, but others like sorceror and Druid need a item to be held (ignore the component pouch, my players aren’t using those). There’s also a feat that allows you to cast spells without a focus (warcaster), so to me that’s a benefit someone has ‘paid’ for so to speak.
So am I being harsh telling my Druid, sorceror or wizard they drop their focus or can be disarmed? Like I say, it won’t be common, even if it does come up at all.
but I’ve also waived stowing and drawing the focus for the Druid when they use their bow, as that doesn’t make any negative balancing impact in their build
It’s completely fair. It’s RAW. It would actually be unfair to the martials if they had to drop their sword while the casters don’t drop anything.
Warcaster doesn’t let you can with no components. It only deals with using somatic components when you have your hands full. It does not interact with material components, which is what a spell focus is.
I think you're being perfectly reasonable; one of the key ways spellcasters are balanced in D&D is by requiring verbal, somatic, and/or material components for spells. The choice for some spells to require materials (or a focus) and others to not require them is intentional, and the possibility of being made to drop your materials is intended counterplay to spells that require them.
Plus, cards on the table, I just love being able to use Disarming Strike as a Battle Master to make a magic user drop their focus. Pick up the focus as your free item interaction and run away; they'll never catch you on their frail caster legs. Martial/Caster imbalance solved.
Am I being too harsh in my players if I insist that a spell casting focus is treated the same as a wielded weapon?
Some clerical foci are wearable, and a spell component pouch is a pouch and thus presumably attached to the belt, but other foci appear to be wielded objects and are thus disarmable in the same way as a weapon.
Disarming a caster of their focus is legit, and probably doesn't happen often enough. It's not quite as debilitating as being silenced, but still affects a lot of spells.
When I make casters I specifically keep more than one focus, or a focus and component pouch, for this reason. Also, in the same vein that a Cleric is allowed to have a holy symbol emblazoned on their shield, it's not unreasonable that a Wizard or Sorcerer have their focus, say an orb or crystal, attached to a chain or in some way fixed to them; and disarming only affects items that are carried in a hand, not worn.
I've often thought of enabling the optional disarming rules from the DMG to give martials more to do, but at the same time I think I would want to implement a partner rule that picking up an object in a contested square isn't a free action and may involve some other kind of contested check so that every combat doesn't just dissolve into a game of keep-away.
Ok thanks guys, I doubt it will even come up but wanted to make it clear to my players. I am being lenient by waiving the stowing of the focus to use the bow, but to honest that’s not game breaking in terms of balance, and to be honest it’s less hassle than keeping track of when it’s out and put away again
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Am I being too harsh in my players if I insist that a spell casting focus is treated the same as a wielded weapon?
it’s not very situational this will come up, but something like the fear spell will make players drop all held items. Some classes like cleric and paladin can have their armour or shield be their focus, but others like sorceror and Druid need a item to be held (ignore the component pouch, my players aren’t using those). There’s also a feat that allows you to cast spells without a focus (warcaster), so to me that’s a benefit someone has ‘paid’ for so to speak.
So am I being harsh telling my Druid, sorceror or wizard they drop their focus or can be disarmed? Like I say, it won’t be common, even if it does come up at all.
but I’ve also waived stowing and drawing the focus for the Druid when they use their bow, as that doesn’t make any negative balancing impact in their build
It’s completely fair. It’s RAW. It would actually be unfair to the martials if they had to drop their sword while the casters don’t drop anything.
Warcaster doesn’t let you can with no components. It only deals with using somatic components when you have your hands full. It does not interact with material components, which is what a spell focus is.
I think you're being perfectly reasonable; one of the key ways spellcasters are balanced in D&D is by requiring verbal, somatic, and/or material components for spells. The choice for some spells to require materials (or a focus) and others to not require them is intentional, and the possibility of being made to drop your materials is intended counterplay to spells that require them.
Plus, cards on the table, I just love being able to use Disarming Strike as a Battle Master to make a magic user drop their focus. Pick up the focus as your free item interaction and run away; they'll never catch you on their frail caster legs. Martial/Caster imbalance solved.
Some clerical foci are wearable, and a spell component pouch is a pouch and thus presumably attached to the belt, but other foci appear to be wielded objects and are thus disarmable in the same way as a weapon.
Disarming a caster of their focus is legit, and probably doesn't happen often enough. It's not quite as debilitating as being silenced, but still affects a lot of spells.
When I make casters I specifically keep more than one focus, or a focus and component pouch, for this reason. Also, in the same vein that a Cleric is allowed to have a holy symbol emblazoned on their shield, it's not unreasonable that a Wizard or Sorcerer have their focus, say an orb or crystal, attached to a chain or in some way fixed to them; and disarming only affects items that are carried in a hand, not worn.
I've often thought of enabling the optional disarming rules from the DMG to give martials more to do, but at the same time I think I would want to implement a partner rule that picking up an object in a contested square isn't a free action and may involve some other kind of contested check so that every combat doesn't just dissolve into a game of keep-away.
To me any held item can be disarmed or dropped, unless a game element specifically affect a weapon, which a spellcasting focus isn't.
Ok thanks guys, I doubt it will even come up but wanted to make it clear to my players. I am being lenient by waiving the stowing of the focus to use the bow, but to honest that’s not game breaking in terms of balance, and to be honest it’s less hassle than keeping track of when it’s out and put away again