Rav's argument is completely inane. "To fry an egg, you should prepare the pan so that the egg does not stick to it."
"Okay, but you didn't say you have to prepare the egg in the pan."
*face- PALM*
This is a general complaint one could have with RAW discussions, yes. Following the instruction on the page is exactly what RAW means. If you wanna chat about RAI, then, we can I guess.
By RAI clearly you should be able to perform S components in the same hand as is holding a focus. Thems the words they put down on the pages, clearly that was the intent.
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I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Rav's argument is completely inane. "To fry an egg, you should prepare the pan so that the egg does not stick to it."
"Okay, but you didn't say you have to prepare the egg in the pan."
*face- PALM*
This is a general complaint one could have with RAW discussions, yes. Following the instruction on the page is exactly what RAW means. If you wanna chat about RAI, then, we can I guess.
By RAI clearly you should be able to perform S components in the same hand as is holding a focus.
We literally all agree on this. RAI, you should be able to do this. The only reason I'm still arguing is because RAW, that is not possible for most casters.
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Literally nothing in this section is fluff. Everything there is a rule. This isn't like the Arcane Focus Definition section, which did have flavor text, nothing here is flavor text.
I'm not saying anything in the BOOK is fluff. I'm saying anything YOU describe as your character doing is fluff. If it is outside the mechanical rules text of the book, it is fluff. The notion that a focus is equipped to your hand-slot is pure fabrication, and also based on fluff.
The idea that one does not actually need to hold/wave/point a wand to use it seems highly suspect to me. Tell me, would you consider it pure fluff to say that one is required to hold a dagger in one's hand in order to make an attack with it? Because I did a cursory scan of the rules and I didn't actually see a hard rule that said that you need to hold a weapon in your hand in order to make an attack with it.
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Used in hand-to-hand combat, a melee attack allows you to attack a foe within your reach. A melee attack typically uses a handheld weapon such as a sword, a warhammer, or an axe. A typical monster makes a melee attack when it strikes with its claws, horns, teeth, tentacles, or other body part. A few spells also involve making a melee attack.
This is the best I could find in a quick search.
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You need access to it, and a free hand. That's it! Everything else is fluff.
I'm going to leave that alone, actually, because it might be the only thing you've brought up so far that's actually debatable.
Can you agree, though, that IF you have a spellcasting focus held in your hand, occupying it, that you cannot count it as a free hand for the purposes of a spell that requires a somatic component but that does not require a material component?
Sure, like in the case of the Shield. Totally, your hand isn't free while wielding a shield. Regardless of if it is a focus or not. Now, the Sage Advice says you can treat it as free sometimes, which honestly I'd never have imagined was the case, but...hey, that's their intent anyway.
And there is that crystal/gemstone thing that attaches to a weapon to turn it into a focus, the name of it escapes me at the moment. Well, with a weapon in hand, even if it can be used as a focus, you totally don't have a free hand. That hand is doing all sorts of stuff. Fighting, threatening the area around you, misc weapon specific stuff. That's a very busy hand. But if we take the Sage Advice example to heart, this weapon-focus seems to be in the same boat as the shield. Both hands shouldn't/wouldn't be considered free normally though.
Or lets chat Orb of Shielding. This guy is a magic item, and also a focus. If you're holding it, then your hand is occupied. Because it has effects that can trigger while held. So you must clearly decide to be holding it or not be holding it. This is an example of something actually being 'equipped' or whatever. This item is like the shield, or like a weapon, in that it DOES something outside of spellcasting. And since just having access to it on your person isn't enough to be able to activate its defensive ability, it is relevant to determine in advance if you're holding it or not. But is the hand free? Man I honestly don't even know with this one. It is such a weird object. It is probably free... since it isn't really doing anything, but I only say that tentatively.
But, then, like those other Eberron items, we get to the case of the Infused Wood focus items. You should absolutely be able to channel your spells through these with no problem regardless of if they have M components or not. These ones are probably the most interesting of all the weird focus+ items out there, because they're clearly designed to be used with all sorts of spell... some of yall seem to be arguing that you can't use them.
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I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Sure, like in the case of the Shield. Totally, your hand isn't free while wielding a shield. Regardless of if it is a focus or not. Now, the Sage Advice says you can treat it as free sometimes, which honestly I'd never have imagined was the case, but...hey, that's their intent anyway.
No, that's wrong, it's not Sage Advice that establishes that. The rules of a holy symbol, which is the official term for a spellcasting focus for a cleric or paladin, outright say that it can be part of a shield and still used as a focus.
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
But, then, like those other Eberron items, we get to the case of the Infused Wood focus items. You should absolutely be able to channel your spells through these with no problem regardless of if they have M components or not. These ones are probably the most interesting of all the weird focus+ items out there, because they're clearly designed to be used with all sorts of spell... some of yall seem to be arguing that you can't use them.
Whether or not you can "channel a spell" through them they still occupy your hand and make it not free for the purposes of a Somatic only spell.
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Go to the Bazaar in Sharn or any enclave of House Cannith and you’ll find a wide selection of arcane focuses to choose from. For a wandslinger, the choice of an arcane focus carries the same weight as a duelist deciding between a rapier or a maul. Do you use a wand of Fernian ash to focus your fire bolt, or do you harness defensive energies with a Risian orb?
From Unearthed Arcana... but seems a pretty strong hint that V/S spells can be cast through a focus. Firebolt doesn't have a material component.
And, if you were casting a Firebolt through a focus, the rules linked by the item would indeed be relevant.
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I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Go to the Bazaar in Sharn or any enclave of House Cannith and you’ll find a wide selection of arcane focuses to choose from. For a wandslinger, the choice of an arcane focus carries the same weight as a duelist deciding between a rapier or a maul. Do you use a wand of Fernian ash to focus your fire bolt, or do you harness defensive energies with a Risian orb?
From Unearthed Arcana... but seems a pretty strong hint that V/S spells can be cast through a focus. Firebolt doesn't have a material component.
And, if you were casting a Firebolt through a focus, the rules linked by the item would indeed be relevant.
It's probably RAI that you can do this, but it is not RAW.
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Truly, the hiccup of Rav is that he believes a focus can be used anytime and doesn't get in the way of somatic casting even sans material component spells.
Everyone else says that the rules specifically say when a focus can be used, which is when the spell has a material component.
This whole argument of the focus in hand doesn't preclude it from being a free hand is blatantly stupid.
I have decided to stop responding to trolls that make up rulings just to argue and will just post a simplified version of the official RAW for anyone unfortunate enough to find this thread while looking for rules help.
As described in Chapter 10 of the PHB and Basic rules under "casting a spell":
If you are casting a spell that has a Somatic component, but not a Material component: you must have at least 1 hand empty and unbound to perform those components.
You may instead be holding a weapon or shield if you have the war caster feat.
If you are casting a spell with a Material component: You must have at least 1 unbound hand holding the needed material, empty so it can access the material, or holding a spell casting focus.
If the spell also has a Somatic component, you can perform both the Material and Somatic components with the same hand.
There, that is all the relevant rules regarding the titular topic. Clear and simple.
Truly, the hiccup of Rav is that he believes a focus can be used anytime and doesn't get in the way of somatic casting even sans material component spells.
That's not a hiccup, that's the rules. You can use a spellcasting focus on any of your spells. (assuming class/type requirements met) The item says you can use it, and it is clearly the intent that you can use it. And NOTHING says you can't. So, you can.
You guys are arguing that the object cannot be used for what it says it can. And provide no evidence for that claim whatsoever.
Everyone else says that the rules specifically say when a focus can be used, which is when the spell has a material component.
You look around these here forums and its the same small cluster of people brow-beating anyone who disagrees about their incorrect reading of the rules. I'm just not prone to giving up when faced with a hostile audience. I've been the only correct person in the room far too often to let the opinion of the masses sway me without a coherent argument. Others have been silenced by yalls mistreatment before. Not me. I'm only silenced by a well thought out rebuttal, and that has been sorely lacking in the many pages of back and forth.
This whole argument of the focus in hand doesn't preclude it from being a free hand is blatantly stupid.
Well, that whole argument is that it wouldn't even be in hand. Being in hand or not in hand is just character description fluff, and not relevant to the actual rules text.
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I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Nope, the wand doesn't disappear after being used in the hand or freely go back to being stowed. There in the hand it stays. It is not fluff.
PUKE
Material (M)
Casting some spells requires particular objects, specified in parentheses in the component entry. A character can use a component pouch or a spellcasting focus (found in chapter 5, “Equipment”) in place of the components specified for a spell. But if a cost is indicated for a component, a character must have that specific component before he or she can cast the spell.
If a spell states that a material component is consumed by the spell, the caster must provide this component for each casting of the spell.
A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell's material components — or to hold a spellcasting focus — but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components.
Nope, the wand doesn't disappear after being used in the hand or freely go back to being stowed. There in the hand it stays. It is not fluff.
PUKE
Material (M)
Casting some spells requires particular objects, specified in parentheses in the component entry. A character can use a component pouch or a spellcasting focus (found in chapter 5, “Equipment”) in place of the components specified for a spell. But if a cost is indicated for a component, a character must have that specific component before he or she can cast the spell.
If a spell states that a material component is consumed by the spell, the caster must provide this component for each casting of the spell.
A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell's material components — or to hold a spellcasting focus — but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components.
Nothing says you need to even draw it. It can stay stowed the whole time. Your hand only needs to be free to be able to hold it. Per RAW.
Edit: For clarity. That requirement is for the capability to do something, not the doing of something. Like if a requirement was for a high enough strength to be able to lift a boulder... that doesn't say you need to be actually lifting one. The same sentence structure exists here. The requirement is that the hand is free to be able to hold the focus... not that it actually needs to do so.
OH BUT SURELY THE INTENT WA>>>> naw man, this is RAW. RAW is what it actually says.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
And, before you say it, YES, the RAW repeatedly talks about handling things in your hands, and about what you can AND CAN'T DO when you have things in your hands.
Truly, the hiccup of Rav is that he believes a focus can be used anytime and doesn't get in the way of somatic casting even sans material component spells.
That's not a hiccup, that's the rules. You can use a spellcasting focus on any of your spells. (assuming class/type requirements met) The item says you can use it, and it is clearly the intent that you can use it. And NOTHING says you can't. So, you can.
You guys are arguing that the object cannot be used for what it says it can. And provide no evidence for that claim whatsoever.
We're arguing that you can use the object as the Spellcasting section of the PHB explains, and that mechanics are not given in the description of the Arcane Focus. That is merely flavor text, and it points you to the rules. You can "channel" spells through a spellcasting focus as explained in that section of the book.
Everyone else says that the rules specifically say when a focus can be used, which is when the spell has a material component.
You look around these here forums and its the same small cluster of people brow-beating anyone who disagrees about their incorrect reading of the rules. I'm just not prone to giving up when faced with a hostile audience. I've been the only correct person in the room far too often to let the opinion of the masses sway me without a coherent argument. Others have been silenced by yalls mistreatment before. Not me. I'm only silenced by a well thought out rebuttal, and that has been sorely lacking in the many pages of back and forth.
No one was silenced, the rules were explained to them. I at first thought that you could RAW use a spellcasting focus for any spell that has Somatic components. I learned that due to a quirk in the rules, that is not the correct ruling based on how the book is written. You're the only one stubborn enough to ignore our evidence of the rules.
We're not mistreating anyone, but trying to explain how the rules work, which you can't seem to grasp.
This whole argument of the focus in hand doesn't preclude it from being a free hand is blatantly stupid.
Well, that whole argument is that it wouldn't even be in hand. Being in hand or not in hand is just character description fluff, and not relevant to the actual rules text.
You have to hold a spear to throw it. It doesn't just fling itself from your body. You have to be holding a spellcasting focus in order to get the benefit of using one, except for one very specific circumstance with Wand Sheaths.
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Nope, the wand doesn't disappear after being used in the hand or freely go back to being stowed. There in the hand it stays. It is not fluff.
PUKE
Material (M)
Casting some spells requires particular objects, specified in parentheses in the component entry. A character can use a component pouch or a spellcasting focus (found in chapter 5, “Equipment”) in place of the components specified for a spell. But if a cost is indicated for a component, a character must have that specific component before he or she can cast the spell.
If a spell states that a material component is consumed by the spell, the caster must provide this component for each casting of the spell.
A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell's material components — or to hold a spellcasting focus — but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components.
Nothing says you need to even draw it. It can stay stowed the whole time. Your hand only needs to be free to be able to hold it. Per RAW.
Edit: For clarity. That requirement is for the capability to do something, not the doing of something. Like if a requirement was for a high enough strength to be able to lift a boulder... that doesn't say you need to be actually lifting one. The same sentence structure exists here. The requirement is that the hand is free to be able to hold the focus... not that it actually needs to do so.
That's just not true. You're reading that statement incorrectly. It says, paraphrased so you can understand, "(You must have a free hand to access material components OR hold a spellcasting focus,) which can be the same hand used to perform somatic components."
It does not say, "You must have a free hand to a) access material components or b) hold a spellcasting focus, either which can be the same hand that performs material components."
You have to have an open hand to access material components, which can be the same hand that can perform somatic components.
OR
You have to hold a spellcasting focus, which can be the same hand to perform somatic components.
Learn how to read rules, man.
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I like the part where he says you don't have to draw it to use it. As in it is more obtusely ignorant than I've seen anyone be in a while. Because it's clearly written that it has to be in the hand to use.
This whole argument of the focus in hand doesn't preclude it from being a free hand is blatantly stupid.
Well, that whole argument is that it wouldn't even be in hand. Being in hand or not in hand is just character description fluff, and not relevant to the actual rules text.
You have to hold a spear to throw it. It doesn't just fling itself from your body. You have to be holding a spellcasting focus in order to get the benefit of using one, except for one very specific circumstance with Wand Sheaths.
I know that's what you want the rule to say, but it doesn't actually say that you need to hold the focus. You want it to, I get it. But it doesn't.
And so this interesting quirk of the rules means you don't need to even hold the focus for it to work. You need a hand free to be capable of holding it.... but you don't need to actually do so. Because the listed requirement is a free hand, not a held focus. And since the rule, as, written, means we're looking at the words on the actual page, and not what we want them to say... we have to conclude that merely having a free hand and access to the focus is all that is required, because that is very literally what the text of the rules says.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
This whole argument of the focus in hand doesn't preclude it from being a free hand is blatantly stupid.
Well, that whole argument is that it wouldn't even be in hand. Being in hand or not in hand is just character description fluff, and not relevant to the actual rules text.
You have to hold a spear to throw it. It doesn't just fling itself from your body. You have to be holding a spellcasting focus in order to get the benefit of using one, except for one very specific circumstance with Wand Sheaths.
I know that's what you want the rule to say, but it doesn't actually say that you need to hold the focus. You want it to, I get it. But it doesn't.
And so this interesting quirk of the rules means you don't need to even hold the focus for it to work. You need a hand free to be capable of holding it.... but you don't need to actually do so. Because the listed requirement is a free hand, not a held focus. And since the rule, as, written, means we're looking at the words on the actual page, and not what we want them to say... we have to conclude that mearly having a free hand and access to the focus is all that is required, because that is very literally what the text of the rules says.
It only says that if you read it incorrectly:
Material (M)
A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell's material components — or to hold a spellcasting focus — but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components.
You have to have a free hand to access the material components or you have to have a hand holding a spellcasting focus. You cannot gain the benefit of an object if you're not holding it. Stop changing your argument, and be freaking consistent.
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This is a general complaint one could have with RAW discussions, yes. Following the instruction on the page is exactly what RAW means. If you wanna chat about RAI, then, we can I guess.
By RAI clearly you should be able to perform S components in the same hand as is holding a focus. Thems the words they put down on the pages, clearly that was the intent.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
We literally all agree on this. RAI, you should be able to do this. The only reason I'm still arguing is because RAW, that is not possible for most casters.
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Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
The idea that one does not actually need to hold/wave/point a wand to use it seems highly suspect to me. Tell me, would you consider it pure fluff to say that one is required to hold a dagger in one's hand in order to make an attack with it? Because I did a cursory scan of the rules and I didn't actually see a hard rule that said that you need to hold a weapon in your hand in order to make an attack with it.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
This is the best I could find in a quick search.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
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Sure, like in the case of the Shield. Totally, your hand isn't free while wielding a shield. Regardless of if it is a focus or not. Now, the Sage Advice says you can treat it as free sometimes, which honestly I'd never have imagined was the case, but...hey, that's their intent anyway.
And there is that crystal/gemstone thing that attaches to a weapon to turn it into a focus, the name of it escapes me at the moment. Well, with a weapon in hand, even if it can be used as a focus, you totally don't have a free hand. That hand is doing all sorts of stuff. Fighting, threatening the area around you, misc weapon specific stuff. That's a very busy hand. But if we take the Sage Advice example to heart, this weapon-focus seems to be in the same boat as the shield. Both hands shouldn't/wouldn't be considered free normally though.
Or lets chat Orb of Shielding. This guy is a magic item, and also a focus. If you're holding it, then your hand is occupied. Because it has effects that can trigger while held. So you must clearly decide to be holding it or not be holding it. This is an example of something actually being 'equipped' or whatever. This item is like the shield, or like a weapon, in that it DOES something outside of spellcasting. And since just having access to it on your person isn't enough to be able to activate its defensive ability, it is relevant to determine in advance if you're holding it or not. But is the hand free? Man I honestly don't even know with this one. It is such a weird object. It is probably free... since it isn't really doing anything, but I only say that tentatively.
But, then, like those other Eberron items, we get to the case of the Infused Wood focus items. You should absolutely be able to channel your spells through these with no problem regardless of if they have M components or not. These ones are probably the most interesting of all the weird focus+ items out there, because they're clearly designed to be used with all sorts of spell... some of yall seem to be arguing that you can't use them.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
No, that's wrong, it's not Sage Advice that establishes that. The rules of a holy symbol, which is the official term for a spellcasting focus for a cleric or paladin, outright say that it can be part of a shield and still used as a focus.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Whether or not you can "channel a spell" through them they still occupy your hand and make it not free for the purposes of a Somatic only spell.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
From Unearthed Arcana... but seems a pretty strong hint that V/S spells can be cast through a focus. Firebolt doesn't have a material component.
And, if you were casting a Firebolt through a focus, the rules linked by the item would indeed be relevant.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
It's probably RAI that you can do this, but it is not RAW.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Truly, the hiccup of Rav is that he believes a focus can be used anytime and doesn't get in the way of somatic casting even sans material component spells.
Everyone else says that the rules specifically say when a focus can be used, which is when the spell has a material component.
This whole argument of the focus in hand doesn't preclude it from being a free hand is blatantly stupid.
I have decided to stop responding to trolls that make up rulings just to argue and will just post a simplified version of the official RAW for anyone unfortunate enough to find this thread while looking for rules help.
As described in Chapter 10 of the PHB and Basic rules under "casting a spell":
There, that is all the relevant rules regarding the titular topic. Clear and simple.
That's not a hiccup, that's the rules. You can use a spellcasting focus on any of your spells. (assuming class/type requirements met) The item says you can use it, and it is clearly the intent that you can use it. And NOTHING says you can't. So, you can.
You guys are arguing that the object cannot be used for what it says it can. And provide no evidence for that claim whatsoever.
You look around these here forums and its the same small cluster of people brow-beating anyone who disagrees about their incorrect reading of the rules. I'm just not prone to giving up when faced with a hostile audience. I've been the only correct person in the room far too often to let the opinion of the masses sway me without a coherent argument. Others have been silenced by yalls mistreatment before. Not me. I'm only silenced by a well thought out rebuttal, and that has been sorely lacking in the many pages of back and forth.
Well, that whole argument is that it wouldn't even be in hand. Being in hand or not in hand is just character description fluff, and not relevant to the actual rules text.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Nope, the wand doesn't disappear after being used in the hand or freely go back to being stowed. There in the hand it stays. It is not fluff.
PUKE
Nothing says you need to even draw it. It can stay stowed the whole time. Your hand only needs to be free to be able to hold it. Per RAW.
Edit: For clarity. That requirement is for the capability to do something, not the doing of something. Like if a requirement was for a high enough strength to be able to lift a boulder... that doesn't say you need to be actually lifting one. The same sentence structure exists here. The requirement is that the hand is free to be able to hold the focus... not that it actually needs to do so.
OH BUT SURELY THE INTENT WA>>>> naw man, this is RAW. RAW is what it actually says.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
And, before you say it, YES, the RAW repeatedly talks about handling things in your hands, and about what you can AND CAN'T DO when you have things in your hands.
We're arguing that you can use the object as the Spellcasting section of the PHB explains, and that mechanics are not given in the description of the Arcane Focus. That is merely flavor text, and it points you to the rules. You can "channel" spells through a spellcasting focus as explained in that section of the book.
No one was silenced, the rules were explained to them. I at first thought that you could RAW use a spellcasting focus for any spell that has Somatic components. I learned that due to a quirk in the rules, that is not the correct ruling based on how the book is written. You're the only one stubborn enough to ignore our evidence of the rules.
We're not mistreating anyone, but trying to explain how the rules work, which you can't seem to grasp.
You have to hold a spear to throw it. It doesn't just fling itself from your body. You have to be holding a spellcasting focus in order to get the benefit of using one, except for one very specific circumstance with Wand Sheaths.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
That's just not true. You're reading that statement incorrectly. It says, paraphrased so you can understand, "(You must have a free hand to access material components OR hold a spellcasting focus,) which can be the same hand used to perform somatic components."
It does not say, "You must have a free hand to a) access material components or b) hold a spellcasting focus, either which can be the same hand that performs material components."
You have to have an open hand to access material components, which can be the same hand that can perform somatic components.
OR
You have to hold a spellcasting focus, which can be the same hand to perform somatic components.
Learn how to read rules, man.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
I like the part where he says you don't have to draw it to use it. As in it is more obtusely ignorant than I've seen anyone be in a while. Because it's clearly written that it has to be in the hand to use.
I know that's what you want the rule to say, but it doesn't actually say that you need to hold the focus. You want it to, I get it. But it doesn't.
And so this interesting quirk of the rules means you don't need to even hold the focus for it to work. You need a hand free to be capable of holding it.... but you don't need to actually do so. Because the listed requirement is a free hand, not a held focus. And since the rule, as, written, means we're looking at the words on the actual page, and not what we want them to say... we have to conclude that merely having a free hand and access to the focus is all that is required, because that is very literally what the text of the rules says.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
It only says that if you read it incorrectly:
You have to have a free hand to access the material components or you have to have a hand holding a spellcasting focus. You cannot gain the benefit of an object if you're not holding it. Stop changing your argument, and be freaking consistent.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms