I'm not 100% sure about what takes an action and what doesn't when it comes to swapping weapons, shields, and arcane focuses. I read the PHB and you get one free interaction as part of your action. An example is drawing your weapon as part of your attack action. Now if you stow your weapon and take out your arcane focus, is taking out the arcane focus your entire "action" or can you then cast a spell that requires 1 action? For spells with a somatic component does a free hand mean you're not holding anything? Would you be unable to cast a spell with a somatic component if you were holding your arcane focus and a shield?
I'm not 100% sure about what takes an action and what doesn't when it comes to swapping weapons, shields, and arcane focuses. I read the PHB and you get one free interaction as part of your action. An example is drawing your weapon as part of your attack action. Now if you stow your weapon and take out your arcane focus, is taking out the arcane focus your entire "action" or can you then cast a spell that requires 1 action? For spells with a somatic component does a free hand mean you're not holding anything? Would you be unable to cast a spell with a somatic component if you were holding your arcane focus and a shield?
Stowing a weapon is an action...
what you’d have to do in that scenario is just drop the weapon to the ground to grab your focus as a free action.
I'm not 100% sure about what takes an action and what doesn't when it comes to swapping weapons, shields, and arcane focuses. I read the PHB and you get one free interaction as part of your action. An example is drawing your weapon as part of your attack action. Now if you stow your weapon and take out your arcane focus, is taking out the arcane focus your entire "action" or can you then cast a spell that requires 1 action? For spells with a somatic component does a free hand mean you're not holding anything? Would you be unable to cast a spell with a somatic component if you were holding your arcane focus and a shield?
In "Other Activity On Your Turn" (PHB 190) the rule states... "You can also interact with one object...for free, during either your move or your action."
Stowing your weapon and taking out your arcane focus are both free object interactions of done individually. Since you want to do both in a turn, you will need to take the Use an Object action to accomplish your goal. Removing your shield is already defined as taking an action, but you may be able to use your action to stow your shield and then use your free object interaction to grab your arcane focus in the process if you make a reasonable case for it. "I remove my shield, slinging it over my shoulder and as I pull my arm back, I brandish my arcane focus, which is a medallion on a leather cord around my neck." You just won't get to do much with that arcane focus on this turn unless you can make use of it via a bonus action or a reaction since you have already spent your action.
Thank you. Also, idk why I put this in Tips & Tactics instead of Game Mechanics. If the thread can be moved by all means do so.
What about my somatics question? Using your focus of a medallion on my neck, say I want to cast Hex which is a bonus action. I start my turn with a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. I stow my shield and grasp my focus which is a medallion around my neck. Can I wave the hand that is holding a sword to satisfy the somatic portion of Hex? I'm picturing the gesture as drawing a symbol with my finger in the air. I could draw that symbol even if im holding something. Or are somatic components supposed to be more intricate?
You can, but that requires the War Caster feat, which specifically allows you to perform the somatic components of spells even when you have weapons or a shield in one or both hands.
If a spell requires somatic and no-cost material components (like hex), the same hand that manipulates the components/focus can do the somatic part too. The warcaster feat is not required.
You might find yourself in a pickle sometime if you have a focus in one hand and a shield/sword in the other and your spell only requires somatic components or somatic components and costly material components. Then you would need the warcaster feat. Of course that situation can be avoided by choosing the mechanically superior, if less flavorful, component pouch.
If a spell has a somatic component, you can use the hand that performs the somatic component to also handle the material component. For example, a wizard who uses an orb as a spellcasting focus could hold a quarterstaff in one hand and the orb in the other, and he could cast lightning bolt by using the orb as the spell’s material component and the orb hand to perform the spell’s somatic component.
Another example: a cleric’s holy symbol is emblazoned on her shield. She likes to wade into melee combat with a mace in one hand and a shield in the other. She uses the holy symbol as her spellcasting focus, so she needs to have the shield in hand when she casts a cleric spell that has a material component. If the spell, such as aid, also has a somatic component, she can perform that component with the shield hand and keep holding the mace in the other.
If the same cleric casts cure wounds, she needs to put the mace or the shield away, because that spell doesn’t have a material component but does have a somatic component. She’s going to need a free hand to make the spell’s gestures. If she had the War Caster feat, she could ignore this restriction.
I'd just approach it like this: You have shield on one arm, sword in the other, medallion (arcane focus) around your neck.
Put the sword under your off-hand arm and hold it with your armpit - free interaction. It's not fully stowing it in a scabbard, so it doesn't take a whole action to fiddle with to line it up properly.
Then reach up, grab your medallion, and cast your spell. That's all part of the "cast a spell" action.
After that, it's basically inconsequential to put your hand back on the hilt of your sword and have it readied again.
Again, there's a Mike Mearls tweet floating around somewhere that the spellcasting rules are just to prevent abuse, and they can safely be ignored as long as it's not breaking your game. :)
I bring this up from time to time as well. It takes two hands to wield a longbow or a greatsword, but only one hand to hold it for a moment while your other hand does something else.
I like the armpit idea haha. It sounds weird if you tell someone you can wave your hand around while holding your focus if you want to cast Hex but if you want to cat Eldritch Blast you can't wave your hand. But thematically the idea I suppose is that the blast is coming out of your hand and it can't if that hand is holding something. But we have a cleric in our group that uses Inflict Wounds as a "poke of death" so thematically she could hold something in her hand and have a finger free to poke a creature. In that case maybe the DM could have her roll to see if the magic surging through her hand into her fingertip damages the focus.
I like the armpit idea haha. It sounds weird if you tell someone you can wave your hand around while holding your focus if you want to cast Hex but if you want to cat Eldritch Blast you can't wave your hand. But thematically the idea I suppose is that the blast is coming out of your hand and it can't if that hand is holding something. But we have a cleric in our group that uses Inflict Wounds as a "poke of death" so thematically she could hold something in her hand and have a finger free to poke a creature. In that case maybe the DM could have her roll to see if the magic surging through her hand into her fingertip damages the focus.
Most (good) DMs, if you get attacked while doing that, will have you make a save to see if you maintain your weapon in your armpit still. Dodge or hit alike.
I've seen this mentioned a few times and I need to correct it. You can sheath your sword without using your action. Here is the example list of all free object interactions from basic rules:
INTERACTING WITH OBJECTS AROUND YOU
Here are a few examples of the sorts of thing you can do in tandem with your movement and action:
draw or sheathe a sword
open or close a door
withdraw a potion from your backpack
pick up a dropped axe
take a bauble from a table
remove a ring from your finger
stuff some food into your mouth
plant a banner in the ground
fish a few coins from your belt pouch
drink all the ale in a flagon
throw a lever or a switch
pull a torch from a sconce
take a book from a shelf you can reach
extinguish a small flame
don a mask
pull the hood of your cloak up and over your head
put your ear to a door
kick a small stone
turn a key in a lock
tap the floor with a 10-foot pole
hand an item to another character
The rules also never mention you can drop a weapon without using this interaction, but it is a commonly accepted ruling. Sheathing a weapon and drawing a wand together would require an action.
If I start the round with a bow in hand can I fire the bow. Then drop the Bow. Unsheathe my sword and use my bonus action to attack with the sword. I would assume the bonus action to attack would be like attacking with my off hand and therefore no damage bonus.
If I start the round with a bow in hand can I fire the bow. Then drop the Bow. Unsheathe my sword and use my bonus action to attack with the sword. I would assume the bonus action to attack would be like attacking with my off hand and therefore no damage bonus.
You were right up to the bonus action attack. To attack with an off-hand weapon, you have to be wielding two light weapons when you take the attack action.
Here is the rules concerning Two Weapon Fighting, essentially you need to attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand to even have the option to make a bonus action attack with a different light melee weapon you're holding in the other hand. There isn't any way you could attack with a ranged weapon as your action then follow up with a Bonus Action attack using Two Weapon Fighting. Some Feats/Class Features might let you do something like that, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.
One other thing to note though, you can make a thrown weapon attack with either one or both of your attacks made with Two Weapon Fighting, as it specifically denotes that is possible in the aforementioned rules I've linked above.
And you can't unsheathe both weapons at the same time correct? If I can then that would allow me to attack using a bonus action?
You can sheathe/unsheathe two weapons at the same time if you have the Dual Wielder feat. It will not allow you to attack as a bonus action in your scenario because you are missing the key rule regarding Two Weapon Fighting. Let me clear that up for you.
Two-Weapon Fighting
When you take the Attack action (1)and attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand (2), you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand (3). You don't add your ability modifier to the damage of the bonus attack, unless that modifier is negative.
If either weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon, instead of making a melee attack with it.
You take the Attack action. This is very specific because there are other ways to attack with weapons that don't involve the Attack action. I think you understand that.
Here's where you're getting off-track. You're taking the Attack action, but attacking with your bow does not fulfill the requirement of being a "lightmelee weapon". If you were to substitute your bow for a Thrown weapon, you could make a ranged attack with that weapon, and still potentially qualify for TWF.
You have to actually be holding both of your melee weapons at the same time that you take the Attack action. You can't draw a weapon into your "off hand" after taking the Attack action.
Basically, you have to actually be fighting with two light melee weapons in order to utilize Two-Weapon Fighting. Shocking, I know.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Thanks for the help. I'm a new player and still learning. I'm not sure why I'd do it if I'm within melee range anyway. When all I need to do is run up with both weapons and attack with them. It was more for a cool role playing visual. My primary weapon and bow do the same damage.
Thanks for the help. I'm a new player and still learning. I'm not sure why I'd do it if I'm within melee range anyway. When all I need to do is run up with both weapons and attack with them. It was more for a cool role playing visual. My primary weapon and bow do the same damage.
No worries, 5e is a much easier to learn system than prior editions, but it's still a lot to learn. You'll get there.
Out of curiosity, which weapons are you specifically using? If your bow & sword deal the same damage, I'm assuming you're either using a set of Shortbow & Shortsword or Longbow & Longsword. If your using a Shortsword + another light melee weapon for Two-Weapon Fighting, then you're good to go. If you're using a Longsword + another melee weapon (light or not), then you have a problem. You need to take the Dual Wielder feat before you're able to use Two-Weapon Fighting with weapons that don't both have the light property.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
I've got a question that has been bothering me for a while regarding this topic. How does casting non-material, semantic spells work when the weapon in your hand is also enhancing the spell. My example is a druid holding a shield and a moon sickle. If the druid wants to cast cure wounds, they have to either drop the sickle which means it can't boost the spell, or use an action to doff the shield which seems very clunky when trying to save a friend. This also causes problem with damage spells, even catrips, that are semantic but get +1 from the sickle which can't be in the hand during casting.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I'm not 100% sure about what takes an action and what doesn't when it comes to swapping weapons, shields, and arcane focuses. I read the PHB and you get one free interaction as part of your action. An example is drawing your weapon as part of your attack action. Now if you stow your weapon and take out your arcane focus, is taking out the arcane focus your entire "action" or can you then cast a spell that requires 1 action? For spells with a somatic component does a free hand mean you're not holding anything? Would you be unable to cast a spell with a somatic component if you were holding your arcane focus and a shield?
Stowing a weapon is an action...
what you’d have to do in that scenario is just drop the weapon to the ground to grab your focus as a free action.
Blank
In "Other Activity On Your Turn" (PHB 190) the rule states... "You can also interact with one object...for free, during either your move or your action."
Stowing your weapon and taking out your arcane focus are both free object interactions of done individually. Since you want to do both in a turn, you will need to take the Use an Object action to accomplish your goal. Removing your shield is already defined as taking an action, but you may be able to use your action to stow your shield and then use your free object interaction to grab your arcane focus in the process if you make a reasonable case for it. "I remove my shield, slinging it over my shoulder and as I pull my arm back, I brandish my arcane focus, which is a medallion on a leather cord around my neck." You just won't get to do much with that arcane focus on this turn unless you can make use of it via a bonus action or a reaction since you have already spent your action.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Thank you. Also, idk why I put this in Tips & Tactics instead of Game Mechanics. If the thread can be moved by all means do so.
What about my somatics question? Using your focus of a medallion on my neck, say I want to cast Hex which is a bonus action. I start my turn with a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. I stow my shield and grasp my focus which is a medallion around my neck. Can I wave the hand that is holding a sword to satisfy the somatic portion of Hex? I'm picturing the gesture as drawing a symbol with my finger in the air. I could draw that symbol even if im holding something. Or are somatic components supposed to be more intricate?
You can, but that requires the War Caster feat, which specifically allows you to perform the somatic components of spells even when you have weapons or a shield in one or both hands.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
If a spell requires somatic and no-cost material components (like hex), the same hand that manipulates the components/focus can do the somatic part too. The warcaster feat is not required.
You might find yourself in a pickle sometime if you have a focus in one hand and a shield/sword in the other and your spell only requires somatic components or somatic components and costly material components. Then you would need the warcaster feat. Of course that situation can be avoided by choosing the mechanically superior, if less flavorful, component pouch.
Thanks. I was looking around for additional information and found this - https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/sage-advice/rules-spellcasting
If a spell has a somatic component, you can use the hand that performs the somatic component to also handle the material component. For example, a wizard who uses an orb as a spellcasting focus could hold a quarterstaff in one hand and the orb in the other, and he could cast lightning bolt by using the orb as the spell’s material component and the orb hand to perform the spell’s somatic component.
Another example: a cleric’s holy symbol is emblazoned on her shield. She likes to wade into melee combat with a mace in one hand and a shield in the other. She uses the holy symbol as her spellcasting focus, so she needs to have the shield in hand when she casts a cleric spell that has a material component. If the spell, such as aid, also has a somatic component, she can perform that component with the shield hand and keep holding the mace in the other.
If the same cleric casts cure wounds, she needs to put the mace or the shield away, because that spell doesn’t have a material component but does have a somatic component. She’s going to need a free hand to make the spell’s gestures. If she had the War Caster feat, she could ignore this restriction.
I'd just approach it like this: You have shield on one arm, sword in the other, medallion (arcane focus) around your neck.
Put the sword under your off-hand arm and hold it with your armpit - free interaction. It's not fully stowing it in a scabbard, so it doesn't take a whole action to fiddle with to line it up properly.
Then reach up, grab your medallion, and cast your spell. That's all part of the "cast a spell" action.
After that, it's basically inconsequential to put your hand back on the hilt of your sword and have it readied again.
Again, there's a Mike Mearls tweet floating around somewhere that the spellcasting rules are just to prevent abuse, and they can safely be ignored as long as it's not breaking your game. :)
I bring this up from time to time as well. It takes two hands to wield a longbow or a greatsword, but only one hand to hold it for a moment while your other hand does something else.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
I like the armpit idea haha. It sounds weird if you tell someone you can wave your hand around while holding your focus if you want to cast Hex but if you want to cat Eldritch Blast you can't wave your hand. But thematically the idea I suppose is that the blast is coming out of your hand and it can't if that hand is holding something. But we have a cleric in our group that uses Inflict Wounds as a "poke of death" so thematically she could hold something in her hand and have a finger free to poke a creature. In that case maybe the DM could have her roll to see if the magic surging through her hand into her fingertip damages the focus.
Most (good) DMs, if you get attacked while doing that, will have you make a save to see if you maintain your weapon in your armpit still. Dodge or hit alike.
Blank
I've seen this mentioned a few times and I need to correct it. You can sheath your sword without using your action. Here is the example list of all free object interactions from basic rules:
The rules also never mention you can drop a weapon without using this interaction, but it is a commonly accepted ruling. Sheathing a weapon and drawing a wand together would require an action.
If I start the round with a bow in hand can I fire the bow. Then drop the Bow. Unsheathe my sword and use my bonus action to attack with the sword. I would assume the bonus action to attack would be like attacking with my off hand and therefore no damage bonus.
You were right up to the bonus action attack. To attack with an off-hand weapon, you have to be wielding two light weapons when you take the attack action.
And you can't unsheathe both weapons at the same time correct? If I can then that would allow me to attack using a bonus action?
Two Weapon Fighting - Basic Rules
Here is the rules concerning Two Weapon Fighting, essentially you need to attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand to even have the option to make a bonus action attack with a different light melee weapon you're holding in the other hand. There isn't any way you could attack with a ranged weapon as your action then follow up with a Bonus Action attack using Two Weapon Fighting. Some Feats/Class Features might let you do something like that, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.
One other thing to note though, you can make a thrown weapon attack with either one or both of your attacks made with Two Weapon Fighting, as it specifically denotes that is possible in the aforementioned rules I've linked above.
Check out my latest homebrew: Mystic Knight (Fighter) v1.31
You can sheathe/unsheathe two weapons at the same time if you have the Dual Wielder feat. It will not allow you to attack as a bonus action in your scenario because you are missing the key rule regarding Two Weapon Fighting. Let me clear that up for you.
Basically, you have to actually be fighting with two light melee weapons in order to utilize Two-Weapon Fighting. Shocking, I know.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Thanks for the help. I'm a new player and still learning. I'm not sure why I'd do it if I'm within melee range anyway. When all I need to do is run up with both weapons and attack with them. It was more for a cool role playing visual. My primary weapon and bow do the same damage.
No worries, 5e is a much easier to learn system than prior editions, but it's still a lot to learn. You'll get there.
Out of curiosity, which weapons are you specifically using? If your bow & sword deal the same damage, I'm assuming you're either using a set of Shortbow & Shortsword or Longbow & Longsword. If your using a Shortsword + another light melee weapon for Two-Weapon Fighting, then you're good to go. If you're using a Longsword + another melee weapon (light or not), then you have a problem. You need to take the Dual Wielder feat before you're able to use Two-Weapon Fighting with weapons that don't both have the light property.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
I've got a question that has been bothering me for a while regarding this topic. How does casting non-material, semantic spells work when the weapon in your hand is also enhancing the spell. My example is a druid holding a shield and a moon sickle. If the druid wants to cast cure wounds, they have to either drop the sickle which means it can't boost the spell, or use an action to doff the shield which seems very clunky when trying to save a friend. This also causes problem with damage spells, even catrips, that are semantic but get +1 from the sickle which can't be in the hand during casting.