D&D 5E Dropping your sword during the enemy's turn?

[ironmat24]

As the title says. Would a character be able to drop his sword as a FREE action during the enemy's turn, in order to use his REACTION to cast a spell such as SHIELD?

I'm aware about the war caster feat. But I am really curious about this none the less, because dropping one's weapon as an Eldritch Knight, carry less consequences...

Any opinion or verdict about this question of mine?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Satyrn]

I'm sorry this won't be rules-helpful.

My group never worries about casters having a free hand. I think you shouldn't either.

 

[Zardnaar]

RAW no. Its a balance thing have a spare hand or the warcaster feat.

 

[UnknownDyson]

I would rule no. A reaction occurs in response to a trigger. The trigger, in this case, is your character being attacked. With spells like shield the character enacts a preventative measure in response to the trigger. While having a sword and shield equipped, you cannot perform the somatic components necessary to use the shield spell.

Now, you might be asking me why you can't just drop your sword and then cast shield? There are a couple of reasons why you can't do that.

First, for every round of combat you have 1 reaction. If you use your reaction, you cannot use another reaction until the start of your next turn. Dropping your sword in response to an enemy attack and casting the shield spell should count as two reactions. You do not possess two reactions.

Second, keep in mind that combat in 5e generally occurs over the course of a minute. A minute in 5e roughly translates to 10 rounds in combat. This is important to note because in cases like this, or in the event that a spellcaster is concentrating on a spell with a minute duration, you need to count down if combat has gone on for more than 10 rounds.

What we can glean from this information is that a round translates to 1/10 of a minute which equals six seconds. I wasn't a math major in college but I believe your individual turn takes place in 0.6 seconds (mechanically). In this time frame, you get your movement, your action, and possibly a bonus action. Your reaction occurs at some point during the six seconds that makes up the round. You do not have time to drop your weapon and recite the verbal components as well as perform the somatic components for the shield spell in that short time interval.

Third, what you're trying to do is the entire reason that war caster is so important to take as an eldritch knight. It was practically made for the sub class. If you want to cast spells and hold onto your weapons, you should take the feat. Seriously, as an eldritch knight who has played in a campaign for about a year now, from level 1 to level 11, I swear by it.

Warcaster is damn near mandatory if you don't want to have to choose (and its not much of a choice for an EK) between spell casting and martial fighting at any given moment. You also get advantage on con saves as well as single target spell opportunity attacks. "You just moved 10 feet from me, Hold Person!"

 

[ironmat24]

It seems weird to me that dropping prone would be a free action, while dropping your sword would be a reaction. I'd imagine free actions and reactions being somewhat similar in duration (thinking about the 6 second round here).

Feats are sparse and I'm not really sure war caster is worth it on a eldritch knight. Way too few spells for my taste, weapon bond feature and constitution being a saving throw the class is proficient into.

That's just my opinion though.

 

[Ganymede81]

You do not have time to drop your weapon and recite the verbal components as well as perform the somatic components for the shield spell in that short time interval.

Granted, the recent two-handed weapon rule clarification muddies the issue a bit. It notes that, effectively, a spellcaster could remove one hand from a two-handed weapon in order to cast a reaction spell.

Conceptually, removing your hand from a one-handed weapon is the same thing (with the added sacrifice that your sword is now on the ground).

 

[UnknownDyson]

It seems weird to me that dropping prone would be a free action, while dropping your sword would be a reaction. I'd imagine free actions and reactions being somewhat similar in duration (thinking about the 6 second round here).

Feats are sparse and I'm not really sure war caster is worth it on a eldritch knight. Way too few spells for my taste, weapon bond feature and constitution being a saving throw the class is proficient into.



That's just my opinion though.

Dropping prone on your turn is a free action, dropping your weapon on your turn is a free action. If you're doing it outside of your turn it should be classified as a reaction. They are of similar duration relatively, the question is can you do them.

And as far as warcaster being worth it goes. The fighter gets access to more feats than any other class in the game because the fighter has more ability score increases per level than any other class. This gives you the opportunity to max out two stats and still have at least three feats (if you so choose). It might not seem like its worth it early on, but once you have access to third level spells like fly and haste, it gets ridiculous. Haste makes fighters almost seem kind of broken.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

As the title says. Would a character be able to drop his sword as a FREE action during the enemy's turn, in order to use his REACTION to cast a spell such as SHIELD?

I'm aware about the war caster feat. But I am really curious about this none the less, because dropping one's weapon as an Eldritch Knight, carry less consequences...

Any opinion or verdict about this question of mine?

My ruling: no, that doesn't work. Your hand has to already be free in order to be available for a reaction spell like Shield. Same reason that driving while talking on a cell phone (or eating) is dangerous despite the fact that you could theoretically drop the cell phone at any time to grab the wheel: in practice, juggling objects slows you down. "Dropping" stuff really isn't instantaneous.

BTW, Warcaster on an Eldritch Knight is a great way to get an excellent opportunity attack, like Booming Blade. It wouldn't be a high priority for me but probably something I'd pick up around level 12 or 14.

Remember also: Dodge + Warcaster is a pretty good way to tank (i.e. distract the enemy from the squishies/strikers), compared to just outright attacking. If the enemy attacks you, then they're being dumb and wasting time while the rest of the party kills them from range. If they ignore you and try to attack someone else, you get an opportunity attack--the same Booming Blade attack that you would have gotten on your turn anyway. So you're basically giving the enemy a free opportunity to make a bad decision.

 

[UnknownDyson]

Granted, the recent two-handed weapon rule clarification muddies the issue a bit. It notes that, effectively, a spellcaster could remove one hand from a two-handed weapon in order to cast a reaction spell.

Conceptually, removing your hand from a one-handed weapon is the same thing (with the added sacrifice that your sword is now on the ground).

That ruling is a bit weird but you're right about that. Still, removing one hand from your weapon and dropping a weapon are different things mechanically, dropping your weapon counts as a free action. Removing 1 hand from a weapon? I don't believe you would even be able to call it that.

 

[Hawk Diesel]

This is an interesting question. Personally, I would say dropping an item to use a reaction like shield is legal. My reasoning being that dropping a weapon is a free action. You can take actions on your turn. You can take reactions outside of your normal turn, but in a way, that time that you're using your reaction is, in a way, your turn. You don't *have* to take your reaction. It is an option. A conscious choice. An enemy that moves out of your melee range draws an attack of opportunity, but you don't have to take that attack. It's not automatic and it's not instinctual. To me, this implies that during a reaction, there is enough time for you to assess the situation and respond as you see fit. From my perspective, this means you essentially get a mini-turn outside of your turn. Once it's back to your turn, you once more get the option to execute free actions (within reason). Dropping a sword in order to activate shield would be in this purview.