Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Volund" data-source="post: 7536694" data-attributes="member: 6872597">The VSM requirements for spellcasting are a quirk from the early days that just won't die. There are so many ways around this now that it's time to admit it should go away. Keep the material components that cost something, do away with the rest, and let casters cast spells if they can speak.The basic rule is that you need a free hand to hold material components and make somatic gestures, but because in actual play this is really a pain to manage there are a bunch of other rules to neutralize this basic casting rule. -- spells list material components that nobody pays attention to unless they cost GP, because any generic focus will do and everyone gets one as a graduation present after finishing basic caster training. Alternatively you can get a component pouch that has everything you need just like a Marshall Brodien magic kit. -- You can make somatic gestures while using the same hand to hold the material component. The range of hand movements I can do while holding onto a staff is pretty limited, but whatever, it's a fantasy game with magic.-- Clerics and paladins can put their holy symbol on their shield. Druids, who are also described as divine spellcasters, can't do the same thing with a druidic focus. A holy symbol can't be attached to a weapon, but nobody knows why. Seems like the gestures one could make while holding a shield could also be made while holding a mace or sword with a holy symbol attached.-- Whatever clerics and paladins are doing with their hands while holding the shield doesn't work for arcane foci -- bards, EK's, rangers, AT's, and warlocks can't mount an arcane focus on a shield and get the same benefit, so...-- Arcane casters can take the War Caster feat which deals with S but not M components. Personally, I let a PC who takes this feat also mount their arcane focus on their shield.-- Bladelocks can take the improved pact weapon invocation so that their pact weapon can be their arcane focus. Wizards, for all their intelligence, can't figure out how to do this, not even Bladesingers. You could argue that the pact boon + invocation is special, but then we see that...-- Sword Bards can also use a weapon as their arcane focus. Valor bards can't, even though with shield proficiency they have the greater need. -- If all else fails, you can drop your weapon, cast a spell, and then pick it up again as a "free" interaction with your environment. Silly gamesmanship to get around a silly rule.What a mess.</blockquote>

Verification