Somatic components and shields/bucklers

[Westwind]

My gaming group debated this issue last session and I couldn't find anything in the books on the issue (although I seem to remeber the Sage mentioning it at some point). Can you cast spells with a small shield or buckler on one arm and a weapon in the other hand? If so/not, could someone point me to the ruling?

 

[mikebr99]

I don't have anything official for you... but you need at least one had free for casting, and a buckler or small shield allows that hand to be free, but at the expense of no AC bonus for that round if the arm is used for something other then defence.

 

[kreynolds]

Nope. From the FAQ...

Can a spellcaster, arcane or divine, cast a spell requiring somatic or material components if he has a weapon in one hand and a buckler in the other? A small shield? A large shield?
No in all cases. You must have at least one free hand to use a somatic component. (See page 151 in the Player’s Handbook.) You could drop the weapon (or the buckler or shield) as a free action and then cast the spell.

A small shield or buckler would not, however, interfere with you using material components, only somatic.

EDIT: Yuk. That FAQ quote was sloppy.

 

[warpmind]

And could the wizard wield a two-handed weapon? I would rule that when he casts a spell he holds his weapon with one hand (I suppose a free action to change from two-handed to one-handed wielding) and then casts the spell normally, but he can't use his weapon until his next round (so no AoO), when he can choose to wield his weapon two-handed again. Am I right?

 

[Cloudgatherer]

Couldn't one just move the weapon to the buckler hand, therefore freeing up a hand to cast?

 

[Shard O'Glase]

Couldn't one just move the weapon to the buckler hand, therefore freeing up a hand to cast?

No it's an abstract combat system, and logic can't be used.

Seriously, I can't see why not.

 

[Zenon]

It depends on the type of shield:

From the SRD:

Buckler: This small metal shield is strapped to the forearm, allowing it to be worn and still use the hand. A bow or crossbow can be used without penalty. An off-hand weapon can be used, but a -1 penalty on attack rolls is imposed because of the extra weight on your arm. This penalty stacks with those for fighting with the off hand and, if appropriate, for fighting with two weapons. In any case, if a weapon is used in the off-hand, the character doesn't get the buckler's AC bonus for the rest of the round.

Small Shield: A small shield's light weight lets a character carry other items in that hand (although the character cannot use weapons).

Large Shield: A large shield is too heavy to use the shield hand for anything else.

So for bucklers and small shields, you could transfer the weapon into the shield hand, then cast, most likely losing the shield AC from either. Large shields cannot have anything held in the hand, so dropping or sheathing is your only option.