free hand for spellcasting

[khachaturian]

just wanted to see how everybody else handled this. would a cleric carrying a morningstar and heavy shield have to put away his weapon to cast a spell, to turn undead? would a second free hand be needed to use a metamagic rod?

[Curmudgeon]

It's all pretty explicit in the rules:
Shield, Heavy, Wooden or Steel

You strap a shield to your forearm and grip it with your hand. A heavy shield is so heavy that you can’t use your shield hand for anything else.
No spellcasting gestures, or anything else requiring a free hand, can be performed.
Physical Description

Rods weigh approximately 5 pounds.

They range from 2 feet to 3 feet long and are usually made of iron or some other metal. (Many, as noted in their descriptions, can function as light maces or clubs due to their sturdy construction.)
A caster may only use one metamagic rod on any given spell, but it is permissible to combine a rod with metamagic feats possessed by the rod’s wielder. The Metamagic Rod must be wielded (held in the hand, ready to use as a weapon); it doesn't work otherwise.
You must present your holy symbol to turn undead. There's nothing preventing you from having a holy symbol affixed to the front of your shield, so you wouldn't need a free hand to turn undead.

[Flickerdart]

There are items (like Glove of the Master Strategist) that let you put away a weapon temporarily, so you can cast.

[Vizzerdrix]

Switch to a light shield.

[Stux]

Last campaign I was a player in I was a cleric and our DM didn't bother with tracking whether I had my focus out or my morning star out. As long as I had the focus about my person that was enough. Some DMs see it as unnecessary book keeping, others as a necessary balancing mechanic. Ask your DM.

[lunar2]

switch to a buckler with your holy symbol engraved on it, and use your metamagic rod as your primary weapon, too. 5 different things with 2 hands.

[Socratov]

switch to a buckler with your holy symbol engraved on it, and use your metamagic rod as your primary weapon, too. 5 different things with 2 hands.

to expand on this: use wand chambers in your rod, holy symbol on your shield and gloves of the master strategist. Now you can block (shield), turn (shield), cast (holy symbol as focus/gloves), attack (rod), use metamagic (wand chamber/rod).

Oh, and there is of course the option to animate your shield to have it float around you, freeing your shieldhand. (plus it's thought controlled, so you can still use it to turn and the like)

[khachaturian]

thanks for the replies. i guess that the original post came from the idea of the iconic cleric as a sword and board character. heck, good old jozan starts out with a heavy mace and heavy wooden shield, and durkon has his hammer and shield. so i was wondering to what extent the requirement for having a free hand was strictly enforced in people's actual experience, because at a certain point, it starts to get silly. take, for example a wizard, who isn't particularly worried about weapons and armor. does he say that he has his metamagic rod of quicken out as a fighter would say that he has his greatsword out? if he pulls a scroll out of his handy haversack, is that one hand or two? does unrolling a scroll require two hands? can he cast spells if he pulls out his metamagic rod of maximize, or does he need to put away the rod of quicken? do casters need to pick up *shudder* quick-draw?

[Greenish]

If fighter has to worry whether how to juggle his sword and shield and bow and potions, the wizard/cleric damn well gets to worry about having the relevant rod at hand, and having a free hand to cast. I assume you only need one hand to pull something out of HHH. Quick Draw only applies to weapons (most metamagic rods aren't weapons, to the best of my knowledge).

Somatic Weaponry (CMage feat) allows you to perform somatic components with the hand holding a weapon or similar item. You'd still need a free hand to fiddle around with material components, though, unless you had Eschew Materials (ah, the joys of TWF gish).


[Edit]: Clerics have it easier what with most of their stuff only requiring a divine focus (which you can affix to your armour or shield), and if necessary, they can just sprout extra hands with Girallon's Blessing.

[Curmudgeon]

Quick Draw only applies to weapons (most metamagic rods aren't weapons, to the best of my knowledge).
Actually, many rods (of all types) are weapons, and metamagic rods aren't excepted from this. It's the tradeoff: wimpy spellcasters have to carry around 5 lb. rods to get a few daily metamagic effects, but they can use them as light maces or clubs (simple weapons).

[Greenish]

Actually, many rods (of all types) are weapons, and metamagic rods aren't excepted from this. It's the tradeoff: wimpy spellcasters have to carry around 5 lb. rods to get a few daily metamagic effects, but they can use them as light maces or clubs (simple weapons).I always presumed the "[m]any, as noted in their descriptions, can function as light maces or clubs due to their sturdy construction" bit meant that they function as weapons when they're noted to do so.

Well then, you can quick draw them if you have them at hand. Digging them up from HHH is still a move action, right?

[Curmudgeon]

Well then, you can quick draw them if you have them at hand. Digging them up from HHH is still a move action, right?
Maybe; maybe not. A weapon in a scabbard normally takes a move action to draw, without provoking an AoO.
Retrieving any specific item from a haversack is a move action, but it does not provoke the attacks of opportunity that retrieving a stored item usually does.
Benefit: You can draw a weapon as a free action instead of as a move action.
...
Normal: Without this feat, you may draw a weapon as a move action, or (if your base attack bonus is +1 or higher) as a free action as part of movement. So, which takes precedence: the normal properties of the magic item, or (in the case of a weapon) the feat which (as all feats do) exists to provide an exception to the normal rules?

Personally, I generally come down on the side of more player options when there's no clear answer in the RAW. Thus, drawing a weapon from a Heward's Handy Haversack with Quick Draw is a free action.