A little confused about Bards and spellcasting

[Aasimar]

Hey,

So, I'm playing a valor bard in a viking-theme game. (valor bard with a sailor background really makes for a fine viking)

Anyway, I tend to use sword and shield, and just hit level 4, so I'm considering which feats and such to take, when I notice War Caster.

And it seems to me that without War Caster, I shouldn't have been able to cast any spells with a Somatic component so far...which pretty much precludes the sword and board option...

Assuming I just pick up War Caster now, where does that leave me with spells with Material components? Do I need a free hand for an instrument or component pouch?

I'd really hate to have to give up my shield, but it seems weird to give shield proficiency to Bards knowing it will severely reduce their choice of viable spells.

Can anyone give me a brief rundown of how this is supposed to work?

[Ninja_Prawn]

Hey,

So, I'm playing a valor bard in a viking-theme game. (valor bard with a sailor background really makes for a fine viking)

Anyway, I tend to use sword and shield, and just hit level 4, so I'm considering which feats and such to take, when I notice War Caster.

And it seems to me that without War Caster, I shouldn't have been able to cast any spells with a Somatic component so far...which pretty much precludes the sword and board option...

Assuming I just pick up War Caster now, where does that leave me with spells with Material components? Do I need a free hand for an instrument or component pouch?

I'd really hate to have to give up my shield, but it seems weird to give shield proficiency to Bards knowing it will severely reduce their choice of viable spells.

Can anyone give me a brief rundown of how this is supposed to work?

The briefest rundown: ask your DM. Some don't bother with this stuff at all, some police it zealously.

Some thoughts: sheathing and unsheathing your sword is a free action, so you can get away with using your sword hand for most somatic/material components.

You should be able to use a standard arcane focus instead of your instrument. That could be worn as a piece of jewellery, freeing up your hands.

To some extent, bards are supposed to focus on verbal-only spells. It limits your choice a bit, but remember: full casting is mostly about out-of-combat utility. Especially if your at-will actions are mundane attacks.

[solidork]

You still need to have a hand free for material components, even with Warcaster. This can be accomplished by having a Component Pouch on your person or an Arcane Focus in your hand. Being a Bard lets you use an instrument as an arcane focus

You probably want to use a component pouch instead of an Arcane Focus because it would require an item interactions to put away your weapon/shield and then draw your Arcane focus and you only get one free item interaction per turn. Using a component pouch is part of casting the spell, so you don't have this conflict.

The way it will work out is that on a turn that you want to cast a spell with a material component, you have to sheathe your weapon and then cast the spell. The main trade off in this situation (and how it works if you don't take Warcaster) is that you would normally sacrifice your ability to make opportunity attacks if you cast a spell. War Caster lets you cast a spell instead of making an opportunity attack so this is mitigated somewhat.

While there are no rules for it in the books, your DM may allow you to find or commission a weapon/shield that incorporates an Arcane Focus into their design.

[dickerson76]

... because it would require an item interactions to put away your weapon/shield and then draw your Arcane focus and you only get one free item interaction per turn.

It uses an object interaction to draw or sheathe a weapon (PHB pg 190). It uses an Action to don or doff a shield (PHB ph 146).

[Vogonjeltz]

The briefest rundown: ask your DM. Some don't bother with this stuff at all, some police it zealously.

Some thoughts: sheathing and unsheathing your sword is a free action, so you can get away with using your sword hand for most somatic/material components.

You should be able to use a standard arcane focus instead of your instrument. That could be worn as a piece of jewellery, freeing up your hands.

To some extent, bards are supposed to focus on verbal-only spells. It limits your choice a bit, but remember: full casting is mostly about out-of-combat utility. Especially if your at-will actions are mundane attacks.

Free actions don't exist in 5e, that's an Interact with an Object action, which the character only gets one of per round.

Bards actually can't use an arcane focus, they get the instrument option instead (compare to the Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard examples).