Two-Handed Weapons, S&B, and AoOs

[sprints]

A combination of reading the PHB and trawling this internet has left me with the following information:

1. one free item interaction per turn
2. additional item interaction requires use of action
3. sheathing/drawing a weapon is an item interaction
4. dropping a weapon (not covered in PHB/free item interaction rules) does not count as item interaction (Sage Advice/RAI)
5. spells with S component require free hand
6. spells with S and M component may use same hand
7. shield with holy symbol satisfies M component
8. spells requiring S and M moment may be cast while wearing shield while other hand is occupied
9. PC can release two-handed weapon to cast spells with now free hand (two-handed property is only there for attack purposes)
10. above PC can make AoO with weapon following that turn (consensus, it seems)
11. Warcaster feat allows spells with S component to be cast with hands full
12. character can grip 1h weapon in shield hand to cast spell (Mearls tweat, though he does not specify if that constitutes as an item interaction)

Without clarification on number twelve, and considering the implications of S&B casting in Warcaster, it seems S&B is at a disadvantage when it comes to combat casting and AoOs because the two-handed user can still make an AoO despite having cast a spell the previous turn. This seems problematic to me because:

1. if S&B and two-handed were already balanced based on their trade-off between damage and defense in regards to combat, this seems like an additional offering for two-handed to which S&B doesn't have a response
2. this makes the Warcaster feat an additional "tax" on S&B users who wish to achieve the same action that two-handed users get for free

A work-around that I've seen proposed that is apparently completely viable is to drop your weapon (free action), cast spell (action), then pick up your sword (item interaction) in order to bypass that, but that is really clunky and there are many in the community that feel this is antithetical to the nature of D&D—my understanding of this being that developers wanted to move away from that sort of meta-gaming. This is supported by Sage advice and many have compared it to ending a grapple as a completely free action as ending interaction with an object =/= interacting with object.

Regarding reactions, I've seen a lot of argument about what is and is not permitted here, none of which I'm going to try to spell out/qualify, but from the sounds of it two-handed users have the same benefit here in regards to casting because:

1. if reacting with a S component spell, releasing weapon (free) and casting is possible
2. if reacting with an melee attack, the consensus seems to be that a two-handed user can their sword with second hand and attack in the reaction
3. if using "drop weapon" loophole, a S&B users can drop sword to achieve the same as number one, but now must spend item interaction next turn to pick it back up and is open to having weapon interacted with my mobs

Now, with all that rambling out of the way, I guess I need to form a point, so I'll just propose some questions:

1. Is my understanding of two-handed weapons, S&B, and casting/combat correct?
2. If so, is the disadvantage to S&B in this case working-as-intended?
3. In your opinion, is the trade-off worth it in that case (+2 AC vs. more damage AND S component spells for free)
4. As a DM, would you permit S&B to function the same as two-handed in this instance?
5. As a player, is it greedy to make the above request?

[PeteNutButter]

You pretty much got the short and skinny of it.

S&B users tend to be the ones to pay the "tax" of warcaster as juggling items isn't feasible during a reaction to cast shield spell. The tax isn't a bad tax though, as you get some decent benefits in OA spells such as BB, and even better is the advantage on concentration. It is still a tax though...

[mephnick]

1. Is my understanding of two-handed weapons, S&B, and casting/combat correct?
2. If so, is the disadvantage to S&B in this case working-as-intended?
3. In your opinion, is the trade-off worth it in that case (+2 AC vs. more damage AND S component spells for free)
4. As a DM, would you permit S&B to function the same as two-handed in this instance?
5. As a player, is it greedy to make the above request?

1. Pretty much. Ignore Mearls. That is almost definitely not the intent.
2. Yes. You can always start the fight with sword sheathed, cast a concentration spell, pull the sword and enter combat. My Arcane Cleric does this every fight. Don't need Warcaster.
3. Yes...mostly. Depends on the build. I've seen both S+B and TH gishes excel in my games, but they generally have different goals.
4. No.
5. No. I give the benefit of the doubt. Players don't understand how to run games for multiple people. He probably doesn't understand the possible balance concerns. Still doesn't mean you have to say yes.

Edit: Many spells work fine without Warcaster, you just need to read them carefully. If you want to be a S+B gish and use the spells that require multiple components, get Warcaster. It's the best feat for you anyway.

[sprints]

2. Yes. You can always start the fight with sword sheathed, cast a concentration spell, pull the sword and enter combat. My Arcane Cleric does this every fight. Don't need Warcaster.


Edit: Many spells work fine without Warcaster, you just need to read them carefully. If you want to be a S+B gish and use the spells that require multiple components, get Warcaster. It's the best feat for you anyway.

The problem I'm running into is being "starved" for feats/ASI. The character I'm intending to play is would end up at Paladin 6/Warlock 14—current campaign is running until level 10, but plan on taking her into future campaigns—so I'll end up with 4 feats/ASI. One of those is going to be occupied by the weapon-appropriate feat (GWM or Shield Master @ level 4), another likely by Resilient (CON) to boost CON to 16 (to compensate for d8), which leaves two that I was going to use for stat bumps [w/ Resilient (CON), toon would be 16/8/16/8/10/16 + 2 ASI]. In order for my character to function the way I want it to, it seems like I'd have to take an additional feat for S&B compared to 2h, and at that point the trade-off becomes: +2 AC vs. more damage (from weapon), S component spells, AND an ASI (not factoring in fighting styles and weapon-appropriate feats, as I think they cancel each other out).

If I was going straight paladin, this wouldn't be an issue, but if I chose to cast Burning Hands from the Warlock spell list, I'd have to sheathe my sword to do so, thereby giving up my AoO w/o going Warcaster.

It just seems a little silly to me that a two-handed user can grab their hilt, "wind-up," and then strike all w/in a reaction time, but a S&B user can't unsheathe and attack in the same time frame (Iajutsu).

EDIT: At this point, I'm just complaining. My DM has been fairly lenient in some areas, and doubt he would really enforce that rule as it only affects a very narrow portion of the game that may not come up. It would just be a matter of me resolving that internal guilt as a result of asking for that mod, which is a personal problem.

[Easy_Lee]

See if he'll allow "toss my weapon and catch it" as a free object interaction. If so, you'll be fine with sword and board. When phrasing the question, I would lead with the bit about dropping and picking a weapon back up again being technically legal within the rules, but weird and gamey.

[PeteNutButter]

The problem I'm running into is being "starved" for feats/ASI. The character I'm intending to play is would end up at Paladin 6/Warlock 14—current campaign is running until level 10, but plan on taking her into future campaigns—so I'll end up with 4 feats/ASI. One of those is going to be occupied by the weapon-appropriate feat (GWM or Shield Master @ level 4), another likely by Resilient (CON) to boost CON to 16 (to compensate for d8), which leaves two that I was going to use for stat bumps [w/ Resilient (CON), toon would be 16/8/16/8/10/16 + 2 ASI]. In order for my character to function the way I want it to, it seems like I'd have to take an additional feat for S&B compared to 2h, and at that point the trade-off becomes: +2 AC vs. more damage (from weapon), S component spells, AND an ASI (not factoring in fighting styles and weapon-appropriate feats, as I think they cancel each other out).

If I was going straight paladin, this wouldn't be an issue, but if I chose to cast Burning Hands from the Warlock spell list, I'd have to sheathe my sword to do so, thereby giving up my AoO w/o going Warcaster.

It just seems a little silly to me that a two-handed user can grab their hilt, "wind-up," and then strike all w/in a reaction time, but a S&B user can't unsheathe and attack in the same time frame (Iajutsu).

EDIT: At this point, I'm just complaining. My DM has been fairly lenient in some areas, and doubt he would really enforce that rule as it only affects a very narrow portion of the game that may not come up. It would just be a matter of me resolving that internal guilt as a result of asking for that mod, which is a personal problem.

You don't need to sheath your sword, just drop it, and pick it back up after casting. You only really need warcaster so you can cast shield.

Also what's your warlock patron? Hexblade will solve all your ASI problems, by making you SAD for cha. You can even leave your str at 15, and start with a 16 con. You really don't need resilient con if you're maxing cha. You'll have +8 for the con and cha already. Grab another 2 con or a cloak/ring of protection and you literally can't fail concentration on any effect that does less than 22 damage.