Lay On Hands + Heavy Shield & Weapon?


Rules Questions


I noticed something that seems... peculiar the other day. Mainly, Lay on Hands requires one free hand to use, yet the stereotypical paladin almost always uses a shield & sword. However, Heavy Shields state you can't use your shield hand for anything else, and if you're wielding a weapon in your other hand... is it even possible to use Lay on Hands(on either yourself or an ally) without dropping your weapon?


Not with a heavy shield, no. With a light shield or buckler, yes.

And actually, most Pally's have switched over to two-handed weapons, partially due to this. I'm not sure sword-and-board is typical, though it may be stereotypical.


dropping or sheathing. One hand has to be free in order to use lay on hands.


Nope, you have to drop your weapon per the core rules. It's one of the biggest reasons to use a small shield: A small shield allows you to switch your weapon to your shield hand and back again as free actions, so you can have a free hand to use any abilities.


I'd say it's possible to use it on yourself, but not on your allies, unless you use the Word of Healing feat.

Liberty's Edge

Lemmy wrote:
I'd say it's possible to use it on yourself, but not on your allies, unless you use the Word of Healing feat.

Not by RAW it isn't. Whether it's swift on yourself, or a standard on an ally, "a paladin only needs one free hand to use this ability."

p.s. Word of Healing also needs a free hand, and be able to speak.


Winterwalker wrote:
Lemmy wrote:
I'd say it's possible to use it on yourself, but not on your allies, unless you use the Word of Healing feat.
Not by RAW it isn't.

and who doesn't like touching themselves?

Liberty's Edge

g0atsticks wrote:
Winterwalker wrote:
Lemmy wrote:
I'd say it's possible to use it on yourself, but not on your allies, unless you use the Word of Healing feat.
Not by RAW it isn't.
and who doesn't like touching themselves?

According to RAW, I do in fact enjoy this activity. :)

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

This has come up before. For self healing the devs who have spoken on this suggest just handwaving it. To heal someone else, you'll need a hand free.

Liberty's Edge

LazarX wrote:
This has come up before. For self healing the devs who have spoken on this suggest just handwaving it. To heal someone else, you'll need a hand free.

In my games at home I allow it myself as well. But by RAW that's not the way it's listed.

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

LazarX wrote:
For self healing the devs who have spoken on this suggest just handwaving it.

Wait, really? Interesting. Do you have a link?


Winterwalker wrote:
Lemmy wrote:
I'd say it's possible to use it on yourself, but not on your allies, unless you use the Word of Healing feat.

Not by RAW it isn't. Whether it's swift on yourself, or a standard on an ally, "a paladin only needs one free hand to use this ability."

p.s. Word of Healing also needs a free hand, and be able to speak.

I know that self-healing is not allowed by RAW, it just seems silly that a Paladin wouldn't be able to touch himself (heh) because of a shield.

But I really didn't remember Word of Healing needing a free hand... I guess it never ocurred to me because my current Paladin uses a bardiche.


There's an item you can purchase (very cheaply) called a weapon cord (I think). It allows you to drop a 1-H weapon as a free action and recover it as a swift action. You can't use 2 swift actions per round, so it's only useful at the end of your action if you are healing yourself (and you're still unarmed until your next round). But, if you're healing someone else, it's great!

Paizo Employee Design Manager

Jiggy wrote:
LazarX wrote:
For self healing the devs who have spoken on this suggest just handwaving it.
Wait, really? Interesting. Do you have a link?

I believe the post he's thinking of was actually one where JJ said it was easier to handwave forcing them to juggle their sword to the hand that's holding their light shield and just accept that there is a hand free to use the ability.


Sammy123 wrote:
Can a paladin do LoH with during combat when holding a sword and light shield?
I believe so. A light shield allows spellcasters to use their hand to cast, and lets you carry an object; the only thing it actually prevents is wielding a weapon. Since lay on hands only requires you to touch someone, you could indeed use this ability while wearing a light shield.


There's only two times I can thnk of that the hand wave will work.

1 - saying, "Hi."

2 - saying, "These aren't the droids you're looking for."


For those who just allow a paladin to use LoH while keeping a sword and (heavy) shield in hand; you're giving the paladin an advantage by allowing them to use their actions that would've been used to drop and pick up a weapon to do other things, like actually moving.

And, you give the paladin's enemies a disadvantage, because picking up that weapon (or sheathing it) provokes an AoO.


It boils down to -1 AC for the light shield - not a big deal.

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