Hi James,
I know you typically don't like to weigh in on rules all that often but I wanted to see if you'd provide an opinion on a feat. Shielded Mage states that: "You reduce the arcane spell failure of any shield you use by 15% (to a minimum of 0%). Using a shield does not prevent you from completing somatic spell components with the hand wielding the shield.", however it doesn't mention anything about material components. My question then is do you still need the free hand for the components? My first instinct is yes and the obvious solution is then to take eschew materials.
