Hi, everyone. This is probably a very rookie question, but I searched through the messageboards and couldn't find an answer.
I have both an oracle and a cleric in my game. Both of the characters have a weapon in one hand and a shield in the other. The oracle took the life mystery and therefore can channel. I understand that to channel the characters only need to present their holy symbols, which they can do through their emblazoned shields.
What I'm unsure of is whether or not they can cast their cleric spells with their hands full like they are. If they can't, is it one of those handwave-y things where they temporarily hold their weapons in their shield hand and blast off the spell like that?
What's the scoop? Thanks!
Yes they need a hand free to cast any spells that require somantic components like any other caster. They also need a divine focus for most of their spells, the same hand that holds the focus can be used for the somantic component I believe.
There are a couple of ways around having a holy symbol though.
Birthmark trait, it gives you a birthmark somewhere on your body that counts as a holy symbol.
Reliquary weapon or shield, it adds no cost to a magic item to make it count as a holy symbol. This is from Ultimate Magic.
Ohh and a light shield lets you hold and use a holy symbol in that hand it doesn't have to be a buckler. I sometimes think this is the only reason a light shield exists in the game.
I just started a thread about this recently, so I'll pay forward the information I received.
Any spellcaster (cleric, oracle, or otherwise) casting a spell with a somatic component needs a free hand.
Holding a light shield still allows the use of the hand for purposes of casting spells with somatic components.
A divine focus does not need to be manipulated to cast the spell. It just needs to be upon the caster's body from what I can tell. (The same seems to be true of material components, and regular foci.)