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In the Magic chapter the rules about material components say:
A spell's components explain what you must do or possess to cast the spell. The components entry in a spell description includes abbreviations that tell you what type of components it requires. Specifics for material and focus components are given at the end of the descriptive text. Usually you don't need to worry about components, but when you can't use a component for some reason or when a material or focus component is expensive, then the components are important.
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Material (M): A material component consists of one or more physical substances or objects that are annihilated by the spell energies in the casting process. Unless a cost is given for a material component, the cost is negligible. Don't bother to keep track of material components with negligible cost. Assume you have all you need as long as you have your spell component pouch.Focus (F): A focus component is a prop of some sort. Unlike a material component, a focus is not consumed when the spell is cast and can be reused. As with material components, the cost for a focus is negligible unless a price is given. Assume that focus components of negligible cost are in your spell component pouch.
Divine Focus (DF): A divine focus component is an item of spiritual significance. The divine focus for a cleric or a paladin is a holy symbol appropriate to the character's faith. The divine focus for a druid or a ranger is a sprig of holly, or some other sacred plant.
If the Components line includes F/DF or M/DF, the arcane version of the spell has a focus component or a material component (the abbreviation before the slash) and the divine version has a divine focus component (the abbreviation after the slash).
So apparently there is no requirement for you to have the material components in your hand when you cast a spell. You only need to have them in your component pouch.
But, in the same chapter, the grappling rules say:
The only spells you can cast while grappling or pinned are those without somatic components and whose material components (if any) you have in hand. Even so, you must make a concentration check (DC 10 + the grappler's CMB + the level of the spell you're casting) or lose the spell.
implying that you need to have the material components in your hand when casting a spell.
So, there is any section of the rules where the need to have your components in hand is explicitly stated?
Or all the old GM like me are keeping that rule from older editions and Pathfinder don't enforce it (and the grappling rule is an artefact left over from earlier editions)?[
Note: I know that Eschew materials will remove the problem, but that is not the way to resolve a rule question.
I vote for "lingering artifact from ancient rule sets."
I would just ignore it and pretend it doesn't exist.
The reason for that line in the grapple rules is that you wouldn't be able to fish out the proper components from your pouch while being grappled.
The normal rules don't need to specify that you need the components in hand, since fetching them from the pouch is assumed to be part of the action of casting the spell.
That's my opinion, anyway.
I always viewed the material components as being magically pulled from the component pouch as the spell was being cast. *Shrugs*
Didn't the v3.5 rules say that, when grappled, you could automatically pull out spell components, but it was a full round action to do so?
That more than anything makes me think it is a holdover (unless that is mentioned in Pathfinder too).
The 3.5 rules did say that you could retrieve spell components as a full-round action while grappled, which Pathfinder doesn't mention.
By the way, Pathfinder specifies that "preparing spell components to cast a spell" is a free action (unless the components are large or awkward) in the table of action types in the Combat chapter. Which means that some sort of manipulation of the spell components are required to cast the spell.
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So we have several of rules implying that the components need to be in hand, but noting saying it explicitly, exactly as I thought.
It is a problem both for new players (that will be left with the hanging) and old hands that will use old rules.
An added problem is the problem of caster that have a hand already occupied (shield, weapon, ecc.), like a magus.
I have always used a houserule saying that manipulating the components is part of the somatic gesture, so you can draw (M component) and manipulate (S component) them with the same hand. Same thing for a Divine Focus. But it is a interpretation of the rules used to get a smoother play, not something explicitly stated in the rules.
So, please, hit the FAQ button, so we get a definitive ruling of both things.
In the Combat chapter of the Core Rulebook, at page 184, I found this: "To cast a spell with a material (M), focus (F), or divine focus (DF) component, you have to have the proper materials, as described by the spell. Unless these components are elaborate, preparing them is a free action."
I interpret that as meaning that retrieving the components from a pouch is a free action and I've always envisioned components as being in hand during casting.
Yes, the word "preparing" is a little inexact, but I think that's the intent, anyway.
Now, things get a little difficult to envision when you're holding an object in one hand, such as a staff, and need to keep the other hand free for somatic casting, but there, I always just assumed that the "preparation" of the material components was part of the somatic gesturing.
You use up material components when using them, so something has to give. I think fireball is like flicking a pit of bat poo at people, for example.
Looking at this again, there IS this line under "Choosing a Spell" at p. 206 of the Core Rulebook.
"To cast a spell, you must be able to speak (if the spell has a verbal component), gesture (if it has a somatic component), and manipulate the material components or focus (if any)."
For me, "manipulate" indicates that the components must be in hand. The note under "Grappling or Pinned" on the same page referenced by the OP just reinforces that.
Yeah, I think there's good supporting evidence here that you need the components in hand.
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Yeah, I've always pictured the spell component pouch sitting on the caster's belt, on the same hip as the hand they usually use for casting. I've got this image of the traditional wizard in movies, like the title character's mentor in the movie Willow, reaching into the pouch and pulling out a bit of dust and throwing it as he casts the spell.
I can't believe we keep having this conversation. Not everything needs to be completely spelled out to be understood. But it seems lately that every time something doesn't have an explicit diagram defining in detail every time step of a process, we end up debating it.
Yes, you have to have the components in-hand.