I had a case yester day, where a cleric of Erastil, with a Longbow wanted to change to mace and shield.
We agreed that in 1 turn, she could drop the bow (swift action), draw the mace (move action), do a 5 foot step (free) and attack (standard action).
The discussion became a bit more heated when she tried to add the shield in her next move. The player argued that "readying a shield" is a move action according to the rules, while i argued that when she was using the bow, the shield would have been strapped to her back/backpack and that retrieving a shield from the back is not something you can simply do within a move action.
Question: Are there actual rules covering that problem?
Single move action to retrieve a stored item
Second move item to ready a shield.
Readying the Shield can be done with a move.
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/Gamemastering/Combat/#TOC-Actions-In-Combat
→Actions in Combat
5-foot step is a No Action that does not provoke. BUT later a Miscellaneous Action "Take a 5-foot Step" which outlines the rules & restrictions. Technically, see below, Draw to be a free action requires a regular move and 5-foot step is a Misc Actn, but since the 5-foot step text says it is movement then many GMs allow a weapon to be drawn for free. Depends on how picky you want to be.
Drop an Item is a free actn that does not provoke.
Draw{wield from sheathed/worn} a Weapon is move actn that does not provoke, same for Ready{worn to wield} or drop{wield to worn} a Shield, 3 If you have a base attack bonus of +1 or higher, you can combine one of these actions with a regular move. If you have the Two-Weapon Fighting feat, you can draw two light or one-handed weapons in the time it would normally take you to draw one. Later, as with 5-foot step, it clarifies dropping a shield in your square is a free actn.
So the PC (without action modifying feats and BAB +1 or better) can draw a weapon{free or mov}, ready & wield a shield{mov or free}, take a 5ft step{free}, has a std actn {allowing a draw with a 5ft step} OR done for the round.
edit
light quickdraw shield, This light steel shield is specially crafted with a series of straps to allow a character proficient in shields to ready or stow it on her back quickly and easily. If you have a base attack bonus of +1 or higher, you may don or put away a quickdraw shield as a swift action combined with a regular move. If you have the Two-Weapon Fighting feat, you can draw a light or onehanded weapon with one hand and a quickdraw shield with the other in the time it would normally take you to draw one weapon. If you have the Quick Draw feat, you may don or put away a quickdraw shield as a free action. which doesn't help the 5-foot step as a move for a draw issue.
Advice
It is always best to do things while not threatened as the rules simplify, then move.
For me, the 5-ft step does not allow a free draw as I'm a technical person. The idea that it devalues Quick Draw and TWF is BS. I can see in a simple game with martials it makes things easier so it's not worth fighting over. Common implementation of RAW can be different than pedantic RAW.
As a GM of a Game, mistakes will be made all around the table. It's okay, just try to do better. Often rationalizing more realism or using flavor text for mechanics leads to PF1 Game Mechanics failures. It is just a game with rough measurements and not as good as Newtonian physics.
Have the character use a quickdraw shield. Quickdraw shields can be readied/put away as a swift action combined with a regular move. If you have the quick draw feat it becomes a free action.
The existence of and rules for a quickdraw shield prove the player is in error.
For the first turn, you were wrong about some of the specifics, but largely right about the overall effect: Dropping the bow is free, not swift. But unless they had something else to do with their swift action, that does not really matter. Conversely, 5ft step is its own thing and not technically a free action (what it actually is is confusing, as Azothath notes), but that distinction basically never matters in practice.
For the second turn, you were correct. Before they could ready a shield as a move action, they have to retrieve it. Which is another move action (unless it is in a handy haversack or something). They do not get the smush the two move actions into one, so they are not attacking that turn. Of course, they could retrieve the shield on one turn, and ready it on the next, making standard action attacks each time.
Most, if not all, archers in my games wear a buckler on their bow arm to avoid this complication. And so their bow (typically the most expensive piece of their gear) never has to be dropped.
Java Man wrote: Most, if not all, archers in my games wear a buckler on their bow arm to avoid this complication. And so their bow (typically the most expensive piece of their gear) never has to be dropped. I tend to make use of a buckler and (spiked) gauntlets on most of my characters so that they have are 1) always armed, and 2) they have free hand to hold their weapon (bow or other ranged item) in case their need their other hand for something else, like presenting a holy symbol or pulling out another weapon to engage with in melee combat. They also get the benefit of having that shield bonus to AC in case someone does get close.
as posters have segued into Advice -
Shield: buckler or lgt (steel or wood)quickdraw shield are good choices, the latter if your GM allows a quickdraw caster's shield (it's pseudo custom). Buckler has a slight penalty with 2hnd melee use.
I find shield spikes etc are only good for builds that focus on that line or close style of attack. A throwing shield can be okay. A GM would have to be permissive to allow throwing, quickdraw, caster's, and/or sharding.
Offhand weapon: cestus as it allows hand use and always armed is nice. Gladius(shortsword) is my other choice as $10->$15 gives you SP which can be useful and it works with Two Weapon Fighting(TWF) and Piercing builds. It beats out morningstar for proficient users. Some builds are stuck with scimitar.
The 2hnd use issues are; fire the two-handed bow, wield 2hnd weapon, using melee weapon in buckler hand, casting with a wand/weapon in other hand, a few Checks(like climb, disable device), and alas air quotes "Reality" always makes these arguments contentious.
Feats: usually Point-blank (Shot), Precise, then Rapid, Deadly, Many. Working in a few from; Weapon Finesse, Quick Draw, Weapon Focus, Grtr Wpn Focus, TWF....
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