D&D 5E Spellcasting in Combat Clarifications and Restrictions

There are a number of special rules attached to D&D 5E spell-casting that may not
immediately be apparent when reading through the Players Handbook. This article
looks at a few of those things.

Somatic Components
Most spells have a somatic component, which is to say, they require hand
movements. The rules in 5E state that you need one hand free to cast these spells.

If youre wielding a two-handed weapon then its pretty easy to just hold the weapon
in one hand as your other hand casts the spell. What then if youre wielding a weapon
and a shield? Can you then cast a spell requiring a somatic component? The answer
is: it requires some juggling.

You are allowed one free manipulation of an object each turn. This means you can
sheathe your weapon or draw your weapon for free but you cant both sheathe a
weapon and draw a spell-casting focus. If you sheathe a weapon, it then takes you an
action to draw a wand. This sharply limits what you can do. In general, dropping an
object doesnt count as your free action (The Sage), so you could drop your sword at
your feet and draw your wand, but its still clumsy.
Eldritch Knights and Clerics are most likely to be affected by this. However,
assuming the spell doesnt require the focus to cast, its very easy to take up the
following pattern: Round 1: Sheathe weapon, cast spell with free hand. Round
2: Draw weapon, attack with it. That retains the limit of one item manipulation per
turn while allowing alternating between weapon and spell-casting.
Keeping strictly to this rule also works against casters, Eldritch Knights in particular,
casting the shield spell as a reaction in the middle of combat when already wielding a
weapon and a shield.
Interestingly, if the spell requires a material component, your free hand can hold
your spell-casting focus (The Sage). However, if it doesnt, you still need a hand free!
(The Sage).
A cleric or paladin who inscribes their shield with their holy symbol can use their
shield as their spell focus; this was a surprise to me, but its an option given in the
Players Handbook (page 151, Holy Symbol). It still doesnt allow them to cast
Somatic spells with no Material components with a weapon in one hand and the
shield in the other, though.
The solution to all of this? Take the War Caster feat it allows you to cast spells
that need somatic components even when both your hands are holding a weapon and
shield.

Number of Spells per Turn

How many spells can you cast in a turn? If you can cast one as a bonus action, then
the answer is generally two, but there are a couple of considerations.

The major one is this: If you cast a spell with the casting time of a bonus action, then
the only other spell you can cast this turn is a cantrip with the casting time of 1 action
(PHB pg 202). You are not allowed to cast (say) healing word and cure wounds in
the same turn.
This rule also applies when a sorcerer uses their metamagic ability to Quicken Spell:
the spell becomes 1 bonus action in casting time, and so you are limited to only
casting a cantrip in the remainder of the turn. (Source: Jeremy Crawford, The
Sage)
What about Action Surge?
A particularly odd interaction comes from a character using the fighters Action
Surge ability to cast spells. In this case, you can cast two spells that require an action,
because neither is a bonus action! However, if you cast a spell that takes a bonus
action, your other two spells must be cantrips! (Source: Jeremy Crawford, The
Sage)

Concentration
In the earliest editions of D&D, casting a spell took a long time, and if you were
struck before casting the spell, you lost the spell.

In 3E and 5E, casting a spell doesnt take that long, but being struck while
concentrating on an ongoing spell might cause it to be lost. The rules for this are
pretty easy and you probably know them already: make a Constitution saving throw
when you take damage; the DC is 10 or half the damage you took, whichever is
higher.

Once again, the War Caster feat makes all of this a lot easier, as you now have
advantage on those saving throws.
It is, however, worth pointing out the other parts of casting spells that requires
concentration:

You may only concentrate on one spell at a time.

Spells that take more than one action to cast require concentration to actually
cast, meaning you cant maintain another concentration spell when casting them,
and you could lose the spell if youre damage in the meantime. The good news is
that you dont lose the spell slot if you dont successfully cast the spell.
If you ready a spell to cast when some trigger occurs, this also requires
concentration. Note that you can only ready spells that have a casting time of 1
action, and they use your reaction to cast. Once again, you can lose the spell if you
take damage in the meantime.
The Mage Slayer feat means that when its possessor damages a spell-caster,
they have disadvantage on their Constitution saving throw.
So, thats a few items of interest Ive noticed when playing the new edition of D&D.