Yes, you need a free hand to cast spells with somatic components. I don’t think there is any way around this. The holy symbol could potentially be your divine focus, which is required for most spells. You could strap a buckler on your off-hand and still be able to cast.
Do clerics need a free hand to cast spells Pathfinder?
You need a free hand if a spell has only somatic components. For spells with somatic and material components, you can use your “free hand” to hold your focus/the material components.
Can you cast burning hands with one hand?
So, you can cast Burning Hands with just one hand free. One free hand satisfies the Somatic component, and there isn’t a restriction in the spell text.
Do you have to use one hand to cast a spell?
Somatic: Requires one free hand (and either a weapon or shield could be in the other) according to the rule on somatic components “If a spell requires a somatic component, the caster must have free use of at least one hand to perform these gestures.” This means that you cannot be holding your focus in this hand, according to RAW and RAI.
Do you need a focus to cast a spell?
Casting a spell with material components requires you to have a free hand to either handle the components (which includes drawing from the pouch), or your spellcasting focus (which works exactly the same way, mechanically. The difference is flavor-wise: you “hold” the focus in a hand, while you “handle” the actual components from a pouch).
Can you cast a spell while sheathing a weapon?
So you can, in the same turn, sheathe a weapon and a cast a spell with a material component, even if your other hand is holding a shield: 1) object interaction (stow weapon), 2) cast spell (includes handling material components or focus).
Can a spellcaster have more than one hand?
That hand can be holding a focus. Somatic and Material: One hand with materials or focus, according to the rule for material components: “A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell’s material components — or to hold a spellcasting focus — but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components.”
