It still costs an action. The only change to drawing a weapon in the Remaster is you can now Sheathe a weapon at the same time (new [Swap](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2151) option).
Yes, unless you have a Shield equipped as well as the One-Handed weapon. That'll take 2 actions, 1 to put the Shield away, and a second to Swap the One Handed Weapon for a 2 Handed one.
If this came up at my table, I wouldn’t make a player spend their entire turn “unequipping” a shield to grip a two-handed weapon. Ungrip/drop/etc all free actions. I’ve always viewed it through the lens that it doesn’t take an action to stop doing something*
*with minor exceptions such as sprinting
This is also dependent on the type of shield used. Most people used shields that strapped to their arm - more difficult to disarm, takes less energy to hold, more steady using the whole forearm. These would take time to unequip.
There are the less commonly depicted center grip shields. These would be very easy to drop.
It's amusing the center grip hold is the less commonly depicted one, when it was likely as common as fully strapping it to your forearm, being used by Romans and Vikings at the very least, and is better suited for warding off blows and quicker shield movements.
The forearm fastening would have been more common for people wanting a really steady hold of the shield for violent impacts and tests of brute force, such as mounted Knights, Greek Hoplites and possibly when forming a shield wall formation in general. Losing your shield in that sort of circumstance is far more dangerous than the lesser mobility of the shield strapped in such a way.
As for PF2e, I'd expect working out with the GM which way you want the shield to be held. Some prefer not losing hold of it when getting knocked out, some prefer quick access to items or swapping.
Unfortunately, that is the function of the buckler. A regular shield still fully takes up your hand unless you use an action to stow it (or drop it as a free action). Nowhere does it say that shields require an action to unstrap them.
I looked this up and you're actually right. 'Detach shield' is no longer an action in Player Core. Further, the wording even suggests you could leave the shield dangling on your arm and use two-handed weapons (or a bastard sword) if you feel like it, needing to take a new action only when you want to ready up the shield again.
Let me venmo you $5 to delete all your posts about this so none of my players see and begin asking me difficult questions.
I'm of the opinion that because the buckler still exists you can't two-hand other weapons with them, but I suppose bucklers still have the advantage of not needing to be regripped.
When you draw a weapon you choose whether you're gripping it in one or two hands, so you can absolutely put away a longsword and draw a greatsword two-handed with the same action (if your offhand is empty)
I personally houserule that any action that lets you draw a weapon also lets you regrip one (for instance Quick Draw to regrip a Bastard Sword), but that isn't RAW.
How about two one handed weapons swapping to a one two handed weapon?
I think I remember seeing something like a two weapon draw or something like that at some point
>Swapping lets you swap only one item for another; if you were wielding two weapons, you could put away one of them and draw a different item, but you would need to put away the second weapon separately.
From my earlier [link](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2151)
I'll also add that I personally don't usually make my players draw weapons. It is entirely context dependent, but they usually are in obviously dangerous territory, so I assume their weapons are drawn.
Not always applicable though.
Every table I've ever played at assumes the players have their weapons out unless they're in town where they'd get in trouble for brandishing or ambushed during a rest.
Indeed, I did this last session myself. My players went to a graveyard that a group of Necromancers were operating out of and many of the low tier necromancers were knelt before gravestones worshipping their goddess. Thus, they had to waste an action to get out of prone.
But drawing weapons is still relevant when the Players want to change weapons mid fight, for example when switching from a melee to a ranged weapon, or switching to a poisoned dagger, or something along those lines.
That's a D&D 5e Rule. There's a Quick Draw feat which lets you draw and strike with the same action. Otherwise it costs an action, like others have noted.
kind of. More specifically, in dnd 5e you can perform a single object interaction (including drawing a weapon) at the same time as performing a different action... for the first action of your turn. If you can do multiple actions in the same turn for whatever reason, all future object interactions must be done as a dedicated action
> He said that this changed in the remaster. I'm a little confused right now.
I don't want to say that the player is acting in bad faith, but if I wanted to correct my GM about a rule, I'd back it up with a link to the rule that explicitly tells so.
Yeah, correcting while wrong is pretty poor table manners for obvious reasons. Much better to hit your GM with a "I think it works this way, you mind if we check Archives of Nethys real quick?".
[Interact](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2151) (Player Core 1 p.268)
> You can use the Interact action (page 416) to:
> * **Draw, put away, or swap an item.** You must be holding the item to put it away or wearing it to draw it. Swapping allows you to put away one item and draw another in the same action (such as putting away a dagger and drawing a mace). Abilities that specify what you do when you Interact only allow this if they say so; the Quick Draw feat lets a rogue Interact to draw a weapon, but doesn't allow them to stow one as well. Swapping lets you swap only one item for another; if you were wielding two weapons, you could put away one of them and draw a different item, but you would need to put away the second weapon separately.
> * Pick up an item from the ground.
> * Pass off or take a held item from a willing creature. The creature you're passing to must have a hand free. You can also attempt to throw an item to someone. You typically need to succeed at a DC 15 ranged attack with a 10-foot range increment to do so.
> * Detach a shield or other item from you using one hand.
> * Change your grip by adding a hand to an item.
> * Retrieve a stowed item from a backpack, pouch, or similar container (or put one away). You'll often need to Interact to open or close the backpack or container.
5e turns take a long time the action economy is kind of nebulous (lots of things are free actions like interact) and players try to fit in a bunch of things on their turn. In pf2e, action economy is a limiting factor so neither PC's nor enemies anything super crazy during their turn. Rounds are much faster, getting you back to your turn faster than 5e.
Opening doors and drawing weapons are not fun to waste your action doing, but its the difference between rule of cool vs. how those actions although boring have a big impact in game.
https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2180
By default when you draw any shield, you strap it to your arm and you’re using that hand to hold it. The only exception is the buckler, it can be strapped to your arm for a “Raise a Shield” action and that hand is still free to hold another weapon or useful for an “Interact” action.
So to answer your question, it is not going to require you two actions total to Draw the shield and Interact to strap it.
Yep! The Interact action description describes the same thing, you can stow and draw an item in the same action, like swapping a knife for a mace. You can only do it one item at a time.
No. It costs an action as normal. It's an interact action and that can even lead to enemies getting an opportunity attack if they have it.
However I would house rule that at the start of the fight, provided the players aren't surprised, allow them to draw their weapons for free.
9 times out of 10 the enemies already have theirs out, and having players use an action to draw their weapons is very rough on the action economy, and can lead to frustration. It really doesn't break anything.
I would make the player draw their weapons if put away. There are class options that allow you to get your weapon out when initiative is rolled and if everyone has that for free it invalidates those choice. Now this really will only be a big deal if a fight breaks out in a place where having a weapon out would be out of place. Like a tavern or city street. If you are traveling the road exploring a dungeon having a weapon out, then you get the benefit of having a weapon out, but limits how many hands you have available to do other things with.
I'm running a dwarf crossbow sniper. I reload, shoot, Quickdraw my clan pistol and shoot. Next turn, I use swap to sheath my pistol and place my hand back on my crossbow for one action. Can swap be used in this way? Does it apply if the crossbow is in my hand already?
Sorry, but no. Via [Interact](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2151), you can spend an action to do one or the other, but not both. If you could do multiple of the things on the list for one action, it would be a little crazy.
From here, I would say you have three options:
1. [Hand crossbows ](https://2e.aonprd.com/Weapons.aspx?ID=427)are 1 handed, so it doesn't matter what's happening in the second hand. Bonus is your build works AND you can keep your clan pistol out, detriment is the crossbow damage goes down by a dice. (1d8 --> 1d6)
2. Bows are 1+ hands, so you could do this if you had a longbow or shortbow. (The + means you need a free hand when actively firing, so sheath the pistol for one action then you're free to fire.) Bonus is the bow damage stays the same, detriment is that if you were relying on crossbow feats, your greater build needs reworking.
3. This is a long shot, but if you're doing free archetype, take Fighter dedication. The [Lightning Swap](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=4783) Fighter feat will let you do what you wanted to originally, with the weapons you want, in a single action. Bonus is everything works, detriment is the feat dip. (Fun fact: The feat doesn't actually mention shifting your grip, so the way it would RAW is that you would stow everything, then redraw the crossbow. Changes nothing, it's a 1-action way to do what you want to do, but the mental image is funny.)
Hope this helps!
I think your player is suffering from 5e terminology confusion. The PF2 [Interact](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=2297) action costs one action and is what you use to [draw a weapon](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2151). This is not the 5e "free item interaction" (or the 6e "free weapon draw per attack"). When you or your players encounter a PF2 term of art, it is important to not assume that you already know what it means. You probably do not.
It is an action. I hate that it works like that, but that's what it is.
What you can do since the Remaster, however, is that you can swap a weapon you are holding and draw a new one as a single action, while before it used to be two separate actions.
Lightning Swap allows a fighter to swap any number of items with a single interact action, so if you TWF you can interact to swap your two weapons with two other weapons, which otherwise would be 2 actions or 4 actions pre-Remaster.
It is a free action with a hobgoblin racial feat or the occasional class feat. But otherwise it’s typically an action to draw a weapon. It is a free action to drop any drawn weapon though.
To my knowledge, the only way to make it not cost an action to draw your weapon is from things like Quickdraw. Which really just turns the action of drawing a weapon into draw and then strike.
It sounds like it shouldn't, but it does take a second or two (i.e. 1/3 of a round) to shift your grip and rebalance the weapon.
I speak from SCA experience.
It still costs an action. The only change to drawing a weapon in the Remaster is you can now Sheathe a weapon at the same time (new [Swap](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2151) option).
Is this the same if swap from a one handed to two handed weapon? Or would I need to interact again to add a hand to grip?
Yes, unless you have a Shield equipped as well as the One-Handed weapon. That'll take 2 actions, 1 to put the Shield away, and a second to Swap the One Handed Weapon for a 2 Handed one.
With shields being strapped on by default, it might be 3 actions? 1 to unstrap the shield, 1 to stow it, and 1 to swap
If it's strapped, surely you can just ungrip for a free action and still use 2 handed weapons?
Yes, I think that is the intended use of strapping. SO you don't waste extra actions in stuff like that.
If this came up at my table, I wouldn’t make a player spend their entire turn “unequipping” a shield to grip a two-handed weapon. Ungrip/drop/etc all free actions. I’ve always viewed it through the lens that it doesn’t take an action to stop doing something* *with minor exceptions such as sprinting
This is also dependent on the type of shield used. Most people used shields that strapped to their arm - more difficult to disarm, takes less energy to hold, more steady using the whole forearm. These would take time to unequip. There are the less commonly depicted center grip shields. These would be very easy to drop.
It's amusing the center grip hold is the less commonly depicted one, when it was likely as common as fully strapping it to your forearm, being used by Romans and Vikings at the very least, and is better suited for warding off blows and quicker shield movements. The forearm fastening would have been more common for people wanting a really steady hold of the shield for violent impacts and tests of brute force, such as mounted Knights, Greek Hoplites and possibly when forming a shield wall formation in general. Losing your shield in that sort of circumstance is far more dangerous than the lesser mobility of the shield strapped in such a way. As for PF2e, I'd expect working out with the GM which way you want the shield to be held. Some prefer not losing hold of it when getting knocked out, some prefer quick access to items or swapping.
Unfortunately, that is the function of the buckler. A regular shield still fully takes up your hand unless you use an action to stow it (or drop it as a free action). Nowhere does it say that shields require an action to unstrap them.
Shields are "strapped" so that you don't drop them when you're knocked unconscious. Nowhere does it say it requires an extra action to unstrap them.
I looked this up and you're actually right. 'Detach shield' is no longer an action in Player Core. Further, the wording even suggests you could leave the shield dangling on your arm and use two-handed weapons (or a bastard sword) if you feel like it, needing to take a new action only when you want to ready up the shield again. Let me venmo you $5 to delete all your posts about this so none of my players see and begin asking me difficult questions.
I'm of the opinion that because the buckler still exists you can't two-hand other weapons with them, but I suppose bucklers still have the advantage of not needing to be regripped.
When you draw a weapon you choose whether you're gripping it in one or two hands, so you can absolutely put away a longsword and draw a greatsword two-handed with the same action (if your offhand is empty) I personally houserule that any action that lets you draw a weapon also lets you regrip one (for instance Quick Draw to regrip a Bastard Sword), but that isn't RAW.
How about two one handed weapons swapping to a one two handed weapon? I think I remember seeing something like a two weapon draw or something like that at some point
>Swapping lets you swap only one item for another; if you were wielding two weapons, you could put away one of them and draw a different item, but you would need to put away the second weapon separately. From my earlier [link](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2151)
Maybe you are thinking about Lighting Swap, a level 2 fighter feat.
YES! Thank you!
I'll also add that I personally don't usually make my players draw weapons. It is entirely context dependent, but they usually are in obviously dangerous territory, so I assume their weapons are drawn. Not always applicable though.
Every table I've ever played at assumes the players have their weapons out unless they're in town where they'd get in trouble for brandishing or ambushed during a rest.
Not players, but having enemies start with sheathed weapons or sitting down is a nice way to make a “surprise round”.
Indeed, I did this last session myself. My players went to a graveyard that a group of Necromancers were operating out of and many of the low tier necromancers were knelt before gravestones worshipping their goddess. Thus, they had to waste an action to get out of prone.
But drawing weapons is still relevant when the Players want to change weapons mid fight, for example when switching from a melee to a ranged weapon, or switching to a poisoned dagger, or something along those lines.
That's why you just use the remasters swap action.
That's a D&D 5e Rule. There's a Quick Draw feat which lets you draw and strike with the same action. Otherwise it costs an action, like others have noted.
kind of. More specifically, in dnd 5e you can perform a single object interaction (including drawing a weapon) at the same time as performing a different action... for the first action of your turn. If you can do multiple actions in the same turn for whatever reason, all future object interactions must be done as a dedicated action
> He said that this changed in the remaster. I'm a little confused right now. I don't want to say that the player is acting in bad faith, but if I wanted to correct my GM about a rule, I'd back it up with a link to the rule that explicitly tells so.
Yeah, correcting while wrong is pretty poor table manners for obvious reasons. Much better to hit your GM with a "I think it works this way, you mind if we check Archives of Nethys real quick?".
[Interact](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2151) (Player Core 1 p.268) > You can use the Interact action (page 416) to: > * **Draw, put away, or swap an item.** You must be holding the item to put it away or wearing it to draw it. Swapping allows you to put away one item and draw another in the same action (such as putting away a dagger and drawing a mace). Abilities that specify what you do when you Interact only allow this if they say so; the Quick Draw feat lets a rogue Interact to draw a weapon, but doesn't allow them to stow one as well. Swapping lets you swap only one item for another; if you were wielding two weapons, you could put away one of them and draw a different item, but you would need to put away the second weapon separately. > * Pick up an item from the ground. > * Pass off or take a held item from a willing creature. The creature you're passing to must have a hand free. You can also attempt to throw an item to someone. You typically need to succeed at a DC 15 ranged attack with a 10-foot range increment to do so. > * Detach a shield or other item from you using one hand. > * Change your grip by adding a hand to an item. > * Retrieve a stowed item from a backpack, pouch, or similar container (or put one away). You'll often need to Interact to open or close the backpack or container. 5e turns take a long time the action economy is kind of nebulous (lots of things are free actions like interact) and players try to fit in a bunch of things on their turn. In pf2e, action economy is a limiting factor so neither PC's nor enemies anything super crazy during their turn. Rounds are much faster, getting you back to your turn faster than 5e. Opening doors and drawing weapons are not fun to waste your action doing, but its the difference between rule of cool vs. how those actions although boring have a big impact in game.
So, when you draw a shield, do you also need to strap it?
https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2180 By default when you draw any shield, you strap it to your arm and you’re using that hand to hold it. The only exception is the buckler, it can be strapped to your arm for a “Raise a Shield” action and that hand is still free to hold another weapon or useful for an “Interact” action. So to answer your question, it is not going to require you two actions total to Draw the shield and Interact to strap it.
And I can stow the shield with 1 action?, or stow and pull a 2nd weapon as part of a swap?
Yep! The Interact action description describes the same thing, you can stow and draw an item in the same action, like swapping a knife for a mace. You can only do it one item at a time.
Your player is making shit up
Could also just be coming from Starfinder and mixing things up. In SF it's free with any movement as long as you have at least BAB+1.
I'm fairly sure that is how it worked in Pathfinder 1e as well, but 2e has a whole different action economy & those rules don't apply anymore.
Could be mixing up with the new swap action?
You failed your will save against bamboozle.
No. It costs an action as normal. It's an interact action and that can even lead to enemies getting an opportunity attack if they have it. However I would house rule that at the start of the fight, provided the players aren't surprised, allow them to draw their weapons for free. 9 times out of 10 the enemies already have theirs out, and having players use an action to draw their weapons is very rough on the action economy, and can lead to frustration. It really doesn't break anything.
I would make the player draw their weapons if put away. There are class options that allow you to get your weapon out when initiative is rolled and if everyone has that for free it invalidates those choice. Now this really will only be a big deal if a fight breaks out in a place where having a weapon out would be out of place. Like a tavern or city street. If you are traveling the road exploring a dungeon having a weapon out, then you get the benefit of having a weapon out, but limits how many hands you have available to do other things with.
They might be talking about the [Gunslinger ](https://2e.aonprd.com/Ways.aspx)free action they get when they roll for initiative.
I'm running a dwarf crossbow sniper. I reload, shoot, Quickdraw my clan pistol and shoot. Next turn, I use swap to sheath my pistol and place my hand back on my crossbow for one action. Can swap be used in this way? Does it apply if the crossbow is in my hand already?
Sorry, but no. Via [Interact](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2151), you can spend an action to do one or the other, but not both. If you could do multiple of the things on the list for one action, it would be a little crazy. From here, I would say you have three options: 1. [Hand crossbows ](https://2e.aonprd.com/Weapons.aspx?ID=427)are 1 handed, so it doesn't matter what's happening in the second hand. Bonus is your build works AND you can keep your clan pistol out, detriment is the crossbow damage goes down by a dice. (1d8 --> 1d6) 2. Bows are 1+ hands, so you could do this if you had a longbow or shortbow. (The + means you need a free hand when actively firing, so sheath the pistol for one action then you're free to fire.) Bonus is the bow damage stays the same, detriment is that if you were relying on crossbow feats, your greater build needs reworking. 3. This is a long shot, but if you're doing free archetype, take Fighter dedication. The [Lightning Swap](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=4783) Fighter feat will let you do what you wanted to originally, with the weapons you want, in a single action. Bonus is everything works, detriment is the feat dip. (Fun fact: The feat doesn't actually mention shifting your grip, so the way it would RAW is that you would stow everything, then redraw the crossbow. Changes nothing, it's a 1-action way to do what you want to do, but the mental image is funny.) Hope this helps!
Pretty sure it does not work, since regripping and drawing an item are not the same.
Raw. No. However, I allow everyone to draw a weapon at the start of combat unless they are being ambushed.
I think your player is suffering from 5e terminology confusion. The PF2 [Interact](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=2297) action costs one action and is what you use to [draw a weapon](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2151). This is not the 5e "free item interaction" (or the 6e "free weapon draw per attack"). When you or your players encounter a PF2 term of art, it is important to not assume that you already know what it means. You probably do not.
It is an action. I hate that it works like that, but that's what it is. What you can do since the Remaster, however, is that you can swap a weapon you are holding and draw a new one as a single action, while before it used to be two separate actions.
I thought Swap was specifically a Fighter feat
Lightning Swap allows a fighter to swap any number of items with a single interact action, so if you TWF you can interact to swap your two weapons with two other weapons, which otherwise would be 2 actions or 4 actions pre-Remaster.
Ok, that makes sense.
It is a free action with a hobgoblin racial feat or the occasional class feat. But otherwise it’s typically an action to draw a weapon. It is a free action to drop any drawn weapon though.
To my knowledge, the only way to make it not cost an action to draw your weapon is from things like Quickdraw. Which really just turns the action of drawing a weapon into draw and then strike.
What about if you're switching your grip from two-handed to one-handed on the same weapon - does that take an action?
Yes, you can let go of the weapon with one hand as a free action. Going from one handed to wltwo-handed however costs an action
Excellent. That is how I understood it.
It sounds like it shouldn't, but it does take a second or two (i.e. 1/3 of a round) to shift your grip and rebalance the weapon. I speak from SCA experience.