Drop an Item Action [closed]

Question

Interacting with one item is free. Interacting with two items is not. This leads to the odd case that if I have an apple in one hand and a flagon in the other I can drop either but not both.

Disclaimer: I newly come to 5e from Pathfinder.

I've been searching for possible workarounds RAW which may or may not be legal:

1. Dropping an object is not an object interaction (DM says otherwise but if someone can find something RAW that supports the premise I'd like to hear about it).
2. Drop the apple as part of a move, drop the flagon as part of the action. This uses up both object interactions so don't plan on picking up that drumstick.
3. I get a third object interaction with use of a bonus action. Since actions can be used in any order I can still cast my spells.
4. Use an object allows me to drop or stow both but now I've wasted my action which obviates the point.
5. Having a component pouch is considered a spell focus and it's not necessary to interact with it as an object.
6. Use of a component pouch to cast a spell is not an object interaction, its an integral and indivisible part of casting the spell.
7. Drawing a spell focus to cast a spell is not an object interaction, its an integral and indivisible part of casting the spell.

Use case is I have a torch and a map in my hands. I want to cast a spell with a material component. I need to drop the map to free up a hand to cast the spell.

Use case 2 is I have a torch and a map in my hands. I want to cast a spell with a spell focus. I need to drop the map to free up a hand in order to grab the spell focus.

I encourage opinion or unofficial comments but for a solution I need something official in writing with reference link.

Thanks

Answer 1

Focusing specifically on your use case, where you have 2 full hands, and want to cast a spell with a material component requirement.

I don't think that your DM's ruling is supported by the rules in 2 ways. The first is that dropping an object does not appear to use up your free object interaction. Jeremy Crawford has tweeted

The intent is that letting go of something requires no appreciable effort. But picking it up does.

Also, Basic Rules page 73 or PHB page 190 has a callout box "Interacting with Objects Around You" with a quite extensive list of "the sorts of thing you can do in tandem with your movement and action". One of these items is "pick up a dropped axe", but not "drop an axe". Combined with Crawford's tweet, RAI (if not RAW) is that you can drop the object without using up your object interaction.

Regarding then casting the spell, here's what the rules (Basic Rules 83, PHB 203) say about Material Components:

A spellcaster must have a hand free to access these components—or to hold a spellcasting focus—but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components.

If you want to cast using a spellcasting focus that you are not currently holding, you most likely need to use the object interaction to draw it, the same as a weapon. (An exception would be a Cleric who has a holy symbol which is an amulet or an emblem. The rules give "wear it visibly" as an option for using a Holy Symbol. PHB 151)

However, nothing in the rules indicates that casting a spell with components from a component pouch uses up that object interaction.

The "Interacting with Objects Around You" list again does not list "accessing components in a component pouch". I think it would be reading a lot into the rules to interpret "must have a hand free to access these components", as requiring the object interaction. If you were required to already be holding the component it would say so, because this sentence has been "eratta'd" to say that about the focus. They would have said it about the components if it was intended.

There are also spells that such a requirement would make almost impossible to cast. For example, Feather Fall(PHB 239) can be cast as a reaction, but has a material component.

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A couple of quick notes about the rest of your points:

You cannot use a Bonus Action unless it is granted to you explicitly by a class feature or feat etc. For example, to take an extra "Use an Object" action like you are suggesting, you would need to be a 3rd level Thief:

Fast Hands

Starting at 3rd level, you can use the bonus action granted by your Cunning Action to make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check, use your thieves’ tools to disarm a trap or open a lock, or take the Use an Object action.

A component pouch is not a spell focus. However the component pouch, Focus, or explicitly having the component in question are all ways to satisfy the material component requirement.