non-metal armors in A&E Guide and Druids

[Syunsuke]

There are many non-metal armors in Arms and Equipment Guide.
Descriptions of some such armors(Bark, Shell and some more) clearly state Druids can use them without penalty; they don't lose spells or abilities of druid.
But there are also some non-metal armors without such statements; Bone, leather scale, Moon-Ivy and some more.
Can druids use such armors (Bone or Leather Scale) without penalty?
I think there are no reason they can't, but I want to hear opinions.

I have almost same question about new armor materials.
I think druids can wear Bronzewood armor or Chitin armor without losing spells. But what do you think?

For weapons, PHB clearly list some weapons druid can use(I don't like this rule, but this is another topic).
But for armors, PHB says merely "druid have to use non-metal armor if you don't want to lose spells and ability" or such...

 

[Belbarrus]

Super simple:

Druids are bound by oath to not wear metal armor. Therefore, if the armor is *not* made of metal (bone, bark, wood, coral, ivy, stone, etc), then they can freely use it. They are not restricted by their class.

Also, Druids have proficiency in Light and Medium armors. So they could wear a Bronzewood Breastplate for example, but wearing Bronzewood Full Plate would incur the non-proficient penalties, but they are still allowed to wear it and retain their Druid abilties.

 

[anon]

Moon Ivy

By the rules I think many of those armors are restricted, but I think the intent and flavor of the druid rules would not be broken by allowing many of those "nature-y" armors to be worn.

Side question: Why on earth is Moon-Ivy so expensive? Is that typo? I mean it's good and cool too, certainly, but at that price (16,000gp) it's completely overpriced. And when you throw in the fact that it's not even there 1/3 of the time. I would say drop a 0 and it's priced about right (1600gp). Thoughts?

 

[Belbarrus]

"By the rules I think many of those armors are restricted, "

I'm not sure what you mean by this. According to the PH rules, a Druid is prohibited from wearing "metal" armor (specifically). Almost all of the new armors in A&E are not metal, and therefore are usable by Druids.

To reiterate: Druids cannot wear metal armor. They are free to use any of the non-metal armors fond in A&E, but suffer any normal penalties for wearing armor that they are not proficient with.

 

[Syunsuke]

Thank you, and I feel comfortable.
But I'm wondering why only some non-metal armors are said druid can use them safely...

 

[Belbarrus]

"But I'm wondering why only some non-metal armors are said druid can use them safely..."

Right, I see what you mean. I noticed that Bark and Shell armors, for example, specifically say "Druids can wear [this] armor without losing access to thier spells and class features."

However, it does not say that for armor like moon-ivy or leather scale, which is obviously armor usable by Druids. Going back to the limitations for Druids, the PH specifically states that they are forbidden from using "metal" armor. That's it. Therefore as long as the Druid does not wear metal armor, there is no reason why they would lose their class abilities.

So, all the armor "types" in the A&E would be useable by Druids, except for Dastana, Lamellar or Ring. Druids could even wear Coral, Dendritic and Dwarven Stone armor, but would suffer the penalties for not being proficient with Heavy armor.

 

[Spatula]

But I'm wondering why only some non-metal armors are said druid can use them safely...

Bone, leather scale, etc. are from Oriental Adventures, and they probably just cut-and-pasted the text from that book into A&EG. There are no druids in OA, so no reason to state whether or not those armors are allowable for druids.

And, like Belbarrus says, there's no list of valid druid armors (like there are for weapons) - if the armor isn't made of metal, then it's allowed.