D&D 5E Druid Armor Restrictions

[Kobold Stew]

Good question, and the answer is no.

It was included for legacy reasons, and nothing else. We know that because:
* the wording does not make clear which armors are included or not
* druids are somehow proficient in metal armors but choose not to wear them.
* there is no provision for wooden shields

It was an afterthought to include the limitation, and the lack of explanation is why it is a weak rule (or, um, "rule").

 

[Oofta]

You know, the things you point out have easily interpreted game balance reasons the restrictions exist. Part of my question was "is there game balance reasons for druids to have lower AC than Clerics, a class with whom they largely share a role with. Not the heavy armor clerics, but the medium armor clerics.

The druids I've played with were reasonably powerful the way they are, especially with the way wild shape and HP work. If you're not into that, just summon a herd of bunnies to do your bidding. I hear they go for the jugular.

They may not multi-class well because of a restriction, but nobody said life (or game rules) had to be fair. I agree it's a restriction that doesn't apply to any other class, but that has never been the focus of complaints about it from what I've seen. Then again, I only see this complaint online.

My point is that there's no reason a barbarian can't add their con modifier to their AC no matter what armor they wear. Are they any less tough because they have mail armor? Yet for some reason people get bent all out of shape about druids and metal armor because "it's only fluff".

 

[DEFCON 1]

You know, the things you point out have easily interpreted game balance reasons the restrictions exist. Part of my question was "is there game balance reasons for druids to have lower AC than Clerics, a class with whom they largely share a role with. Not the heavy armor clerics, but the medium armor clerics.

Not so much a "balance" reason, but more of a "game trying to point players in a certain direction" reason, I think.

My personal belief is that the reason why Clerics get Medium Armor proficiency and use metal armor to get a starting AC of 16 at level 1 (Scale + DEX bonus +2) but Druids cannot do the same is because the game originally intended for Druids to use Barkskin (AC 16) just as often as Wizards and Sorcerers use Mage Armor (IE almost all the time.) The reason for this of course is so that the Druid would get their AC of 16 (like the Cleric gets) in BOTH their caster form *and* wildshaped form.

Had they allowed Druids to wear Scale + DEX bonus in caster form they'd be less likely to think about casting Barkskin, which means their AC would have been much less while wildshaped. Now as it turns out... Barkskin is still a pretty crap spell because of the whole way it was written and it requiring Concentration for some stupid reason (its mechanics were probably changed later on in the rules process during a balance-pass and no one really thought about what their "balancing" would actually result in). And thus most of the time wildshaped Druids still DON'T have a high AC in wildshaped form even though they probably were originally meant to when the whole "Let's have Barkskin be the main Medium Armor for Druids!" idea was first floated by. But as it turns out based on how they ended up having HP work while wildshaped, having a high AC was no longer necessary. The large pool of bonus HP the Druid gets while shaped has taken the high AC's place.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

Well after last night's Smackdown (https://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/2019-01-29#full-detail-40055425), I am convinced the druid can't wear metal or leather armor. It's (organic) hemp or nothing....

 

[Xeviat]

Only moon druids really get the big hp bonus from wildshape, so everyone else is still left out. Bark skin is an interesting spell of note, though. Maybe it should go 8 hours no concentration.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

Only moon druids really get the big hp bonus from wildshape, so everyone else is still left out. Bark skin is an interesting spell of note, though. Maybe it should go 8 hours no concentration.

Or maybe wildshaped druids shouldn't be able to lose concentration until they suffer enough damage to revert to normal. That would be a boost, but I think we could lessen it if we threw in druids have disadvantage on concentration checks if they take more damage in wildshape than the shape has hps (or go even further and say they automatically fail any concentration check that occurs the round they are forced to change back).

 

[5ekyu]

FWIW its likely been covered before but looking at the 2019 Sage compendium update he wrote this about the druid armor restrictions in 5e

A druid typically wears leather, studded leather, or hide
armor, and if a druid comes across scale mail made of a
material other than metal, the druid might wear it. If you
feel strongly about your druid breaking the taboo and donning metal, talk to your DM. Each class has story elements
mixed with its game features; the two types of design go
hand in hand in D&D, and the story parts are stronger in
some classes than in others. Druids and paladins have an
especially strong dose of story in their design. If you want to
depart from your class’s story, your DM has the final say on
how far you can go and still be considered a member of the
class. As long as you abide by your character’s proficiencies,
you’re not going to break anything in the game system, but
you might undermine the story and the world being created
in your campaign.

 

[Oofta]

FWIW its likely been covered before but looking at the 2019 Sage compendium update he wrote this about the druid armor restrictions in 5e

A druid typically wears leather, studded leather, or hide
armor, and if a druid comes across scale mail made of a
material other than metal, the druid might wear it. If you
feel strongly about your druid breaking the taboo and donning metal, talk to your DM. Each class has story elements
mixed with its game features; the two types of design go
hand in hand in D&D, and the story parts are stronger in
some classes than in others. Druids and paladins have an
especially strong dose of story in their design. If you want to
depart from your class’s story, your DM has the final say on
how far you can go and still be considered a member of the
class. As long as you abide by your character’s proficiencies,
you’re not going to break anything in the game system, but
you might undermine the story and the world being created
in your campaign.

So in other words, as with all the rules in the game, do what makes sense for your campaign. Works for me.

 

[5ekyu]

So in other words, as with all the rules in the game, do what makes sense for your campaign. Works for me.

Yeah pretty much...

Likely tho the "but but but but... Balance" focus may be undercut by this part...

"As long as you abide by your character’s proficiencies,
you’re not going to break anything in the game system..."

The clarification that its just for story pretty much rings true to how i approach it.

 

[Xeviat]

FWIW its likely been covered before but looking at the 2019 Sage compendium update he wrote this about the druid armor restrictions in 5e

A druid typically wears leather, studded leather, or hide
armor, and if a druid comes across scale mail made of a
material other than metal, the druid might wear it. If you
feel strongly about your druid breaking the taboo and donning metal, talk to your DM. Each class has story elements
mixed with its game features; the two types of design go
hand in hand in D&D, and the story parts are stronger in
some classes than in others. Druids and paladins have an
especially strong dose of story in their design. If you want to
depart from your class’s story, your DM has the final say on
how far you can go and still be considered a member of the
class. As long as you abide by your character’s proficiencies,
you’re not going to break anything in the game system, but
you might undermine the story and the world being created
in your campaign.

So, in the end, the answer is, no, there is no balance reason for the druid armor restriction. Cool.