D&D 5E Can your Druids wear metal armor?

[Faolyn]

It is a question of proficiency. The Wizard class normally doesnt grant armor proficiency. The Druid class does grant armor proficiency but not metal. But they can gain the proficiency from elsewhere.

There's no "metal armor" proficiency. It's just that most medium and all heavy armor is made of metal by default.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

And what are the rules for that? We've have long threads about people arguing about what should happen if a cleric breaks the tenets of their religion etc. And ultimately it boils down to 'whatever the GM think is appropriate.'

Except it lists guidelines (typically a day of atonement), and allows for player free will. This amounts to the book saying "your character wouldn't do that", and people almost always bristle when told that they don't control the character. I wonder how many people supporting this rule would also be OK with an NPC (or other PC) using persuade on a PC and the PC's actions being dictated by the DM. "Well, he rolled a 20, so you're now his henchman! Your character wants it!".

Again, this is the ONLY instance of flavor text obliterating agency that I can see. Seems like the most logical response is to admit it's poorly worded, rather than defending it as sacred immutable text...

 

[Remathilis]

If it's only a philosophical/belief reason, then that should 100% be in the hand of the players.

So would you allow a cleric of Torm (LG - Courage, self-sacrifice) to select the Death Domain without penalty? After all, domains are just "suggested" for deities and there is no alignment restrictions on domains.

 

[Oofta]

Druids wont learn to be proficient, but Fighters will, Clerics will, Mountain Dwarves will, etcetera.

It can only be about proficiency − nothing else − because it is precisely a restriction in the "Proficiencies: Armor" section of the class format.

They are proficient in all medium armors, you just have to find medium armor that is not made of metal. It's a pretty clear distinction.

 

[PsyzhranV2]

Sure, it probably would be better. Though in practice only minimally. I suspect most people simply accept the restriction and move on. This is again a typical ENworld debate about a marginal issue that will not actually come up in 98.5% of games being played.

Nope.





This (and discussions on other Druid weirdness) comes up in other places too.

Other weirdness:

So, what even is the fantasy of Druid anyway? | Dungeons & Dragons / Fantasy D20 Spotlight

This thread got me wondering about the fantasy of the various classes, mainly Druid. What I mean by fantasy, is the wish fulfillment of the class itself. So the Fighter/Monk fantasy is that you are a competent warrior capable of taking on many foes, or with a Wizard/Sorcerer being that you have...

forum.rpg.net

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Except it lists guidelines (typically a day of atonement), and allows for player free will.

For paladin, not for the cleric.

This amounts to the book saying "your character wouldn't do that", and people almost always bristle when told that they don't control the character. I wonder how many people supporting this rule would also be OK with an NPC (or other PC) using persuade on a PC and the PC's actions being dictated by the DM. "Well, he rolled a 20, so you're now his henchman! Your character wants it!".

Again, this is the ONLY instance of flavor text obliterating agency that I can see. Seems like the most logical response is to admit it's poorly worded, rather than defending it as sacred immutable text...

It could be better worded, yes. But then again, it is not even remotely comparable to your persuasion example, because the player chose this. They chose to play a class that will not wear metal armour, so presumably they were fine with it!

 

[Northern Phoenix]

Nope.





This (and discussions on other Druid weirdness) comes up in other places too.

Other weirdness:

So, what even is the fantasy of Druid anyway? | Dungeons & Dragons / Fantasy D20 Spotlight

This thread got me wondering about the fantasy of the various classes, mainly Druid. What I mean by fantasy, is the wish fulfillment of the class itself. So the Fighter/Monk fantasy is that you are a competent warrior capable of taking on many foes, or with a Wizard/Sorcerer being that you have...

forum.rpg.net

All that crap is incredibly obnoxious if your intent is to wield it against your DM as a weapon. I care about this slightly more since I'm online debating, but I'd never let my players know that in an argument. The lines in the book are helpful to me only so far as they don't create the assumption in new players that Druids should have a certain AC, but if someone asked me about it, the extent of my response would be "nah bro, you're a druid, you're all about nature and stuff so you ain't about that". And since i don't play with people that play against me, that'd be the end of it.

 

[Oofta]

Nope.





This (and discussions on other Druid weirdness) comes up in other places too.

Other weirdness:

So, what even is the fantasy of Druid anyway? | Dungeons & Dragons / Fantasy D20 Spotlight

This thread got me wondering about the fantasy of the various classes, mainly Druid. What I mean by fantasy, is the wish fulfillment of the class itself. So the Fighter/Monk fantasy is that you are a competent warrior capable of taking on many foes, or with a Wizard/Sorcerer being that you have...

forum.rpg.net

How does a random post from a different forum prove anything? The Sage Advice compendium is the closest we get to an official answer*. It's quite clear (bolding mine):

Druid​

What happens if a druid wears metal armor?​

The druid explodes.​

​

Well, not actually. Druids have a taboo against wearing metal armor and wielding a metal shield. The taboo has been part of the class’s story since the class first appeared in Eldritch Wizardry (1976) and the original Player’s Handbook (1978). The idea is that druids prefer to be protected by animal skins, wood, and other natural materials that aren’t the worked metal that is associated with civilization. Druids don’t lack the ability to wear metal armor. They choose not to wear it. This choice is part of their identity as a mystical order. Think of it in these terms: a vegetarian can eat meat, but chooses not to.​

​

*as far as I'm concerned the DM at the table is the official answer, but that's another topic.

 

[Yaarel]

There's no "metal armor" proficiency. It's just that most medium and all heavy armor is made of metal by default.

In previous editions, there were nonmetal materials to make armor out of.

The 5e Druid has proficiency with medium armor, but not if its material is metal.

 

[PsyzhranV2]

How does a random post from a different forum prove anything? The Sage Advice compendium is the closest we get to an official answer*. It's quite clear (bolding mine):

Druid​

What happens if a druid wears metal armor?​

The druid explodes.​

​

Well, not actually. Druids have a taboo against wearing metal armor and wielding a metal shield. The taboo has been part of the class’s story since the class first appeared in Eldritch Wizardry (1976) and the original Player’s Handbook (1978). The idea is that druids prefer to be protected by animal skins, wood, and other natural materials that aren’t the worked metal that is associated with civilization. Druids don’t lack the ability to wear metal armor. They choose not to wear it. This choice is part of their identity as a mystical order. Think of it in these terms: a vegetarian can eat meat, but chooses not to.​

​

*as far as I'm concerned the DM at the table is the official answer, but that's another topic.

The post I was responding to was saying that ENWorld is the only place that is talking about this matter. My intent was to show that no, discussion of the Druid armour restrictions has happened on other sites, and that antipathy towards the "no metal" rule is not limited to ENWorld.