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

[Crimson Longinus]

There is nothing in the PHB, DMG or Sage Advice that says that.

The thing that requires that is the assumption that all players follow the rules of the game unless GM specifically gives them a permission to ignore the rules in some instance. Now I have not interest to discuss your inability or unwillingness to recognise and respect the rules further. Ultimately that's a problem for the people with whom you play.

 

[Maxperson]

So the real question is, why wasn't that taboo brought up anywhere in the druid's actual description? One or two sentences would be sufficient.

They did. They put it in the proficiency section where people are sure to see it. If they had put it in the description which not everyone reads, it would have been missed by a lot of people.

 

[Maxperson]

The thing that requires that is the assumption that all players follow the rules of the game unless GM specifically gives them a permission to ignore the rules in some instance. Now I have not interest to discuss your inability or unwillingness to recognise and respect the rules further. Ultimately that's a problem for the people with whom you play.

Excellent. As I am not discussing a rule, we are in agreement there.

 

[Faolyn]

They did. They put it in the proficiency section where people are sure to see it. If they had put it in the description which not everyone reads, it would have been missed by a lot of people.

What I mean is, why wasn't it referenced in the description?

It's in the proficiency section, but as you know from, it's incredibly vague as to what it actually means. But there's no section in the fluff that supports it, in the same way that a paladin's Oath is discussed in the fluff.

 

[Vaalingrade]

The thing that requires that is the assumption that all players follow the rules of the game unless GM specifically gives them a permission to ignore the rules in some instance. Now I have not interest to discuss your inability or unwillingness to recognise and respect the rules further. Ultimately that's a problem for the people with whom you play.

Please quote people consistently. It's hard to know who you're condescending to at a given time.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Please quote people consistently. It's hard to know who you're condescending to at a given time.

With you there is no such issue, I can always trust you to be condescending towards me!

But I did include a quote. Perhaps you have @Maxperson blocked or vice versa?

 

[Chaosmancer]

Of course it is. Under actual rules druids do not wear metal armour and there is a limited amount of non-metal armours. That's the RAW, anything else is houserules.

So, you are completely abandoning your previous position that non-metal armors are available and fully committing to the fact that they don't exist, and putting them in is a houserule that buffs the druids.

A person could get whiplash trying to follow your arguments.

I am not discussing 'why' with you, as we both know you're not gonna get it. But it is a rule, and rule which the designers put there intentionally, knowing what it means.

I always love how think that fact that I disagree with them means that I don't understand them. That if I was somehow smarter or better I would agree with them. Because they can't possibly be wrong in anyway.

I think the designers did understand the rule they put in. That rule, at its most powerful and strictest reading, prevents a druid from wearing metal medium armor. Nothing prevents them from wearing non-metal medium armor. And anyone with a passing familiarity with Dungeons and Dragons history, is aware that that is a thing that has existed for decades.

Note, a wooden shield is mechanically identical to a metal shield. Note, a metal staff is mechanically identical to a wooden staff. A stone maul is mechanically identical to a steel maul. So, why would half-plate made out of bone or shell be different than half-plate made out of metal? You say it doesn't exist though, and that creating it is an unfair buff for druids, but again, the designers specifically left that door opened and highlighted, and they aren't stupid enough to have not seen that.

Sure. They totally intentionally put rules in the game that they assumed no one to follow and then instead of balancing the game based on the actual rules, they balanced it on potential houserules that people might come up with!

Or tradition in the game dating back to the creation of the game. Since, as Max points out, non-metal armors have been a thing since 1e.

So, let me ask directly. Do you think Mearls, Crawford and the others had no concept that a druid might wear half-plate made out of something like Ironwood? Do you honestly believe the thought never crossed their mind?

 

[Crimson Longinus]

So, you are completely abandoning your previous position that non-metal armors are available and fully committing to the fact that they don't exist, and putting them in is a houserule that buffs the druids.

My position has always been that they do not exist under RAW except as magical items. And sure GM might add them. Or not. The game definitely needs to be designed based on the actual rules though, not on someone's houserules.

So, let me ask directly. Do you think Mearls, Crawford and the others had no concept that a druid might wear half-plate made out of something like Ironwood? Do you honestly believe the thought never crossed their mind?

Perhaps it did. And that's why druid limitation is written as prohibiting certain things rather than listing things that is allowed. (Like you suggested it should have.) Then it is easier to add things later. But they never did. In any case, they must have been aware that under the rules they wrote, druid will generally will end up with a lower AC than, say clerics. And they must have taken (or at least should have taken) that into account while designing the rest of the class. Now it is another matter whether D&D is so tightly balanced game to begin with , that such minute difference is meaningful. Arguably not.

Nevertheless, the game was written with a limit on druid armours, you're not entitled to have half-plate on your druid. Having that would be a nice optional extra, and if you don't get it you have not unfairly been deprived of anything.

 

[Maxperson]

With you there is no such issue, I can always trust you to be condescending towards me!

But I did include a quote. Perhaps you have @Maxperson blocked or vice versa?

He has me blocked. I have a personal policy not to block people. I do occasionally break that taboo if someone is really obnoxious for an extended period, but I eventually unblock them because it bothers me to break it.

Just like druids can.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

I have a personal policy not to block people.

Yeah, same. Never broken it thus far...