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

[Yaarel]

Not really. The earth is composed of many things, not just metal. In this case too much metal conflicts with the earth.

All minerals: metal, crystal, stone, rock, sand, glass, etcetera, are aspects of the earth element. The earth Druid attunes to metal.

If it were written like that, they would indeed not be proficient with metal armor, which is nonsensical as one kind of armor functions the same as the other.

All of the abilities that give partial proficiency are very explicit. Elves get proficiency with all longswords(regardless of material). Dwarves get proficiency with all battleaxes, light hammers and warhammers. Pact warlocks don't get proficiency, but use their pact weapon with proficiency.

Not one instance of partial proficiency fails to spell it out, which is why druids don't have partial proficiency. It does not spell it out.

In a narrative, where animals and plants protect the Druid:

The Druid can wear animal-plant armors proficiently, almost exactly the same way the Warlock can wield a pact weapon proficiently.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

The existence of nonmagical nonmetal medium armor officially exists.

In the Forgotten Realms setting, there is "spiked armor".

"
Spiked Armor
Spiked armor is a rare type of medium armor made by dwarves. It consists of a leather coat and leggings covered with spikes that are usually made of metal.

Cost: 75 gp
AC: 14 + Dexterity modifier (max 2)
Stealth: Disadvantage
Weight: 45 lb.

"

This armor appears to be a variant of scale armor, where the scales protrude outward into spikes. These scales are usually made of metal, but not always. It is rare, but is nonmagical.

Yes. And druids can wear that.

 

[Vyshan]

Why doesn't your druids have access to just a type of wood that if made into armor is just as good as its metal equivalent? Is this one of those situations where a druid wants something they can't have?

 

[Yaarel]

Yes. And druids can wear that.

Likewise, it is easy to have the nonmetal spike armor without needing spikes, and being normal scale.

A brigandine could rivet scales of various materials between the fabrics, to serve as scale armor.

Someone mentioned deer horn. As far as I know, that should be a suitable material for the scales of brigandine armor

 

[Maxperson]

All minerals: metal, crystal, stone, rock, sand, glass, etcetera, are aspects of the earth element. The earth Druid attunes to metal.

That's one reasonable position. Another reasonable position is the one I put forth. Too much of one aspect, especially metal that is worn, throws them out of whack,

The Druid can wear animal-plant armors proficiently, almost exactly the same way the Warlock can wield a pact weapon proficiently.

It's not even remotely the same. Druids make the choice and have proficiency with metal armor, Warlocks get it through specialized magic. It's apples and dinosaurs.

 

[Maxperson]

Why doesn't your druids have access to just a type of wood that if made into armor is just as good as its metal equivalent? Is this one of those situations where a druid wants something they can't have?

No. It's just an academic discussion. Nobody here has actually run into this issue.

 

[ad_hoc]

There's nothing really to understand though as someone completely new to Dungeons & Dragons picking up the Player's Handbook for the first time. It's as simple as "Druids will not wear metal armor." If you're just learning how to play D&D, it's an obvious restriction that I can't imagine very many respond to the way we do.

I have introduced quite a few people to d&d with 5e with some playing Druid and I have never even been questioned about it.

I just told them to look at the section with HP, proficiencies and such and showed them the equipment chapter and not a single one came back with metal armour on their sheets.

 

[Yaarel]

It's not even remotely the same. Druids make the choice and have proficiency with metal armor, Warlocks get it through specialized magic. It's apples and dinosaurs.

"In a narrative, where animals and plants protect the Druid: the Druid can wear animal-plant armors proficiently, almost exactly the same way the Warlock can wield a pact weapon proficiently."

Warlocks get proficiency with their pact blade thru specialized magic.

Likewise, in this narrative, Druids get proficiency with animal-plant armor thru specialized animal-plant magic.

 

[FrozenNorth]

You're going to get the same answer no matter how many ways you ask it. I think the rule is clear, and no I don't have a problem with it. What happens if a druid does put on metal armor is up to the DM. As Sage Advice says "your DM has the final say on how far you can go and still be considered a member of the class."

Exactly. DMs are empowered to make a ton of judgment calls in the game. I tend to see that as a plus, because no designer knows my table as well as I do.

As to why no specific reason is given for why druids will not wear metal armor, I see this as a concession to the fact that the reason why druids don’t wear metal armor also may vary from setting to setting and from campaign to campaign.

 

[Chaosmancer]

This not how this works!

So, you say it is a rule, but it doesn't work like you being able to tell me where the rule is? Or what it says.

Just like half plate says that it consists of shaped metal plates.

So what armor would you say someone is wearing if they have shaped metal plates that cover most of their body, heavy leather boots, a helmet, and gauntlets?

Because half-plate doesn't come with a helmet or boots, or gauntlets. So if my character is wearing those items, do I get to increase my AC to 18 instead of 15+dex? I mean, if the rule is that half-plate is only defined by what is in the description, then if I have more armor on, I must be wearing something else right?

It is in the same place than the rule that states that wall of fire cannot be made out of anything other than fire.

So, it is this? "A spell is a discrete magical effect, a single shaping of the magical energies that suffuse the multiverse into a specific, limited expression." Because, this is one of those things that say that a wall of fire creates a wall of fire. "Specific, limited expression"

We also have this "Each spell description in Chapter 11 begins with a block of information, including the spell's name, level, school of magic, casting time, range, components, and duration. The rest of a spell entry describes the spell's effect."

There is also this from Tasha's "Just as every performer lends their art a personal flair and every warrior asserts their fighting styles through the lens of their own training, so too can a spellcaster use magic to express their individuality. Regardless of what type of spellcaster you’re playing, you can customize the cosmetic effects of your character’s spells. Perhaps you wish the effects of your caster’s spells to appear in their favorite color, to suggest the training they received from a celestial mentor, or to exhibit their connection to a season of the year. The possibilities for how you might cosmetically customize your character’s spells are endless. However, such alterations can’t change the effects of a spell. They also can’t make one spell seem like another—you can’t, for example, make a magic missile look like a fireball."


So, it seems we have quite a few rules about why a wall of fire can't be a wall of water (which FYI is also a different spell) can you show me anything similar for half-plate being made out of different materials, or are we still in "it doesn't work like that" territory?