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

[Maxperson]

Yeah, not all improvised rulings need to be a BIG DEAL. They can just happen. DMs are supposed to make judgement calls all the time.

Not just that, but 5e is deliberately written vaguely in order to force DMs to make judgement calls. Rulings over rules is their mantra for a reason.

 

[ad_hoc]

And here I though this thread couldn't get any stupider. Truly impressive!

I don't think this is worse than "vegetarians eat meat"

 

[Maxperson]

Well it depends which dictionary you are using, but technically there are four types of metals: alkli, alkaline earth metals, transition metals and rare earth metals (which can be subdivided further into lanthinides and actinides). This is defined by their location on the periodic table. Here is the chemical defiitions:

Metal: Metal is any of the elements with a positive electrical charge, typically with a shiny surface and a good conductor of heat.

Metsl: This is a chemical element made up of various opaque, fusible, ductile and lustrous substances, with some of the most commonly used metals being titanium, copper and nickel.

Here is an engineering webpage pointing out why steel is in fact not a metal (this site completely unrelated to Druids):

Complete Tools Kits | Custom Tool Kits | Tool Storage

Specialists in complete tool kits for the aviation, automotive, marine industry and more. Shop hand tools & custom tool storage solutions.

www.redboxengineering.com

Here is a list of all the metals. Druids will not wear armor made of any of these:

NUMBER	SYMBOL	ELEMENT
3	Li	Lithium
4	Be	Beryllium
11	Na	Sodium
12	Mg	Magnesium
13	Al	Aluminum
19	K	Potassium
20	Ca	Calcium
21	Sc	Scandium
22	Ti	Titanium
23	V	Vanadium
24	Cr	Chromium
25	Mn	Manganese
26	Fe	Iron
27	Co	Cobalt
28	Ni	Nickel
29	Cu	Copper
30	Zn	Zinc
31	Ga	Gallium
37	Rb	Rubidium
38	Sr	Strontium
39	Y	Yttrium
40	Zr	Zirconium
41	Nb	Niobium
42	Mo	Molybdenum
43	Tc	Technetium
44	Ru	Ruthenium
45	Rh	Rhodium
46	Pd	Palladium
47	Ag	Silver
48	Cd	Cadmium
49	In	Indium
50	Sn	Tin
55	Cs	Cesium
56	Ba	Barium
57	La	Lanthanum
58	Ce	Cerium
59	Pr	Praseodymium
60	Nd	Neodymium
61	Pm	Promethium
62	Sm	Samarium
63	Eu	Europium
64	Gd	Gadolinium
65	Tb	Terbium
66	Dy	Dysprosium
67	Ho	Holmium
68	Er	Erbium
69	Tm	Thulium
70	Yb	Ytterbium
71	Lu	Lutetium
72	Hf	Hafnium
73	Ta	Tantalum
74	W	Tungsten
75	Re	Rhenium
76	Os	Osmium
77	Ir	Iridium
78	Pt	Platinum
79	Au	Gold
80	Hg	Mercury
81	Tl	Thallium
82	Pb	Lead
83	Bi	Bismuth
84	Po	Polonium
87	Fr	Francium
88	Ra	Radium
89	Ac	Actinium
90	Th	Thorium
91	Pa	Protactinium
92	U	Uranium
93	Np	Neptunium
94	Pu	Plutonium
95	Am	Americium
96	Cm	Curium
97	Bk	Berkelium
98	Cf	Californium
99	Es	Einsteinium
100	Fm	Fermium
101	Md	Mendelevium
102	No	Nobelium
103	Lr	Lawrencium
104	Rf	Rutherfordium
105	Db	Dubnium
106	Sg	Seaborgium
107	Bh	Bohrium
108	Hs	Hassium
109	Mt	Meitnerium
110	Ds	Darmstadtium
111	Rg	Roentgenium
112	Cn	Copernicium
113	Nh	Nihonium
114	Fl	Flerovium
115	Mc	Moscovium
116	Lv	Livermorium

Now my Fighter needs a set of Livermorium plate.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Not just that, but 5e is deliberately written vaguely in order to force DMs to make judgement calls. Rulings over rules is their mantra for a reason.

Right, stuff like the skill descriptions are so inescapably written to avoid there even being a RAW to cling to, that 5e has forced by RAW-focused DM best friend to embrace rulings and homebrew. I mean, he still sticks to RAW when it is clear, unless it sucks, but it's a big change from when he ran 4e, or any Star Wars TTRPG (WEG being what he got started in TTRPGs on as a kid).

The rules of 5e are completely written to facilitate play without prescribing play. It's even a thing that people trash talk it for, and claim that it has no focus or that it "doesn't know what it wants to be" while totally missing the point of how the rules are written.

 

[Faolyn]

They are alloys made of metal and non-metal elements, but they are not metals themselves. Steel (any steel) is a combination of Iron (metal) and Carbon (non-metal) and potentially other elements (both metal and non-metal). Read the link above I provided.

Also leather likewise includes Chromium, Calcium and Sodium - all of these are metal elements and leather (any leather) is a compound that includes all of these metals (just like alloys include metal elements). To be clear I am talking about the leather itself here, not the buckles.

There is literally no armor on the entire table that a Druid can wear if the chemical composition of its protective components has to be completely devoid of any metal elements.

Sigh. Alloys are metal. Or if they're not metals, then they're not in such a technical sense of the word that it's ridiculous to count them as not-metals. Also, humans have chromium, calcium, and sodium. Clearly the trace amounts of those metals in the human body--or in leather--does count.

If anything, it would be less likely that druids would use an alloy than a pure metal. I can see a druid wearing a breastplate made entirely of iron, especially if it were taken from the ground and just beaten into shape without going through any sort of processing beyond some simple heating and quenching (fire and water, both natural!). Or perhaps shaped with magic. But a highly-processed and unnatural material like steel is definitely out.

When it comes down to it, saying that since steel isn't a metal your druid should wear it is like saying that a character that has resistance to poison damage should still be injured by a venom. It's a pointless technicality.

Also:

 

[Chaosmancer]

The DM makes the final decision on whether or not the rules of the book are followed even if you personally do not like the rule. Sage advice clearly states that it is, indeed, a rule and if you feel strongly to talk to your DM. A DM can always change the rule.

Why is it acceptable for a rule to force a character to not only have a religious belief, but forbid the character to break that belief?

You say that you don't want to impinge on deeply held beliefs, but you are perfectly okay with forcing people to conform to beliefs whether they want to or not?

 

[Maxperson]

Sigh. Alloys are metal. Or if they're not metals, then they're not in such a technical sense of the word that it's ridiculous to count them as not-metals. Also, humans have chromium, calcium, and sodium. Clearly the trace amounts of those metals in the human body--or in leather--does count.

If anything, it would be less likely that druids would use an alloy than a pure metal. I can see a druid wearing a breastplate made entirely of iron, especially if it were taken from the ground and just beaten into shape without going through any sort of processing beyond some simple heating and quenching (fire and water, both natural!). Or perhaps shaped with magic. But a highly-processed and unnatural material like steel is definitely out.

When it comes down to it, saying that since steel isn't a metal your druid should wear it is like saying that a character that has resistance to poison damage should still be injured by a venom. It's a pointless technicality.

Also:

View attachment 141754

Yep. Steel and such are metals in 5e, which uses the common usage of words. If you go out and ask 100 people if steel is a metal, you're going to get 99 yeses and 1 chemist.

 

[FarBeyondC]

Why is it acceptable for a rule to force a character to not only have a religious belief, but forbid the character to break that belief?

You say that you don't want to impinge on deeply held beliefs, but you are perfectly okay with forcing people to conform to beliefs whether they want to or not?

Because no one's forced to play a particular character (or a particular game)?

Like, if a Druid not being willing to wear metal armor was such a non-starter for me playing one and I couldn't convince my DM to let me get around that in any way, shape, or form acceptable to me, I'd just... not play a Druid.

If I happened to only want to a play a Druid, but Druids not being willing to wear metal armor was still a non-starter for me- and I couldn't convince my DM to let me get around that- I'd either find another DM or just... not play.

 

[ECMO3]

Also, humans have chromium, calcium, and sodium. Clearly the trace amounts of those metals in the human body--or in leather--does count.

Exactly. That is why "metal armor" obviously refers specifically to pure elemental metal like Iron or Titanium.

If anything, it would be less likely that druids would use an alloy than a pure metal. I can see a druid wearing a breastplate made entirely of iron, especially if it were taken from the ground and just beaten into shape without going through any sort of processing beyond some simple heating and quenching (fire and water, both natural!).

There is no naturally occuring pure iron that can be pulled out of the ground (although there is small amounts of naturally occuring Iron-Nickel alloy which comes from meteorites and technically would be a steel I believe).

The Iron we get from Iron mines comes from hemitite or magnetite and the iron has to be extracted through a blast furnace.

When it comes down to it, saying that since steel isn't a metal your druid should wear it is like saying that a character that has resistance to poison damage should still be injured by a venom. It's a pointless technicality.

If the venom did poison damage a character would take half damage if he was resistant. If it does necrotic damage or acid damage (example vampire bite, Black Dragon bite) he would take full damage from it if he was resistant to poison. If something said he was immune to all venoms and it was a venom that caused this then he would not take any damage.

For example Drow poision will 100% put someone to sleep if they were only resistant to poson damage. They would need to be immune to the poisoned condition (which is not the same as being immune to poison damage) or immune to being put to sleep not to be affected by such.

 

[Maxperson]

Exactly. That is why "metal armor" obviously refers specifically to pure elemental metal like Iron or Titanium.

Not in D&D.

1. 5e uses the common usage, which makes steel a metal. The common person calls steel a metal.

2. The fluff lore pertains only to suits of armor, not trace metals. Druids have always had metal weapons. It's not the metal that's off limits.