D&D 5E (2014) Can your Druids wear metal armor?

[Charlaquin]

Insist on stirring up controversy over something so ridiculous.

It doesn’t occur to you that maybe those people don’t consider it ridiculous? That maybe the genuinely, earnestly take issue with those game elements?

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Correction: druids won’t behave like X. If the rule said what druids do instead of what they won’t do, that would be a different story.

Ok. "Druids do only wear armour that is not made of metal." Happy now?

 

[mrpopstar]

It’s not semantics if the two statements actually mean significantly different things.

They're both equally instructive.

 

[mrpopstar]

It doesn’t occur to you that maybe those people don’t consider it ridiculous? That maybe the genuinely, earnestly take issue with those game elements?

It's the ruckus I'm labeling ridiculous, not people or their feelings.

What occurs to me is that all the time spent arguing in genuine earnestness could instead be spent actually playing the game.

 

[J.Quondam]

It dictates your character's will to about the same degree as alignment and personality characteristics. Just play along!

So to be perfectly clear, "Just play along" applies as much to the GM as to any other player, if not moreso.

 

[mrpopstar]

So to be perfectly clear, "Just play along" applies as much to the GM as to any other player, if not moreso.

It does, yes... ?

 

[J.Quondam]

It does, yes... ?

So a GM who says of your druid "No, you will not strap on a metal shield, because RAW" is not playing along.

 

[Charlaquin]

It is called creating a character. Every choice you make in character selection closes some doors. When you choose one thing it means you're not an another. If I am an elf, it means I'm not a dwarf.

Sure, but the game doesn’t say you won’t use an axe if you’re an elf.

You choose to play a character that will not wear metal armour, it is your choice; no one is (hopefully) forcing you to play a druid.

No, but the restriction may be keeping players who want to play druids from doing so.

Same thing. It still limits how you play your character.

No, it’s not the same thing. “Druids wear armor made of plant and animal products” would still leave room for a player to decide to wear armor made of metal, perhaps in addition to those other armors. “Druids won’t wear armor made of metal” does not.

So how do you handle it?

Like I initially answered, I rule that the player has full authority over what their own character will and won’t do. Druids in general have a taboo against wearing metal armor, and breaking that taboo may have social consequences - for example, other members of your Circle won’t approve, and may even excommunicate you if they find out. But you won’t suffer any mechanical penalties for wearing metal armor.

 

[Charlaquin]

Ok. "Druids do only wear armour that is not made of metal." Happy now?

No, that is only semantically different than “Druids won’t wear metal armor.” The content of the statement is still about what they don’t do, rather than what they do.

 

[Charlaquin]

They're both equally instructive.

But their content is meaningfully different.