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

[Crimson Longinus]

That's a bit deceptive. Most of those classes have unarmored defense and the rest have access mage armor.

Sure. And that still tends to be equal or worse than hide+shield that druids get from the get go. (And rogues don't get mage armour, unless they're arcane tricksters that want to waste on of their rare spell slots for one point AC buff.)

It's not an assumption. The PHB gives them unrestricted medium armor proficiency. They are proficient in all medium armor by RAW.

But they don't actually use most of the medium armours. So it is restricted. That's the RAW.

 

[Faolyn]

I mean a lot of classes in the game cannot wear it at all! (Unless they burn feats to gain medium armour proficiency.)

If you don't start with the assumption that druids are entitled to all medium armour (because they aren't') then it is just an optional extra you could potentially gain.

I see no reason why they're not entitled to all the armor that they are actually proficient in.

This isn't a case of a wizard or monk or whatever wanting to wear Medium armor. They're not proficient in it. But druids are, so there's zero reason why they can't wear it. But beyond hide armor, there are no nonmagical, nonmetal types of medium armor

Actually, I stand corrected. There is the spiked armor (from SCAG), which is described as leather armor with spikes that are only usually made of metal (it specifies usually). Since it's actually much better armor than hide (AC 14 instead of AC 12), then I propose that druids start wearing this and saying the spikes are bone, horn, or antler. Its more expensive and heavier, but not unreasonably so.

 

[Undrave]

Sure. And that still tends to be equal or worse than hide+shield that druids get from the get go. (And rogues don't get mage armour, unless they're arcane tricksters that want to waste on of their rare spell slots for one point AC buff.)

Rogues only need to invest in DEX to accomplish their core class identity, so their AC will be just fine with studded leather. Maybe a shield would be nice but they can be better off using ranged weaponry or dual wielding with a rapier and a dagger.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Rogues only need to invest in DEX to accomplish their core class identity, so their AC will be just fine with studded leather. Maybe a shield would be nice but they can be better off using ranged weaponry or dual wielding with a rapier and a dagger.

Sure, their AC will be fine. And that fine is about on par with a druid with hide and a shield.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Very true; most taboos probably have sensible origins. One can assume that the no metal armor thing had one too at one point in history. It may simply be held as a defining tradition now.

We can say that we can assume, there lies the problem I think. Can I come up with a reason for a sect to have this taboo? Absolutely. Can I come up with a reason for it to work this way in a specific world? Probably.

Can I figure out a coherent reason for this to be true of all druids throughout all of time and space and past the multiverse? No. No, I jut can't. And even if I could, someone else could propose a different reason that it shouldn't be for that specific character, and we are right back at where we started with this.

as for my Catholic/Muslim/Jew/Hindu friends, they would have a choice to make if confronted with starvation. Like the Mandalorean had to do when he allowed his face to be seen in order to preserve the integrity of the mission.

What is missing in the whole druid and metal armor thing is a consequences for breaking the taboo that would allow players to make important choice about their character. What would they sacrifice to dress as a (metal clad ) soldier in order to preserve the integrity of the mission? Or as you said, wearing a ceremonial shield during a coronation.

that’s the most (IMHO) disappointing part of this whole druid-and-metal-armor mess.

I agree that is a problem. Just a blanket "you won't decide to do this" is very poor.

You are absolutely right there. I take back by statement that was actually pretty offensive.

nevertheless, taboos don’t always make immediate sense from an outsider point of view. The Druidic taboo is no different; I’m sure it would make complete sense in the internal logic of this religious practice.

Thank you, and yeah, we can assume there might be a reason. But no matter what we assume, it would end up very specific to the setting, and that also means that in a different setting, the Druids might not follow that taboo. So, why try and enforce it in this manner? Let people make their own choices on what matters to their characters.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

I see no reason why they're not entitled to all the armor that they are actually proficient in.

Because they have a an additional rule that sets some limits. I really think this is what trips people up an puts them in class half empty instead of class half full mode. Effectively it would be same if they said that druids may use light armour and hide and dragonscale so then dragonscale would feel like an extra. But because they say medium, except not really all of it, people feel they've been deprived of something. The end result is effectively the same though, except the current wording actually allows the use of any additional non-metal medium armours that might be added.

Which brings us to:

Actually, I stand corrected. There is the spiked armor (from SCAG), which is described as leather armor with spikes that are only usually made of metal (it specifies usually). Since it's actually much better armor than hide (AC 14 instead of AC 12), then I propose that druids start wearing this and saying the spikes are bone, horn, or antler. Its more expensive and heavier, but not unreasonably so.

An interesting find! How has it taken 98 pages for anyone to point this out? Problem solved, thread over, right?

 

[tetrasodium]

Sure, their AC will be fine. And that fine is about on par with a druid with hide and a shield.

plus cunning action disengage plus sneak attack plus evasion plus expertise plus so on & so forth. Rogues have a lot of abilities. The reason cleric is so often compared to druids in these discussions is because there are so many similarities in spell lists & proficiencies to make for an easier comparison. You were dubious about the very idea earlier that classes were designed with the the druid's class features taking proficiencies & other features into account and now you want to claim that a rogue can be judged based exclusively on their armor proficiency?... Do you have any concept of how class balance works?

 

[Crimson Longinus]

plus cunning action disengage plus sneak attack plus evasion plus expertise plus so on & so forth. Rogues have a lot of abilities. The reason cleric is so often compared to druids in these discussions is because there are so many similarities in spell lists & proficiencies to make for an easier comparison. You were dubious about the very idea earlier that classes were designed with the the druid's class features taking proficiencies & other features into account and now you want to claim that a rogue can be judged based exclusively on their armor proficiency?... Do you have any concept of how class balance works?

Yes I do, and if you have not noticed, druid actually has class features too, including incredibly versatile arsenal of spells.

 

[tetrasodium]

Yes I do, and if you have not noticed, druid actually has class features too, including incredibly versatile arsenal of spells.

They do indeed have class features. Specifically class features balanced against having full medium armor proficiency.

 

[Maxperson]

Sure. And that still tends to be equal or worse than hide+shield that druids get from the get go. (And rogues don't get mage armour, unless they're arcane tricksters that want to waste on of their rare spell slots for one point AC buff.)

I don't see how a 15-17 AC for the rogue is worse than a 14-16 AC, but okay.

But they don't actually use most of the medium armours. So it is restricted. That's the RAW.

Use is restricted via taboo. Not proficiency. Proficiency is completely unrestricted per RAW.