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

[Plaguescarred]

The consequence at my table for any game that I play is that people who don't follow the rules don't get to play.

It's strange to me that anyone else is okay with that.

Whatever floats your boat. But you'd punish someone that follow the rules though, according to the Devs and a good deal of EnWorlders.

A more proper way to say it would be;

"The consequence at my table for any game that I play is that people who don't follow the story elements don't get to play."

 

[Maxperson]

If you want to follow the rules and have your PC wear metal armor, don't play a druid. No player agency harmed.

Or I can follow the rules and do both. Not that I ever have. My druids choose not to wear metal armor and have yet to be in a circumstance where I would. However, if I was playing a druid and such a circumstance came up, he could put it on. Nothing in the PHB or Sage Advice indicates that any such rule exists. It's all story and fluff, albeit strong story and fluff. No rules, though.

 

[Maxperson]

So, while we're discussing the druid's quirks: allowing non-druids learning the druidic language: yay or nay?

Yay. If the PC can find a druid to teach it, he can learn it. That prohibition is just a taboo as well. At least now. Back in 1e when alignment and such had a language that could only be learned by being that thing(a silly rule we ignored even then), druidic could not be learned by non-druids. That silliness went away, though.

 

[Vaalingrade]

No, they don't state that, they state the opposite. Druids choose to no wear metal armour.

And they can then change their minds with no repercussions except a possible DM hissyfit.

 

[Maxperson]

Good find. Bumping this and putting it into text as the image seems to get reduced to a link when quoting:

PHB page 45, Classes chart, Druid Armor and Weapon Proficiencies:
Light and medium armor (nonmetal), shields (nonmetal), clubs, daggers, darts, javelins, maces, quarterstaffs, scimitars, sickles, slings, spears

It's not really much. The class section where the proficiencies are in greater detail says what the rule is. Medium armor proficiency with some lore about not wearing metal armor. The page 45 chart is small and to save space they shorted "will not wear metal armor" to "non-metal," but a space saving paraphrase isn't going to trump the real thing that is on page 65.

 

[Maxperson]

'Druids will not wear metal armour' That is the rule! I literally cannot understand where the difficulty is. If your character has a rule 'Will not do X' then them doing X is against the rules. This must truly be the bizarrest attempt at rules lawyering I have ever seen; simply claiming that words don't mean things.

It's a personal rule of the PC, sure. Much like people making new years resolutions are making personal rules to do or not do something. Those rules can be broken by personal choice. Nothing prevents it.

 

[Northern Phoenix]

And they can then change their minds with no repercussions except a possible DM hissyfit.

I'd always advocate against a "hissyfit". Rather than getting mad, you can instead say "i'd rather you didn't, bro".

 

[Maxperson]

No, they don't state that, they state the opposite. Druids choose to no wear metal armour. Like vegans choose not to eat meat. There is no indication that they could choose otherwise and remain druids or vegans, except the later stipulation that basically amounts to 'GM can change the rules if they want,' which we all of course already know.

Vegetarians, not vegans. And I've known vegetarians that occasionally backslide a bit before returning to their vegetarian ways. Why? Because a personal choice is just that, a choice. You can always choose to do something else.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Just to push back on this a little. I don't think it follows. A druid that doesn't want to have a frontline combat presence or a moon druid maybe? would probably prefer light armor and a good dex score over medium armor and a higher con score

Would they? It requires +5 dex modifier to equal halfplate with +2 dex modifier. I have hard time seeing druids getting 20 in dex and with anything less you're better off with the halfplate.

 

[Maxperson]

Nevermind