Nope, the rules say I can decide what my character does. It doesn't matter what druids in general will or won't do, I control my character.
Yes you did. When you chose to make a druid.
Not all druids are zealots. That shouldn't even be a thing we need to state. Players decide their own characters beliefs.
You decided them, when you chose to make a druid instead of a cleric.
No, see, I decided my character had different beliefs, ones that made sense. You are sitting there telling me that I'm not allowed to do that. Because Da' Rulez!
This is D&D. A lot of things don't make sense. Also, have you seen real religions?
Yes, I have. I've done a bit of studying into various religious practices and beliefs. They very strongly tend to be internally consistent. Now, there are obviously examples of where the world moved on and the religion didn't, but when you go back to the original context, the rules in the religion are internally consistent.
Now, take a look back at this. I could play a druid who has four, metal artificial limbs per the rules, and that is 100% okay. I go to pick up a metal shield and I am breaking the laws of the universe because my character must consider a metal shield unnatural. If given a choice between wearing the skin of a horror from the Far Realms, whose very being is poison to reality, or wearing metal I dug up myself from a sacred mountain.... the most "natural" option is the Far Realms Horror? Really?
And if you go back to the original context of 2e, not only does it still not make sense (after all Metal is still natural) but you have an additional little wrinkle. You had to pay gold to level up, up until level 11. So, this sacred order that eschews metal for being too unnatural required you to pay in mined and minted metal to progress down their sacred teachings.... Nonsensical
There are rules in the game which limit what is possible. Shocking, I know.
And yet only one rule that limits my ability to choose my own actions in game. And people are defending it like a sacred writ. Yes, I find that shocking.
Why can druids turn into animals and why can clerics turn undead? Why are these different classes differnt? It sure is a mystery! Also, in the real world all three Abrahamic religions supposedly have the same god. They have very differnt restrictions to the faithful though.
I do agree that if both classes are worshipping gods they shouldn't be different, that's why I prefer the primal power source and to kick the gods out of nature.
And are you trying to imply that if a cleric declared they would never wear metal armor they would gain wildshape, or if a druid started wearing armor they'd get channel divinity? Because I'm talking about their religion and you are bringing up their powers, so can they mix and match? Because the gods of FR are pretty consistent, especially Sylvanus, guy has a single creed and he sticks to it. Yet he has a group with a single overriding rule that extends into the mutliverse to apply to Druids trained by dragons in a world without gods? That seems.... nonsensical.
You already saw all animals everywhere? Then why the stipulation 'animals you've seen' if it actually means 'all animals'?
Of course I didn't see every single animal in existence. But I've seen enough.
That is rather harsh way to describe a person adhering to religious limitation. If you said that here about a real religion, you'd be in trouble.
If someone stood in front of me and said they'd follow their voluntary religious tenants, even in the face of that getting their friends killed, instead of temporarily breaking that taboo and then seeking atonement afterwards, I'd still call them a zealot.
Because druids don't use such.
But I can have metal limbs, use a metal staff, wear a metal crown, put on metal rings and pendants. Heck, it isn't armor, I could wear a chainmail bikini and sleep under a chainmail blanket.
Can't pick up a metal shield.
Or perhaps the adventure resulted a ton of useful animal bits but no gold at all. The GM decides what to put there, and they hopefully do not configure loot to screw certain classes over.
Hopefully.
Or, if it was truly so vitally important that druid's never wear metal armor, they could provide alternatives. But they won't. Because as soon as they do, no one would wear metal armor. And we can't have the de facto status quo change, especially for a straight up power increase.
Sure, they could have. But then your druid would look like a cleric and we don't want that. Seriously, if you don't want to adhere to tropes and rules of druid, don't play a druid. Simple as that.
Not using metal isn't a trope and rule of a druid. Metal is a natural material. Shaping it via fire is just as natural as using lye and acid and other chemical compounds to strip a hide and cure it into leather. A process that could involve the use of heavy metals like mercury.
If I can use metal seven ways to Sunday, then there is no reason I can't pick up a metal shield except that someone wanted to make a rule that they didn't think through, for a fantasy religion they clearly didn't understand.
