Confused about dragonhide plate

[Herobizkit]

According to the description of dragonhide plate:

This suit of full plate is made of dragonhide, rather than metal, so druids can wear it. It is otherwise identical to masterwork full plate.

Druids are not normally proficient in full plate. Does this mean that they can wear it with no non-proficiency penalty, or simply that it is natural and thus does not betray their religious armor restriction?

 

[Dandu]

Sounds like WotC made an error.

They probably intended duids to wear it without nonproficiency penalties, but forgot that the rules wouldn't allow it.

 

[irdeggman]

Sounds like WotC made an error.

They probably intended duids to wear it without nonproficiency penalties, but forgot that the rules wouldn't allow it.

Nope.

They meant that druids could wear it without suffering the "class" penalty for wearing metal armors (i.e. "prohibited" ones.

A druid who wears prohibited armor or carries a prohibited shield is unable to cast druid spells or use any of her supernatural or spell-like class abilities while doing so and for 24 hours thereafter.

They still suffer the non-proficiency penalty if they do not have the feat (or levels in another class that allow them to wear heavy armors).

 

[Dandu]

Nope.

When you are able to telepathically read the minds of WotC writers, then you may flat out contradict me. Until then, your speculation is just as good as mine.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

When you are able to telepathically read the minds of WotC writers, then you may flat out contradict me. Until then, your speculation is just as good as mine.

No, his speculation requires fewer assumptions than yours does, so, by Occam's Razor, his guess is better. (And, IMO, correct.)

 

[Dandu]

No, his speculation requires fewer assumptions than yours does, so, by Occam's Razor, his guess is better. (And, IMO, correct.)

Wikipedia's entry on Occam's razor is fun.

In science, Occam’s razor is used as a heuristic (rule of thumb) to guide scientists in the development of theoretical models rather than as an arbiter between published models. In the scientific method, Occam's razor is not considered an irrefutable principle of logic, and certainly not a scientific result.

Occam's razor is not an embargo against the positing of any kind of entity, or a recommendation of the simplest theory come what may (note that simplest theory is something like "only I exist" or "nothing exists").
The other things in question are the evidential support for the theory. Therefore, according to the principle, a simpler but less correct theory should not be preferred over a more complex but more correct one. It is this fact which gives the lie to the common misinterpretation of Occam's Razor that "the simplest" one is usually the correct one.
For instance, classical physics is simpler than more recent theories; nonetheless it should not be preferred over them, because it is demonstrably wrong in certain respects.
Occam's razor is used to adjudicate between theories that have already passed 'theoretical scrutiny' tests, and which are equally well-supported by the evidence. Furthermore, it may be used to prioritize empirical testing between two equally plausible but unequally testable hypotheses; thereby minimizing costs and wastes while increasing chances of falsification of the simpler-to-test hypothesis.

Not saying I'm correct, but don't misuse Occam's razor in this.

They meant that druids could wear it without suffering the "class" penalty for wearing metal armors (i.e. "prohibited" ones.

It seems that I did not communicate my point of view properly with my first post.

I think that they wanted a druid to have armor they could wear without violating their oath, so they chose a suit of full plate and made it dragonhide as an example of armor intended for druids, forgetting that that druids aren't proficient in full plate to begin with.

I apologize if that wasn't clear.

Are we done now?

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

I've always interpreted it to mean that druids don't suffer their "metal allergy" when wearing dragonhide armor that's normally made of metal, but still suffer any penalties for nonproficiency.

 

[Herobizkit]

That's pretty much what I figured. I wanted to 'buy' dragonhide plate for my Duskblade in an upcoming PbP, but at his level he can only wear Medium armor with no penalty. I didn't want to blow a feat on the Battle Caster (?) feat to wear the heavy armor, and thought this might be a technicality in my favor. So it goes.

 

[Dandu]

Yeah, that's not going to fly. It's full plate and you have to be proficient in it.

Why don't you just get Mithral heavy armor?

 

[Herobizkit]

Mithral heavy armor is too expensive for the cap that the DM has placed on starting character wealth. It's all gravy - a +1 Mithral shirt is dirt cheap by comparison.