Druid AC per the "Wild" armor mod.

[Sejs]

Since when does "melding into" something indicate that the melded substance becomes mass- and weightless?

Ya know, when science can seamlessly meld multiple objects into a single undiferentiated whole, at that time feel free to wonder about where the missing mass goes.

Until then - it's magic. Stop worrying about the physics of it. The melded substance is fantastically transported to the Plane of Missing Mass, where it hangs out with Dark Matter Elementals, until such time that it is called back forth into being when the effect ends.

 

[sledged]

"That's a lot of metal you're wearing. What's its function?"
"My armor's function is to limit my dexterity modifier to AC, hinder arcane spellcasting and give me a penalty on some skill rolls."

Nope, doesn't sound right.

Of course not. No one brags about the bad qualities of something (except possibly a kender). A fighter is not going to boast that the shiney, new, obviously magical armor he picked up from a dragon's hoard (over which he bickered with his companions for hours on end untill all other interested parties simply gave up) lowers his charisma and gives all his enemies a better chance at whacking him (Armor of Rage), even if that is its primary function. (Although the ones with which he argued might very well remind him of this quality at every opportunity.)

Since when does "melding into" something indicate that the melded substance becomes mass- and weightless?

When did I say it did? The penalties of wearing armor are not based on its mass/weight. If that were the case, a high strength would easily overcome its penalties.

 

[anon]

Melded

Everything hinges on what melded means. This, unfortunately, is not explained by the rules (as far as I have read).

It is plausible that melded means completely absorbed into, and so the melded items would have no mass or encumbrance.

It is also plausible that melded means merged with but not absorbed, so that items would still have weight and/or encumbrance. I will point out that this would make most bird forms useless (weight would disallow flight), but perhaps...

My own opinion is that a carried object(s) is completely absorbed into the new form losing all of its original characteristics (both good and bad). Otherwise I find it difficult to believe that a high level druid taking the form of a Raven (STR 1) or Rat (STR 2) would have to remove all of their gear before Wild Shaping to avoid becoming immediately overloaded due to their gear.

I suppose one could argue a middle ground where the gear shrinks in those cases, reducing its weight, but the game mechanics of a Wild Shape suddenly become quite a bit of number tallying and math.