D&D 5E Druid Armor Restrictions

[Xeviat]

Hi ENWorlders, here's a simple question. In your games, how do you handle the druid armor restrictions? Are your druids limited to leather and hide armor? Do you allow scale and plate armors to be made from animal scales? How much extra do you charge for these exotic armors? Does that only apply to magic items like dragon scale armor?

 

[5ekyu]

Hi ENWorlders, here's a simple question. In your games, how do you handle the druid armor restrictions? Are your druids limited to leather and hide armor? Do you allow scale and plate armors to be made from animal scales? How much extra do you charge for these exotic armors? Does that only apply to magic items like dragon scale armor?

I allow studded leather with bone or wood and a banded armor with wood strips. These prices are commensurate with studded leather and scale mail. These are common as quite a few places dont have free access to metal in quantity enough to make metal armors more common.

I also allow a form of breastplate made from shells of large creatures (sea or chitin) that costs 750gp for standard breastplate specs. It is uncommon to rare.

The

 

[Satyrn]

I've just been using hide for my moon druid, and haven't cared one bit about trying to find better, so I have no idea what options my co-DM might have considered. Of course, as a moon druid I'm in beast form most of the time so armor is a complete afterthought.

I think if l had a player playing a land druid, and he really wanted better armor, I'd introduce Skag Armor, with the stats of either a chain shirt or scale mail . . . actually, if I remember to do so, that's going on my homebrew equipment list. Although the players will have to skin some skags first.

 

[LordEntrails]

Exotic armors for druids are not something I allow my players to buy. They can only be found as treasure or as reward. i.e. I control it so that I can control balance and power.

IMO, if exotic armors are available for purchase, then you are simply placing a tax upon druids rather than maintaining an important aspect of the flavor of choosing a druid.

 

[Xeviat]

Exotic armors for druids are not something I allow my players to buy. They can only be found as treasure or as reward. i.e. I control it so that I can control balance and power.

IMO, if exotic armors are available for purchase, then you are simply placing a tax upon druids rather than maintaining an important aspect of the flavor of choosing a druid.

You say you want to control the balance and power of the druid but then say that charging more for the druid is a tax; do you feel the druid is designed to have lower AC than a medium-armor cleric?

 

[Bacon Bits]

Hi ENWorlders, here's a simple question. In your games, how do you handle the druid armor restrictions?

As written.

Are your druids limited to leather and hide armor?

No, but that's about the extent of what they wear.

Do you allow scale and plate armors to be made from animal scales?

Sure.

How much extra do you charge for these exotic armors? Does that only apply to magic items like dragon scale armor?

They're not generally available in the same way that elven chain and mithral armor are not generally available. If you really want it, you're better off commissioning a suit. As dragons are sentient creatures, using dragon hide to manufacture armor is risky at best. Even a metallic dragon is not going to take too kindly to a suit made of dragon hide, even if it's chromatic dragon hide.

We have in the past allowed things such as bone studded armor, bone scale, ankheg chitin breastplate, ceramic plate, etc., but, again, it's never generally available and in many cases requires magic to fashion or reinforce.

If I had to pin it down, I'd say the charge for a commission is about 10 times the normal cost, but, again, the monetary cost is almost never the limiting factor.

 

[abirdcall]

Padded, Leather, and Hide

 

[Sword of Spirit]

I like to think I'd make special armors extremely rare and expensive, but in reality I'm a pushover and a druid player could probably come up with a decent story to justify getting animal part armor without much trouble.

When it comes to the restriction in general, I hate the way it's handled, so I just say that druids are only proficient in hide armor and light armors. If they got proficiency in medium or heavy armor (like by being a mountain dwarf) they could wear the other metal armors just fine. *Most* druids find metal armor distasteful, but that isn't the only interpretation of their philosophy and they don't all subscribe to it. Mountain dwarfs, for example, recognize metal as one of the most naturey things there is.

 

[DEFCON 1]

All my druid players have been Moon Druids thus far and therefore like [MENTION=6801204]Satyrn[/MENTION] said, there's been little need for better armor due to almost always being wildshaped.

 

[BacchusNL]

I see no reason why my Druid wouldn't rock up in half-plate with a shield, either made from something like Umber Hulk chitin or because he has a personality trait where he values his own survival over dumb druidic conventions.