Druids and Oriental Adventures Armor

[Xahn'Tyr]

Some of the armor in Oriental Adventures looks like it is better than the druid-fare found in the PHB. And it looks to be made out of kosher materials, for example:

Leather Scale (light armor with 3 AC)
and
Dhenuka (medium, rhino hide with 4AC)

Do you think a druid could wear these? If you made Rhino Hide armor out of the Dhenuka, do you think it would be a base AC of 4+2 rather than plain old hide armor (which would be 3+2)?

Are there any other good druid armor options for low levels (like 3-4) in the "official" books?

And speaking of druids and armor, is it possible to train a non-horse pet to wear barding? (ie. could a wolf or dire wolf use one of his "tricks" to learn to wear custom leather barding like a horse could)? I found the stuff on prices in the PHB but it looks like it is just taking about horses there...

 

[hong]

Some of the armor in Oriental Adventures looks like it is better than the druid-fare found in the PHB. And it looks to be made out of kosher materials, for example:

Leather Scale (light armor with 3 AC)
and
Dhenuka (medium, rhino hide with 4AC)

Do you think a druid could wear these? If you made Rhino Hide armor out of the Dhenuka, do you think it would be a base AC of 4+2 rather than plain old hide armor (which would be 3+2)?

There's nothing wrong with it, since it isn't made of metal. But really, though, if you're playing in an OA campaign, you should be using OA classes. The shaman fills very much the same niche as the druid, in this case.

As for the rhino hide thing, I'd say you can either make it as a dhenuka +2 (AC +6), or as magical rhino hide as per the DMG. Note that the DMG item isn't the same as a regular suit of armour enchanted to +2.

 

[EOL]

And speaking of druids and armor, is it possible to train a non-horse pet to wear barding? (ie. could a wolf or dire wolf use one of his "tricks" to learn to wear custom leather barding like a horse could)? I found the stuff on prices in the PHB but it looks like it is just taking about horses there...

I don't see any reason why you couldn't use barding on non-traditional animals. Like a worg or dire wolf.

 

[Avatar of the North]

MotW has rules for teaching tricks to animals with the Handle animal skill and wearing armor/barding is one of the said tricks

 

[Black Omega]

I don't see any problem with allowing the other animal hide armors, it doesn't seem unbalancing. And I'm assuming barding can be used for more than just horses.

 

[Xahn'Tyr]

Re: Re: Druids and Oriental Adventures Armor

As for the rhino hide thing, I'd say you can either make it as a dhenuka +2 (AC +6), or as magical rhino hide as per the DMG. Note that the DMG item isn't the same as a regular suit of armour enchanted to +2.

Umm, the SRD indicates that it is very much (as in exactly) like a regular suit of armor enchanted to plus 2:

Rhino Hide

<p>This +2 hide armor is made from rhinoceros hide. In addition
to granting a +2 enhancement AC bonus, it has a -1 armor check
penalty and doubles all damage dealt by a charge attack made by
the wearer

And just a side note about using OA stuff, my druid is a half-orc shamman type from the steppes (rather Mongolian). We're playing in a Eruo-type setting, but it would make sense for him to have had exposure to some eastern technology; and as a low level druid, he is rather hurting for decent armor.

 

[Zhure]

Also noteworthy for Druids in campaigns using OA material there are two armor enhancements that caught my eye. (I don't recall their names and the books is way over there ::.pointing.::

The +1 version lets you add the enhancement bonus on your armor to your AC as a deflection bonus when you wildshape.

The +2 version lets you retain the entire armor bonus and enhancement when you wildshape.

(Doing this from memory, forgive any errors.)

Greg

 

[Noldor Elf]

Hopefully my DM would allow that enchantment to be added to my wooden chain shirt.

 

[hong]

Re: Re: Re: Druids and Oriental Adventures Armor

Umm, the SRD indicates that it is very much (as in exactly) like a regular suit of armor enchanted to plus 2:

Umm, didn't you notice the bit there about doubling your damage on a charge attack?

 

[DM_Matt]

Some of the armor in Oriental Adventures looks like it is better than the druid-fare found in the PHB. And it looks to be made out of kosher materials, for example:

Dhenuka (medium, rhino hide with 4AC)

Last time I checked, Rhino's weren't kosher....