I think there is a much easier fix all you have to do is allow for more vendors or starting equipment that is a non metal variation this is not hard to find and then it still can have the theme of druids using non metal armor .If clerics can have heavy armor druids should at least be able to use medium armor.
I agree it's a weird thing to drop from the class (especially given the other nerfs) unless they intend to make a more martial druid sub-class (which would be a bit of a weird thing to do).
Really they could do with simplifying armours further as we're in this kind of weird place where we have a bunch of very specific types of armour, but most of them never see any use. For example, has anyone ever played a character with padded or hide armour when leather is readily available?
And really the problem for druids and metal armour is that current armours represent very specifically described kinds of armour, but there are a bunch of equivalent non-metal armours that actually existed that they could be wearing. For example, leather is really just a material you make armour from, as it can range from something lightweight and flexible, to something equivalent to medium or heavy armour depending upon the number of layers and how the leather is treated. Harder to pierce cured leathers are generally less easy to move in or have to be added as leather plates, but the more you add the heavier it gets, so you could easily have heavy leather armour, but with metal armours having the advantage of being lighter for equivalent (or greater) strength.
So it might make more sense to just have generic armours of different qualities mixing strength, weight and cost, and we can decide for ourselves (or our DM can decide) what they're actually made from, though some sample descriptions wouldn't hurt.
I think there is a much easier fix all you have to do is allow for more vendors or starting equipment that is a non metal variation this is not hard to find and then it still can have the theme of druids using non metal armor .If clerics can have heavy armor druids should at least be able to use medium armor.
5e rules are very much down to the DM. You say non metal variants are "not hard to find" and that might be true in your games but I have been in games where the only option is dragon scale armor that you don't get until tier 3. I know it is a change of lore but I am OK with druids getting light and shields. Druids can now wear heavy armor if they multiclass or get it from some other source (note you say clerics can have heavy armor, while true in some 5e subclasses the draft cleric doesn't get heavy in one D&D and life didn't get it at 3 so I suspect unless they make a change there will be no heavy [roficiency for clerics in one D&D).
I am however very disapointed with the other nerfs to druids. Wild shape is weak offensively and useless defensively for non moon druids which is OK (unless you were circle of the moon wild shiape is not for combat in 5e) but you lose all a huge chunk of the versatility of wildshape out of combat, you can't have a burrowing speed or be extra perceptive or athletic, etc. The alternatives to wildshape healing blossoms is fine at low levels but scales terribly (and at high levels it merges with wildshape) and find familiar everyone has so no uniqueness there. Circle of the moon while OK from an offensive point of view is a moon druid is wildshape only has melee attacks has a max AC of 15 (16 at level 20) no save proficiencies and a d8 hit dice and no skirmishing abilities (except flyby if flying but that comes late at the cost of an AC max of 13 and weaker attacks. I do however fully expect that to change in the final release.
Probably a good thing all things being equal. Do I think it's necessary? No. I also never took that "restriction" on metal armor as being a "rule". I felt it was a guideline. It was fluff that they put in, and I don't agree that WotC's fluff gets to determine my character's morality or choices. they can tell me that druids are not proficient with metal armor, but they don't get to say "you are forced to choose not to wear it". The choice to not wear metal armor is an RP option.
They've removed that option, and I am totally ok with that. It was always the principle of them trying to make an RP choice for me that I found problematic.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
I agree this is a bad nerf. They should leave them with medium armor, and then handle this in two ways.
First, by adding relevant non-metal armors to the basic items list. The current 5e items are wack. They need a full balance pass. Add stuff that is missing while doing it.
Two, keep the metal restriction but make it clear what the repercussions are for wearing metal armor. Eg. Let druids keep their armor AC, if it is nonmetal only, while wildshaping.
Boom. Clearcut solution fir why druids prefer nonmetal armor and doesn't nerf them into the ground.
Also fixes the abysmal new wildshape ACs.
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I got quotes!
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I think there is a much easier fix all you have to do is allow for more vendors or starting equipment that is a non metal variation this is not hard to find and then it still can have the theme of druids using non metal armor .If clerics can have heavy armor druids should at least be able to use medium armor.
I agree it's a weird thing to drop from the class (especially given the other nerfs) unless they intend to make a more martial druid sub-class (which would be a bit of a weird thing to do).
Really they could do with simplifying armours further as we're in this kind of weird place where we have a bunch of very specific types of armour, but most of them never see any use. For example, has anyone ever played a character with padded or hide armour when leather is readily available?
And really the problem for druids and metal armour is that current armours represent very specifically described kinds of armour, but there are a bunch of equivalent non-metal armours that actually existed that they could be wearing. For example, leather is really just a material you make armour from, as it can range from something lightweight and flexible, to something equivalent to medium or heavy armour depending upon the number of layers and how the leather is treated. Harder to pierce cured leathers are generally less easy to move in or have to be added as leather plates, but the more you add the heavier it gets, so you could easily have heavy leather armour, but with metal armours having the advantage of being lighter for equivalent (or greater) strength.
So it might make more sense to just have generic armours of different qualities mixing strength, weight and cost, and we can decide for ourselves (or our DM can decide) what they're actually made from, though some sample descriptions wouldn't hurt.
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5e rules are very much down to the DM. You say non metal variants are "not hard to find" and that might be true in your games but I have been in games where the only option is dragon scale armor that you don't get until tier 3. I know it is a change of lore but I am OK with druids getting light and shields. Druids can now wear heavy armor if they multiclass or get it from some other source (note you say clerics can have heavy armor, while true in some 5e subclasses the draft cleric doesn't get heavy in one D&D and life didn't get it at 3 so I suspect unless they make a change there will be no heavy [roficiency for clerics in one D&D).
I am however very disapointed with the other nerfs to druids. Wild shape is weak offensively and useless defensively for non moon druids which is OK (unless you were circle of the moon wild shiape is not for combat in 5e) but you lose all a huge chunk of the versatility of wildshape out of combat, you can't have a burrowing speed or be extra perceptive or athletic, etc. The alternatives to wildshape healing blossoms is fine at low levels but scales terribly (and at high levels it merges with wildshape) and find familiar everyone has so no uniqueness there. Circle of the moon while OK from an offensive point of view is a moon druid is wildshape only has melee attacks has a max AC of 15 (16 at level 20) no save proficiencies and a d8 hit dice and no skirmishing abilities (except flyby if flying but that comes late at the cost of an AC max of 13 and weaker attacks. I do however fully expect that to change in the final release.
Probably a good thing all things being equal. Do I think it's necessary? No. I also never took that "restriction" on metal armor as being a "rule". I felt it was a guideline. It was fluff that they put in, and I don't agree that WotC's fluff gets to determine my character's morality or choices. they can tell me that druids are not proficient with metal armor, but they don't get to say "you are forced to choose not to wear it". The choice to not wear metal armor is an RP option.
They've removed that option, and I am totally ok with that. It was always the principle of them trying to make an RP choice for me that I found problematic.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
I agree this is a bad nerf. They should leave them with medium armor, and then handle this in two ways.
First, by adding relevant non-metal armors to the basic items list. The current 5e items are wack. They need a full balance pass. Add stuff that is missing while doing it.
Two, keep the metal restriction but make it clear what the repercussions are for wearing metal armor. Eg. Let druids keep their armor AC, if it is nonmetal only, while wildshaping.
Boom. Clearcut solution fir why druids prefer nonmetal armor and doesn't nerf them into the ground.
Also fixes the abysmal new wildshape ACs.
I got quotes!