This comes up so many times it annoys me. The answer is yes. Unless you're in adventurers league, most DMs will let you wear metal armour without any problems. The PHB says that druids normally don't wear metal armour. It doesn't say they can't wear it. Studded leather armour is mostly leather, and the studs can be textured as not metal if you want. Remember that the character is yours, so make them in your vision.
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Well, not actually. Druids have a taboo against wearing metal armor and wielding a metal shield. The taboo has been part of the class’s story since the class first appeared in Eldritch Wizardry (1976) and the original Player’s Handbook (1978). The idea is that druids prefer to be protected by animal skins, wood, and other natural materials that aren’t the worked metal that is associated with civilization. Druids don’t lack the ability to wear metal armor. They choose not to wear it. This choice is part of their identity as a mystical order. Think of it in these terms: a vegetarian can eat meat, but chooses not to.
A druid typically wears leather, studded leather, or hide armor, and if a druid comes across scale mail made of a material other than metal, the druid might wear it. If you feel strongly about your druid breaking the taboo and donning metal, talk to your DM. Each class has story elements mixed with its game features; the two types of design go hand in hand in D&D, and the story parts are stronger in some classes than in others. Druids and paladins have an especially strong dose of story in their design. If you want to depart from your class’s story, your DM has the final say on how far you can go and still be considered a member of the class. As long as you abide by your character’s proficiencies, you’re not going to break anything in the game system, but you might undermine the story and the world being created in your campaign.
Given the choice, it is primarily a choice of roleplay. As V2Blast has stated already. But there is nothing stopping a druid from acquiring (either by crafting or finding) medium/heavy armor, or shields made of skin, hide, and bone. Even the lizardfolk have a racial ability where they can create mundane weapons, such as javelins or darts, or a shield out of the remains of a creature. So with a high enough survival check, theoretically, you could craft yourself heavier armor, even heavy armor if you would be proficient. It all depends on the DM's ruling to determine the DC, the time, and/or the cost in skin, hide, and bone.
For example, I had a druid who wouldn't where metal armor, and her AC was an astonishing 11 (+0 dex and leather armor). So her party fashioned her a set of breastplate out of cow bones and hide, using the fighter's leatherworking skills and the lizardfolk's skill with hides.
So as I said, make your own! It won't be too difficult.
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If you're going to purport to provide definitive advice on a topic, I find it a completely odd choice to provide advice directly counter to the rules text on the subject -- one might even call it a hot take. I am completely on Stormknight's side on this. If you want better armor as a druid, find some made out of non-metal.
It just strikes me as odd that someone would choose to play a Druid and then immediately try to countermand one of the tenets of Druids. Be a Nature Cleric if you want to wear metal armor :)
Scale armour (or scale mail) is an early form of armour consisting of many individual small armour scales (plates) of various shapes attached to each other and to a backing of cloth or leather in overlapping rows. Scale armour was worn by warriors of many different cultures as well as their horses. The material used to make the scales varied and included bronze, iron, steel, rawhide, leather, cuir bouilli, seeds, horn, or pangolin scales. The variations are primarily the result of material availability.
Druids are unique. Not everyone wants to play a cleric, nature or otherwise.
Scale armour (or scale mail) is an early form of armour consisting of many individual small armour scales (plates) of various shapes attached to each other and to a backing of cloth or leather in overlapping rows. Scale armour was worn by warriors of many different cultures as well as their horses. The material used to make the scales varied and included bronze, iron, steel, rawhide, leather, cuir bouilli, seeds, horn, or pangolin scales. The variations are primarily the result of material availability.
Druids are unique. Not everyone wants to play a cleric, nature or otherwise.
Exactly, which is the part that begs the question: if you want to play a druid, why would you immediately start tearing apart the bits that make them different?
The full quote from the PHB (Stormknight only quoted the part in parenthesis):
Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields (druids will not wear armor or use shields made of metal)
RAW, non-metallic medium armour is fine (and as the wikipedia link in my previous post demonstrates, scale armour was by no means always made of metal).
A druid typically wears leather, studded leather, or hide armor, and if a druid comes across scale mail made of a material other than metal, the druid might wear it.
You, mighty druid, are free to choose not to wear whatever you like :)
I'm not entirely sure what you're on about, other than pointing out that RAW and RAI, you are not prevented from wearing certain armor types, but you are prevented from wearing certain armor materials. The result is that although you are able to wear medium armor types, only hide is available without finding alternate materials (which is also RAW possible).
The only real question is what special circumstances your DM might require in order for you to find armors made from non-metal materials. There isn't really a question from the rules perspective about whether the druid will wear metal armor.
The only real question is what special circumstances your DM might require in order for you to find armors made from non-metal materials. There isn't really a question from the rules perspective about whether the druid will wear metal armor.
Now we're in violent agreement :)
There's a DM-dependent position ranging from "Sure, just buy your pangolin scale armour alongside the regular scale mail in a shop" (which IMO would be wrong) at one end to "DM says no" (which IMO would equally wrong) at the other.
The only real question is what special circumstances your DM might require in order for you to find armors made from non-metal materials. There isn't really a question from the rules perspective about whether the druid will wear metal armor.
Now we're in violent agreement :)
There's a DM-dependent position ranging from "Sure, just buy your pangolin scale armour alongside the regular scale mail in a shop" (which IMO would be wrong) at one end to "DM says no" (which IMO would equally wrong) at the other.
Yeah, it seems like we were talking past eachother a bit in our previous posts.
I agree. I generally think increased rarity (you have to go somewhere special to find it - turn it into a bit of a quest) and increased cost (2-4x normal price) are sufficient for unique materials.
I like the idea of harvesting materials from rare or hard to kill monsters, then having to find a specialist crafter and reward them appropriately. If you use the advanced monster search filters, you can find monsters with high AC. I particularly like the flavour text on the bulette, you just need a halfling to use as bait!
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Dwarven Druids wearing armor from Bulette's. Which are not only a creature that they are known to make armor from and are highly aggressive dangerous so they must be dealt with. But it's also a non-metal material from a race that is often steeped in metal ore and gems. If the Dwarves can do it it's certain other races can do it. Some might even have an easier time of it. It's always been slightly odd that elves for example might have a majority of their armor made out of metal considering they are so in tune with nature and big on renewable resources in various capacities.
5th edition is probably one of the first editions where not wearing metal armor is also more about flavor and less having a consequence. In past editions it was sometimes pretty brutal to wear metal armor as a druid. Shutting down all kinds of magic and powers for a solid day just for wearing it for a little bit. To the point that as a DM I had even used it as an imprisonment tool against a druid because it was that effective.
Between these two concepts. I don't see how it is really a hard thing to actually kind of follow and help flavor your druid as more than a bunch of mechanics considering with a creative player and DM there are so many alternatives that could make your druid that much more unique and actually stand out that much more as a character. But maybe it's because I've played so long and some of the sparklyness of the mechanics and trying to max them out has worn off for me.
Scale armour (or scale mail) is an early form of armour consisting of many individual small armour scales (plates) of various shapes attached to each other and to a backing of cloth or leather in overlapping rows. Scale armour was worn by warriors of many different cultures as well as their horses. The material used to make the scales varied and included bronze, iron, steel, rawhide, leather, cuir bouilli, seeds, horn, or pangolin scales. The variations are primarily the result of material availability.
Druids are unique. Not everyone wants to play a cleric, nature or otherwise.
Which is kinda my point. If you're going to be a Druid, then be a Druid. Druid's don't wear metal armor.
I think it's much worse as a druid to wear the skin of a living thing that was killed so you could wear its skin than to wear a piece of the earth itself.
What bothers me about this 'rule' is that it makes assumptions about what your druid order holds sacred/taboo. Why would an order of druids who study the stars care about what your armor is made of? And yes, there is the whole 'Talk to the DM' aspect, but that can often lead to player/DM tension if you have a DM who doesn't like to alter the rules at all. Or if you are following a specific adventure book, your DM might not want to take the party on an unscripted sidequest to gather special materials.
I think it's much worse as a druid to wear the skin of a living thing that was killed so you could wear its skin than to wear a piece of the earth itself.
What bothers me about this 'rule' is that it makes assumptions about what your druid order holds sacred/taboo. Why would an order of druids who study the stars care about what your armor is made of? And yes, there is the whole 'Talk to the DM' aspect, but that can often lead to player/DM tension if you have a DM who doesn't like to alter the rules at all. Or if you are following a specific adventure book, your DM might not want to take the party on an unscripted sidequest to gather special materials.
if you respect the animals spirit and make use of all of the carcass then there is not an issue. And the reality is that the sort of midevil fantasy settings that these games work in. They would still be in a time period where every single piece of such an animal would be used. it would actually be skinned and butchered by the owner. The leather would be sold to a tanner to turn into everything from armor to the skin of a drum to parts of shoes and everything in between. All of the meat would be some how used unless there is a real reason to not use some bits. The hooves, bones, and horns would either be ground to use as materials or reagents or otherwise made useful. There is no "slaughter something for it's hide" And leaving the rest of it rot. There would be a lot of consideration and work and usage of every animal that has died.
And that's all assuming that the Druid doesn't just embrace the harshness of the world in the fact that some things often do go to waste or are left to rot and eventually become part of the earth in their own ways by nature itself.
This comes up so many times it annoys me. The answer is yes. Unless you're in adventurers league, most DMs will let you wear metal armour without any problems. The PHB says that druids normally don't wear metal armour. It doesn't say they can't wear it. Studded leather armour is mostly leather, and the studs can be textured as not metal if you want. Remember that the character is yours, so make them in your vision.
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It's worth noting that the Player's Handbook states:
It doesn't say that they "normally don't wear metal armour" which is very much changing the meaning of the text.
It doesn't say they explode or anything, and the wording states that it's definitely a choice, but it's a choice that is integral to being a druid.
There are plenty of options though for wearing heavier armor, including various non-metal substances (chitin, dragon scale etc).
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Relevant answer from the Sage Advice Compendium (this page of the PDF, or here on D&D Beyond):
Given the choice, it is primarily a choice of roleplay. As V2Blast has stated already. But there is nothing stopping a druid from acquiring (either by crafting or finding) medium/heavy armor, or shields made of skin, hide, and bone. Even the lizardfolk have a racial ability where they can create mundane weapons, such as javelins or darts, or a shield out of the remains of a creature. So with a high enough survival check, theoretically, you could craft yourself heavier armor, even heavy armor if you would be proficient. It all depends on the DM's ruling to determine the DC, the time, and/or the cost in skin, hide, and bone.
For example, I had a druid who wouldn't where metal armor, and her AC was an astonishing 11 (+0 dex and leather armor). So her party fashioned her a set of breastplate out of cow bones and hide, using the fighter's leatherworking skills and the lizardfolk's skill with hides.
So as I said, make your own! It won't be too difficult.
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If you're going to purport to provide definitive advice on a topic, I find it a completely odd choice to provide advice directly counter to the rules text on the subject -- one might even call it a hot take. I am completely on Stormknight's side on this. If you want better armor as a druid, find some made out of non-metal.
It just strikes me as odd that someone would choose to play a Druid and then immediately try to countermand one of the tenets of Druids. Be a Nature Cleric if you want to wear metal armor :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_armour:
Druids are unique. Not everyone wants to play a cleric, nature or otherwise.
Exactly, which is the part that begs the question: if you want to play a druid, why would you immediately start tearing apart the bits that make them different?
The full quote from the PHB (Stormknight only quoted the part in parenthesis):
RAW, non-metallic medium armour is fine (and as the wikipedia link in my previous post demonstrates, scale armour was by no means always made of metal).
Lo and behold, RAI:
You, mighty druid, are free to choose not to wear whatever you like :)
I'm not entirely sure what you're on about, other than pointing out that RAW and RAI, you are not prevented from wearing certain armor types, but you are prevented from wearing certain armor materials. The result is that although you are able to wear medium armor types, only hide is available without finding alternate materials (which is also RAW possible).
The only real question is what special circumstances your DM might require in order for you to find armors made from non-metal materials. There isn't really a question from the rules perspective about whether the druid will wear metal armor.
Now we're in violent agreement :)
There's a DM-dependent position ranging from "Sure, just buy your pangolin scale armour alongside the regular scale mail in a shop" (which IMO would be wrong) at one end to "DM says no" (which IMO would equally wrong) at the other.
Yeah, it seems like we were talking past eachother a bit in our previous posts.
I agree. I generally think increased rarity (you have to go somewhere special to find it - turn it into a bit of a quest) and increased cost (2-4x normal price) are sufficient for unique materials.
I like the idea of harvesting materials from rare or hard to kill monsters, then having to find a specialist crafter and reward them appropriately. If you use the advanced monster search filters, you can find monsters with high AC. I particularly like the flavour text on the bulette, you just need a halfling to use as bait!
If a druid kill a bunch of pangolins to get scale mail armor, in my opinion they deserve to die/lose their druid powers.
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What about a bunch of scaled aberrations, fiends, evil dragons, undead, (do you see where I'm going with this?)?
Dwarven Druids wearing armor from Bulette's. Which are not only a creature that they are known to make armor from and are highly aggressive dangerous so they must be dealt with. But it's also a non-metal material from a race that is often steeped in metal ore and gems. If the Dwarves can do it it's certain other races can do it. Some might even have an easier time of it. It's always been slightly odd that elves for example might have a majority of their armor made out of metal considering they are so in tune with nature and big on renewable resources in various capacities.
5th edition is probably one of the first editions where not wearing metal armor is also more about flavor and less having a consequence. In past editions it was sometimes pretty brutal to wear metal armor as a druid. Shutting down all kinds of magic and powers for a solid day just for wearing it for a little bit. To the point that as a DM I had even used it as an imprisonment tool against a druid because it was that effective.
Between these two concepts. I don't see how it is really a hard thing to actually kind of follow and help flavor your druid as more than a bunch of mechanics considering with a creative player and DM there are so many alternatives that could make your druid that much more unique and actually stand out that much more as a character. But maybe it's because I've played so long and some of the sparklyness of the mechanics and trying to max them out has worn off for me.
Which is kinda my point. If you're going to be a Druid, then be a Druid. Druid's don't wear metal armor.
I think it's much worse as a druid to wear the skin of a living thing that was killed so you could wear its skin than to wear a piece of the earth itself.
What bothers me about this 'rule' is that it makes assumptions about what your druid order holds sacred/taboo. Why would an order of druids who study the stars care about what your armor is made of? And yes, there is the whole 'Talk to the DM' aspect, but that can often lead to player/DM tension if you have a DM who doesn't like to alter the rules at all. Or if you are following a specific adventure book, your DM might not want to take the party on an unscripted sidequest to gather special materials.
if you respect the animals spirit and make use of all of the carcass then there is not an issue. And the reality is that the sort of midevil fantasy settings that these games work in. They would still be in a time period where every single piece of such an animal would be used. it would actually be skinned and butchered by the owner. The leather would be sold to a tanner to turn into everything from armor to the skin of a drum to parts of shoes and everything in between. All of the meat would be some how used unless there is a real reason to not use some bits. The hooves, bones, and horns would either be ground to use as materials or reagents or otherwise made useful. There is no "slaughter something for it's hide" And leaving the rest of it rot. There would be a lot of consideration and work and usage of every animal that has died.
And that's all assuming that the Druid doesn't just embrace the harshness of the world in the fact that some things often do go to waste or are left to rot and eventually become part of the earth in their own ways by nature itself.
Tasha's made it so you could rebuild any race to be anything virtually anything you want, breaking world lore that has been around for decades...
But tree huggers better not be caught with a metal shield, or what?
Guess what happens when you equip half plate in DDB? Your AC goes up and you get disadvantage on stealth. Nothing else.