An armadillo is a mammal, and it's plates are made of the same material hair and nails are made out of, so the bear, a mammal, is technically capable of this. just as capable as they are to do complex thoughts, like your bear does, because it' NOT A BEAR, it's a form you wildshaped into.
"You wildshape into a bear with an armored hide, like an armadillo, underneath your fur." - DM (woah, an easy way to have a bear with a turtle shell defense that doesn't involve bears running around with shells)
Scaly skin = thicker than normal hide / thicker fur / another creative idea
Chameleon carapace = chromatophores in the outer layers of skin, allowing for pigment change, because of the heavy concentration of chromatophores in your skin it is more durable, like the exoskeleton of a bug (which use this method of changing colors, just like octopods)
Thick skin = literally just thicker skin
Physically capable of, wouldn't include the ability to make complex thoughts, unless the entire brain is changed... and that isn't as wild/crazy as a bear having the intellect of a human, because only one species has accomplished that, but multiple have found ways to develop:
"Your game statistics are replaced by the statistics of the beast, but you retain your alignment, personality, and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores"
"Scores", it never says your actual intelligence changes, RAW.. are you going to make them act like a stupid bear? that can only distinguish between friend and foe, and do some basic commands?
Animals in this game are already treated like full intellect humans, and that's not something any of them are "physically capable of" in any of their lineages.
RAW, the DM can rule ALMOST whatever they want. RAW the DM is supposed to be trying to make everyone happy, including themselves. RAW obscure rulings are left up to the DM. RAW, this is an obscure ruling, that GENERALLY is ruled one way, but no rules, specifically, outline this. Sense's are SPECIFICALLY OUTLINED, unlike this.
Now, I think you, as a DM, should evaluate the power creep of your players when it comes to this. All of this is power creep.. but if your other players are experienced, or have incredibly strong builds, then why not give them some power scaling to give the druid an extra boost?
At the end of the day, who, really, cares? youre seriously going to tell someone that rules this they aren't playing REAL RAW D&D?
You'd tell a player no, to this? to little extra AC?
Is the mammoth not going to get the loxodons natural armor, because they don't have "leathery skin"? because it's under fur? or would they let the mammoth have it? and if they did... why not give bears the same thing, since a bears hide is closer to a mammoths, than an elephants(not in thickness, but in how the hide is composed)..? Oh, I know the answer, BECAUSE IT IS UP TO THE DM.
"physically capable" leaves a lot of wiggle room.
An armadillo is a mammal, and it's plates are made of the same material hair and nails are made out of, so the bear, a mammal, is technically capable of this. just as capable as they are to do complex thoughts, like your bear does, because it' NOT A BEAR, it's a form you wildshaped into.
"You wildshape into a bear with an armored hide, like an armadillo, underneath your fur." - DM (woah, an easy way to have a bear with a turtle shell defense that doesn't involve bears running around with shells)
Scaly skin = thicker than normal hide / thicker fur / another creative idea
Chameleon carapace = chromatophores in the outer layers of skin, allowing for pigment change, because of the heavy concentration of chromatophores in your skin it is more durable, like the exoskeleton of a bug (which use this method of changing colors, just like octopods)
Thick skin = literally just thicker skin
Physically capable of, wouldn't include the ability to make complex thoughts, unless the entire brain is changed... and that isn't as wild/crazy as a bear having the intellect of a human, because only one species has accomplished that, but multiple have found ways to develop:
natural armored plating, thick skin, change skin color, etc
"Your game statistics are replaced by the statistics of the beast, but you retain your alignment, personality, and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores"
"Scores", it never says your actual intelligence changes, RAW.. are you going to make them act like a stupid bear? that can only distinguish between friend and foe, and do some basic commands?
Animals in this game are already treated like full intellect humans, and that's not something any of them are "physically capable of" in any of their lineages.
RAW, the DM can rule ALMOST whatever they want. RAW the DM is supposed to be trying to make everyone happy, including themselves. RAW obscure rulings are left up to the DM. RAW, this is an obscure ruling, that GENERALLY is ruled one way, but no rules, specifically, outline this. Sense's are SPECIFICALLY OUTLINED, unlike this.
Now, I think you, as a DM, should evaluate the power creep of your players when it comes to this. All of this is power creep.. but if your other players are experienced, or have incredibly strong builds, then why not give them some power scaling to give the druid an extra boost?
At the end of the day, who, really, cares? youre seriously going to tell someone that rules this they aren't playing REAL RAW D&D?
You'd tell a player no, to this? to little extra AC?
Is the mammoth not going to get the loxodons natural armor, because they don't have "leathery skin"? because it's under fur? or would they let the mammoth have it? and if they did... why not give bears the same thing, since a bears hide is closer to a mammoths, than an elephants(not in thickness, but in how the hide is composed)..? Oh, I know the answer, BECAUSE IT IS UP TO THE DM.