Due to your shell and the shape of your body, you are ill-suited to wearing armor. Your shell provides ample protection, however; it gives you a base AC of 17 (your Dexterity modifier doesn’t affect this number). You gain no benefit from wearing armor, but if you are using a shield, you can apply the shield’s bonus as normal.
I am confused by "you gain no benefit from wearing armor." It does not state that you cannot wear armor. I have two questions that illustrate my confusion:
As a fighter, can a tortle take the "Defense" fighting style and benefit from a +1 to AC while wearing armor?
If a tortle is proficient in heavy armor, can it take the "Heavy Armor Master" feat, slap on some ill-fitting ring mail, and benefit from that damage reduction?
I believe you can still use the defence fighting style, since you are “wearing” natural armor. I think the “you gain no benefit from armor” is to make sure players aren’t adding whatever the armor bonus is to the already 17 AC.
The underlying point is that at the Tortle's flat AC of 17 is treated just like Unarmored Defence. A suit of Armor, a Tortle's AC trait, or a Barb or Monk's Unarmored Defence are all different AC calculations, and you only get to use one of those at a time. You can't, say, stack the Tortle's 17 Ac with the Barb's Unarmored Defence, for an AC of 17 + Dex + Con. Just like you can't stack the Barb and Monk for 13 + Dex + Con + Wis. You have to pick just one and use that.
Generally, most tables will say that a Tortle is perfectly capable of wearing armor, but that they must choose between the AC of the armor, or of their racial trait. So if the armor in question provides more AC than 17, you would use the armor. If it gives less, you'd use the racial 17 AC. Even then, though, the DM will probably require a Tortle player to find a crafter who can modify any random suit of armor to fit the Tortle's unique physiology, the same way they would for an Aarakocra to use any random suit of armor with their wings. It's a tax on the character's time and gold to do so, and if it's magical, it might require other components to preserve the enchantment through the modification process.
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The tortle traits state:
I am confused by "you gain no benefit from wearing armor." It does not state that you cannot wear armor. I have two questions that illustrate my confusion:
I believe you can still use the defence fighting style, since you are “wearing” natural armor. I think the “you gain no benefit from armor” is to make sure players aren’t adding whatever the armor bonus is to the already 17 AC.
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D&D Beyond FoundersI'm pretty sure that the was as clarification on this via Twitter somewhere.
As you mention, it says "gain no benefit from wearing armor"
If you were to put armour on and gain the benefit of the defense fighting style, that would be gaining a benefit, which doesn't work.
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As a DM, I would rule that yes, you can take the fighting style, you should get the benefit.
But no way an you gain the benefit of the Heavy Armor Master feat.
The underlying point is that at the Tortle's flat AC of 17 is treated just like Unarmored Defence. A suit of Armor, a Tortle's AC trait, or a Barb or Monk's Unarmored Defence are all different AC calculations, and you only get to use one of those at a time. You can't, say, stack the Tortle's 17 Ac with the Barb's Unarmored Defence, for an AC of 17 + Dex + Con. Just like you can't stack the Barb and Monk for 13 + Dex + Con + Wis. You have to pick just one and use that.
Generally, most tables will say that a Tortle is perfectly capable of wearing armor, but that they must choose between the AC of the armor, or of their racial trait. So if the armor in question provides more AC than 17, you would use the armor. If it gives less, you'd use the racial 17 AC. Even then, though, the DM will probably require a Tortle player to find a crafter who can modify any random suit of armor to fit the Tortle's unique physiology, the same way they would for an Aarakocra to use any random suit of armor with their wings. It's a tax on the character's time and gold to do so, and if it's magical, it might require other components to preserve the enchantment through the modification process.