Druid's no Metal at all

[Koates]

No metal armour at all please
No metal weapon's

add animal scale armours.

add dwarvish stone weapon's.

add Obisdian Glass knives, spears, arrowheads.

Corrupted animals (demon goats) if you capture it as a pet it will make you corrupted over time.

it seems wrong some how as a druid to even use bows which is a skill ment for hunting animal's, it would be interesting to see druid's as more of javelin or spear thrower if not using quarter staffs.

Maybe look into the aspects of some of the meso-american cultures for druid weapon's or if you do add Shaman's it's great way to build unique classes with looking into some of those excisting culture's

Even Maori Whale spear's made from Whale bone's like people evolve with what they got what creatures can we harvest in Baldurs gate. or is there land's further away where tribal type weapon's do make it to market or lost cave's.

[Metallicus]

Why no metal? Do you think iron and other metals aren’t natural elements found in nature or do you consider Druid’s too stupid to smelt?

[trippint82]

Eh if you are talking Metal Armor there are options to have just as good of armor by using scales, hides or shells of many of the creatures in the realms. With Druids I think it has more to do with things being made of materials that have some sort of life force behind them. It is really more of a lore thing or flavor thing. Kinda how armor can cause some spell failure for some reason.

Baldur's Gate Ankheg plate mail

Icewind Dale Umber Hulk Plate

Oh and btw those armors would look pretty damn cool

[Koates]

Originally posted by Metallicus:

Why no metal? Do you think iron and other metals aren’t natural elements found in nature or do you consider Druid’s too stupid to smelt?

No it's more to do with the processing of raw materials, you don't just simply heat up metal and it becomes liquid you add arsenic and other chemicals to create a process which takes the natural materials essence away,. corrupting the natural elements into something entirely different, You can make leather by using amonia from your piss so yeah there's a more natural process too leather making than metal.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Originally posted by Koates:

Originally posted by Metallicus:

Why no metal? Do you think iron and other metals aren’t natural elements found in nature or do you consider Druid’s too stupid to smelt?

No it's more to do with the processing of raw materials, you don't just simply heat up metal and it becomes liquid you add arsenic and other chemicals to create a process which takes the natural materials essence away,. corrupting the natural elements into something entirely different, You can make leather by using amonia from your piss so yeah there's a more natural process too leather making than metal.

That's complete non-sense.

Not only is the curing of leather just as synthetic as anything you might use to smelt metal, nowhere in D&D's lore or rules systems does it say that metal loses it's "essence" (whatever that even means) when it's worked by metal workers.

The rule was literally there for balance and no other reason. The idea that Druid's don't use metal because it's "less natural" is complete non-sense.

[Cirrus]

Originally posted by Koates:

it seems wrong some how as a druid to even use bows which is a skill ment for hunting animal's, it would be interesting to see druid's as more of javelin or spear thrower if not using quarter staffs..

Logic seems faulty. Spear and javelin skills are exactly same.

And this is d&d 5e. Druids will have and should have all the skills from it. No room for homebrewing like that. Imo it would be even incredible stupid.

[Malterras]

Originally posted by Koates:

No metal armour at all please
No metal weapon's

add animal scale armours.

add dwarvish stone weapon's.

add Obisdian Glass knives, spears, arrowheads.

Corrupted animals (demon goats) if you capture it as a pet it will make you corrupted over time.

it seems wrong some how as a druid to even use bows which is a skill ment for hunting animal's, it would be interesting to see druid's as more of javelin or spear thrower if not using quarter staffs.

Maybe look into the aspects of some of the meso-american cultures for druid weapon's or if you do add Shaman's it's great way to build unique classes with looking into some of those excisting culture's

Even Maori Whale spear's made from Whale bone's like people evolve with what they got what creatures can we harvest in Baldurs gate. or is there land's further away where tribal type weapon's do make it to market or lost cave's.

First of all, the druid metal taboo only extends to armor, not weapons. In previous editions of d&d, there were actual penalties to druids that chose to use metal armor, i.e. no spellcasting for 24 hours. The penalty has been removed in 5th edition and the flavor text has been changed to "will not" wear it as opposed to "can not". The implication is that it is an old taboo, and they preferred armor made of more natural components due to their close bond with nature. We also must assume that, due to their inherent neutrality, druids are, more often than not, not active adventurers, and their needs are different than those of a druid forced into a situation where they are an active combatant frequently.

The major issue with this is a lack of intermediate medium armor (levels 5-10) that isn't made of metal. eventually yes, you might find drakescale, or learn the ironwood spell, but until that happens you are basically stuck at AC15 with a shield, which is not great as your enemies begin to do more damage with increased hit chance. It becomes a serious hurdle in an actual 5e game when all the other players at the table are finding great gear they can use, and you're stuck in the same studded leather you had since level 1 or 2. Most DM's i know of either ignore this taboo outright, or they make it part of the roleplay with a minor consequence in certain situations.

The best analogy i've found is this ; "Can a vegetarian eat meat?" Of course they can, they simply choose not to. They can always choose to eat it as well if it's all they have. If you want to roleplay a more orthodox druid in game and not wear metal armor, that option is still available to you.

As for bows, nowhere does it say that druids don't hunt or eat meat, only that they respect a balance, implying they only take what they need. Much like the "lawful stupid paladin" trope, there is also the "tree hugger druid" trope, and neither are much fun to play with at the table. From a roleplay perspective, try to respect life and nature when possible, and if more natural types of armor provide the same benefit, of course you should choose them. In some campaigns though your DM is not going to throw a set of ironwood chainmail on a random bandit, and you can't charm or shoo off every wolf you encounter in the wilds. You cant preserve the balance if you're dead, and sometimes you have to make compromises.

[Mosey]

Just a few things here.

Druid's don't have proficiency in ranged weapons. So there is that.

Secondly, if your druid is from a backwards culture that uses obsidian knives one would hope your druid would be at least as smart as real world cultures that quickly realized obsidian versus steel ends badly for them.

Nowhere does it state that Druids are so stupid that they can't evolve their materials choices when faced with certain death by continuing to use weapons that break the first time you use them. Even native american tribes tried to get their hands on as many guns as they could.

It might make sense for a druid to only be allowed to START with shabby gear, but after a few levels one might expect them to see the WISDOM in using materials that can actually withstand even one battle. Recall that WISDOM is their primary stat, and that WISDOM might dictate a less suicidal approach to combat.

[jinath715]

I wonder if the OP has ever played D&D or any of the previous Baldur's Gate games.

[Nessa]

Did you know that in 3rd edition Druids of Mielikki and Lurue could wear metal armour, unlike other druids? ;)
They also gained proficiency with all Martial Weapons.

As for Druids and metal weapons? The iconic weapon of a druid in D&D is Scimitar. Why? Not a clue. Has been since the very beginning, and hopefully will always be.
Then again, I prefer my Elf Druids dual wielding longswords or coming with a longbow. :)

[Malterras]

Originally posted by Mosey:

Just a few things here.

Druid's don't have proficiency in ranged weapons. So there is that.

Secondly, if your druid is from a backwards culture that uses obsidian knives one would hope your druid would be at least as smart as real world cultures that quickly realized obsidian versus steel ends badly for them.

Nowhere does it state that Druids are so stupid that they can't evolve their materials choices when faced with certain death by continuing to use weapons that break the first time you use them. Even native american tribes tried to get their hands on as many guns as they could.

It might make sense for a druid to only be allowed to START with shabby gear, but after a few levels one might expect them to see the WISDOM in using materials that can actually withstand even one battle. Recall that WISDOM is their primary stat, and that WISDOM might dictate a less suicidal approach to combat.

Elf Druids can use long and shortbows, as well as long and shortswords as a racial proficiency.

[Cirrus]

Originally posted by Malterras:

Elf Druids can use long and shortbows, as well as long and shortswords as a racial proficiency.

+ Drow druids hand crossbow

[guard65]

Time to toss my lunch, bring me a bucket.

Druids are just twisted nature clerics not that all clerics aren't twisted,

So druid college doesn't have a class on swordsmanship does not mean they will not pick it up else where. I can almost synergize with the concept that metal armor might block the absorption of the power of nature around them as magic power but then druids will be useless outside of nature and kills the breed altogether except in special environmental circumstances. Bring out your dead (class).

The only reason that I can see for not using metal is strait up shape shifting and even then special armor could be used. What does happen to plate when you shape-shift?

[Membi]

Originally posted by guard65:

What does happen to plate when you shape-shift?

I guess that depends on what you shapeshift into. A creature of smaller size or not constrained by a humans limbs, for example a small cat or a snake...the armor falls off. Something bigger like a bear...the armor breaks by its joints like all armor would.

Naturally, shapeshifters shouldn't be able to shift their possessions with them since they aren't part of the shapeshifters anatomy but for game mechanics it's allowed since dropping/breaking your armor(or a little better, keeping it in inventory but having to re-equip it afterwards) every time you shapeshift, would get tiresome extremely fast.

Edit: Sorry for revival of thread, didn't realize it was a couple of months old.

[Dis Lexic]

According to the PHB (or at least the details on DnD Beyond), when you wild shape "You choose whether your equipment falls to the ground in your space, merges into your new form, or is worn by it. Worn equipment functions as normal, but the DM decides whether it is practical for the new form to wear a piece of equipment, based on the creature’s shape and size. Your equipment doesn’t change size or shape to match the new form, and any equipment that the new form can’t wear must either fall to the ground or merge with it. Equipment that merges with the form has no effect until you leave the form."

So it could break your armour, but its just as likely that it simply melts into your form like it works with things like Polymorph.

[Deathy]

No bows because it's meant for hunting animals, really?? You think all druids are neutral good vegans? What about druids that believe in survival of the fittest..

You know evil druids exist too right?