Armor Proficiencies

[lytokk]

So, in my players last game, they came across a set of Gold Dragonplate Armor. No one in the group wears heavy armor, and the druid's player realized this was something they could actually wear, except its heavy armor. I have a weapon proficiency house rule, which means you can train in any normal weapon (simple or martial, not exotic) and avoid taking the feat. Training involves a 60 day time, in which you train with the weapon every day. Someone proficient with the weapon helping you cuts the time by half, if they have weapon focus another half, greater weapon focus another half, and so on. And at the end of the training, they have to make a difference in a battle with the weapon while taking the -4 non-proficiency penalty.

So I thought, there should be a method for getting armor proficiencies like this right? But I can't think of anything other than spending time in the armor.

Any thoughts on how to do this armor training?

[Red Fel]

Any thoughts on how to do this armor training?

Well, there is the feat (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#armorProficiencyHeavy). But you say you don't want that.

There is also an enhancement you can get on armor - I don't remember which it is - that reduces the armor check penalty. Since the penalty for non-proficiency is based upon the ACP, lowering the ACP also lowers the non-proficiency penalty. As I recall, Dragonplate is basically full plate, but non-metal, so that's an ACP of 6. Making it masterwork reduces its ACP by 1. If you could add materials or enhancements to further lower that, even training becomes a non-issue.

Also, unless you're using a Wilding Clasp, the armor melds into your Wild Shape, so it won't impede your Druid when he's a bear.

Really, though, if you want to do armor training the way you do weapon training, it's the same thing - wear it every day for 60 days, practicing your mobility and sparring and whatnot, until you get the feel of it. If you're willing to do it for weapons, may as well do it for armor too.

[RedMage125]

The armor enhancement Red refers to is Nimbleness (worth a +1 bonus, found in the Magic Item Compendium).

OP:
The penalty for wearing armor with which you are not proficient is to take the armor's Armor Check Penalty to your attack rolls.

I'm a big fan of game balance, so I think taking the feat for your druid should be required, as that represent the training he/she has done to wear the armor.

HOWEVER, since your DM has already established a precedent with weapons, here's my suggestion:

You wear the armor, and suffer the ACP to your attack rolls. After a time period determined by your and the DM (maybe after every so many combats, after an in-game week, etc.), the ACP to your attack rolls gets reduced by 1, until you are no longer taking it to your attack rolls. Obviously, this won't reduce the ACP to relevant skills, just the "non proficiency penalty" to your attack rolls.

[lytokk]

I kinda like the week of training per ACP. The whole idea behind the weapon proficiency was simply that over time, anyone should be able to use any weapon they want, and for builds that leave you pretty feat starved, taking a single weapon proficiency feat can really hurt. I also like to discourage dips into say fighter just for the feat and proficiency.

But the week wearing the armor to get used to it per ACP seems like it'd work very well for my games. So thank you.

[atomicwaffle]

while wearing the armor, add in periodic balance and/or dexterity checks.