Druid meduim armor

[zylodrizzt]

Just what can they wear that would benefit them more then light armor? Hide is the only thing I see and if you have a maxed out +2 dex you are behind a maxed dex light armor druid or even a +3 dex mod druid. If there is nothing in books then maybe there are homebrew or good reasoning for the restriction?

[MeeposFire]

Just what can they wear that would benefit them more then light armor? Hide is the only thing I see and if you have a maxed out +2 dex you are behind a maxed dex light armor druid or even a +3 dex mod druid. If there is nothing in books then maybe there are homebrew or good reasoning for the restriction?

Well if you are in a "traditional" setting then you could potentially find medium armor made of materials that were not metal and thus usable by you. Then they would be better than light armor assuming you did not have a high dex mod.

[Vaz]

Not much, but;

Half Plate gives +7 total AC for 5 point buy, rather than 9 point buy, a +2 race and 2 ASI's. Scale Mail is +6. Stealth disdvantage doesn't matter, sneak in animal form or Pass Without Trace. I know it's metal, but there is Dragon Scale Mail (Very Rare), for +1 AC, advantage v Dragon Presence and Breath, and resist colours breath)

Ask the DM if you can make Dragon Scale Mail apply to Half Plate for 18AC. Might be difficult though, due to the diminishing returns from higher tier gear (plate sized scales are hard to find etc)

[SharkForce]

unfortunately for druids, 5e seems to be going with the idea that every special material ever counts as a magic item.

still, over time i expect the number of options to increase. to date, there is at least one magical option of interest, in one of the adventure modules (the underdark one, specifically).

it's half-plate made out of fungus, found in the myconid area.

apart from that, well, why is your druid maxing dex or even putting +3 in it really? wisdom is generally much more important for a druid, probably followed by constitution if you intend to spend enough time outside of wild shape for your natural physical attributes to matter. i suppose you could go into dex after that, but at that point you're probably looking at very high level, to a point where it is probably of relatively little concern because you're a high level spellcaster anyways. and you'd probably be better off investing in a feat instead.

[zylodrizzt]

Yes I see your point but imagine if you will a decently rolled stats and a non moon druid. So a druid that will be in natural form most of the time. Well just how does one defend himself effectively? Probably by making dex among the stats he prioritizes first probably going something like wis dex con. Ah but now at that point you realize that you won't get the great wild shapes of a moon druid so now you look at multiclass options and notice that you may just want charisma and may have to try different armor to get effective protection but wait there is only hide which is no better then studded now you feel jipped cause now you know that nearly the only option is barkskin which is concentration so pretty well effective for possibly only a few hits well crud. So how do you fix that druids Ac.

This is the sort of delima I speak of when it comes tenth ruling of no metal armor. Thank you all for the responses. I think ill ask my gm just what I can do.

[Vaz]

Barkskin for AC16 and full Dex from a 2nd level slot. +3 dex =19 base at 3rd level. On a caster.

Not reslly sure why you need much else.

[King539]

Barkskin for AC16 and full Dex from a 2nd level slot. +3 dex =19 base at 3rd level. On a caster.

Not reslly sure why you need much else.

Incorrect. You can't add Dex mod to Barkskin.

[thebiglost1]

Barkskin for AC16 and full Dex from a 2nd level slot. +3 dex =19 base at 3rd level. On a caster.

Not reslly sure why you need much else.

You can add your dex to your AC with barkskin? Why have I never thought of that...

[zylodrizzt]

Personal preference. I prefer not losing out on my opportunity to concentrate on other spells. I prefer not to spend spell slots to only get my Ac up. I did forget about upcasting though I'm not high enough level to utilize it very well yet

[MeeposFire]

You can add your dex to your AC with barkskin? Why have I never thought of that...

Actually you cannot. It sets your AC sort of like heavy armor.

[thebiglost1]

Actually you cannot. It sets your AC sort of like heavy armor.
Thought so. Thanks

[SharkForce]

Yes I see your point but imagine if you will a decently rolled stats and a non moon druid. So a druid that will be in natural form most of the time. Well just how does one defend himself effectively? Probably by making dex among the stats he prioritizes first probably going something like wis dex con. Ah but now at that point you realize that you won't get the great wild shapes of a moon druid so now you look at multiclass options and notice that you may just want charisma and may have to try different armor to get effective protection but wait there is only hide which is no better then studded now you feel jipped cause now you know that nearly the only option is barkskin which is concentration so pretty well effective for possibly only a few hits well crud. So how do you fix that druids Ac.

This is the sort of delima I speak of when it comes tenth ruling of no metal armor. Thank you all for the responses. I think ill ask my gm just what I can do.

well, i'll put it this way:

the only long-duration buff a wizard gets to AC is mage armour. it is worse than studded leather + a shield, which your druid gets, and also worse (if they don't invest in dex heavily) than hide armour + 14 dex + shield, which your druid gets. that wizard *also* has fewer hit points.

so i'm having a hard time feeling too bad for your spellcasting druid on that front :P

you just need to play more like a wizard and less like a barbarian.

(also, if you're thinking you might want to multiclass to take advantage of your nice attributes, you may wish to consider monk or barbarian for better AC. sorcerer and wizard can both also allow you to pick up the mage armour spell if that's what you want).

[zylodrizzt]

Dm said no to metal armor or different materials unless I find magic items so that's ok. I rearranged my stats which he said yes to but now I've got 1 fewer Ac and 6 fewer Hp but being a back row caster should help there. So all in all not too bad. Thanks all.

[D.U.P.A.]

Actually you cannot. It sets your AC sort of like heavy armor.

It is a bit messy. Supposedly it sets it to 16 even if you count shields, cover and other AC modifier.

[Theodoric]

It is a bit messy. Supposedly it sets it to 16 even if you count shields, cover and other AC modifier.
It's actually not that messy, especially not with the FAQ next to it. There are a few different ways to formulate AC (16, 13+Dex, 10+dex+wis, etc.). Barkskin when active adds an extra rule to those formulas saying the end result can never be lower than 16. It's still possible to end up with a higher AC than 16 by using shields, cover, etc., it just doesn't use 16 as a base number for those formulas.

[D.U.P.A.]

So if you have no armor, low dex, shield and behind half cover, your AC is 16 or 20?

[Addaran]

So if you have no armor, low dex, shield and behind half cover, your AC is 16 or 20?

16 AC.

Basically, you count your AC normally, ignoring Barkskin. Then if the end result is lower then 16, it's 16.

It's a bit stupid fluff-wise, the guy with 20 dex and a shield doesn't get any protection from having all his skin super tough. But it's a cool option mechanic wise.

[hymer]

I wouldn't actually recommend using this in a game, but for completion's sake: In the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, there is spiked armour. Which makes no bleeding sense, but seems to be possible to make without metal. It gives you 14 + dex (max 2) IIRC.

[MeeposFire]

IN volos guide there is an armor that mind flayers make that is made of a carapace and is treated as half plate. A druid could wear that but good luck getting one. Getting one would be tough and even if one was captured and found for sale I would think the danger in getting it would make it very expensive.

[Dalebert]

I know it's metal, but there is Dragon Scale Mail (Very Rare), for +1 AC, advantage v Dragon Presence and Breath, and resist colours breath)

How is it metal if it's made of dragon scales?

[Capn Charlie]

Ankheg half plate, if someone can make it down to beregost and thunderhammer smithy is still in business.

[Sigreid]

Our druid wears dragon scale armor. All the fun of scale armor and none of the metal. I know there are some insects that have carapaces that can be used for making armor. In some D&D realms there are also trees whose wood is hard as metal.

[Vaz]

How is it metal if it's made of dragon scales?

Combining several thoughts into one and forgot to edit it out.

[Willie the Duck]

OK, we've established that land druids and moon druids who are out of shapechanges usually should stay in the back line.

Exceptions:

hide + dex 14 + shield + who-knows-what-else is not horrible. It isn't plate+shield, but it isn't horrible.
multiclass into monk, dragon sorcerer, barbarian
be a lizardfolk
any build with a decent con save and few uses for their concentration can use barkskin. It's odd, but not hard to figure out


All of this is not new. The druid has this weird aversion to metal armor in nearly every edition. Is it weird? At this point, a little, since a lot of those 'spanner-in-the-works' rules have gotten replaced in the last few editions. Does it make the DM's decision on the rarity of non-metal special armors a lot more significant than it otherwise would be? Certainly.

[Addaran]

All of this is not new. The druid has this weird aversion to metal armor in nearly every edition. Is it weird? At this point, a little, since a lot of those 'spanner-in-the-works' rules have gotten replaced in the last few editions. Does it make the DM's decision on the rarity of non-metal special armors a lot more significant than it otherwise would be? Certainly.

I don't remember if it was UA or twitter, but i think it's Crawford that said you could remove the metal aversion if it makes sense for the character's concept or the setting. He doesn't think it will make it unbalanced.

Most special armors mentionned are very rare because they also grant some kind of magical bonus. The dragon ones give resistance to an element and the fungus one to poison if i recall what i heard. A basic monstruous monster scale armor that doesn't give resistance or bonus shouldn't be that much rare (not magic lvl rare) then a normal one.

[Willie the Duck]

Sure, they can be rare or expensive or cheap and common depending on whether the DM wants to be nice to the druid.