Quote Originally Posted by Tanarii View Post
Nitpick ... AD&D 1e was neither the beginning of D&D nor the beginning of the Druid class. Because from Dungeons & Dragons Supplement III - Eldritch Wizardry, which is where the Druid class first appeared as a PC class:
"They may wear armor of leather, and use wooden shields. They may not use metallic armor."

Roleplaying rules for Druids, from the same book:
"Druids have an obligation to protect woodland animals and plants, especially trees. Unlike the obligation of lawful and good types towards others of this sort, the tendency of druids will be to punish those who destroy their charges, rather than risk their own lives to actually save the threatened animal or plant. Druids will not slay an animal if it can be avoided, and they can never willingly or deliberately destroy a copse, woods or forest —no matter how enchanted or evil it may be—although they may attempt to modify such a place with their own [sic] magicks."

Like most roleplaying games, D&D has a long history of roleplaying rules and/or restrictions. It's a modern fallacy that players must/should be in charge of what their PC believes at all times. Just as the idea that all rules can be divided into the categories of fluff/mechanics is a modern fallacy.
Thank you, saved me the trouble. EW is the basis of my first Druid ever.
Quote Originally Posted by Astofel View Post
Except that the very same SA article you quoted in post 31 also says that the DM has the final say in regards to how far you can go from your class's story and still be considered a member of that class, which is to say that if the DM decides that wearing metal armour is going too far for a druid, you can't be a druid and wear metal armour.

And no-one is arguing that druids can't wear metal armour ever because RAW, they're saying that if you're playing in a game that for whatever reason abides strictly by RAW they can't wear metal armour in that game.
Well put.