Hey, Multiclassed 5E Druids Could You Please Not Wear Metal Armor?

When I was new to Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition, I spotted a potential loophole regarding druids. Back in the old days, druids were prohibited from wearing metal armor such as plate mail. D&D 5E had a curious note regarding armor. Merely, druids choose not to wear metal armor.

One could surmise the taboo would extend to single-classes druids and those from races without armor proficiencies. What about Fighters or Paladins with heavy armor proficiency who later multiclass into druid? After all, they all ready are proficient in plate mail. A fighter-druid clad in plate mail! While in previous editions armor hindered spell-casting, Fifth edition (5E) ties unimpeded spell-casting to proficiency. If the caster is proficient in the donned armor, the caster suffers no ill effects casting spells. Ergo, there really is nothing in the rules mechanically forbidding a druid from wearing plate mail if proficient.


Wait, multi-classing is an optional rule. Must every core class account for character multi-classing into it from another class?


Okay, you've got a point there.


What about dwarven druids wearing metal armor? Mountain dwarves have a history of crafting exquisite metal items, armor among them. Not only do they craft metal armor, they wear it as well. In fact, mountain dwarves are proficient in medium so they can don quite a number of metallic armor. Granted, not plate but you get the gist.




However, someone posed the question to WotC's Jeremy Crawford, the de facto rules guru for 5E, Twitter. His answer is an emphatic no.


Neither multi-classed nor dwarven druids can wear any sort of metal armor; because of the setting of D&D. Should a druid with requisite training buck the taboo, the DM is encouraged to take DM action.


I'm old timey gamer so saying my Fighter-Druid can't wear plate mail; because druids just don't do it is enough of an excuse for me. Furthermore, enough of the DMs I play will enforce the taboo either by fiat or by imposing some form of penalty.


Still, even Paladins suffer a mechanical consequence for violating their oaths significantly enough. Why only an honor system approach to the druid?


I guess I am just grumpy that cunning rules exploit, a druid wearing plate mail, is foiled by fluff without a 'this is what happens if you break taboo'. Fifth edition expands Dungeons & Dragons in  many ways.


Just don't break any of the role-play assumptions.


Happy Gaming!


Next time.