I've Googled the question a good 50 times and I can't seem to find an answer.The question being "What nature deities allow their druids to wear medium armor?Does only Mielikki allow this?". I heard Kossuth allows druids that follow him to wear medium armor but I don't know ....(Also I'm not sure if this is in the correct part of the forum)

https://efupw.com/efu1-forum/topic/28/280/druid/index.html?amp;start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

:)

Just when I think I've read every single post ever made.Thanks man, you helped me find what I consider a "loop hole".

I think you meant to say, what deities allow for the use of metals, such as what a ranger is allowed to wear? In any case I believe that link is the one.

Yes, Mielikki allows the use of metal armor (chain/breastplate) that rangers usually wear normally specifically due to the high number of ranger/druids she has under her.

Medium armor is a completely different thing entirely. Any druid can wear any weight of armor so long as it conforms to the oaths made (no metal). Why druids are allowed scimitars is still a question in my head, all the other weapons allowed are wooden and or have quasi-religious bent to them (scythe).

the druid w/scimitar thing seems to go waaay back to box-set rules. I wonder if they felt the class was weak and allowed the curved sword just so they had something to swing with a shield, im just guessing.

Perhaps one rational could be that the curved blade has an earth history of being wielded in the middle-east during medieval times. Those far reaches were considered very exotic and wild. Maybe the scimitar lives on in our imaginations as somethiend swung by empassioned and fervent wildmen.

Just reaching into thin air on that theory, but its been with the class since the beginning and it just stuck somehow. Also, the restriction is mainly to be thought of as metal worn on the body. Perhaps things in your hands dont interfere as much. Then why scimitars and not other swords? Maybe Gary Gygax thought it was cute.

TheBeggar:

Why druids are allowed scimitars is still a question in my head, all the other weapons allowed are wooden and or have quasi-religious bent to them (scythe).

daggers, spears, trident, and sickle. while some could be made of wood, i doubt many are. IM not sure how well you could harvest wheat with a wooden sickle.

Banned Druid:

See? when i cast barksin this helm is wood, not metal!

Schimitars are used to cut through evil vines?

A bit off topic...

Daggers (knives), spears, tridents, and sickles all have origins in hunting/gathering/farming. The scimitar was purely a weapon development for war. I agree that it should not be included, but for whatever reason, it was. I would suggest that if you have a druid, you not use one. But, of course, if it is legal, it is certainly your right to use one.

I say use what is legal as long as you have a reason and good story for using it. If not, I would second Pup.

I also remember something about Ironwood armor? I dunno. Of course, Ironwood can't be had in the UD.

Yes, "metal-like" armor made from ironwood, umber hulk hide or dragonscale and the like are fine for druids to use. The first might be hard in the Underdark, but the second is certainly possible.

although this is a thread on armor, the weapon thing I find interesting. Yes, its not so much about metal but the -origins- of the weapons in hunter/gatherer type implements and farming. Consequently I also find scimitars an odd inclusion.

Meanwhile scythe -isn't- on the list, but probably should be because it is a farming implement.

I'd also like to throw this up there though (mentioned on the Nature deity list in Faiths in Pantheons p.90): Druids whose patron deity wields a weapon of choice that is -not- on the "druid weapon" list are granted permission to wield that weapon of choice, but are not automatically proficient with it.

I was wondering if people thought that EfU should allow for such a ruling? It would mean that a druid of Auril for example could safely use the standard druid weapons plus Battleaxe if they bothered to take Martial proficiency.

Scimitar = Machete ?

Well, I think the scimitar represents this weapon:[url] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Angola.svg

I know that some tribes in our current time use that knife/sword to cut through woods in order to move in the dense woods. So it might made sense that a druid could use it, another weapon which also represents the peasants.

Any druid can wear any weight of armor so long as it conforms to the oaths made (no metal).

Note that they need to take the "Heavy Armor" feat if they wish to wear splint mail (equivalent) or better.

I think the thinking was: It's curved, they must be able to use it!

alogen Scimitar = Machete ?

I think this might be about right. Machetes are often associated with jungle and rainforest environments, and certainly some have the same curved shape and sharp blade as a scimitar

The Beggar Why druids are allowed scimitars is still a question in my head, all the other weapons allowed are wooden and or have quasi-religious bent to them (scythe).

Druids are also allowed to use their Deity's favoured weapon; If you are looking for a good excuse to use a Heavy Flail, go Silvanus! Likewise, to my knowledge, Chauntean Druids are, I believe, the only Druids allowed to wield Scythes. I may be wrong, however, since I am not in the presence of my valued Sourcebooks, but I am fairly certain I am correct.

Why can druids use scimitars? Er... the sad truth?

I recall the answer from my days at 1970-80's wargaming conventions, when someone presented this question to TSR Hobbies. It's not based on ANY historical reference, either real or fictional. Gary Gygax simply figured, "Hell, the scimitar kinda looks like a sickle. Sickles are used to harvest mistletoe. Let's let a druid use a scimitar."

Seriously. Ask him. He's still alive and kicking and must be reachable on the internet somehow or another.

Sadly, it's stuck as "canon" ever since. It's one of those things that is just begging to be corrected. That is, either scratch it off their available weapons list, or allow them to use any curved blade used for harvesting (such as a scythe.)

JackOfSwords That is, either scratch it off their available weapons list, or allow them to use any curved blade used for harvesting (such as a scythe.)

I suggest against scythe. It's for mass harvesting. Taking from nature what we can against taking what nature is willing to give.

Helge

JackOfSwords That is, either scratch it off their available weapons list, or allow them to use any curved blade used for harvesting (such as a scythe.)

I suggest against scythe. It's for mass harvesting. Taking from nature what we can against taking what nature is willing to give.

I agree

Also, I think it's best to keep the scimitar. Coincidence or not, it makes sense if you compare it to machete.

I suggest against scythe. It's for mass harvesting.

I'd tend to believe that would depend on the druid and their pantheon, and I wouldn't personally expect it to be a common view. Why would they have anything against harvesting efficiently?

I'm not too fond of thinking of druids as radical environmentalists, though I know most people play them that way. I doubt the Celtic druids, which is what D&D druids were originally based upon, and whose society relied heavily on agriculture, had anything against any farm tool used responsibly.

Taking from nature what we can against taking what nature is willing to give.

Farmers plant their fields, and nature gives them crops. Whether it is harvested efficiently or not shouldn't matter.

Celtic druids held cycles sacred. Yes, I would expect them to be concerned with whether more was being harvested than was needed, and whether the land was being exhausted (no crop rotation). But I don't see how efficient harvesting would disrupt the natural cycle.

Chaunteans can use it, deity's favored weapon.

9lives I think the thinking was: It's curved, they must be able to use it!

QFT.

I've always thought that the kukiri was the machete.

What of the kama?

It is commonly found in the gardening section in Japanese, er Kara Tur stores. Saw one the other day in Japan town in San Francisco for a few bucks.

Perhaps only Kara Tur druids?

PlayerCharacter I've always thought that the kukiri was the machete.

similar, but they are smaller in length and have a unique shape.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kukri

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machete

i would argue that D&D druids are nothing at all like celtic druids. The celtic druids were not necesarily overly concerned with forests. They were powerful statesmen/shaman types.

Perhaps some chose to live outside town in the woods, but thats nothing like the fantasy druids who hang about in their sacred grove frolicking with unicorns and faeries and such :P

also, about the blades. In many ancient traditions, including the celts, shamanistic folk who harvested sacred herbs in the wilds did so with a technique called 'waildcrafting'. This technique is also practiced now in modern times when herbalists or fungus hunters go out into the forests to get their goodies. Basically, you only remove a small part of each plant, keeping the whole intact to continue to grow and thus continue to provide in the future. There is a small, curved hand blade used by some wiccans to perform this in a ritualistic way, for it is also believed that the method of the harvesting confers properties to the harvested herb.

my druid uses the scimitar. my druid is a dwarf. my druid is a follower of kossuth. my druid is a weird old dude.

Basically, you only remove a small part of each plant, keeping the whole intact to continue to grow and thus continue to provide in the future.

Yes, this is true, for those types of plants. Fields of grain for food, however, are a different beast, and harvesting is a whole scale different. Returning seed to the ground and rotating crops are what keeps the sustained cycle of life going.

It would take a considerable amount of effort to convince me that druids "by nature" would frown on tools that can reap more efficiently. It would make more sense to me that they would hold the most effective tools/methods "sacred".

Fact is, not a whole heckuvalotta thought went into early D&D rules, even less effort went into research, and some silly things stuck where people invented justifications for later. Eventually, enough time goes by, people say it's "tradition". Which is pretty much where it is now.

PlayerCharacter I've always thought that the kukiri was the machete.

The kukri is a weapon used by the people, of the desert. You can see it in the Tribe of the blade ;)

But also in the Movie "The Mummy" the weapon of choice of the guardian there. It is a small weapon.

While the Machete is more a sword, medium one, and just long and strong enough to cut through forests for a path to walk in.

You can see it being used in movies as well, and you could search for it.

I still think the scimitar most resembles it and druids should still have it.

It's obviously for all the pirate druids following Umberlee!

chezcaliente

alogen Scimitar = Machete ?

I think this might be about right. Machetes are often associated with jungle and rainforest environments, and certainly some have the same curved shape and sharp blade as a scimitar

As plausible as that may be, a machete is used to cut away any plants that might be in your way. That doesn't seem very druidic to me.

In fact Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings uses a Kukri as his secondary weapon watch the films it's there.....

(sorry that was a little off topic).

I think it's a fair point about not being able to use the scythe it was a farming implment and at the time of the Druids in Britain i see no reason why they would not use one.

As for Armours Druids can wear metal armour although it means they sacrifice thier spells for a day.... or if you want Heavy Armour they could wear Stone Plate... It's a heavy armour in the Underdark book that is made from interlocking plates of stone so does not violate the oath... i think in most other respects it's similar to scale mail.

Armour-wise: It don't have to be metal to be medium.

As for the discussion about scimitars, it's a fairly moot point, no? Also, Aragorn wasn't a druid! But lets not get drawn into that..

i refuse to talk about this anymore!