i thought that Druids of Meliliki and only Druids of Meliliki can use chain shirts but are not able to use anything else different then other druids. am i just mistaken? i didn't wanna ask this in the other thread so i made another. i could have swore i read this in a source book but don't want to search through all my books.
From the Mielikki entry of Faiths and Pantheons, page 48:
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Her druids may use armor and weapons allowed to rangers and not be in violation of their sacred oaths.
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From the Druid entry in Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, page 23:
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Mielikki, who is famous for the number of druid/rangers who worship her, has more lenient spiritual oaths than most deities that druids worship in the Realms. Druids of Mielikki can use any of the standard armor or weapons that rangers normally use (all simple and martial weapons, all light and medium armor, and all shields) without violating their spiritual oaths.
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The normal druid restriction is (PHB 3.5 pg. 34):
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Druids are proficient with light and medium armor but are prohibited from wearing metal armor; thus, they may wear only padded, leather, or hide armor. (A druid may also wear wooden armor that has been altered by the
ironwood spell so that it functions as though it were steel. See the
ironwood spell description, page 246.) Druids are proficient with shields (except tower shields) but must use only wooden ones.
A druid who wears prohibited armor or carries a prohibited shield is unable to cast druid spells or use any of her supernatural or spell-like class abilities while doing so and for 24 hours thereafter.
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So, to answer your question directly, druids of Mielikki can use chain shirts and anything else rangers can use (though they don't gain proficiency in such items if they don't have it). This only applies to druids of Mielikki.
There is no way to differentiate between an Ironwood breastplate and a normal steel breastplate in FRC however, unless we just say there are no Ironwood breastplates or limit it to specific custom label/description items. To my knowledge we are not expressly doing so and druids do get Medium armour proficiency.
In D&D Hide armour is a medium armour so it makes more sense for druids to have medium armour proficiency. In NWN, however, the game engine makes no distinction between hide armour (3 AC) and studded leather armour (3 AC), and it considers both (since they are the same item with different names) to be light armour. By the book, hide and studded leather are not equivalent. Another fancy Bioware shortcut. (Please note sarcasm.)
