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Originally posted by SixOfSpades:
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Originally posted by mad=dog:
In basic D&D the rule is as simple as you put it - no metal allowed at all.
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Well, actually, no iron. Bronze was commonly used, and, as you quoted, gold and silver are all right. (But, since all the metal weapons in the game are made of steel, this loophole is never seen.)
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The weapons allowed are Club, Dart, Spear, Sickle, Dagger, Scimitar, Sling and Staff.
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And they all make sense, except the Scimitar. I'd be willing to bet that Daggers are included either because they, too, are a sacred blade, used to perform ceremonial sacrifices in the same was as a a sickle, or because TSR knew that nobody was going to include Sickle as a separate weapon proficiency just for Druids (and Ilyich). Of course, the concept of a sickle as a combat weapon is laughable anyway: They're built to be stronger than stalks of corn, not Plate armor. [/QUOTE]The rule my GM always played by was no manufactured armor, meaning if you as a druid mined the ore, smelted it, and made it yourself you could wear any type of armor, as you would presumably have the knowledge of how to go about doing so with the least environmental impact, ie building a mine vs panning for gold. This rule also would apply to non-metal armors such as leather that are manufactured (the tanner down the street could be dumping his chemicals into the streams and destroying wildlife), and seems more in keeping with the druid's role in an AD&D game. Also many daggers are curved like sickles (take a look at nearly all middle eastern daggers) much like the scimitar, the main different is the cutting edge. Given the importance of nature, and by logical extension the moon, on druids a weapon that emulates the moon in it's crescent phase would seem to be sacred, and thus kosher. The primary reason shamshirs (or scimitars) were not used by druids can likely be explained away by lack of exposure.
(from the arms and equipment guide - The sabre was initially developed in Central Asia, used by tribes that wandered the steppes. By the 9th century, the Slavs, who battled the Asians, had adopted the weapon. The term sabre is Slavic-Hungarian. Sabres were used extensively in central and eastern Europe and by the Turks. The Persian style of the sabre was discovered by Napoleon's troops. This version was known as the shamshir, which is commonly called the scimitar. This blade has a greater curve to it and is tapered to an elongated, sharp point. Copyright 1998 TSR Inc.)