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The question on trial: What creature(s) can a Moon Druid transform into that would benefit from humanoid armor?

TL, DR: When druids shapeshift, is there a valid form that benefits from their armor?

It was closed as too broad, likely due to the armor only applying if the DM says it seems reasonable, and I defined the DM's response as "Anything roughly humanoid". This seems somewhat based on the reader's opinion, but hold off on that decision.

I further refined it by mentioning what armor I had, and that the natural armor of the beast could not stack with the armor.

Effectively, I was looking for this information:

  • A DnD 5th edition Beast
  • That was "roughly humanoid" (in any sense of the term)
  • Who's natural armor < studded leather

Someone had answered, with a thorough response. But the answer said there were virtually no options, and the only options available required you to be wearing large armor, meaning I would have to be large myself. Being large is not normally possible for a Druid PC in 5E, and is only available from unofficial sources or extreme edge cases of multiclassing/magical items.

Even if the term "roughly humanoid" was in the most relaxed sense, I don't think it would have opened up any more possibilities. Even further, if I specified that my character wasn't large, but just a standard, official size, then there would be exactly 0 possible answers.

But the question was closed for being too broad. Which seems a bit counterintuitive. Could someone educate me on what I missed with my question, and why it should be closed?

(Note: it's now open again, but I would still like to know the answer to this question.)

[The existing comment-thread on the mainsite question as of the opening of this meta is copied below. -n60]

For those voting to close, could you let me know what's concerning about the question? It seems pretty straightforward to me. – Daniel Zastoupil 2 hours ago

@guildsbounty that's probably the topic of another Q&A. – KorvinStarmast 2 hours ago

I voted to close because the question is equivalent to the following: "List the monsters that a DM might consider to be humanoid-shaped." This is opinion-based because it depends on the DM, and it's effectively a "do my homework" question because we can't ask your DM and all we would do is look through the stat blocks for artwork that kinda looks humanoid-shaped. So I don't see how it's possible to answer the question in a factual and canonical way or rate answers as more or less right. Hence the vote to close. Others may have different reasons for voting to close. – Bloodcinder 1 hour ago

@Bloodcinder I tried to address those kinds of concerns pretty heavily. Even going as far as to explain what the DM would consider acceptable (roughly humanoid), which even the most lax use of the term would strongly limit a list of beasts. It's further limited by bringing up only beasts that can actually get benefit from wearing armor. So far, of a list of monsters, I've gotten 2 options, that are barely different, and none are even usable in most instances (since they are large creatures, and there are no official large PC races). Few questions could have a more refined answer pool. – Daniel Zastoupil 1 hour ago

I disagree, but I have no additional information to add. I'm just telling you why I voted to close. I can't speak for others, but the community hive-mind seems to think there's a problem of scope or factual nature. – Bloodcinder 1 hour ago

@Bloodcinder Sorry, I realize that sounded defensive. I honestly didn't know why the question should be closed, and it looked very well refined and specific. I appreciate your insight, though. – Daniel Zastoupil 53 mins ago

I'm voting to reopen this because "Ask the DM" questions are not equivalent to being opinion-based at all. We answer DM-dependent questions here all the time, and the only answer thus far shows that this is a well-defined and answerable question. – Rubiksmoose 49 mins ago

@Rubiksmoose agreed. I think I've noticed a general trend where people are voting to close any question which requires even the slightest opinion about anything – Wibbs 2 mins ago

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  • 4
    \$\begingroup\$ I'm not sure if copying the comments up there is the best way to deal with it, but with the meta opened I was seeing two "streams" of discussion start to develop and wanted to head that off without losing any of the good discussion. Feel free to edit if you think there's a better way of using/presenting the info. \$\endgroup\$
    – nitsua60 Mod
    Commented Aug 15, 2018 at 20:16
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Wibbs I can't speak to any trend, but I personally don't go around voting to close on things that strike me as slightly opinion based. I do vote to close when I think there's no way to evaluate an answer as correct. \$\endgroup\$
    – Bloodcinder
    Commented Aug 15, 2018 at 22:27
  • \$\begingroup\$ In this case, I find it hard to word my gut reaction, but I feel like there's a difference between a question whose answer is "according to the rules, ask your DM" or "this is how it usually works but ask your DM" and a question whose answer is "ask anybody and you'll get a different answer and you'll just have to guess which one might be helpful." I don't feel passionate enough to argue strongly in favor of closing, and I can't figure out how to articulate my gut feeling. Sorry. \$\endgroup\$
    – Bloodcinder
    Commented Aug 15, 2018 at 22:30
  • \$\begingroup\$ Related FAQ: Does "Ask the DM / GM" equate to "Primarily opinion based?" \$\endgroup\$
    – SevenSidedDie Mod
    Commented Aug 15, 2018 at 22:33
  • \$\begingroup\$ It would be nice if any of the other 4 voters to close would explain their rationale. I can't speak for them, and I can't express anything more cogent on my own. \$\endgroup\$
    – Bloodcinder
    Commented Aug 15, 2018 at 22:34
  • \$\begingroup\$ @sevensideddie Right. I'm sort of arguing that this is a different category than "ask the DM." \$\endgroup\$
    – Bloodcinder
    Commented Aug 15, 2018 at 22:36
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Bloodcinder No worries. Any information is better than none. After looking at it for a while, I think part of it is the fact that my question asks for all possible answers. Where most questions are funneled (so that there's one best answer), this one is filtered (so that x possible answers are remaining). Even if it's filtered to 1 possible answer, it doesn't feel like it's really "the best explained answer". It's still asking for a list, which is bad, but the answer only has 1-2 things on it, which is...fine? \$\endgroup\$
    – Man_Over_Game
    Commented Aug 15, 2018 at 22:36
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ I think HellSaint's comment on your new question expresses something I couldn't before. I've transcribed it here. 'I think it isn't simply an "Ask the DM", it's a "First get an idea, then ask the DM if you can actually do it" - and the "first get an idea" part is not good for RPG.se.' Not sure if that's completely helpful or convincing, but I thought I'd share here for relevance. \$\endgroup\$
    – Bloodcinder
    Commented Aug 16, 2018 at 19:14
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Bloodcinder I read that comment too, but I wasn't sure what he meant. Could you explain further? \$\endgroup\$
    – Man_Over_Game
    Commented Aug 16, 2018 at 20:08
  • \$\begingroup\$ I'm sorry, I can't elucidate any further. \$\endgroup\$
    – Bloodcinder
    Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 1:33

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