wild shape and "wearing" armor

I see the greatest disparity among rulings regarding wild shape.
so i'm wondering how these overlap. I haven't had a case of this, but I've thought about the build a little, and i'm just wondering how these points overlap/interact.
If you have a monk 4/druid 4 in bear shape ( or any wild shape),
and you've got +1 shadow leather armor on:

• do you count as "wearing armor" as a monk, and lose your speed and monk AC bonuses
  
• do all static properties of your armor keep functioning? ( you specifically lose the armor bonus, but does the +5 to stealth from shadow keep working? )
  
• do you take an armor check penalty while in wild shape?

and then it begs the question. if it were wild armor

• I can see it as being a definite yes to wearing armor, but is it worn or are you just gaining the armor bonus and no penalties to movement?
  
• but do you take the armor check penalty in this case? it only calls out gaining the armor benefit of the armor you're wearing.
  
• does the armor worn impact your speed in wild shape?

and i've seen a lot that if you wear Bracers of Armor, they cease to function in wild shape, unless you can put them on after you wild shape. I've always run them as an armor bonus, but not actual Armor, so as a static magic item, they continue to provide an Armor bonus, similar to someone casting Mage Armor on the druid after they wild shape. But I've heard variance on the boards for that as well.

You are not considered to be wearing armor while polymorphed. Even wild armor isn't really armor; it simply transfers the armor bonus through to your animal form. Thus you do not suffer penalties from wearing the armor when in another form.

Now, as for the shadow effect... I can see the argument here, since it is an 'always on' magical quality, like a cloak of resistance. I would probably allow it in my game, but I think a strict interpretation of the rules would say that it cannot. Then again, the rules are very clear that this (which effects are valid in the new shape) depends on the GM's decision.

I'd say a monk/druid would not count as wearing armor in animal form.

The only wording in the rules that seems to shed any light on this issue is from the polymorph subschool:

When you cast a polymorph spell that changes you into a creature of the animal, dragon, elemental, magical beast, plant, or vermin type, all of your gear melds into your body. Items that provide constant bonuses and do not need to be activated continue to function while melded in this way(with the exception of armor and shield bonuses, which cease to function). Items that require activation cannot be used while you maintain that form.

So to your two questions:

Do items like a constant effect on armor continue to function the answer is yes because its armor bonus that does not continue to work not the armor itself.

As for wearing armor, if you were considered wearing your gear still then they would not have had to include the bolded clause. They could simply have stated that you can't activate items while wild shaped. Since you are not considered to be wearing them they had to include this exception that such devices still work.

Now note this only applies to situations where you assume the forms listed above. For example if you had an ability that let you turn into a giant or one of the types not listed then you gear would not transform only resize and you would be wearing armor. (this is amusing because the ooze form of Cave Druid's apparently can wear armor and use gear.)

Wild armor is specific you get the AC and enhancement bonus. No ACP, no weight, just the effects listed. Therefore there is no reason to assume you are wearing armor. Is it balanced? Well its +3 enchant, minimum cost is 16000 plus armor cost so its a pretty significant investment and since the only alternative would be bracer of armor and those don't work in wild shape as they provide an armor bonus I say its works until something official changes the rules.

I see the greatest disparity among rulings regarding wild shape.

so i'm wondering how these overlap. I haven't had a case of this, but I've thought about the build a little, and i'm just wondering how these points overlap/interact.
If you have a monk 4/druid 4 in bear shape ( or any wild shape),
and you've got +1 shadow leather armor on:

• do you count as "wearing armor" as a monk, and lose your speed and monk AC bonuses
  
• do all static properties of your armor keep functioning? ( you specifically lose the armor bonus, but does the +5 to stealth from shadow keep working? )
  
• do you take an armor check penalty while in wild shape?

and then it begs the question. if it were wild armor

• I can see it as being a definite yes to wearing armor, but is it worn or are you just gaining the armor bonus and no penalties to movement?
  
• but do you take the armor check penalty in this case? it only calls out gaining the armor benefit of the armor you're wearing.
  
• does the armor worn impact your speed in wild shape?

and i've seen a lot that if you wear Bracers of Armor, they cease to function in wild shape, unless you can put them on after you wild shape. I've always run them as an armor bonus, but not actual Armor, so as a static magic item, they continue to provide an Armor bonus, similar to someone casting Mage Armor on the druid after they wild shape. But I've heard variance on the boards for that as well.

Normal Armor:

Wild Armor:
1. If it were Wild, you now gain the Armor bonus, but still yield to no penalties.
2. No penalties once again.
3. No penalties once again, again.

monk 4/druid 4 in bear shape ... +1 shadow leather armor

There is no RAW or the RAW is unclear on this.

The most common answers are:

If you Wild Shape with non-Wild armor everyone stops working (ACP, Static things like +5 Stealth, and AC) and you are considered not wearing armor.

If you WS with Wild armor, you keep AC but lose everything else. You also don't count for wearing armor.

If you deviate from this line of thinking, expect significant table variance.

Seraphimpunk wrote:

monk 4/druid 4 in bear shape ... +1 shadow leather armor

There is no RAW or the RAW is unclear on this.

The most common answers are:

If you Wild Shape with non-Wild armor everyone stops working (ACP, Static things like +5 Stealth, and AC) and you are considered not wearing armor.

If you WS with Wild armor, you keep AC but lose everything else. You also don't count for wearing armor.

If you deviate from this line of thinking, expect significant table variance.

There is RAW, as already quoted in this thread. Only armor bonuses, shield bonuses, non-constant bonuses, and bonuses that require activation are disabled while wild shaped. If you have +1 chain mail of feather falling, you still get a +5 competence bonus on Stealth checks.

How you play it at your table is up to you.

There is RAW

Stealth: This armor blurs the wearer whenever she tries to hide, while also dampening the sound around her, granting a +5 competence bonus on Stealth checks. The armor’s armor check penalty still applies normally.

It depends on your DM's interpretation of what happens when the Armor providing Bluring and Dampening is no longer present.

I've played Wild Shaping Druids in PFS at 33+ tables and I've found a significant amount of table variance on questions like this. So whether or not you are on the correct side of RAW, you may find frustration at tables if you deviate much from what I suggested above.

Fortunately, this thread isn't about PFS rules.

Fortunately, this thread isn't about PFS rules.

Fortunate indeed. But that may be irrelevant, as PFS doesn't discuss these rules directly. So it becomes "Ask your DM" due to possible table variance.

i play two druids in pfs that wild shape , soon to be three. so i like getting the arguments out of the way. since its an area of great variance, i'd love it if the development team could nail it down a bit, instead of leaving it all up to individual GMs. A few words of clarification could go a long way.

being able to bring a print out of the FAQ if it were to say blah blah doesn't count as wearing armor. blah blah takes no armor penalties while in wild shape or using wild armor. blah blah only mundane or enchanted armor's Armor bonus to AC ceases to function, magic such as Bracers of Armor continue to function as always on.

there's probably more that im missing.
and its a separate issue that i dislike how wild armor only functions in wild shape, not while under any polymorph like a wizard in beast shape or something, or how Natural Spell can only be taken with the Wild Shape class feature, not by other casters.