I was just thinking about that! But RAW it says "light or no armor"...
since a dwarf isn't affected by encumbrance like other characters does this mean the fleet feat ( extra 5 ft movement ) can be used while wearing medium and heavy armor?
nope
i would argue that a dwarf is the only character that the rules don't apply to. but that's my own opinion.
This is really a gray area because the ability dwarves has:
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Slow and Steady: Dwarves have a base speed of 20 feet, but their speed is never modified by armor or encumbrance.
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seems to almost read as if "for the purposes of speed, dwarves are considered to not wear armor"
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an issue that came up in a game a long time ago was with a dwarven monk and how the dwarven speed affects the monk speed when using a load heavier than medium.
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in that instance, it was ruled the dwarven speed would be at 20 because the monk speed was an enhancement bonus, rather than a base increase like the fleet feat, so i would rule that yes, dwarves are not slowed while using the fleet feat.
Rule number one:
If you are not sure about a rule, imagine the possible interpretations as a scene from a movie. If it looks good, allow it, if not, don´t.
Dwarves are slow but they got "horsepower" - like a tractor.
If you take a sport car and put some heavy stuff in it, it gets slow - it has speed but no horsepower. If you do the same with a tractor, it does not slow down.
And now imagine that you tune your sport car with a nitrous oxide booster - you apply fleet to a rogue. It sure gets faster but if you load again that heavy stuff on it, the punctuous acceleration has no effect - if the rogue buts on an armor, the fleet doesn´t work anymore.
Now imagine the same with a tractor. Got it? The heavy acceleration would not affect the big mass of the loaded tractor.
So: No, it would not look well if dwarves could apply fleet when armored.
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since a dwarf isn't affected by encumbrance like other characters does this mean the fleet feat ( extra 5 ft movement ) can be used while wearing medium and heavy armor?
No. The wording of the feat says no medium or heavy armor. What dwarves do while in med or heavy armor has no bearing on how the feat works.
IF the feat said that the bonus applies "if the character's movement speed is not reduced by medium or heavy armor" then they would get the movement bonus. But, that is not the case.
1 ability says their speed is never modified by armor or encumberance.
1 ability says +5 to speed while wearing light or no armor.
I see no clear answer how these should interact. I would rule that the dwarf can get the bonus in any armor/encumberance, as their racial bonus is more specific. I also feel dwarves are underpowered, so it doesn't bother me.
edit: My GM says that you can get the benefits if you are in armor, but if you get a medium or heavy load then you "lose the bennefit of the feat" so your movement drops because the wording is slightly different.
So, basically what people are saying is a feat is more powerful than a racial ability.
How often can you add a racial ability to your character?
Answer: pretty much never.
How often can you take a feat?
Answer: every odd level.
Therefore, which one should be more powerful?
Answer: the racial ability should be more powerful than an ability gained by the taking of a feat.As always, thanks for listening.
...or, at least, putting up with me.
I don't know what you mean by "a feat is more powerful than a racial ability". A feat might be more specific, or it might be less so - you can't draw any comparisons from that. Many races get a +2 to Perception, but there's a feat which gives +2 to Perception and something else (Sense motive?), and another feat which gives +3 to Perception. Are you saying that the raical ability should be made stronger because there's a similar feat?
On the topic of the question here, I agree with Nebelwerfer41. If the feat was contingent upon speed being reduced, then dwarves (whose speed is never reduced) would be able to use it even in heavy armor. But it's simply based on wearing the armor, so even dwarves are subject to that.
What about when the dwarf is a druid wearing a wild armor when wildshaped. The armor melds with the new shape but still grants its ac bonus. Does fleet work or not?
If the dwarf is wearing medium or heavy armor fleet provides no benefit per the wording of the feat.