It seems the requirement for druid to use non-metallic weapons has been lifted and the detailed rules for weapons made of non-standard materials removed. At least I did not find the requirement to use metal-free weapons in 2E.
There's no such requirement in either PF2 or PF1.
It seems the requirement for druid to use non-metallic weapons has been lifted.
Pathfinder Druids have never been required to use metal-free weapons. At least, not the ones in the Core Rulebook.
There are rules for darkwood armor which explicitly mention that there is no wood armor in the core rulebook. Presumably we will get some wood armor later and until then it's padded, leather, and hide armor.
Armor can also be made out of Dragonhide, but that's an Uncommon crafting material that you are unlikely to find early on. But if/when you do, a Dragonhide breastplate is one of the best armors for a Druid.
Which leaves only one minor question. The tower shield is described as "made of wood reinforced with metal". Does this make the shield unsuitable for druid? Can a wood-only or darkwood-only tower shield be obtained?
Darkwood tower shields are found on page 586 of the CRB.
Edit: as an aside, this is a general rules question, and not really a Pathfinder Society question.
I think the concern is
a) a normal tower shield is made of wood & metal.
b) druids can't use it because metal shields are forbidden.
c) darkwood replaces the wood portion of the shield, not the metal portion, so it remains unusable.
The question is whether "wood reinforced be metal" counts as metal. I'd probably allow it, its primarily wood. But I can understand why people are worried about table variation.
Places that I've had people quote to me:
Materials with the precious trait can be substitute for base materials. For instance, a hammer's head could be made of adamantine instead of iron.
This is the strongest argument people tend to make that only 'similar component parts' are substituted. Often backed up with:
You can make leather armor out of dragonhide, wooden armor out of darkwood, and metal armor out of any precious metal except for darkwood
Yes, that's armor, not shields.
The weapons and shield sections are silent on the issue. People go on to say that an adamantine pole-arm doesn't have its wooden haft replaced with adamantine. Or the bowstring of a darkwood bow, with wood? They use this as an argument that 'like is replaced by like' and the armor section at least specifies that darkwood can not substitute for metal.
The specific precious material shield/weapons don't have descriptive text, so people assume the original unmodified description is still in effect.
What is the benefit of a tower shield in 2E 'live' versus the Playtest, where shields were tinfoil?
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What is the benefit of a tower shield in 2E 'live' versus the Playtest, where shields were tinfoil?
Your basic shield is pretty much the same. It can take one or two hits before it is broken or destroyed. But in that time, it is absorbing damage for you.
Better quality shields, which what darkwood and dragonhide would be, last longer.
Re:Darkwood Shields. Darkwood Bucklers exist, and that's explicitly a metal to wood conversion, since normally bucklers are metal.
