Armor training: separate armor penalties from shield use
Check the category a character is trained to wear before resolving a test or spell. The rule gives different consequences for untrained armor and an untrained shield.
Use it at the table
- Match the worn armor to Light, Medium or Heavy training.
- Without that training, apply Disadvantage to Strength- or Dexterity-based D20 Tests and prevent spellcasting.
- For an untrained shield, withhold its AC bonus; do not replace this with the listed armor penalties.
Make the call
A character lacks shield training but is otherwise wearing armor they are trained to use. Does the shield grant its normal AC bonus?
The ruling
No; the character does not gain the shield’s AC bonus.
The shield clause explicitly removes the AC bonus when training is missing. The separate clause about untrained Light, Medium or Heavy armor governs Strength and Dexterity tests and spellcasting. Check each item against its own clause rather than treating every piece of protective equipment identically.
Watch for this mistake
Do not call the armor penalty Disadvantage on every roll. It is limited to D20 Tests involving Strength or Dexterity. Read the character’s actual training before imposing it.
Ask the table
Which armor category and shield training does this character actually have?
The source rule
SRD 5.2.1, page 177. Read the official PDF.
Armor training allows you to use armor of a certain category without the following drawbacks. If you wear Light, Medium, or Heavy armor and lack training with it, you have Disadvantage on any D20 Test that involves Strength or Dexterity, and you can’t cast spells. If you use a Shield and lack training with it, you don’t gain its AC bonus. See also “Disadvantage” and “Equipment” (“Armor”).
Source and reuse
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
The explanation, example and table prompt are Table Ready adaptations; source text has been reflowed. This guide and its printable card are available under the same CC BY 4.0 license. Independent reference; no official affiliation. These rules are optional for our system-neutral adventures.