This really isn't a rules question and more of a rules comment or request. I am aware of the RAW in the players rule book regarding, but when it comes to Barbarians/Monk Unarmored Defense and Sorceror's Draconic Resilience I have trouble with determining RAI. For me it is the wording of Draconic Resilience. It makes no sense. It describes it as a natural armor, but it magically disappears when you put on armor or apply any other AC effecting abilities. Unlike other abilities that effect AC it is part of your physical nature and effects base AC. Your skin tougher than armorless humans who have an AC of 10. You start armorless at 13. For that reason logic dictates it should stack with everything, armor or abilities alike. In my opinion making it tougher skin is the source of confusion. I believe they should make it a variation of unarmored defense where the sorceror has the defenses of his draconic ancestors, and can apply his Charisma and Dexterity bonuses gets applied to AC. Looking through the lens of RAI, making it change base AC make it seem it was meant to stack. And I can see that could be seen as OP, so I think that changing it to a variation of Unarmored Defense would be less confusing.
RAI is is not ment to stack.
Flavor wise it might not make sense, but balance wise it's very much intended.
I agree that it would be OP but most people play for the flavor and not the math. So I think it best when something makes sense flavor wise and maintains balance.
Oddly enough I made a similar thread on this a very very short time ago. So short it has no responses.
My view on it would be since the base AC is 13 now from your dragon scales, you mix it up with barbarian it would be 13 + Dex mod + Con mod. This makes more sense than me than having Draconic Resilience be 13 +Dex mod then add in Unarmor Defense at 10 + Dex Mod + Con Mod as that seems way too over the top.
I was hoping to find a confirmation on how this works myself so I'll be watching both threads.
Anyone can house rule as preferred but Mellored is correct in the way it works and that it's intentional not to stack. This is part of bounded accuracy. There was also a push for glass-cannon style and casters avoiding melee during the playtest that also contributed to concentration mechanics and low AC as the caster default. If you want AC on a sorcerer you are generally looking at race, feat, or MC options. 2 levels of warlock plus a feat for the better armor, or just one level of cleric does a lot for your options and not a bad idea.
I think flavor wise that making it like unarmored defense base on Cha would be the best solution flavorwise. Something like "you have your Dragon Ancestor's ability to mystify your attackers in combat making them less likely to hit you. Your armor class is 10+Dex Bonus+Cha Bonus." In this way the flavor of the mechanic makes sense. You can't stack unarmored defense because each is dependent on a defense styles inherent to a fighting style in the class so you can only choose one style of defense in combat. Armor interferes with movement thus negating the style. Tough skin is inherently passive. It is there if you are armored or if you are using a particular defense style. I totally see why flavorwise it makes sense to stack. But it is extremely OP giving a Barb/Sorceror the same armor class of +1 Plate at second level. I really think it makes more sense flavorwise to change it.
AC accounts for many factors, among which are maneuverability, shock absorption, and the ability to deflect blows.
One could pretty easily rationalize that having tough scaly skin isn't significantly more protective than metal strips or plates worn on the body, and therefore any attack that would penetrate or damage somebody in armor would bypass the scaly skin without much extra difficulty. After all, there's no bonus AC for having both "skin" and "scales," so having both "scales" and "armor" isn't necessarily better than just having "armor."
The rules, however, are clear on this point: pick one way to calculate your AC and use it. In the case of Dragon Sorcerers, if you wear armor, your "scaly skin" class feature stops working.
Changing the natural armor from 13 + Dex to 10 + Dex + Cha would be a little strange and inherently more "magical" than just having tough skin, and it'd also be a buff to Sorcerer AC in the long run. I would advise against that change. 13 + Dex is the same AC as mage armor, which is the best armor that arcane spellcasters get without feats or other special features.
I may be wrong, but I thought I read somewhere that Natural AC will not stack with armor anyway. So even if you treated the "Scaly hide" as natural AC it would still go away with armor. You could be a ninja turtle with a shell giving you natural AC, but once you put on that chain mail it overrides your shell.
teron82 wrote:
Mellored's reading of the rules is correct. Additionally, I have looked through the Monster Manual and every creature has either natural armor (like scales) or regular armor (like chain mail). No creature has natural and manufactured armor stacking. So the dragon sorcerer feature is consistant with other parts of the game world.
GilbertMDH wrote:
One problem with this edition is that when they tried to balance things, they threw reason out of the window.
natural armor not stacking with actual armor is maybe? good mechanic with bounded accuracy , but it's stupid beyond recognition.
We can all agree that natural armor means thougher skin, thick hide, scales, chitine or any other more or less natural material that is resistant to damage.
and if you put some steel, or more though hide, how is that not help you more?
One explanation would be that both scales and armor have weak points and that they are at the same place. That is not likely.
But we can rule that they are somewhat over laping, depending on the armor used.
so sorcerer has +3 natural armor(or 13+dex as now stated);
what if he wears light armor and gets only +2 to the armor score,
medium armor +1 to the score,
and heavy armor + nothing to the AC?
Second idea would be that natural armor is light armor by itself which the creature is always proficient with,
and any armor worn over it, is one category heavier.
I.E. sorcerer with nat armor and 16 dex has 16 AC
if he equips studder leather that gives +2 AC(or yes, AC 12+dex) that armor would count as medium with max dex of +2 for total AC of 17, but sorcerer would have to be proficient with medium armor to be able to cast spells that way.
And if he wears half plate AC 15+dex(max 2), he would be considered to be equiped with heavy armor so AC would be 10+3 nat +5 halfplate +0 dex(heavy armor) for total AC of 18(as a fullplate). but he would have to be proficient with heavy armor to be able to cast spells.
heavy armor couldn't be worn by dragon sorcerer as it would be to massive in combo with his scales.
except, if you're a dwarf sorcerer, than you can wear super ultra "****you human blacksmith" heavy plate made of adamantium/unobtanium/krypronite alloy. 
which btw can still be cut in half by a katana 
What you do on one side of the equation you have to do on the other side as well, if you have "Mage Armor/Dragon Skin + Dex + Con/Wis/Char for the Characters, you have to do for the Creatures
The US Miliary have M1 Tanks with very thick Steel Plates for amror but were unable to stop some missiles so they added Reactive Armor as well
Thick Steel Plates = Mage Armor/Dragon skin or the base AC
Reactive Armor = Platemail/Chain/Leather/Dex/Wis/Cha
but we use what is written or use house rules, but for both sides, Characters and Creatures use the same rules
Different armor usually have the same weak points. The places where your joints and flexible points are have to more exposed for you to move. That is why you can't wear a second breastplate over your first breast plate and get double the protection. Attacks that are hitting you are not hitting your breastplate anyway, so a second one would not help.
Natural armor would be the same. For a sorcerer to not be hindered by all the scales, they are probably in practical places like over much of his chest and thighs; the same place that armor he puts on would be covering, so it would not afford him any additional protection.
I would say that barbarian AC bonus is the same as sorcerers, natural AC, should they stack? maybe...
maybe Barbarians AC + sorcerers dragon scales would count as medium armor together.
And mage armor would count as light armor in basic form(which the caster is proficient) and would add one category to the type of armor used( Let's say that the energy shield is so close to your body that it intersects with the scales and slows you down a little.
So;
Mage armor(light armor that the caster is proficient)
Natural armor(barbrarian, sorcerer, wolf, horse, whatevery), light armor that the creature is proficient
monks wis do not count as you have to be unarmored to use it 
Mage armor 13+dex, light armor for any mechanics(caster is proficient)
Barbarian + mage armor: 13+dex(max 2) + con, medium armor
sorcerer + mage armor, 16+dex(max 2), medium armor(proficient with that combination as it is all class ability)
sorcerer + studded leather, 15+dex(max 2), medium armor, must have medium armor proficiency
barbarian + sorcerer + mage armor; 16(no dex) + con, heavy armor(proficient as it is all class abilities)
barbarian + halfplate; 15+con, heavy armor, must have heavy armor proficiency.
Eric888 wrote:
The problem is we are used to natural armor stacking from other editions. The easy way to figure out armor class now is if the ability lists a number, it does not stack, thus the sorcerer with 13 + dex does not stack with anything, and the monk/barbarian with 10 + stats is likewise. If the ability states +1 to AC, then it stacks. You calculate each armor class independently and choose which you want. Likewise the Barkskin spell does not stack with anyting, but only guarantees a minimum armor class (useful for the animal shapes mostly).
Trance-Zg wrote:
Trance-Zg wrote:
XGrievusX wrote:
As AC and HP are abstractions, the whole point is mute. An attack that "hits" your AC doesn't have to physically hit you at all to do damage to you.
RAW:
You may calculate your AC by one of the ways at your disposal. If You're a monk/ Dragon Sorc wearing leather and with Mage-armor up, you get exactly one of those, and no combination of the others. No alternative AC calculators stack with one another, only passive bonuses to AC stack (Magic armor +1) with AC calculators, and often they don't stack with other passive bonuses.
XGrievusX wrote:
Sorxores wrote: