Warforged monk, would you say their unarmored defense is 11 or 10 added to dex and wis?
Big fan of the Manifest Zone podcast The official ruling is that you chose which feature – Unarmored Defense or Integrated Protection – you want to use, and that’s what sets your AC.— Keith Baker (@HellcowKeith) June 10, 2019
Let’s see here… a ruling that takes a unique and fun benefit unique to a given race and totally negates it, turning fun into anti-fun, while also making no sense?
Yep! Sounds like an Official Ruling to me!
Characters with extra natural armoring in their bodies, who are also still able to wear traditional armor at the same time (unlike, say, Tortles), should logically be able to combine the benefits. I mean, for comparison, you don’t ignore the AC of a shield just because plate armor offers greater protection – you get to add the two together. Why is natural armor any different?
But no, they insist on wording it so that it doesn’t stack, when doing so defeats the entire purpose of giving a race natural armor. It creates a weird lopsided situation where player expectations get thrown out the window – but only sometimes, for arbitrary reasons.
You want to play a tough frontline warrior? Well, you would think that a Warforged Fighter, with their naturally sturdy body, would be slightly harder to damage than a Figher of another race with the same equipment. But that’s not the case! Why? No real reason! The rules are just written that way!
Oh, but if you’re playing a Warforged ~Wizard~? Well! That’s a different story! Your Warfoged Wizard will ABSOLUTELY be slightly harder to damage than a Wizard of another race, all other factors being the same! Why? No real reason! The rules are just written that way!
It’s stupid, it’s arbitrary, and it makes the game less fun. Stop it.
Natural armor is different because it changes your base armor calculation. Shield gives +2 to AC, so it stack with anything other than itself, plate armor give you base AC of 18, so it’s not compatible with things like Mage Armor, which give you base AC of 13+Dex, or barbarian unarmored defence that give you AC of 10+Con+Dex.