Is Armor of the Pit too cool?

I was in a one shot the other day and my buddy and I was making a tiefling. While using the ARG there was a tiefling only feat called "Armor of the pit".

Your fiendish traits take the form of a protective scaly skin.

Prerequisite: Tiefling.
Benefit: You gain a +2 natural armor bonus.
Special: If you have the scaled skin racial trait, you instead gain resistance 5 to two of the following energy types that you don't have resistance to already: cold, electricity, and fire.

My friend thought that this was OP because Dodge gives you a +1 bonus to AC granted it's a dodge bonus which is cooler than a natural armor bonus but is a feat really worth a +2 to AC? If not for the fact is was a one shot my DM said that he wouldn't have allowed it.

In a one shot, that feat is very good. In anything else, it's one of those starting out feats: you might take it at 1st, but after that you have better feats to take.

I'd say it's about even. You can get a natural armor bonus via items or spells easily enough, but AFAIK there's nearly no way to get a Dodge bonus that way.

There's also the racial restriction on the feat, which takes a lot of the wind out of its sails.

I was in a one shot the other day and my buddy and I was making a tiefling. While using the ARG there was a tiefling only feat called "Armor of the pit".

Armor of the pit wrote:

Your fiendish traits take the form of a protective scaly skin.

Prerequisite: Tiefling.
Benefit: You gain a +2 natural armor bonus.
Special: If you have the scaled skin racial trait, you instead gain resistance 5 to two of the following energy types that you don't have resistance to already: cold, electricity, and fire.

My friend thought that this was OP because Dodge gives you a +1 bonus to AC granted it's a dodge bonus which is cooler than a natural armor bonus but is a feat really worth a +2 to AC? If not for the fact is was a one shot my DM said that he wouldn't have allowed it.

Natural armor isn't as good as dodge so I'd say it is relatively on par. Remember that while dodge bonuses stack with each other, natural armor does not. Get an amulet of natural armor +2 or better and that feat is completely pointless.

Not exactly. An amulet of natural armor grants an enhancement bonus to whatever natural armor you already have. Thus, a tiefling with this feat that is wearing an amulet of natural armor +1 is going to have a natural armor bonus to AC equal to the sum of both (+3).

Will Pratt wrote:

I was in a one shot the other day and my buddy and I was making a tiefling. While using the ARG there was a tiefling only feat called "Armor of the pit".

Armor of the pit wrote:

Your fiendish traits take the form of a protective scaly skin.

Prerequisite: Tiefling.
Benefit: You gain a +2 natural armor bonus.
Special: If you have the scaled skin racial trait, you instead gain resistance 5 to two of the following energy types that you don't have resistance to already: cold, electricity, and fire.

My friend thought that this was OP because Dodge gives you a +1 bonus to AC granted it's a dodge bonus which is cooler than a natural armor bonus but is a feat really worth a +2 to AC? If not for the fact is was a one shot my DM said that he wouldn't have allowed it.

Natural armor isn't as good as dodge so I'd say it is relatively on par. Remember that while dodge bonuses stack with each other, natural armor does not. Get an amulet of natural armor +2 or better and that feat is completely pointless.

Actually, Amulet of Natural Armor (and likewise the Barkskin spell required to create it) is an *enhancement Bonus* to your natural armor, and does stack.

I'd allow the feat, assuming that few people are going to invest all of their feats into AC. I mean, a tiefling with 13 Dex that uses a shield might take this feat, Dodge, and Shield Focus, at which point it becomes a problem, but those sort of players will always find a way to optimize for AC if that's what they want to do.

It's not OP. it's good at the start of the character, and decent as he progresses. Much like burning hands it loses steam the further you level.

Incorrect. Natural armor amulet provides enhancement bonus to natural armor.

It's not OP. it's good at the start of the character, and decent as he progresses. Much like burning hands it loses steam the further you level.

I've always thought that spell sucked at 1st level. It picks up some speed a couple levels in, but dies back down again around 5th, that is unless you're using Intensify Spell. Coupled with some of those +1 caster level traits and feats it becomes pretty respectable, but it's otherwise kind of a dead spell from the get-go.

Dodge was one of the worst feats in 3.5, and only not as low in PF because PF, for some reason, has lots of feats that do nothing or make you WORSE.

Saying something is overpowered because it is strictly better than dodge is like saying Acid Splash is overpowered because it is strictly better than disrupt undead.

Being better than one of the worst feats in the (very expansive) system is not "over powered".

Even if dodge wasn't terribad

1: Dodge bonuses stack with even other dodge bonuses
2: Racial spefific feats are generally more powerful than standard counterparts because of the requirements

Your friend is wrong.

It's definitely a worthwhile feat, but I could not say it's cool. It's just a higher number.

Dodge is one of the worst feats in the game? News to me.

It's not bad. But unlike Dodge, your AotP feat won't help you much against pesky touch attacks. Y'know, like when all those annoying undead start showing up to drain you of Strength, Constitution, levels....

I actually prefer to replace their base trait with +1 natural armor and fire resist 5 instead of 3 elements 5; and save myself a feat. Feats are valuable commodities.

Likewise, Thalin.

Dodge is one of the worst feats in the game? News to me.

It was when it only applied against one enemy back in 3.x, but those days are gone.

Even now, you can do MUCH better with a feat than +1 AC, like kill the enemy faster so they hit you less, or disable the enemy so they hit you less, or get CWI so the gold you save can be used to boost your AC.

Actually... that feat is worth +2hit/damage in conjunction with a spell... Bristle (APG).

My druid uses it to great effect.

Actually... that feat is worth +2hit/damage in conjunction with a spell... Bristle (APG).

My druid uses it to great effect.

Eh. It only applies to natural attacks. It's good for a druid buffing his AC or beast form, or for buffing the party monk or someone who uses natural weapons, but in most cases a party member will be using weapons, and not get the benefit.