How do you know when two sources of natural armor will stack with one another?
For example, let's say my sorcerer casts Form of the Dragon III followed by Transformation. Does the +8 natural armor bonus from the former stack with the +4 natural armor bonus from the latter? Why or why not?
What if I were to then put on an amulet of natural armor +5 (in that order), what would I end up with then? (Note that the amulet of natural armor doesn't specifically say you are treated as having +0 natural armor like barkskin does.)
No. Pretty simply, typed bonuses don't stack. The natural armor from FotD3 and Transformation are the same type. Just the same as putting chainmail over your breastplate doesn't increase your "armor" bonus to AC.
The reason that an Amulet of Natural Armor stacks with regular natural armor is because the amulet gives an enhancement bonus to your natural armor, in the same way the "+1" on your breastplate stacks with the armor bonus of the breastplate itself. All creatures are considered to have a natural armor of 0 if not otherwise stated, in the same way that they are treated as having a deflection bonus to armor of 0 unless otherwise stated.
So your total natural armor (with the +5 amulet) is +13.
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No. Natural armor does not stack. The only bonus that stacks with regards to AC is untyped bonus (which never happens, normally) and dodge bonus. For every other type of bonus (armor, shield, natural, deflection, enhancement etc...) you use the highest bonus from every source.
BUT: note that barkskin and the the amulet gives you an enhancement bonus to natural armor, not a natural armor bonus. Enhancement bonus to natural armor does also stack with enhancement bonus to armor, and so on...
In your example, you would end up with +13 natural armor. If your FotD would be dispelled or end, it would become +9. The bonus you get from FotD and transformation do not stack, they are both natural armor bonus.
Ah, it appears they changed the wording of barkskin and the AoNA from the old D&D days (where it was just a natural armor bonus rather than an enhancement bonus to natural armor).
Pathfinder sure makes it a lot easier to understand. :)
Thanks for the help.
EDIT:
Some more questions...
So if I have a big cat animal companion, does its base natural armor bonus go from +1 to +2 at 7th-level, or from +1 to +3? If it is the latter, would that not contradict your answer to my original question? If you still say they don't stack, then what if I had a constrictor snake instead? Does its base armor class value actually go DOWN at 4th level? Why would it do that?
According to the SRD:
Natural Armor Bonus
The number noted here is an improvement to the animal companion’s existing natural armor bonus.
So the rules under Druid are specifically telling you that these are not two separate bonuses of the same type, but instead are an increase to the already existing natural armor bonus.
Ah, it appears they changed the wording of barkskin and the AoNA from the old D&D days (where it was just a natural armor bonus rather than an enhancement bonus to natural armor).
They being wizards of the coast, during the 3e revision. The change to natural armour making all the magic stuff enhancement bonuses to it is old news.
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Hmm. So a dragon disciple PC with +2 NA from the PrC and +1 from an amulet of natural armor has a total of +3. When they use FotD1 and gain a "+4 natural armor bonus", it doesn't stack with the base +2, is that correct? So they would have a +5 NA bonus?
Okay, cool. In the heat of the moment I let it stack during our last game session, but I guess that was wrong. :)
Hmm. So a dragon disciple PC with +2 NA from the PrC and +1 from an amulet of natural armor has a total of +3. When they use FotD1 and gain a "+4 natural armor bonus", it doesn't stack with the base +2, is that correct? So they would have a +5 NA bonus?
Okay, cool. In the heat of the moment I let it stack during our last game session, but I guess that was wrong. :)
That is correct.
But the dragon disciple Natural Armor is otherwise somewhat an anomaly since it is an increase to existing natural armor (most commonly the one gained from the bloodline powers, but could be racial).
On a side note. Are you Non-sorcerer/DD 3, or did you forget the NA from draconic bloodline powers?
According to the SRD:
Natural Armor Bonus
The number noted here is an improvement to the animal companion’s existing natural armor bonus.
So the rules under Druid are specifically telling you that these are not two separate bonuses of the same type, but instead are an increase to the already existing natural armor bonus.
That applies to the bonuses listed on the animal companion table (that entire section explains things from said table), not the animal stat blocks below.
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I think I was dreaming.
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This got me thinking. What's the logic behind armor bonuses stacking with natural armor? Wouldn't race with armored scales only need to wear armor that provides greater a defense than their body's own protection?
The logic from a game mechanics standpoint is that "armor" and "natural armor" are two different categories of bonuses to "Armor Class", and bonuses from different categories stack.
The logic from a realistic perspective can be whatever you make of it, but just as multiple layers of leather provide more protection than a single layer, a horse wearing leather barding is going to be more protected than a naked horse.
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Some effects increase your natural armor bonus instead of giving you a natural armor. Those should add to whichever natural armor you have.
Examples:
- improved natural armor feat
- dragon disciple natural armor increase
- primitive template
On the other hand some abilities grant you a natural armor bonus and thus would not stack with existing natural armor:
- draconic bloodline's draconic resistances
So you can have:
1. A natural armor bonus
2. one or more increases to natural armor
3. an enhancement bonus to natural armor