Does a barbarians unarmored defense ability work with Mage armor?

[NecroDancer]

I was thinking of building a bladelock for a oneshot and I was thinking of taking a level of barbaiarian because that would net me a AC of 16 (dex + con) but if I cast Mage armor would that let me have an AC of 19 (13 + dex + con)?

[EKruze]

No. Unarmored Defense, Mage Armor and Natural Armor give you different options for calculating your AC. You must pick one only when you make your calculations. If Mage Armor were to provide a bonus to AC, such as what Bracers of Defense does, then they could stack but as they're written now this does not work.

[NecroDancer]

Thank you for the clarification

[Arkhios]

However, I would rule that they overlap.
If, for example, your Unarmed Defense was 14 (dex +2, con +2), but with Mage Armor you would have as much as 15, you'd use Mage Armor instead.

Same if you were a Monk (which get 10+dex+wis); if Mage Armor is better than your Unarmored Defense, you use Mage Armor.

Reasoning behind this: Mage armor is only a temporary change to your normal "natural" AC, in which natural AC means 10+DEX for a non-barbarian and a non-monk, and 10+DEX+CON for barbarians or 10+DEX+WIS for monks.

[Malifice]

However, I would rule that they overlap.
If, for example, your Unarmed Defense was 14 (dex +2, con +2), but with Mage Armor you would have as much as 15, you'd use Mage Armor instead.

Same if you were a Monk (which get 10+dex+wis); if Mage Armor is better than your Unarmored Defense, you use Mage Armor.

Reasoning behind this: Mage armor is only a temporary change to your normal "natural" AC, in which natural AC means 10+DEX for a non-barbarian and a non-monk, and 10+DEX+CON for barbarians or 10+DEX+WIS for monks.

No need to rule anything.

If you have multiple different methods to calculate your AC, you select one.

If youre a monk (with unarmored defence) and someone casts mage armor on you, pick one method to use.

[Arkhios]

No need to rule anything.

If you have multiple different methods to calculate your AC, you select one.

If youre a monk (with unarmored defence) and someone casts mage armor on you, pick one method to use.

OK. For some reason, I was in an understanding that it wouldn't overlap by default. Maybe I was just mixing something with another.