Starfinder: What should a natural armor bonus become?

[atemu1234]

Starfinder tries very hard to limit AC, to the point where it's basically only Armor and Dexterity. But a race I'm converting has a natural armor bonus. What should it become? I was thinking DR, like in 3.5 Unearthed Arcana, but I'm unsure.

[Necroticplague]

Err...unless the source I'm reading is inaccurate, Starfinder still has Natural Armor as a bonus type. Not sure why it would need to be changed.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

In the legacy conversion chapter, it says for monsters just use its regular AC for the KAC, and reduce that by one for its EAC. The only reference to natural armor I'm seeing when searching the PDF is regarding the Familiars' natural armor bonus in that same chapter, but that's a specific case and not a general rule.

I'd say model it after the Vesk Armor Savant ability, when wearing armor they gain a +1 racial bonus to AC, which benefits both EAC and KAC. If it's higher than +1, it should only apply to KAC IMO.

What race are you converting, and how high is their natural armor bonus? You may consider replacing it with something more fitting for the game system. A species that had a thick hide in medieval times may not look exactly the same in Starfinder's age.

[KarlMarx]

Let's see here...

Natural armor reflects having thick hide or bone plates, or something similar. It's something that can either take a hit without serious ill effect, or something that lessens the impact of each hit. It isn't something that makes your skin fireproof or able to deflect lasers.

So, logically, natural armor applies to KAC only.

[atemu1234]

In the legacy conversion chapter, it says for monsters just use its regular AC for the KAC, and reduce that by one for its EAC. The only reference to natural armor I'm seeing when searching the PDF is regarding the Familiars' natural armor bonus in that same chapter, but that's a specific case and not a general rule.

I'd say model it after the Vesk Armor Savant ability, when wearing armor they gain a +1 racial bonus to AC, which benefits both EAC and KAC. If it's higher than +1, it should only apply to KAC IMO.

What race are you converting, and how high is their natural armor bonus? You may consider replacing it with something more fitting for the game system. A species that had a thick hide in medieval times may not look exactly the same in Starfinder's age.

Insectare, from Dragon Magazine 339. They're meant for spelljammer.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Insectare, from Dragon Magazine 339. They're meant for spelljammer.

That race looks pretty cool, it should be easy enough to convert to Starfinder as long as you make the ability score bonuses match the other base races. I'd say just make the +2 natural armor only apply to KAC and leave it at that. That way it's about as valuable as the Vesk +1 AC when armored, and you'll have about the right number of other racial abilities to match the other races.