Warforged's Integrated Protection + Adamantine Armor?

[Greywander]

Thanks to Integrated Protection, a warforged actually has the ability to reach 1 higher AC than a standard character with plate +3, which is particularly noteworthy in games with few magic items. I was wondering, though, if a warforged could also wear adamantine armor to get protection against crits and still use their natural AC. According to Integrated Protection, you don't benefit from wearing armor. A strict reading means that even adamatine armor provides no benefit, but a more RAI interpretation would assume this only applies to the AC granted by armor, and even then most alternative AC calculations let you choose which one to use.

I mean, maybe you could just get adamantine armor +3, but several people seem to believe that magic items can't be "mixed" like that (I could see how mithral and adamatine armor couldn't be mixed, but the +1/+2/+3 is applied over an existing armor, and thus I'd reason it could be applied to adamatine armor). A warforged with adamantine armor could be a possible way to bypass this issue. Plus, the higher your AC gets, the more successful attacks on you will be crits, until eventually all of them are crits since nothing can hit you on less than a natural 20.

[Unoriginal]

No, it is not possible to have the benefits from natural AC and the ones from a worn armor at the same time.

Also Warforged cannot wear any armor at all, IIRC.


Also bis: the RAI assumption would never be "let a combo be obscenely powerful based on handwaving the interaction of different features as more beneficial than what is written".

[stoutstien]

No, it is not possible to have the benefits from natural AC and the ones from a worn armor at the same time.

Also Warforged cannot wear any armor at all, IIRC.


Also bis: the RAI assumption would never be "let a combo be obscenely powerful based on handwaving the interaction of different features as more beneficial than what is written".

Technically they can wear armor but don't gain any benefits from the armor.

[JackPhoenix]

Warforged not benefitting from worn armor (magical or not) in any way is entirely intentional.

[stoutstien]

Warforged not benefitting from worn armor (magical or not) in any way is entirely intentional.
The lead designer of the eberron content did state that he intended for warforged medium and heavy plating to work with fighting styles that required armor. I'm hoping for an updated wording

[JackPhoenix]

The lead designer of the eberron content did state that he intended for warforged medium and heavy plating to work with fighting styles that required armor. I'm hoping for an updated wording

And the guy who actually created the mechanics says (https://www.sageadvice.eu/2018/08/27/do-warforged-count-as-wearing-armor-for-the-purposes-of-the-defense-fighting-style/) it doesn't work RAW, but they're looking for feedback. No mention of RAI.

[Unoriginal]

The lead designer of the eberron content did state that he intended for warforged medium and heavy plating to work with fighting styles that required armor. I'm hoping for an updated wording

"Can use those plating as if they were armors for fighting styles" isn't the same as "can gains benefits from armor".

[stoutstien]

And the guy who actually created the mechanics says (https://www.sageadvice.eu/2018/08/27/do-warforged-count-as-wearing-armor-for-the-purposes-of-the-defense-fighting-style/) it doesn't work RAW, but they're looking for feedback. No mention of RAI.
I was referring to Keith baker's comments on it.

[Greywander]

The lead designer of the eberron content did state that he intended for warforged medium and heavy plating to work with fighting styles that required armor. I'm hoping for an updated wording
Darkwood Core (unarmored)
Composite Plating (armor)
Heavy Plating (armor)

This should settle any debates about whether a warforged counts as wearing armor for the purpose of features that either require armor or no armor. Oddly enough, this means you can use the darkwood core, which would exceed studded leather +3, with Bracers of Defense (although since you can't use the bracers with a shield, either, this is of questionable usefulness, maybe on a monk, perhaps).

I'm trying to think if there are any other ways to gain immunity to critical hits, since that would be pretty useful on any high AC character, whether warforged or another race with armor +3. I've seen a few different takes on a high defense character, and one thing that was pointed out was that crit immunity becomes pretty important once your AC becomes high enough. Though I think +1 AC is probably numerically better right up until a creature requires a 20 to hit you; even if they can only hit on a 19 or 20, +1 AC still prevents more damage than crit immunity would.