[RPG] Does the Dragon Hide feat count as Armor for the purposes of Monk’s unarmed movement

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The second bullet of the Dragon Hide feat (XGtE, p. 74) gives a way to calculate AC:

While you aren’t wearing armor, you can calculate your AC as 13 + your Dexterity modifier.

Does this feature count as wearing armor for the purposes of the Monk features Unarmored Defense and Unarmored Movement?

Best Answer

The Dragon Hide feat does not count as wearing armor.

The second bullet of the Dragon Hide feat says:

  • While you aren’t wearing armor, you can calculate your AC as 13 + your Dexterity modifier.

If this counted as wearing armor, then it would turn itself off, since it only works when you are not wearing armor. Therefore, it does not interfere with the Monk’s Unarmored Movement feature, because it also says:

while you are not wearing armor…

Both of these features, Dragon Hide and Unarmored Movement, have the same prerequisite, so if one works the other works (shields notwithstanding).

However, the rules for Armor Class state:

Some spells and class features give you a different way to calculate your AC. If you have multiple features that give you different ways to calculate your AC, you choose which one to use.

So you cannot benefit from both Unarmored Defense and Dragon Hide, you must choose one to use for your Armor Class.

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