Once a modicum of thought is surpassed, perspective begins to shift.
Or someone thinks they're putting in a modicum of thought while in reality they're doing mental gymnastics (Without actually providing any substance to a viewpoint other than "Hurr durr dumb person is dumb" which seems to be your modus operandi for responding on these formus).
Dragonborn aren't dragons. That's a fact. It's not "Flavour" for Dragonborn to have dragon abilities because they're not dragons.
They're descended from dragons and have some dragonic elements such as the reptillian appearance, resistance to their element type and the ability to use a breath attack. But that is as far as it extends. There is no mention of them having dragon scales just as there's no mention of them having dragon wings.
Without dragon scales, there is no reason for them to have any bonus AC.
Could they be retconned into having dragon scales? Sure, but you'd also have to add some additional mental gymnastics to explain why they get ONLY 13 AC instead of an adult dragon's 19 AC... Or maybe you just give them baseline 19 AC and break the balance of the races with such an obscene bonus just because you can't comprehend anything besides your random headcanon "Flavour"
Which one would you call mental gymnastics?
1. It was a poor balance decision that probably didn't even consider the point at the time. The dragonborn were balanced as a race (ostensibly) and the draconic sorcerer was balanced as a subclass. They probably didn't even consider the discrepancy at the time.
--or--
2. Dragonborn don't have scales. Obviously. Duh.
I mean, we're not even having the same discussion. I'm saying it was poorly designed and you're saying dragonborn don't have scales. As if dragonborn were real. Simply put, it makes for a better setting if dragonborn do have scales and those scales provide a similar AC to the draconic sorcerer's scales. As opposed to having debates about whether or not dragonborn have scales.
*
I'm not calling anyone dumb. There's a difference between being dumb and being stuck in certain rhetorical bubbles. That's what I think's happening. I accept that you're probably plenty smart, but I honestly believe you haven't considered the matter enough. And a big part of my reason for thinking that is that I recognize your answers as the easy widely known "correct" answers that don't require much thought. And what I mean by "don't require much thought" is that the patented answers are practically programmed into folks. Especially folks who are a standard deviation above the average IQ.
ETA: I do apologize if I insulted you. Such was certainly not my Intention. In my head, the tone of my communication is largely devoid of emotion, neutral, although occasionally possessed by a sense of humor.
