The original 2nd Edition entry from the Forge.

It is the epitome of an adventurers career, a suit of dragon scalemail to proudly present his success as an adventurer. For years adventurers have hunted down evil dragons for honor, glory and riches. And what better way to display ones success than fashioning a suit of armor from the beasts hide. And what of the heroic adventurers whose selfless actions have rescued a gentle silver or imposing gold dragon from certain doom, certainly their bold actions deserve reward. And so on rare occasions a great dragon will shed its own scales and offer them as gifts to worthy allies. And between these two extremes are the much rarer dargons of neutrality.

Dragonscale is highly prized. Besides being a valuable component in many magical potions and spells, it makes excellent armor and shields. Dragonscale is commonly categorized into two categories: awards and trophies. Award class dragonscale is the highest quality and makes the best armor. It is the scale that is willingly given by a dragon to an ally. It offers greater protection and will have more special abilities than trophy class scales. Trophy class scalemail is dragonscale that has been stripped from the carcass of a dead dragon. It is usually partially damaged from whatever caused the magnificent creatures death and offers weaker protection as a result. It offers some special protection as well but not nearly as well as award class armor.

Each dragons scales offer differing grades of protection based upon the creatures age. Each scale type also offers enhanced resistance to certain forms of attacks. This protection is usually better in award class armor but both grades will normally offer some extra protection. Finally, there are the special powers. Special powers are only found in award class armor. It is believed that part of the living essence of the dragon is stored in the scales and is passed along with the willing gift of the scales.

Type: This is the type of dragon from which the armor is taken.
AC Modifier: This modifier is applied to the dragons AC to determine the actual AC of the new armor or shield. The first number is for award class and the second is for trohpy class.
Powers: These are the standard powers inherent in each type of armor.
Special: These special powers are only found in suits of award class scalemail.