[Starfinder] Dragon Statistics?!

[StevenC21]

I am so frustrated.


The Alien Archive entry explicitly calls out Metallic and Chromatic dragons... and mentions several age categories.


Despite this, it only provides a single stat block for a mediocre Blue Dragon. Where can I find stats for literally any other age of dragon?!

I don't have abilities listed, HP changes, anything at all. I have literally no way to determine any appropriate dragon stat block for any age category except for the provided dragon. Currently, according to their rules, a CR 2 Red Dragon has 183 HP and has +24 to hit. Sounds reasonable.

May I please have some assistance in understanding this. I do not mean to sound like a jerk, I just get frustrated when I feel stupid.

This is making me feel stupid.

[OgresAreCute]

You're supposed to simply go into the back of Alien Archive, pick whatever array you think fits best (I'd go with combatant) of the CR you want (you could take inspiration from the CRs and Age Categories in PF/3.5, I guess) and then apply the Template Graft of your favored type of dragon to that array. This is how you make pretty much all monsters in Starfinder.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by OgresAreCute
This is how you make pretty much all monsters in Starfinder.

In other words, you can’t simply look up a creature, but you have to build it yourself with templates and whatnot?

Wow, what could go wrong. And what a boon for the harried DM. :smallfrown:

[OgresAreCute]

In other words, you can’t simply look up a creature, but you have to build it yourself with templates and whatnot?

Wow, what could go wrong. And what a boon for the harried DM. :smallfrown:

Oh, no, there are lots of already made stat blocks for most monsters, but if you're making something new you do it by picking an array and tacking on template grafts, which is a lot simpler than how it used to be (but also a lot less interesting in my opinion). Dragons pretty much need to be built on your own though, just like in 3.5, which is kinda weird considering PF actually made sample stat blocks for most age categories.

[Psyren]

Oh, no, there are lots of already made stat blocks for most monsters, but if you're making something new you do it by picking an array and tacking on template grafts, which is a lot simpler than how it used to be (but also a lot less interesting in my opinion). Dragons pretty much need to be built on your own though, just like in 3.5, which is kinda weird considering PF actually made sample stat blocks for most age categories.

PF gave dragons additional toys they didn't have in 3.5, like the blue dragon's mirage or the green's awake treants. They also expanded abilities they had previously, like the blue dragon's desert thirst; this is on top of all the attacks, SLAs, spells, shapeshifting etc. they already had. So full statblocks made sense there.

SF meanwhile scaled back, so moving back towards grafts makes sense.

[Sky]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this already, so I'll throw this in. There's a really good set of tools that help you build monsters, starships, etc. at https://sfrpgtools.com/.

It basically walks you through the whole process, does all the math for you, and spits out a nice statblock at the end. I have found it to be incredibly useful.