Okay so the dragonkin "draconic immunities" racial trait reads as follows;
"Dragonkin are immune to sleep effects and gain a +2 racial bonus to saving throws against effects that cause paralysis."
But, dragonkin have the dragon creature type, and the dragon creature type lists the following traits;
"Traits: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, immunity to paralysis and sleep."
Now, with the draconic vision racial trait that specifies they have low-light & darkvision, I can understand listing a racial trait just to specifically point that out so people who don't bother to go look up what having the dragon creature type actually means don't miss out on things.
But the draconic immunities trait is actively worse than the actual trait given by their type which makes them immune to the thing that the racial trait gives them a +2 save against.
I've searched the forums and no one seems to have specifically pointed this out. Is the point here to specify that dragonkin are specifically not immune to paralysis despite having the dragon type and that's just been poorly communicated? The NPC dragonkin is explicitly immune to paralysis, but they're also immune to fire where as the PC stats don't list that, nor do I see a source for that at a cursory glance, and they also get a bite attack that the PC doesn't as has been pointed out on here elsewhere.
It's just like SROs being constructs but not getting full construct immunities because it would be entirely out of line with other PC races. (The limited version they get is already absurdly strong).
The NPC stats are basically not relevant at all. Dragonkin are not remotely unique in having an NPC stat block that is not a 100% match to the PC race sidebar.
It's entirely normal in Starfinder for the player version of a race to have weaker version of their racial traits than the NPC version. The player versions have to be somewhat balanced with other player races after all.
Which is fair enough in terms of the fire immunity & the bite attack. With those, since they don't specifically come from anything else, just leaving them off is fine.
But they still have the dragon creature type regardless, and the dragon creature type comes with immunity to paralysis. So they have an ability that gives them a +2 to saves against an effect that they're immune to, without anything specifying they aren't immune to it.
It's just like SROs being constructs but not getting full construct immunities because it would be entirely out of line with other PC races. (The limited version they get is already absurdly strong).
The NPC stats are basically not relevant at all. Dragonkin are not remotely unique in having an NPC stat block that is not a 100% match to the PC race sidebar.
But SRO's trait specifies that they aren't immune to what they would otherwise be immune to. The dragonkin's trait does not make that specification. It certainly carries the implication, but as written it gives them a +2 to saves against something they're already immune to.
That's more my issue.
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Alien Archive type rules don’t apply at all to PCs. PC subtypes only one interact with targeting limitations on things like Control Constructs and Charm Person.
Related question: any way to increase a Dragonkin breath weapon's damage? That ability is written like it was a natural attack, but that's obviously not the case. I know that if you take Improved Unarmed Strike, it also include natural attacks.
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Related question: any way to increase a Dragonkin breath weapon's damage? That ability is written like it was a natural attack, but that's obviously not the case. I know that if you take Improved Unarmed Strike, it also include natural attacks.
I've wondered this too, but found nothing. It gets decent scaling damage from its x1.5 lvl specialization, but it looks like it remains 1d6 forever.
There are the various Dragon Glands augmentations that give you a separate breath weapon that does more dice of damage, but those ones don't get the specialization damage.
It's definitely home rule territory, but were I GMing it and a player asked, I'd allow the Versatile Specialization feat to also apply to the augmentations too, but for the augmentations' breath attacks, I'd reduce it to x1 lvl dmg, not x1.5 lvl dmg. I.E. a dragonkin of lvl 3+ with Versatile Specialization could add x1.5 lvl dmg their 'native' breath weapon, and x1 lvl dmg to the augmentations' breath attacks.
Sounds like an attempt at balance for me.
It would be nice if they get a feat to improved their breath weapon damage like a natural weapon. Give their status as an "other" playable race, I guess it falls mostly into houserule category.
Oddly enough, I kinda wished that dragonkins were 1) Medium, with 2) no breath weapon and 3) much better flying speed. When the books stated that dragonkins changed over time to fit into tighter spaces, I expected them to be much smaller ^^;
It would be nice if they get a feat to improved their breath weapon damage like a natural weapon. Give their status as an "other" playable race, I guess it falls mostly into houserule category.
Oddly enough, I kinda wished that dragonkins were 1) Medium, with 2) no breath weapon and 3) much better flying speed. When the books stated that dragonkins changed over time to fit into tighter spaces, I expected them to be much smaller ^^;
I like them large, even if that is more of a downside thanks to SFs streamlining by removing size modifiers. Makes them really different instead of just another human with different skin.
I wonder if there will ever be feats or so for AA races to get closer to the "monster" version of their race.
Here's why I would have loved them to be Medium:
"The average terrestrial dragonkin is 15 to 20 feet long and weighs roughly 2,000 pounds, while the spacefaring variety can be as small as half that size."
That's 7 to 10 feet... which CAN be Medium as well as Large.
I prefer having drawbacks like those that large has. It is similar to the khizar not being able to percieve anything farther than 30ft away. Drawbacks make a species have character, otherwise they are just humans with antennae or different skin colors.
I just don't get that part of the lore where Dragonkin are supposed to be smaller... and that isn't reflected in the stat blocs.
The average terrestrial dragonkin is 15 to 20 feet long and weighs roughly 2,000 pounds, while the spacefaring variety can be as small as half that size.
Large Size category creatures in Starfinder are 8-16 feet and 500-4,000lbs.
So an 8ft Dragonkin weighing 1,000lbs is still a Large Size creature.
The average terrestrial dragonkin is 15 to 20 feet long and weighs roughly 2,000 pounds, while the spacefaring variety can be as small as half that size.Large Size category creatures in Starfinder are 8-16 feet and 500-4,000lbs.
So an 8ft Dragonkin weighing 1,000lbs is still a Large Size creature.
I know, I know... It just felt like since regular Dragonkins are Large, spcaefaring ones could have been Medium.