Environment

The immeasurable gulf of space is home to everything on the Material Plane, housing more stars and planets than could ever be recorded. During their careers, the player characters will undoubtedly need to venture into space. Traveling from one planet to another, exiting the atmosphere of a planetoid, or visiting an orbiting space station are all examples of common travel that require at least a brief time in space. Many hazards of space can be mitigated by wearing armor (see page 196) or a standard space suit (see page 231), but sometimes unlucky spacefaring adventurers get caught without them!

Most living beings begin their lives on floating astronomical objects. These planets, planetoids, and stars are the hub of much adventure and vary in complexity of design and makeup. A brief summary of the different types of astronomical objects is presented below, along with various rules associated with each.

An atmosphere is a layer of gases held in place by the pull of a planetoid’s gravity. The gravity and temperature of a planetoid impact its ability to retain an atmosphere. Most planets and planetoids support some manner of atmosphere. In addition to hospitable atmospheres, there are various other types of atmosphere that serve as hazards to most life.

The following section includes information on a variety of biomes found on planets. Some planets could be entirely made up of a single biome, such as desert or forest worlds, while other planets contain a mix of the following terrain types.

Weather can play an important role in an adventure. The following section describes weather common on most habitable worlds. Additional rules for cold and heat dangers can be found in Environmental Rules starting on page 400.

The following is a compilation of rules appropriate for use in a variety of environments.

Any place where sentient life gathers, lives, and works on a regular basis is referred to as a settlement, and they are just as varied as the types of life-forms that occupy them. Presented on the following pages is a streamlined way to refer to settlements in the Starfinder RPG—stat blocks that quickly list the vital data for a settlement.

For particularly large inhabited places, multiple settlement stat blocks can be used to represent distinct districts or neighborhoods. GMs should feel free to add new qualities to create the settlements they desire.

The following rules cover the basic features that can be found in structures.

Wooden walls often exist as recent additions to preexisting structures, used to create animal pens, storage bins, and temporary structures, or just to make a number of smaller rooms out of a larger one.

This compound is composed of aluminum, oxygen, and nitrogen. Sturdier than glass but still transparent, this material is commonly used in starship and space station windows.