Deep Space
Interstellar space has about one atom per cubic centimeter, almost no light, and distances that are only practical to cross by hyperlane. No traffic passes through, so a stranded vessel is not found.
Exposure
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No pressure and no air to breathe, with survival measured in rounds.
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Countdown
Without a seal, a creature holds out for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution modifier, minimum 1. At the end of that time its hit points drop to -1, unless they are already lower, and it is dying. It cannot be stabilized or regain hit points until it can breathe.
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Decompressed
Exposure inflicts the Decompressed condition, which a return to pressure does not by itself remove.
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Holding your breath
Holding a breath in vacuum ruptures the lungs. A creature that does so takes 2d6 damage on the first round and gains no benefit from the attempt.
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Sound
Sound does not travel. Verbal spell components, shouted orders and Perception by hearing all fail across open vacuum. Suit comms and touch are the only channels.
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Unfiltered light
Without air to filter it, the star's output arrives unreduced. An hour of unshielded exposure in direct sunlight counts as a failed Contaminated Atmosphere save against radiological dose.
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Temperatures below about zero degrees Fahrenheit, or any water near freezing, made worse by wind.
CON save, DC 10, rising by 1 for each hour after the first. End of each hour. One level of exhaustion.
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Cold-weather gear
Proper layers, a sealed suit or a heated shelter removes the save. Wet layers give disadvantage on it instead.
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Immersion
A creature in near-freezing water makes the save each minute instead of each hour, and is Incapacitated at three levels of exhaustion.
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Gear
Unheated power cells lose half their charge, and any check made with bare hands after an hour of exposure has disadvantage.
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Adapted
A creature native to a cold world, or with resistance to cold damage, ignores the save.
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Free fall, where there is no down, no moving body stops on its own, and a missed handhold leaves a creature adrift.
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Movement
Moving requires a surface to push from. A creature with nothing in reach continues in the direction it last moved until it reaches something.
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Changing course
Changing direction mid-drift requires a DC 12 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. On a failure the creature continues as it was.
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Melee
An unanchored melee attack has disadvantage and pushes the attacker 10 feet away from the target after it resolves.
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No falling
There is no up, no down and no falling damage. A creature cannot be knocked Prone, and the Prone condition does not apply.
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Mag boots
Magnetic boots or a tether remove every entry above while a ferrous surface is underfoot, at the cost of half movement.
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In play
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No help
A distress signal takes years to arrive anywhere, so rescue depends on what is aboard.
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Cold
An unpowered hull takes days to lose its heat, which is longer than the air lasts.
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Navigation
Position is fixed by pulsar or by chart. A vessel that has lost both has no procedure for finding its position.
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Ionizing dose
Unshielded, a creature gains a level of exhaustion each hour. A long rest does not clear it. A Medicine check at DC 12, a restorative spell or antiradiation drugs remove it. Rated shielding removes the effect, and most powered plate raises the interval to four hours.
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No light
Heavily obscured. A creature without darkvision or a light source is Blinded, and a light source is visible to anything that can see at three times its own radius.
Built for this
- Circle of the Void Subclass
- College of the Stars Subclass