Research lab

A sealed facility far from any town, studying something its funders would rather not name. Clean rooms, specimen tanks, a staff that signed long contracts, and an emergency protocol everyone hopes never to read.

Light
Lit
Going
Easy

Hear it

Hazards

  • Containment breach. A seal fails in the specimen wing. The doors lock on their own, the lights go red, and the protocol nobody read starts counting down. D&D 5e (House rule): House rule: overriding a locked door takes a DC 15 Intelligence check with thieves' tools or an access card; the countdown gives the party 3d6 rounds before the wing is flooded with sterilising gas (8d6 Poison damage, DC 15 Constitution save for half). Starfinder 2e: For the sterilising gas, use toxic atmosphere (GM Core): minor poison damage (1d6 to 2d6) every minute; armour environmental protections do not stop inhaled poisons. Archives of Nethys
  • Alien microbes. Life that never met a human: most of it cannot touch our chemistry at all, but nobody knows which of it can. Quarantine, filters and patience decide who goes home. D&D 5e (House rule): House rule: a creature that breathes the open air or eats unscanned food makes a DC 12 Constitution saving throw at the end of the day; on a failure it has the Poisoned condition for 1d4 days. A creature that succeeds three days in a row is safe from this world's microbes.

What may happen

  1. One wing has been sealed with a red seal; the staff walk around it without looking.
  2. A specimen tank is empty, its lid open from inside.
  3. The emergency protocol is finally read aloud, and it ends with the words "no survivors".
  4. A scientist asks the party, quietly, to smuggle out a data chip.
  5. The power cuts out; in the dark, the hum of a backup generator, and something else.
  6. Entering the clean room takes twenty minutes of gowning: two layers, a hood, booties and an air shower.
  7. A technician feeds something in a tank with long tongs, and does not let the party see what.
  8. A lab notebook left on a bench ends on a single word, underlined three times.
  9. A junior researcher admits she signed for five years without reading the contract, and now she has.
  10. The lift to the lower levels locks itself for a "routine check". It has done so three times today.
  11. The decontamination shower runs cold and smells of chlorine. Everyone comes out red and grumbling.
  12. The coffee machine in the break room is the only thing the whole staff agrees to protect.
  13. A sample in a sealed dish has doubled since this morning, and the dish was sealed with nothing to feed it.
  14. A memo on the board reminds staff that "the subject of Wing C is not to be discussed with contractors".
  15. Visiting funders tour the lab in spotless suits. The director smiles too much, and the senior staff are kept out of sight.
  16. A freezer alarm beeps in the sample store. Its temperature is rising, and a decade of work is inside.
  17. The air handler changes pitch, and the whole staff stops talking to listen until it settles.
  18. A security guard slips the party a note: "Ask them about the volunteers."
  19. A rack of samples carries two sets of labels, the newer ones stuck over the old.
  20. On the night shift, a single researcher works by the glow of the monitors, talking softly to the specimens.
  21. A glovebox glove shows a pinhole under the lamp. The experiment inside is three weeks old.
  22. The youngest scientist on staff, barely twenty, has solved a problem her seniors have chewed on for a year, and nobody will listen.
  23. The animal room is silent. The cages are clean, labelled and empty.
  24. A supply crate arrives marked with the lab’s name and a biohazard symbol. The delivery pilot will not wait for a signature.
  25. A party member’s access badge opens one more door than it should.

Adventure hooks

  1. The lab went dark a week ago, and its funders want it reopened quietly, data first, staff second.
  2. A whistleblower wants out with proof of what the specimens really are.
  3. The lab's AI has locked the doors and asks the party one question before it opens them.
  4. A scientist has injected herself with the sample and wants to be watched, not cured.

Who and what is met

Each is an SRD stat block under another name, as game masters reskin them.

Other places among the stars

Orbital station, Derelict ship, Colony outpost, Precursor ruin, Asteroid field, Gas giant orbit, Deep space relay, Terraforming works, Prison hulk, Crashed freighter, Nebula, Neon city, Junktown, Spaceport, War front, Alien hive, Living ship, Undersea base, Lava foundry

This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 ("SRD 5.2.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.

This product is licensed under the ORC License located at the Library of Congress at TX 9-307-067 and available online at various locations including paizo.com/orclicense, azoralaw.com/orclicense, and others. All warranties are disclaimed as set forth therein. Attribution: this rules layer is based on the following Licensed Material: Starfinder Player Core © 2025 Paizo Inc., Authors: Jessica Catalan, Thurston Hillman, Jenny Jarzabski, Mike Kimmel, and Dustin Knight; Starfinder GM Core © 2025 Paizo Inc., Authors: Jessica Catalan, Thurston Hillman, Jenny Jarzabski, Mike Kimmel, and Dustin Knight; Starfinder Alien Core © 2025 Paizo Inc. Authors: Kate Baker, Lau Bannenberg, Rigby Bendele, Vishesh Bhartiya, Joseph Blomquist, Jeremy Blum, Tineke Bolleman, Brent Bowser, Michael Bramnik, Patrick Brennan, Charlie Brooks, Jessica Catalan, Brite Cheney, Jeremy Corff, Caryn DiMarco, Anthony Dollinger, Steve Fidler, Kim Frandsen, Andrew D. Geels, Basheer Ghouse, Sen H.H.S., Katrina Hennessy, Thurston Hillman, Joan Hong, Jenny Jarzabski, Sara Jeffers, Mikko Kallio, Lysle Kapp, Mike Kimmel, Dustin Knight, Cole Kronewitter, Mahpiya, Letterio Mammoliti, Randal Meyer, Jacob W. Michaels, Matt Morris, Dennis Muldoon, Quinn Murphy, Elizabeth V Nold, Chesley Oxendine, Emily Parks, Glen Parnell, Randy Price, Kyle T. Raes, Jessica Redekop, Erin Roberts, James Rodehaver, David N. Ross, Pidj Sorensen, Joel Southall, Kendra Leigh Speedling, Drew Taylor, Sam W Tennyson, Jalen Todd, Ruvaid Virk, Viditya Voleti, Christopher Wasko, Nicholas Wasko, Jackson Wery, Shan Wolf, and Basil Wright. If you use our Licensed Material in your own published work, please credit us as follows: Biomes, Starfinder Second Edition rules layer © 2026 Michael Ghelfi. Reserved Material: the names of Biomes and its catalogues, its descriptions, sounds, art and code. Starfinder is a registered trademark of Paizo Inc.; this site is not published, endorsed, or specifically approved by Paizo Inc.

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