# Stellar Biotech

*The Apothecary, Poisons, Drugs, and Chemical Agents for Exodus NDS. Source: https://exodusnds.com/sourcebooks/the-apothecary/stellar-biotech*

Space opera medicine is fast. A field injector closes a wound in seconds, a tablet lets a pilot think for four hours, and a broad antitoxin deals with most of the earlier chapters of this book.

The poisons keep pace. The last six entries are needler loads and engineered toxins, and two of them are **Keyed**.

Prices are in credits on the scale of *The Stellar Armory*. A Universe with its own stims and antitoxins uses its own numbers.

<img class="framed" src="https://exodusnds.com/assets/sourcebook/the_apothecary/the-apothecary-stellar.jpg">

##### <span class="substance-bar medicine"></span>Stimpack
<span class="weapon-aka">Medstim, trauma patch, med-gel</span>

<div class="substance medicine">

<span class="pot">2</span>
<span class="onset">None</span>
<span class="lasts">—</span>
<span class="limit">2</span>

</div>

<div class="substance-detail">

<span class="vector">Injected</span>
<span class="price">50</span>
<span class="avail">Common</span>
<span class="period">Stellar</span>
<span class="qual">None</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Benefit</span>
<span class="pqual">Recover 3 Wounds and end Bleeding</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Overdose</span>
<span class="pqual">No check: a third or later dose before a full rest still works, and adds 1 Bane Die to all checks until that rest</span>

</div>

The standard field injector of every crew and every army. It closes wounds fast enough to watch.

##### <span class="substance-bar stimulant"></span>Combat Stim
<span class="weapon-aka">Battle dose, the edge, redline</span>

<div class="substance stimulant">

<span class="pot">2</span>
<span class="onset">None</span>
<span class="lasts">1 check</span>
<span class="limit">1</span>

</div>

<div class="substance-detail">

<span class="vector">Injected</span>
<span class="price">100</span>
<span class="avail">Restricted</span>
<span class="period">Stellar</span>
<span class="qual">Habit 1</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Benefit</span>
<span class="pqual">Recover 2 Strain and add 1 Boon Die to the user's next check</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Crash</span>
<span class="pqual">1 Strain after that check</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Limit</span>
<span class="pqual">Once per encounter</span>

</div>

A small sharp push, used at the moment it is needed.

##### <span class="substance-bar stimulant"></span>Reflex Booster
<span class="weapon-aka">Quick, jolt, the pilot's friend</span>

<div class="substance stimulant">

<span class="pot">3</span>
<span class="onset">1 round</span>
<span class="lasts">1 hour</span>
<span class="limit">1</span>

</div>

<div class="substance-detail">

<span class="vector">Injected, Inhaled</span>
<span class="price">300</span>
<span class="avail">Restricted</span>
<span class="period">Stellar</span>
<span class="qual">Habit 3</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Benefit</span>
<span class="pqual">Add 2 Boon Dice to initiative checks and 1 Boon Die to Reflexes and Operate checks</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Crash</span>
<span class="pqual">3 Strain, and Disoriented for 10 minutes</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Overdose</span>
<span class="pqual">3 Wounds, and Staggered on the next turn</span>

</div>

A drug that shortens the gap between seeing and doing. Racing pilots and duellists use it and are tested for it.

##### <span class="substance-bar stimulant"></span>Focus
<span class="weapon-aka">Clarity, the deep-work dose, navigator's blue</span>

<div class="substance stimulant">

<span class="pot">2</span>
<span class="onset">10 minutes</span>
<span class="lasts">4 hours</span>
<span class="limit">1</span>

</div>

<div class="substance-detail">

<span class="vector">Ingested</span>
<span class="price">150</span>
<span class="avail">Common</span>
<span class="period">Stellar</span>
<span class="qual">Habit 2</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Benefit</span>
<span class="pqual">Add 1 Boon Die to Intellect-based checks</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Crash</span>
<span class="pqual">2 Strain, and add 1 Bane Die to Intellect-based checks for 4 hours</span>

</div>

A drug for long calculations and long watches. Half of every academy takes it before examinations.

##### <span class="substance-bar stimulant"></span>Fury
<span class="weapon-aka">Red, berserk, the boarding dose</span>

<div class="substance stimulant">

<span class="pot">4</span>
<span class="onset">1 round</span>
<span class="lasts">1 encounter</span>
<span class="limit">1</span>

</div>

<div class="substance-detail">

<span class="vector">Injected</span>
<span class="price">400</span>
<span class="avail">Military</span>
<span class="period">Stellar</span>
<span class="qual">Habit 3</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Benefit</span>
<span class="pqual">Add 2 to the damage of Melee and Unarmed attacks, and ignore Disoriented</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Side effect</span>
<span class="pqual">Add 2 Bane Dice to every check that is not an attack or a Might-based check. The user cannot withdraw from a fight while an enemy stands</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Crash</span>
<span class="pqual">5 Strain and 2 Wounds</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Overdose</span>
<span class="pqual">4 Wounds, and the user attacks the nearest person</span>

</div>

Issued to boarding parties by navies that count the cost afterwards.

##### <span class="substance-bar medicine"></span>Torpor Dose
<span class="weapon-aka">Coldsleep shot, the slow, stasis gel</span>

<div class="substance medicine">

<span class="pot">3</span>
<span class="onset">1 round</span>
<span class="lasts">12 hours</span>
<span class="limit">1</span>

</div>

<div class="substance-detail">

<span class="vector">Injected</span>
<span class="price">400</span>
<span class="avail">Restricted</span>
<span class="period">Stellar</span>
<span class="qual">None</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Benefit</span>
<span class="pqual">The patient is unconscious, and every clock running in the patient runs at one tenth speed: poison Intervals, Bleeding, a timed Critical Injury, air use</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Special</span>
<span class="pqual">Works only on a willing or helpless patient. Waking early takes a stimulant and an Average Medicine check</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Crash</span>
<span class="pqual">3 Strain on waking</span>

</div>

The answer to a slow poison a long way from a hospital. It buys ten hours for every hour on the clock.

##### <span class="substance-bar medicine"></span>Thin-Air Tablets
<span class="weapon-aka">Vacc drug, breath-holders, high-pass pills</span>

<div class="substance medicine">

<span class="pot">1</span>
<span class="onset">10 minutes</span>
<span class="lasts">4 hours</span>
<span class="limit">1</span>

</div>

<div class="substance-detail">

<span class="vector">Ingested</span>
<span class="price">60</span>
<span class="avail">Common</span>
<span class="period">Stellar</span>
<span class="qual">None</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Benefit</span>
<span class="pqual">Double the time the user can hold breath, and add 2 Boon Dice to Fortitude checks against thin atmosphere and decompression</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Crash</span>
<span class="pqual">2 Strain</span>

</div>

Loads the blood with oxygen. Miners, climbers, and people who expect a hull breach take one before the shift.

##### <span class="substance-bar medicine"></span>Spacer's Friend
<span class="weapon-aka">Drop tabs, the anti-spin, g-tabs</span>

<div class="substance medicine">

<span class="pot">1</span>
<span class="onset">10 minutes</span>
<span class="lasts">8 hours</span>
<span class="limit">1</span>

</div>

<div class="substance-detail">

<span class="vector">Ingested</span>
<span class="price">20</span>
<span class="avail">Common</span>
<span class="period">Stellar</span>
<span class="qual">None</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Benefit</span>
<span class="pqual">Remove up to 2 Bane Dice imposed by free fall, spin, or high gravity</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Side effect</span>
<span class="pqual">Add 1 Bane Die to Perception checks</span>

</div>

What a passenger takes before the first jump and a crew never admits to taking.

##### <span class="substance-bar sedative"></span>Glitter
<span class="weapon-aka">Bliss, the long sleep, synth</span>

<div class="substance sedative">

<span class="pot">3</span>
<span class="onset">1 round</span>
<span class="lasts">4 hours</span>
<span class="limit">1</span>

</div>

<div class="substance-detail">

<span class="vector">Inhaled, Injected</span>
<span class="price">15</span>
<span class="avail">Illicit</span>
<span class="period">Stellar</span>
<span class="qual">Habit 4</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Benefit</span>
<span class="pqual">Recover all Strain</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Side effect</span>
<span class="pqual">Disoriented, and cannot take a second maneuver in a turn</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Overdose</span>
<span class="pqual">4 Strain each 10 minutes for 6 checks, Lethal</span>

</div>

A synthetic opiate that costs almost nothing to make. Every station has a deck where it is sold.

##### <span class="substance-bar antidote"></span>Detox Shot
<span class="weapon-aka">Flush, sober, the purge</span>

<div class="substance antidote">

<span class="pot">—</span>
<span class="onset">1 round</span>
<span class="lasts">—</span>
<span class="limit">2</span>

</div>

<div class="substance-detail">

<span class="vector">Injected</span>
<span class="price">80</span>
<span class="avail">Common</span>
<span class="period">Stellar</span>
<span class="qual">None</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Benefit</span>
<span class="pqual">Ends the Benefit, Side effect, and Crash of every drug in the patient, and counts as one successful resist check against any sedative</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Side effect</span>
<span class="pqual">2 Strain</span>

</div>

It clears the blood in a minute. It is unpleasant, and it is how a ship's doctor gets a crew fit for duty after shore leave.

##### <span class="substance-bar antidote"></span>Broad Antitoxin
<span class="weapon-aka">Anti-venom, antitox, the grey injector</span>

<div class="substance antidote">

<span class="pot">—</span>
<span class="onset">None</span>
<span class="lasts">—</span>
<span class="limit">—</span>

</div>

<div class="substance-detail">

<span class="vector">Injected</span>
<span class="price">80</span>
<span class="avail">Restricted</span>
<span class="period">Stellar</span>
<span class="qual">None</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Benefit</span>
<span class="pqual">Specific antidote to any poison of Potency 3 or less. Against a poison of Potency 4 or 5 it is a general antidote: add 2 Boon Dice to resist and treatment checks</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Special</span>
<span class="pqual">No effect on Keyed toxins or on drugs</span>

</div>

An injector of engineered binders that take hold of most things that should not be in blood.

##### <span class="substance-bar sedative"></span>Sleeper Dose
<span class="weapon-aka">Anaesthetic sliver, the quiet load</span>

<div class="substance sedative">

<span class="pot">2</span>
<span class="onset">1 round</span>
<span class="interval">Round</span>
<span class="course">4</span>

</div>

<div class="substance-detail">

<span class="vector">Injury, Inhaled</span>
<span class="price">75</span>
<span class="avail">Common</span>
<span class="period">Stellar</span>
<span class="qual">None</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Effect</span>
<span class="pqual">4 Strain</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Sleep</span>
<span class="pqual">1 hour</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Antidote</span>
<span class="pqual">A Detox Shot or any stimulant wakes the sleeper</span>

</div>

A surgical anaesthetic in a needler sliver or a hand aerosol. Safe at any dose, which is why security forces are issued it.

##### <span class="substance-bar toxin"></span>Lockjaw
<span class="weapon-aka">Freeze, the stiff, synaptic clamp</span>

<div class="substance toxin">

<span class="pot">3</span>
<span class="onset">1 round</span>
<span class="interval">Round</span>
<span class="course">4</span>

</div>

<div class="substance-detail">

<span class="vector">Injury</span>
<span class="price">250</span>
<span class="avail">Restricted</span>
<span class="period">Stellar</span>
<span class="qual">None</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Effect</span>
<span class="pqual">2 Strain and Immobilized. A victim already Immobilized by this poison is Paralysed</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">After</span>
<span class="pqual">10 minutes after the poison ends</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Antidote</span>
<span class="pqual">Broad Antitoxin</span>

</div>

A paralytic for taking prisoners. The victim stays awake and breathing and cannot move a finger.

##### <span class="substance-bar toxin"></span>Black Needle
<span class="weapon-aka">Neurotoxin sliver, the assassin's load</span>

<div class="substance toxin">

<span class="pot">4</span>
<span class="onset">1 round</span>
<span class="interval">Round</span>
<span class="course">4</span>

</div>

<div class="substance-detail">

<span class="vector">Injury</span>
<span class="price">400</span>
<span class="avail">Military</span>
<span class="period">Stellar</span>
<span class="qual">Lethal</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Effect</span>
<span class="pqual">3 Wounds, and Disoriented until the next resist check</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Antidote</span>
<span class="pqual">Broad Antitoxin, as a general antidote</span>

</div>

A military neurotoxin for the Needler in *The Stellar Armory*. Carrying it is a crime on most worlds.

##### <span class="substance-bar toxin"></span>Xenotoxin
<span class="weapon-aka">Alien venom, the offworld sting</span>

<div class="substance toxin">

<span class="pot">4</span>
<span class="onset">1 round</span>
<span class="interval">Round</span>
<span class="course">5</span>

</div>

<div class="substance-detail">

<span class="vector">Injury, Contact</span>
<span class="price">300</span>
<span class="avail">Rare</span>
<span class="period">Stellar</span>
<span class="qual">Lethal, Keyed (species)</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Effect</span>
<span class="pqual">3 Wounds</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Special</span>
<span class="pqual">Named for the species it evolved to kill. That species resists normally. Every other species adds 2 Boon Dice to resist checks, and the poison is not Lethal to them</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Antidote</span>
<span class="pqual">A specific antidote from the world it comes from</span>

</div>

The venom of something from another biosphere. It is deadly to the bodies it was shaped for and merely unpleasant to the rest.

##### <span class="substance-bar toxin"></span>Tailored Toxin
<span class="weapon-aka">The signature dose, gene-keyed poison</span>

<div class="substance toxin">

<span class="pot">5</span>
<span class="onset">1 hour</span>
<span class="interval">Hour</span>
<span class="course">6</span>

</div>

<div class="substance-detail">

<span class="vector">Ingested, Contact, Inhaled</span>
<span class="price">20000</span>
<span class="avail">Rare</span>
<span class="period">Stellar</span>
<span class="qual">Lethal, Keyed (one person), Subtle 5</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Effect</span>
<span class="pqual">4 Wounds</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Special</span>
<span class="pqual">Built from a sample of one person and harmless to everyone else. It can be put in a ship's water or air</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Antidote</span>
<span class="pqual">None in stock; a laboratory and a Hard Science check make a specific antidote in 2 hours</span>

</div>

A poison built to one person's genes. The whole banquet eats it and one guest falls ill. Making it needs a tissue sample, a month, and a laboratory, and that trail is how the maker is found.

##### <span class="substance-bar sedative"></span>Honesty
<span class="weapon-aka">Veridical, the interrogator's dose</span>

<div class="substance sedative">

<span class="pot">4</span>
<span class="onset">1 minute</span>
<span class="interval">Hour</span>
<span class="course">1</span>

</div>

<div class="substance-detail">

<span class="vector">Injury</span>
<span class="price">600</span>
<span class="avail">Restricted</span>
<span class="period">Stellar</span>
<span class="qual">None</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Effect</span>
<span class="pqual">4 Strain. For one hour the subject cannot say anything the subject believes to be false, and staying silent in answer to a direct question takes a Hard Fortitude check</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-profile">

<span class="pname">Antidote</span>
<span class="pqual">A Detox Shot</span>

</div>

The truth drug the Modern period wanted. Courts on some worlds accept testimony given under it and on others forbid its use.

<img class="framed" src="https://exodusnds.com/assets/sourcebook/the_apothecary/the-apothecary-specimen-lab.jpg" alt="An alien specimen being milked in a laboratory" loading="lazy">
