Okay, this is actually several questions, so please bear with me. First of all, before I pull a fluff-thrashing weapon with a core of weapons-grade bolognium out of the usual place, is there a locale in RT stuff that is like Mos Eisley? In some ways, I know that the number of races in 40K is less than Star Wars, and of course, every race in 40K mostly hates everyone else, but other than Human planets with bars and places for a ship's crew to take a load off, I don't know where your shore leave would be, and I really like the idea of the Lord-Captain, sitting in a bar, BSing with someone of similar place about their exploits; if that other person could be an alien, all the better, but I know that the 40K fluff doesn't like it as much. Where do the sailors, if you will, of the other races hang out? Eldar Corsairs don't exactly visit the craftworld often.

Second question, and this involves a plan I still want to do. So, say you are a new crew in the Expanse, just about to start out your fortune-seeking ways. You've barely done anything, and already you've seen that there are some pretty big, pretty powerful fish out there. While looking for another prize, preferably without encountering Winterscale's goons, or some other Rogue Trader's agents, you are brought into the presence of an Inquisitor. This individual is vague about details, but he knows who you are, and that you are small yet, but brimming with promise, so he tells you of an opportunity like no other. You'll leave the Expanse, probably forever, but go to a place overflowing with possible gain, and with fewer of the competition a played out for two millennia place like the Expanse has. Sparing the details, he tells them to go to a place, and say his name when asked. If they go, they find themselves looking at a Ramillies star fort, and will end up in the Jericho Reach. So, once there, I can see Rogue Traders being successful, minus one bit; who do they trade with? If we just say they are doing the right thing, and won't trade with Chaos, who does that leave? Imperial forces are obvious, but these are "real" Imperial forces, so some xenotech won't sell with them. The Tau, maybe, but their stuff is already possibly better, and they maybe can't use some of the more eclectic, exotic goods. Despite the war, are there decent civilian populations, sort of like in Calixis, who could buy things you find? It's not worth taking back the sector if there are no loyal people to make it prosperous.

Last, how vital is the Rogue Trader in your enterprise? For every Rogue Trader who goes and does things, there is bound to be someone like the schmoes Abel Garret works for, who send agents out to work, or armchair managers like Bastille, who can't be asked to go in person, and then there are people like Winterscale, whose area of influence is so vast he practically needs proxies; even that big a man can't be in two distant places at the same time. If every Dynasty isn't plagued by a-holes claiming to represent them, and tarnishing their efforts, then there must be a way for people to prove whom they serve, and the master could be off, out in the boonies for years, looking for stuff, or missing, whatever. In this vein, if a Rogue Trader was to move to Jericho, would they HAVE to cut all ties with all of their enterprises in the Expanse, or could they have others keep running the show, like they probably already have? You might not normally be able to return from the Reach, after passing through the Gate, but Rogue Traders are powerful, and resourceful, so...and there are Astropaths to stay in touch. Could they maintain some influence in both places, or would they have to cut losses from one to support the other. It's another case of the Imperium needing to hide something only from its own dumb sheep, as everyone else already knows, but I don't think dual-way travel through the Gate is normal, even for the affluent.

So, ideas, thoughts, answers?

My best suggestion:

Footfall as Moss Eiley - but a tad more shady.
(For the record, Port Wander makes an OK DS9 impersonator).

Or you can do what I did, and make one up:
Senkal Station has heavy traces of Moss Eisley in it, since you mention it.

Caught in the grip of 5 powerful individuals (locally powerful that is) and situated far beyond imperial space.

Footfall has a zeno section in edge of the abyss. I would expect Orks, Eldar, Styrix, Kroot and other species to hangout there. Basically Agreeing with Tenebre here.

Iniquity is a pirate hub so chaos pirates hangout there(and perhaps Eldar corsairs).

Any of Winterscales colonies would have gambling rings to hang out and brag in although you'd be hanging out with fellow humans most likely.

Rain is Ostensibly a pleasure world so I'd expect it to have at least 1 major Casino. You could potentially make it as shady as Footfall if you wanted depending how you think of Chorda since she owns the place.

I figure you can have representatives. Personally I think of them by the name House Agents. By the lore I think the Rogue Traders tend to be the driving force behind their dynasties. Ultimately for the simple reason that it's simpler to write a story that way.

As for having others running the show while the Rogue Trader runs off to Jerico reach, that could go many ways. The parents of the Rogue Trader might technically own some of the enterprises merely providing support until the Rogue Trader had their own steady base before passing off their holdings to other children as Imperial Governors (Or just rich nobles). So while initially in Jericho reach they have some financial wealth to draw on and then 75 years later it's cut off for example.

Or the Rogue Trader may have killed off their family by treachery is is able to keep most wealth to themselves in which case they can either choose representation or perhaps trade for resources in the Jericho sector. Perhaps some Nobles there would be willing to trade their holdings for somewhere ostensibly safer.

To answer the first question at least...yes there are such places in the in 40k lore, insofar not in the Expanse (so far as my knowledge goes).

An example off the top of my head would be found in the Ravenor series, where he and his crew go to a station located outside Imperial Space to find the source of the flect trade, its mentioned that there are plenty of xenos doing business there.

Trading in the Jericho Reach? Cant go wrong with the essentials like food stores, fresh water, medicine, and construction resources; those are always in demand. Regardless of who those kind of resources can be a good way to break the ice with locals, which can lead you to other people that into the business of trading 'other' resources. They will still have a good deal of local competition to worry about though...

As for the final question, it depends on 'who' they left the job of management to. If they got themselves a competent and loyal workforce then managing (or at least maintaining their previous power-base) is a almost sure thing.

Now if they left it up to a flightly ork freebooter to manage their estate then they're in for some amusing (for you at least) trouble.

Okay, this is actually several questions, so please bear with me. First of all, before I pull a fluff-thrashing weapon with a core of weapons-grade bolognium out of the usual place, is there a locale in RT stuff that is like Mos Eisley? In some ways, I know that the number of races in 40K is less than Star Wars, and of course, every race in 40K mostly hates everyone else, but other than Human planets with bars and places for a ship's crew to take a load off, I don't know where your shore leave would be, and I really like the idea of the Lord-Captain, sitting in a bar, BSing with someone of similar place about their exploits; if that other person could be an alien, all the better, but I know that the 40K fluff doesn't like it as much. Where do the sailors, if you will, of the other races hang out? Eldar Corsairs don't exactly visit the craftworld often.

What other people said. Either Port Wander or creating one on your own.

Second question, and this involves a plan I still want to do. So, say you are a new crew in the Expanse, just about to start out your fortune-seeking ways. You've barely done anything, and already you've seen that there are some pretty big, pretty powerful fish out there. While looking for another prize, preferably without encountering Winterscale's goons, or some other Rogue Trader's agents, you are brought into the presence of an Inquisitor. This individual is vague about details, but he knows who you are, and that you are small yet, but brimming with promise, so he tells you of an opportunity like no other. You'll leave the Expanse, probably forever, but go to a place overflowing with possible gain, and with fewer of the competition a played out for two millennia place like the Expanse has. Sparing the details, he tells them to go to a place, and say his name when asked. If they go, they find themselves looking at a Ramillies star fort, and will end up in the Jericho Reach. So, once there, I can see Rogue Traders being successful, minus one bit; who do they trade with? If we just say they are doing the right thing, and won't trade with Chaos, who does that leave? Imperial forces are obvious, but these are "real" Imperial forces, so some xenotech won't sell with them. The Tau, maybe, but their stuff is already possibly better, and they maybe can't use some of the more eclectic, exotic goods. Despite the war, are there decent civilian populations, sort of like in Calixis, who could buy things you find? It's not worth taking back the sector if there are no loyal people to make it prosperous.

As other people mentioned, food, weapons, clothing, metal, fuel, gear, etc etc. are all needed in the Jericho Reach. Heck, soldiers and colonists are needed more, but you can only carry so much. With that said, if I was a civilian out on a frontier world, and the only weapon you had to sell me was a Tau Pulse Pistol, I'd take it. I might sign over a document giving you my land if I die, or giving you half if I live, but hey, I have a weapon. Or maybe the civilian has to give you half his food crop now, and 1/3 for the next 7 years. Or a combination of both. Someone is going to need something you have. Even the frontier worlds aligned with the Tau will probably need Tau weapons, gear, ammo, parts, etc etc. And of course, there is nothing stopping you from collecting all you can, claiming an asteroid/abandoned space station/remote colony and stashing all your xeno stuff there until you can collect it when you leave to sell in the Calaxis/Koronus.

Last, how vital is the Rogue Trader in your enterprise? For every Rogue Trader who goes and does things, there is bound to be someone like the schmoes Abel Garret works for, who send agents out to work, or armchair managers like Bastille, who can't be asked to go in person, and then there are people like Winterscale, whose area of influence is so vast he practically needs proxies; even that big a man can't be in two distant places at the same time. If every Dynasty isn't plagued by a-holes claiming to represent them, and tarnishing their efforts, then there must be a way for people to prove whom they serve, and the master could be off, out in the boonies for years, looking for stuff, or missing, whatever. In this vein, if a Rogue Trader was to move to Jericho, would they HAVE to cut all ties with all of their enterprises in the Expanse, or could they have others keep running the show, like they probably already have? You might not normally be able to return from the Reach, after passing through the Gate, but Rogue Traders are powerful, and resourceful, so...and there are Astropaths to stay in touch. Could they maintain some influence in both places, or would they have to cut losses from one to support the other. It's another case of the Imperium needing to hide something only from its own dumb sheep, as everyone else already knows, but I don't think dual-way travel through the Gate is normal, even for the affluent.

So, ideas, thoughts, answers?

Well there are several options here that I can think of.

1. The PC can delegate his authority to someone is his Dynasty (family member, life long friend, clone of himself, the girl he just met at the bar) for all matters back in the Koronus Expanse and Calaxis Sector. You can run all background Endeavors through this NPC. Hopefully the PC did a thorough back ground and capability check prior to the hand over. If not, randomly roll to see how Knowledgeable the NPC is at maintaining the Dynasty.

2. The PC decides to handle it all from the Jericho side. Whose to say messages still don't get transmitted through the Warp Gate? Or that someone adjacent to the Warp Gate goes back and forth on a weekly basis sending and receiving messages. This has the issue of all messages being screened by the Inquisition, the Imperial Navy, and possibly the Adeptus Astartes. Due to this, the messages could take several weeks longer to a month to get through, because of all the screening.

3. The PC decides the let the dice roll as the are, and lets Fate decide his Dynasty by not communicating with them until the job is done. After 3-6 months, randomly roll to see what fate the Dynasty believed befell the young RT. 1) He's still out there, just not communication (roll again in another month) 2) His ship is stranded or marooned somewhere needing help. Dynasty hires people to go looking for RT and his ship(s) (causing a neg to the PF). 3) His ship was lost in the warp, never to return. Dynasty moves to appoint another family member as RT. 4) He was murdered/attacked/slaughtered/ambushed by a rival RT/Faction/Xeno Race. Dynasty points the finger at a random rival Dynasty/Faction/Xeno Race, and vows to seek vengeance. And Dynasty moves to appoint another family as RT. 5) Dynasty believes all rumors are true, and panic ensures as they try to decide what to do. No action is taken due to in fighting and apprehension gripping the Dynasty (causes a neg to PF, and roll again next month).

It could be possible that the Inquisition and the Imperial Navy allows the RT's in the Jericho Reach to go back through the Warp Gate after several months/year/reward for specific Endeavor. The RT's ship is only allowed to go to the Ramillies Star Fort or the outlying hubs adjacent to it. In addition, the RT's Dynasty is allowed to send supply ships to the Ramilies Star Fort. Cargo can be traded, crew uploaded (and maybe exchanged if properly screened/mind-wiped), ammo re-armed, and pleasantries exchanged all under the watchful eye of the "men in black" (or whoever).

My guess is that something similar exists on some backwater somewhere but it's probably mostly full of renegades, cold traders and Stryxis with maybe the odd Eldar showing up from time to time and making things tense because the Stryxis hate them.

As someone else mentioned, "wheels within wheels." Or, as in your case, "questions within question."

Seeing as I missed like 10 other questions you had, I decided to go back to rectify two of them.

Q 1 ) Last, how vital is the Rogue Trader in your enterprise? For every Rogue Trader who goes and does things, there is bound to be someone like the schmoes Abel Garret works for, who send agents out to work, or armchair managers like Bastille, who can't be asked to go in person, and then there are people like Winterscale, whose area of influence is so vast he practically needs proxies; even that big a man can't be in two distant places at the same time. Q 2) If every Dynasty isn't plagued by a-holes claiming to represent them, and tarnishing their efforts, then there must be a way for people to prove whom they serve, and the master could be off, out in the boonies for years, looking for stuff, or missing, whatever.

Not really sure if this was two questions, but I made it so.

1) Depends on the Warrant/Charter/Dynasty/etc. It could be the Warrant says any person chosen by the RT to be the heir of him/her will hold the warrant next. Or it could say the next oldest sibling/closest blood relative is the new bearer. Or, the Warrant holder is chosen by a council of the 5 previous eldest Warrant Bearers, which is voted on every 5 years, and can bear the Warrant for a max of 100 years or until r escinded . Or the Warrant could be granted to whoever has physical custody of it.

2) That person will usually be wearing the other Dynasties "colors" to show who he/she is working for. And or a writ or mark, letter of agreement, or some other document (digital or otherwise) with details on what the other he/she is allowed to do in whoever's name wrote it/signed it.

I can actually imagine an Ork hulk with a predominantly Blood Axe or Bad Moon population working as a mobile Mos Eisley.

The thing is big enough (and has enough escorts, potentially Ork Roks orbiting it like moons) that it doesn’t need to worry about anything but a large fleet attempting to destroy it and due to the robustness of Orky tech and hulks in general hit and run style attacks are likely to be sport more than anything else. So the Orks hollow out a large promenade (found here http://darktrader.wikidot.com/ship-components ) and let anyone who doesn’t have a big enough fleet to be fun to fight come on board to trade.

Sure small fights break out all the time but the Orks like it that way and the Goff Rockers play music loudly enough that private dealings are still possible even with the scum and villainy that can’t find a home in a more desirable location.

I imagine a place like that could be home to many groups of the lesser 40K races that don’t get their own army.

If you're of a more radical mindset you can just build one yourself somewhere, and really I can imagine a great many advantages to doing so. As I was thinking with my previous post it would be a fantastic resource for a cold trader to the point where if you have that alternate rank you really would want to go out of your way to build one somewhere. The other advantage would be intelligence, while we tend to focus on the major players the 40k Milky Way is absolutely crawling with small xenos interstellar nations and whatnot. If you can create and keep the peace in a location where not only do you do business with them but they do business with each other you could very easily start filling in bits of the map that are unknown to all your peers. Build up some agri-zones on the same world and maybe tow in a void station with rudimentary facilities and you could make alot of money being a pitstop. Especially if you put it together way the hell out there like in the Heathen Stars.

Now the risks are also very high though because it would be a low hanging fruit calling out to every militant ******* human and xenos alike.

If you are just looking for "a wretched hive of scum and villainy", there are no shortage of candidates- Footfall and Port Wander being obvious options.

If you are looking for a place with a lot of xenos milling around, you might want to consider Commorah, the dark city in the Eldar Webway. I used to think that Commorah was populated strictly by Dark Eldar, but the last Codex makes it clear that it is a magnet for sinister types from a variety of races. The RT adventure The Soul Reaver details 'the Nexus of Shadows', a 'spur' of Commorah that connects with the Koronus Expanse.

A Kroot warsphere might also make a pretty decent Mos Eisley.

I think the best thing about Footfall is the location, it is just beyond the edge of Imperium. This means that factions and people who would be in trouble in Imperial space can go there and do arrangements and business with others in the Calixis sector. And due to the Maw all traffic in and out, wether legal or illegal goes between the Footfall and Port Wander so you can always find some legal or semilegal excuse for traffic. I suppose the only downside is that you can't go completely crazy in Footfall and have your rogue trader walk around wearing chaos symbols or sporting mutations without news of that reaching Imperium (and the Inquisition has at least a few agents there) but it is the perfect place for shady backroom deals and covert operations.

Im sure you could make a "Moss Eisley" somewhere deep in the Koronus expanse and have it completely out of sight from any Imperial agents and with even less law, but having it so far might mean not being on the trade routes which means less traffic. Unless you go with something like the entrance to Commorragh which has enough traffic and interests on its own.

Footfall does have Chaos cultists and Hereteks roaming it's vast halls. As well as just about any Xenos Imaginable! Much like one wouldn't be openly wearing the New republic symbol on Mos Eisley (At least during the 'Age of the Empire' years), most of the more nefarious elements don't actively advertise their presence but they are there!

As to Delegating one's authority: IMO; Working for a Rogue trader is not that different from working for an Inquisitor. The Agent in question may be operating overtly (Such as a purchasing agent) or Covertly (A spy) but if push came to shove they would usually have some way of identifying themselves. RTs are businessmen so really, results count more than manners. That said, If a factor becomes an embarassment or problem to his lord Captain their employment will be 'terminated'. It's up to the Gm and the Player to decide how this will work.

Personally, if I was going to create a Mos Eisley-esque location, I might end up creating a massive Stryxis trading depot. The Stryxis would certainly be able to keep order, and it would immediately open up xenos relations. Plus, they would be able to provide an impressive selection of items themselves.

Of course that would cause some problems in itself. The Stryxis are hardly known as the most trustworthy or consistent of peop.... things. But their penchance for trading would create a more "friendly" environment than the vast majority of xenos.

Save that they hate Eldar. It wouldn't be a big sticking point for most things, or most people, but the scene playing in my head that made me sort of wish that such a place existed is of a Rogue Trader sitting at a table with a Corsair Captain he knows. They meet there, occasionally, and swap stories. In a version where he might be going to the Reach, she warns him not to go, and to be careful, since he will go, even going so far as to ask both his god and hers to keep an eye on him. It's a nice scene in my head, but I don't believe that the sniveling Stryxis and the Eldar get along well.

Well, that's a fair point. The Stryxis do despise Eldar with more passion than most people do.

If you want a place for that particular encounter, you'll need a place with both a lack of morals and one that won't disgust an Eldar. What comes to my mind is that one place that Ravenor went to in Ravenor or Ravenor Returned . I can't remember what it was actually called, and it's probably not in the Koronus expanse, but a similar location could be created pretty easily.

Does anyone else know what I'm talking about? The fact that I can't remember what it's called is really bugging me.

Well, that's a fair point. The Stryxis do despise Eldar with more passion than most people do.

If you want a place for that particular encounter, you'll need a place with both a lack of morals and one that won't disgust an Eldar. What comes to my mind is that one place that Ravenor went to in Ravenor or Ravenor Returned . I can't remember what it was actually called, and it's probably not in the Koronus expanse, but a similar location could be created pretty easily.

Does anyone else know what I'm talking about? The fact that I can't remember what it's called is really bugging me.

I made mention of that earlier in the thread, and I 'think' I just remembered the name of that place: Bonner's Reach.

Although I may made a mix-up, Ravenor does love to travel after all.

Save that they hate Eldar. It wouldn't be a big sticking point for most things, or most people, but the scene playing in my head that made me sort of wish that such a place existed is of a Rogue Trader sitting at a table with a Corsair Captain he knows. They meet there, occasionally, and swap stories. In a version where he might be going to the Reach, she warns him not to go, and to be careful, since he will go, even going so far as to ask both his god and hers to keep an eye on him. It's a nice scene in my head, but I don't believe that the sniveling Stryxis and the Eldar get along well.

Many cities have 'foreign quarters' where members of other nationalities are the majority and natives the minority, so a Stryxis settlement with a lawless 'no Stryxis welcome' quarter where humans and Eldar could meet wouldn't be out of the question...

You fail to appreciate just how much the Stryxis hate the Eldar. If they did allow an Eldar into one of their cities, it would be for the express purpose of flensing and/or use as fissionable material in a reactor.

I made mention of that earlier in the thread, and I 'think' I just remembered the name of that place: Bonner's Reach.

Although I may made a mix-up, Ravenor does love to travel after all.

I totally remember there being a blue xeno that was bad at melee combat too, during a fight on the space station. And I've always assumed it was a Fire Caste Tau.

You fail to appreciate just how much the Stryxis hate the Eldar. If they did allow an Eldar into one of their cities, it would be for the express purpose of flensing and/or use as fissionable material in a reactor.

Eldar Corsairs are, by definition, pirates . They aren't 'welcome' anywhere , and if they need to 'put in to port' to trade loot, it will most likely be covertly.