After reading through Rogue Trader, and in particular the Kronus Expanse, I've become intrigued with Port Wander. The "Gateway to the Expanse" is a gem just waiting to be polished and placed in the crown of almost any campaign.

A place of desperate hopes and vain dreams; Port Wander teems with a transitory population of traders, spies, merchant factors, pilgrims, and missionaries amongst which move Administratum functionaries and minions of the Mechanicus, all feeding on the riches that flow from the realms beyond the warp storms in the Koronus Expanse.

So in your game, what characters, what plots, what contraband and what ships do you have passing through Port Wander?

I just put a tipically small chaos cult into the sewers to put some more action into the starting campain

I feel like Footfall is going to be the perl of our group, since everithing is possible over there

I guess that those two places could be used for years of playing

So far my campaign has not reached Port Wander, but it really does need some work imo before it can be considered a playable location. (I think it should have had at least 6 pages in the rulebook detailing it personally, but that's another matter.)

Our Rogue Trader has however been informed in order to contact his forebear's allies he should go to the Imagineum Chapel, on Wander's 'Court of the Dead', and leave a message with the Visageneer Caretaker. The Imagineum is an Imperial Creed Chapel with a bit of a twist, founded at the bequest of a Haarlock, the old chapel's walls are hung with dozens (hundreds?) of silver death masks, each the face in death of a Rogue Trader. Little used and crumbling in these times, once no Rogue Trader would die without his family presenting his image for the Chapel, so he might be seen amidst his passed peers, and gaze sightlessly down from their places on the walls, cared for by the Visageneer Caretaker, a mysterious and very old Ecclesiarchal priest.

in my campaign it will be there my ex-acolytes will find their navigator, or possible information leading to the lost navigator of the haarlock dynasty.

see my other post "DH campaign swithcing over to Rogue Trader" for more info about my campaign. But basically they have to pick up the pieces of a lost rogue trader dynasty which of my players are direct descendeant from. and Port wander is an excellent place to find out more about this.

I do hope future supplements will deal with this fantastic place.

Dose anyone know how may peopole live in Wander i.e. how fast can you get stuff.

Warp_spawn said:

Im wondering the same thing, and this actually came up during our last session. We wanted to get a better crew, but we had no idea of how to determine that crew's availability at a place like Port Wander. Because the rules for replenishing lost crew (not that we had lost ours we just wanted to get a better one) only concerned "normal" worlds like hive worlds and such, not big ass space station outposts á la port wander.

Can we work it out some thing like a Lunar-class cruiser has a crew of 95000 and wander much much biger so how about we times that be one hunderad and then we get a crew sizes of 950000 or just a hair under ten million or thoght it a blood big hair, but in realy world terms thats about a 7th of the size of London is that to big do you think

Warp_spawn said:

Better to look at the Wayfarer Station on pg 210 which is listed as a small space station with a population of 80,000 - 100,000. So, if that's a small one, I reckon it would be safe to assume Port Wander is something like 100 times as big (I would say 10 times as big, but this is 40k, you always have to go one step further ;-) ) and has a population of 8,000,000 - 10,000,000.

Not too sure about the sizes and populations, but I see Port Wander doing a lot of business in middlemen.

It's the first civilisation on this side of The Maw. If a trader wants the best price for his cargo-hold full of gems/beasts/archeotech he's going to have to take it to where the money is, i.e. not the expanse.

But that would take such a long time... If only there were some kindly merchant freighter willing to buy the goods from him now and take them off to the rich worlds personally...

Not only does this give the Rogue Trader and his crew more time to explore the expanse, it gives them a small lifeline to the outside world, a useful contact and a reason to cross back over The Maw.

Also, con-men. Nothing says "Gateway to adventure" like someone hawking a fake treasure map.

St. Jimmy that all sound very plorisbel, and good but to my way of thinking wander is going to need alot of goods for it self, food ect. and therefore go prices. what got my attention at the moment is maching up the maps in DH and RT both show port wander but DH has it in the middel and dosent show the exspaces

Here are some of the details i made for interior locations for Port Wander in my current DH campaign

On the Promenade

Lower level

The Union of Drinkers Bar, Grill, Casino, and Embassy – Owned and run by a Mr V. I. krencov, a former smuggler and beast trader who made a fortune bringing goods to the port from the Calixis sector, but lost his ship in a high stakes card game so decided to setup shop on the station instead. A lively establishment with a roaring grey market trade in just about any illegal chem in the sector, and a few from beyond it, because his ‘owners tax’ is fully paid up station security don’t bother Krencov or his customers.

Mr Ragassa’s Emporium – A dingy hole in the wall of a shop to look at from the outside, inside is a very different matter. The shop is run by Mr Ragassa, a discrete gentleman who offers discrete services to customers who can pay for them. Ragassa is one of the biggest slave traffickers on the station, and is also the Serrated Query’s only permanent resident on the station. He covers is more illegal trade under the cover of his slightly less illegal trade in exotic weapons and manuscripts, two areas he has enough knowledge to convince people he knows what he’s doing, especially when he doesn’t.

The Port Wander Trade Post – Possibly the biggest and most disorganised establishment on the Lower level of the promenade the trade post is used as a secondary earner for the station governor. Trading in almost anything the Trade Post, often referred to by residents as the Odds and Sods, mainly deals in common items that have been left on the station over the years, although it has been known to occasionally sell on goods confiscated by the station for failure to pay your correct taxes. Run By Mr Tebbes ‘on behalf of the station’, Tebbes is a short balding man in his late 60’s, he was born on the station and has only ever travelled as far as Footfall – and as far as he’s concerned that’s plenty far enough.

Lucky Jakk’s Hardware Store – Don’t confuse this one with a normal hardware shop, the ‘hardware’ referred to at Jakk’s is firearms. Horton ‘Lucky’ Jakk is a complete mystery to the station residents; he literally turned up one day, bought the shop outright, and has spent the last 30 years happily selling guns and ammo to anyone with the thrones to pay for it. He is an adamant xenophobe and will not trade in or with anything that’s been produced by alien hands, and that includes not selling to the xeno themselves.

The Temple of His Saints – the biggest Temple of the Imperial Faith on the station, with over 80 ordained members of the clergy permanently on site plus a transient population of missionaries entering and leaving the expanse. The Temple covers both levels of the Promenade. Overseen by Abbot Hans Fredric, the most senior representative of the imperial faith on station, Alms Mass is held twice a day where free basic food and drink is handed out to the needy. Abbot Fredric is originally from Holy Terra itself and is actually 150 years old, despite appearing no older than 50, and has served the inquisition for over three quarters of his life. He is in semi-retirement aboard Port Wander, spreading the faith and keeping an eye on what the Rogue Traders are bringing into the emperors domain through the port. His is inherently distrustfully, but will respond to reasonable request for aid, however as Astrid Skane is un-aware of any inquisitorial operatives on the station the PC’s will not be informed of his due role. He used to work for a radical daemon hunter and is still very much a Malleus man. Abbot Fredric has concerns about a new imperial cult that has sprung up in the bilge decks called ‘The Cult of His Light’ (this is actually a Shale Cult).
The Upper Level

Harman’s Travel and Freight – A low-key company that acts as a broker for arranging transport for goods and personnel with very few questions, at a price. They have arrangements with almost every Rogue Trader, Smuggler, Bounty Hunter and Mercenary Company in the sector, and also have branches on most major worlds. This branch is run by Helen Harman, the daughter of the company’s current managing director, and she is next in line to inherit the family business. Helen is an exercise addict, as is obvious by her athletic build, she is also proficient in hand to hand and melee combat, although she is a distinctly average shot. She has a very short temper, and does not like anyone poking fun at her 5’4” height. She arranged the contact between Grover shale and the Tramp Freighter captain that gave him and his team a berth to Footfall.

Station Medical – An uninspiring place, this is the best source of medical care you can get on the station, but as always at a price. Surgeon Paul Mexx is in charge of this facility, and has been since a falling out with his previous employer left him stranded on Port Wander with little more than his personal effects.

The Security office – The control centre from station internal security, and also the location of the low security holding cells. Mainly concerned with collecting bribes and breaking up drunken brawls the station security force is not employed to uphold Imperial Law, its there to ensure that nothing gets in the way of the flow of money around the station. Lazarus Bramkin is currently in charge of station security, and as a native of Dusk there is very little on the station that can frighten or intimidate him. At 6’5” Bramkin is a formidable person in a fight, and as a former guardsman and a member of Pressure Point he is more than a match for his normal opponents in the Union of Drinkers.

The Gun Rack – A shop that’s about as subtle as its name, The Gun Rack is a sprawling place that takes up nearly half the upper level of the promenade. The owner, known to all as Trigger, is a scrawny bean-pole of a man who seems to be constantly on edge. The shop only has equipment of imperial manufacture on sale; however as Trigger’s manner would suggest there is something more to this shop below the surface. Trigger’s shop is being financed by a cartel who like to keep there involvement very much below the radar, which is understandable as they are all logicians or Pirates. Trigger’s current un-ease is due to two factors, the first of which is the massive supply of illegal weapons that the cartel have just dumped in his warehouses below decks, the second of which is someone spreading rumours that the inquisition have begun to investigate his sponsors, which could be a problem for Trigger as he is wanted by the inquisition from trafficking with xeno, a practice he has never quite been able to break with.

The House – This is not so much a shop as an institution, The House is a massive sprawl of rooms and corridors that spreads away from its frontage on the Promenade. From the initial appearance The House is a rather discrete nightclub that mainly exists to provide the residents with a slightly more refined entertainment outlet than the Union of Drinkers. Of course The House is so much more than it appears, as its numerous back rooms are used for everything from a brothel to hiding fugitives. Overseeing proceedings are the owners Larry and Fey Grent, a brother and sister who apparently come from Malfi. While Fey normally works the crowds in the nightclub Larry is the back of house manager, and between the two of them they manage to turn a very successful, if slightly immoral and illegal profit. They will sell anything to anyone if you have the thrones to pay the fees.

Scintillia Cuisine – An establishment purporting to re-create the fine dining of Scintilla’s famed Marker District, unfortunately it has more in common with a mid hive workers mess than a high-class restaurant. The owner, a Mr Peel, constantly blames the long travel times from his suppliers to his establishment on the mediocre quality of his food; however he still has the most palatable food business on the station.

The Mid-Deck Market
Where the Promenade is the focus for the majority of the stations trade with guests that are passing through the Mid-Deck Market is the hub of the on-station economy. This is where the station residence buy the goods and services that are needed for their survival on the station. The Market is separated into 3 districts, the Metallican District, The Hold, and The Hustle.

The Metallican District

The Vernus Tavern – A homely little Tavern between the Markets Metallican District and The Hustle. The Vernus Tavern is run by a local woman called Alexis Vernus who at 26 is one of the youngest proprietors in the Market.

Fane Wander – A local gunsmith and armourer Fane Wander is the only source of weapons produced on station. Its owner, Loke Mach, is a 45 year old former Munitorium mechanic who was assigned to a rogue trader and then left on Port Wander.

The Forge – Despite the high hopes you would get from its name, the forge is little more than a Blacksmith. The owner, Harold ‘Crash’ Yates, is a barrel of a man in his late 60’s who has worked the trade of a blacksmith all of his life, which started on the feudal world of Aryus One, and intends to teach his trade to his son Jason.

The Hold

The Supply Dump – The Supply Dump is run by an ex-guard quartermaster who goes by the name of Grimes, and if anyone bothers to ask he used to serve with one of the Fenksworld regiments. The shop tends to act as something of a general store for the Mid-Decks, stocking anything from ration pacts to furniture.

Hill’s Fine Meats – Don’t ask where the Hill family get there supply of meat from, you really don’t want to know. Fortunately for most this family of butchers understands that most people don’t want to know what they are eating and do there best to assist.

The Hustle

The Mid-Deck Hostel – This imposing building is the main source of temporary accommodation in the Mid-Deck areas. Owned and run by the Port family, the Hostel also sports a small restaurant and bar as we as its 250 rooms.

The Scramble – Not one defined shop but a complete chaos of small stalls and carts clustered in what used to be a cargo vault, The Scramble is the beating heart of the Mid-Deck areas and joins all three of the Mid-Deck Market Districts together. At the Heart of the Scramble is an imposing 6 story tower, called the spike. The spike is home to the only permanent establishments in The Scramble, Hodgkin’s and Madame Lilo’s.
Madame Lilo’s – The main source of entertainment in the market, Madame Lilo’s takes up the top 5 floors of the Spike, and will provided almost any form of ‘entertainment’ you can pay for.

Hodgkin’s – The oldest establishment in the Market, Hodgkin’s store provides a one-stop shop for everything from cutlery to personal transport. The Hodgkin family has maintained it presence in the ground floor of the Spike for at least the last 150yrs, and thanks to its discrete rogue trader connections will probably keep on going.

Vendors, Visitors, and Locals

Vendors

Krystal’s Krafts – Krystal is a barely literate stall vendor who used to work behind the bar at The House. She somehow managed to scrape and/or steal enough money to pay for a vendors stall in the middle of the lower promenade where she sells an eclectic collection of hand made jewellery, charms, trinkets, and basically anything shiny she has found un-attended on her travels round the station. Just because she isn’t good with her numbers does not mean that she is an idiot however, and Krystal is a veritable mine of minor information she picks up as she pushes her cart around the promenade.

Tasty Treats – A group of several food vendors that travel the more civilised areas of the station. The food can neither be described as tasty of a treat, as it mainly consists of protean bars and nutrient paste, but it is safe to eat and cheap. The various Tasty Treat carts are also a very covert distribution system for several of the stations drug dealers.

Visitors

The Imperial Navy Battle fleet Calixis – Currently in dock are no less than 30 ships of the imperial navy, ranging from a cobra squadron about to head into the expanse to a pair of battleships conducting a sector patrol.

The Calixian Carnival – Something of an oddity the Calixian Carnival is a large group of jugglers, acrobats, comedians, singers, and various other obscure entertainers that travels the sector providing entertainment in exchange for board, food, and pretty much anything else they need.

Locals

The Guild of Porters – One of the biggest employers on the station The Guild of Porters (not to be confused with The Porters gang) prides itself with being able to move people’s goods to and from the required destinations without any undue delay of taxes.

Alexis Vernus – Originally one of the thousands of dregs that inhabit the stations lower levels, Alexis Vernus proved more enterprising than most when she stole her first arms shipment from the primary dock at the age of 16, she is now the biggest shifter of illegal weapons on the station, and has become a ‘legitimate’ trader in the mid-deck market, .

The Porters – The local dominant gang on the station, mainly a large group of bored adolescents, The Porters are well known to the station locals as being on the fringes of most of the ‘grey market’ business on the station.

Hope this is of some help to someone - if you have any questionis let me know.

Thank Surak that great hope you dont mind me nicking it

Adam France said:

nicked. you should really post somewhere your campaign notes.

not a problem Warp_Spawn, feel free to use the background.

im about to start putting something similar together for Foot Fall station, if anyone has ideas or suggestions they would be most welcome.

I was thinking of puting all that here, and a few things of my own togeter in to a free PDF download (full credit given) unless any one has an objection

Warp_spawn said:

I have no problem with that warp_spawn, let me know where and when you post it and if you want any clarification on any of my random scribblings.

I forgot to mention my original post was my original GM notes for the station, when we played through I realised that id forgotten to include any detail for myself on the Shale cult (from illumination and House of Dust and Ash, and now one of the several enemies that have it in for my PC's). As we played it the statoin was effectively treated as a hive city, the Promenade being in the upper hive equivelent, the Mid-Deck MArket being (obviously) in the midhive equivelent, and the shale temple was located in 'the bilge decks', or lower hive. When my PC's (we are using this setting in DH so they were investigating possible chaos cults) arrived at the temple they turned up in the middle of a 'funeral' which actually turned out to be a summoning ritual for all sorts of nasty, which was only survived by the use of a heck of alot of frags.

A final point, i have found it entertaining when running sessions on ships and space stations to impose a weapons limits "due to the local laws, customs, and construction" of the location. For example on Port Wander I decided that only pistol or melee weapons were permitted out of the docking areas, but station security could carry rifles. Any weapons bought leagally on station that exceeded these lwas were shipped to the PC's shuttle by the Guild of Porters.

Those are my nuggets of wisdom (or insanity as my PC's prefer to refer to it as)

Ok here the frist draft of the port wander play aid if you want any thing add (or removed) then just post it here

http://www.box.net/shared/28pd1kla28

any comments would be very welcome

Looks good warp_spawn - a quick note on the detail i provided.

there are 2 levels the the promenade, if you look at the bottom of the temple of his saints you will find the header dividing the two - it didn't transfer the formatting properly when i copied it out of word.

Surak

Tar very much Surak ill get on to it

Hey Warp_spawn, that looks outstanding!

Considering Port Wander is at a focal point in the sector it would probably have a prominent Imperial Navy sector/area as well as extensive docking facilities and off limits areas

My PCs didn't explore the entirity of Port Wander at the start of the campaign but this is what I've revealed to them so far:

The underside of the station is a district 'run' by rogue traders. For a massive fee to the overseers of Port Wander, a dynasty can purchase areas of the district and run them however they wish... until another rogue trader comes along and makes the authorities a better offer. Since the district has many different owners at any single part of the year, the buildings inside are built to account for such. Wandering through the underbelly of the station one might see gaps in the flooring, where stores and other locations have been broken down and built back up. Fleeing across the district is annoying at the very least because of the tripping hazard. The district usually has much more flair and borderline heretical feel than your typical imperial structure - flashy signs and showy displays of a dynasty's power are all around.

The purpose behind the district is to leech money from dynasties traveling to and from the Koronus Expanse. So much money comes in and ownership switches hands so frequently (giving no power base of heretical expressions time to build) the authorities of Calixis give it more tolerance than any other location in the sector. For wealthy Rogue Traders that understand this and don't care, purchasing areas of the underbelly is a quick way to increase their dynasty's fame or infamy.

Kordos said:

If you look in the rule book page 340 it say that the port was orgianly built by the navy but the milletery imporances has decresed. However I love the idear of a out of bounds area and I still think the Navy would have some kind of intrest in the port a ritered navy officer as govener or what ever, just beasce the big Capital ship no loger use it dosent mean the Navy forgotan it, I like to thing of them as haveing a vast docking faicurts there and the abitly to repair and refit.

Another ider for an off limet area I had was to a vast forge ship at allmost perminat dock only caled out in spourt of full scale cursades, havbeing this run by a very sective setc (even for tech-prist) could be a lot of fun.

Hey folks, good stuff in this thread, I wish I'd checked it out sooner.

Still, in my slightly 'tongue in cheek' online RP, to get a feel for the game, I ended up having to write up a few basics of locations. Really needs to be fleshed out, but I think it does the trick 'for now', at least for ideas and giving the players a sense of there being more to it than I've actually detailed/explicitly explained to them.

Setting: Port Wander- Arbites Precinct

Access: Shuttle, arrest, invitation.

NPCS: Proctor Cabe Arbitrator EXP 12,000
Adjutant Mettas Arbitrator EXP 3,000
Starjudge Wex Danforth Arbitrator EXP 6,100

The Arbites precinct on Port Wander is connected to the surface of the station by several exceedingly long tunnels. Docking bays are accessible from the outside for visitors, petitioners and uninvited Imperial officials. Interior station access is available only to Arbites personal or those under express allowance by the Arbites.

Functionally it resembles any given arbites precinct on any given world. Imposing metallic aquilas are the only prominent iconography or decoration. The blazing scarlet sashes and signifiers of the Calixan Sector authority are visible on most personel. No Arbitrators are seen by the public or low-grade representatives without their mirrormasks.

Revealing interest or express interest to avoid Imperial authority leads to problem.

Opportunity: Successful challenging Charm test reveals several Noble families who have directly contravened Arbites edicts on their offworld trading from Quaddis. Anomalous activity across the sector has tied up many Arbites resources. Minor remit available to exact judgement of several families, seize goods and neutralise shipping such that inbound Arbites are able to pick up the pieces. If pieces are well documented/accounted for, then the Arbites will look favourably upon the Trader.

Opportunity: Successful discussion orienting could reveal that the Arbites are eager to transit a drop-judgement (30 man team, inc. astropaths, high level judge, some specialists) to Quaddis as is expect many ships will pass PW en-route given the odd behaviour out there. -5 Crew morale but reduce morale losses otherwise by 2 whilst embarked.

Setting: Port Wander- Shrine of St Pauling, Starfarer

Access: Interior

NPCs: Canon Jack Hacket Cleric EXP 3,500
Novice Hal Hain Cleric EXP 300
A miniscule shrine, framed entirely in the oppressive steel infrastructure of Port Wander itself. Tiny, corroded frescoes illustrating the Emperor, the revered St Pauling (one of the many Ecclessiarchy to pass through the Rubycon II starsystem prior to entry to the Expanse). It is a common passage way for the poorest or most-wanted/-penitent pilgrims bound for Sepheris Secundus (and thus Quaddis is indeed a stop en-route).

Opportunity: Transport pilgrims to the expanse. -5 Crew Morale (or -1 power/space and fairly large chance of plague, morale loss or indeed death of most of the pilgrims) whilst embarked. Public knowledge of mistreatment could cause problems with the Ecclessiarchy.

Setting: Port Wander- Cathedralcity of the Emperor's Most Holy Crusade

Access: Interior

NPCs: Cardinal Ted Crilly Cleric 11,000
Fr. Dougal McGuire Cleric 5,000
Fr. Noel Furlong Cleric 5,000
Supporting cast:
Fr. Andy Riley,
Fr. Desmond Coyle,
Fr. George Byrne,
Fr. David Nicholson,
Fr. Declan Lynch,
Fr. Ken Sweeney,
Fr. Neil Hannon,
Fr. Keith Cullen,
Fr. Ciaran Donnelly,
Fr. Mick McEvoy,
Fr. Jack White,
Fr. Henry Bigbigging,
Fr. Hank Tree,
Fr. Hiroshima Twinkie,
Fr. Stick Bubblecart,
Fr. Johnny Hellzapoppin' ,
Fr. Luke Duke,
Fr. Billy Ferry,
Fr. Chewy Louie,
Fr. John Hoop,
Fr. Hairy Cakelinum,
Fr. Ebula Conundrum,
Fr. Peewee Stairmaster,
Fr. Tight Head Lips,
Fr. Jemima Racktouey,
Fr. Jerry Twig,
Fr. Spodo Komodo,
Fr. Canabrana Lammer.

Massive cathedral. Harbour to both the corrupt and the devout, in equal measure and often in the same people. Hive of followers, hangars on, scum, wealthy religious types and everything in between or the product of. You can be pretty certain that the cathedralcity is composed of a gargantuan interior hangarbay or four massively refitted by the Ecclessiarchy over the centuries.

In basic entranceway, you find a gaping foyer entering onto what is an impossibly unexpected space. It is incredibly windy in hear, but there are vestibules out of the wind. And it's busy. The walls are packed with crowds crawling the bottom out of the wind. At any given point you'll meet someone of the cast above flanked by novitiates who seem ready only to pickpocket, but insist on carrying your weapons (notable items tend to be more resistant to theft).

Opportunities: There as some amongst the priesthood who are very concerned about events on Quaddis. they could be filthily corrupt looking for the basest pleasures (renowned on Quaddis). They could've heard of how much a hive of scum and villainy it is and be interest in putting in a mission. It's not a great cover story and could lead to a fair number of complications and/or compromising situations, but not to worry! Successfully acquiring some folks would lead to a crew of between five and one hundred joining the ship, demanding all sorts of odd, ridiculous and bizarre things, but surprisngly content in their accomodation otherwise. -5 Crew morale if you have 'em on.

Setting: Port Wander- Subsector Administration

Access: Interior.

NPCs: Scholar Third Grade Gretal Bina Adept 3,000EXP

Winding tunnels, obscure rooms, flickering lights and claustrophobic corridors are the mark of this place. Embossed aquila are found all around. Place routinely used b the more senior traders of the Drusus Marches.

Seemingly regardless of who you speak to initially, always the most superior (and helpful) person available seems to be Gretal Bina. She's not hugely competent or well informed, but she's willing to help. Invariably she's also behind an imposing desk blocked off by a transparent plasteel screen. PDF(or SDF) guards are prominent about the Administration complex.

Setting: Port Wander- Temple of the Priesthood of Terra (Sector Administration)

Access: Shuttle (high class), interior.

NPCs: Prime Auditor Woe Crannock Scum 11,000EXP

The Sector Administration is exceedingly difficult to get to with repeated challenges, interruptions and a massive amount of interior journeying. It can take a few days to even see an official and they themselves are not known for being terribly helpful. The regalia of Imperial Finery permeates the building, evidently drawing the favour of someone in Sector Lord Hax's court. It is not as awesome as the Cathedralcity, nor as austere as the Subsector and Arbites regions, but it is nontheless as statement truly Imperial; different to all who see it. It is not an unpleasant place to spend many fruitless, hopeless hours.

Opporunities: After a few utterly unhelpful low-grade, nameless adepts, you eventually come under the auspices of Prime Auditor, an incredibly enthusiastic Sector administrator. In effort to tally-grades and ensure smooth running, some rules must be misjudged and it is then Crannock who approaches you regarding a journey to Quaddis. A shipment of Sector-level goods bound for supply depots on Quaddis, not to be opened.

Setting: Port Wander- West-South-West, Port Authority

Access: Shuttle, umbilical, interior.

NPCs

Bustling, chaotic. It turns between cramped, unfathomable passages with tight, brimming stores bulging from the interior structure of Port Wander. Alternatively, it opens onto massive shipping caverns, relating huge cargos to and fro between the docking pylons. It is the region where your ship is docked and thus where you need to come to see the officials. They are anal retentive and corrupt in uncertain measure. Truculant and badly harrassed, it is not unlikely that many are running shipments on the fly, or simply losing shipments for people they don't like

Setting: Port Wander- West-Sout-West, Dominar Docking Apparatus XVI

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Setting: Port Wander- Le Devotion Holdings, Warehouse and Habs

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Commentary

These last two, plus some bits on the Mechanicus (but since I'm also RPing the group's techpriest, it's not as important I explain it) are ones I have a few ideas for, but that I haven't put too much thought into.

As you no doubt see, there's alot of 'making it up as I go along' going on here, so I'm not a terribly well-prepared GM. Still, it's enough to get me going and not be completely wrong footed by the group's activities.

In terms of 'how I view Port Wander', I think it's essentially a Ramillies (or sister-class) which has been extensively modified and expanded in the millenia of its existance. Crew-wise, I'd put it at easily pushing a million or two. Massive thing. Probably to the order of a dozen or two kilometres. Massive scaffolding and docks. Ships in and out regularly. Basically a hive in space, so its population could well be much more than my 'couple of million' guesstimate. Not quite self-sustaining, but close to it.

The thread of our own adventure is basically shanghai-ing an old GM's game set directly after the events of Tattered Fates . (It looked alot like our GM was planning on blowing us up on Haarlock's old ship so I decided a large part of the RT would be 'characters based on us' sailing off to the rescue of our characters from the other RP, breaking the fourth wall in 'epic' style.) As you can see from the above (notably the priests) it's a little tongue-in-cheek, but I also think there's elements in it which were quite worthwhile. Although, it's almost all, at the moment, themed around us acquiring a legitimate excuse to go to Quaddis after 'the events' of Tattered Fates .

Surak said:

Yeah, Surak, your background on Port Wander is an excellent foreshadowing/background skeleton; great starting point for complete fleshing out. I can definitely use some of the locals for plot points etc.