Ok... I’m going to be using a Shadowport as a regular stopover for my players. So I’m calling on the community’s ultimate knowledge of generally shady locations & looking for ideas on the kind of businesses/enterprises that you’d find in such a place?

I’ve already come up with a couple of recurring NPCs for the place & the obligatory cantina/meeting place which is mapped out.

Other than starship refuelling/repair facilities what other types of business would you imagine operating out of one of these places?

Any inspiration would be very welcome ?

Cheers in advance!!

A black market arms dealer who operates right out in the open. He has a kiosk in the local market square.

A bar/cantina owned by a former bounty hunter. He just wanted to open a gin joint, but the place has become a popular hang out for bounty hunters.

See that cantina across the way over there? Everyone knows the guy that owns the place is an Imperial spy, but he doesn't water down the drinks and his prices aren't too bad.

That's a fine Z-95 you have there. Nurg'l the Hutt runs the local starfighter races. The course runs through the asteroid belt.

Yeah, we know there are a lot of monkey-lizards running rampant around here. There was this guy a couple years ago "selling" them. Meanwhile, the guy was a thief. He trained the critters to steal from their new owners and bring the loot back to him. He got caught, of course. Now those things are loose everywhere and they breed like scavrats. There's a 100 credit apiece bounty on them if you're short on cash.

Great ideas RLogue... loving the monkey lizards ?

There's a kiosk in the market owned by a couple Trandoshans. They sell clothing made of wookiee hair. No, not wookiee pelts - just the hair. They call the material kashmyyyr. There was this wookiee a few months ago, real insulted, thought he would take those guys down and picked a fight with them. The next morning he fled the port, clean-shaven. Ever see a bald wookiee? They don't look right without all that hair.

Funnily enough... there is a Wookiee in the group ?

See those tw'leks over there? They sell healing goop called sanavi. It's like bacta, but better. The rumor is they're exploiting or enslaving some primitives on some world somewhere to get that stuff super cheap. They're making a mint though.

Speaking of slavers. Follow that Zygerrian over there if you want to see the local auction. Nasty business, but what can you do?

Along with all of RLogue's great suggestions, there are probably a lot of wandering merchants that sell goods right out of their ships. You can get creative with those:

• Exotic animals and plants, many of which are illegal to sell (or even possess) on most planets. In an unlicensed shadowport, though, you can pick up a rare albino vornskyr or a Bpfasshi "hugging vine." (And if you want him to be a real jerk, he sells poached goods if you know how to ask for them.)
• Artifact dealers, selling ancient treasures as well as convincing knockoffs.
• Along the same lines, art dealers—probably a combination of original works as well as forgeries of varying quality.
• Plenty of food vendors, some of whom use unconventional ingredients.
• There's probably one or two people trying to sell ships, maybe even the one they flew in on. (They'll have a partner who's waiting outside to pick them up once they're done.) Most of them are probably hot, either having vanished off the assembly line or being snatched from a starport. One or two ships might even be experimental prototypes which were cast off once serious flaws were detected. Not that the dealer knows that, or would tell the PCs if they did know...
• Navigators, trying to sell updated astrogation charts or even their own services as guides.
• A veritable parade of itinerant workers, from mechanics to pilots to teachers, any of whom might have a personal connection to the PCs or suddenly find themselves needing help getting away from a local gang.

Thinking of ways to engage your PCs with tasks is good, but don't forget to do it for flavor as well. The goal doesn't have to be to send them on a winding quest; maybe it's to provide a moment of levity, either between or during significant narrative events. In those cases, don't be afraid to get creative or throw down something that's just plain weird.

Brilliant, cheers Captain!! I can definitely use those!!

The port itself is quite a small facility, located in an asteroid field & run by a loose consortium of smugglers so your suggestions fit really well!

Thanks for making and posting to this thread guys, very good stuff.

One thing to maybe think about is how do all these criminals have food to eat? Who keeps the atmosphere processors and power generators running? It takes a certain amount of people/droids doing normal things unless the place is very dystopic and looks like a junkyard. If that is the case its a scrabble to even live in such a place. I always like to have the little people in these places show up and have the PCs exposed to the difficulties of being a "peasant" living in a pirate town or thieves world. You can get some sympathetic characters that way, as well as the opposite as their struggle to survive may be very cannibalistic.

10 hours ago, AceSolo5 said:

Other than starship refuelling/repair facilities what other types of business would you imagine operating out of one of these places?

EVERYTHING!

- A general goods shop run by a family of refugees. They carry literally anything that they think they can move, and their inventory is a miniature representation of the entire annual trade economy of the shadowport. From ball bearing, to hyperbarides, to fuels, weapons, sharp sticks, chemical solvents, ion discharge tubes, dried Klimpon Lizard testicles, bootleg Palpatine bobbleheads, holotapes of Twi'lek dancers. There's even a rumor the guy has a 20 kiloton fission bomb squirreled away and that no one has had the guts to ask him how much.

- An illegal weapons shop run by an old Trandoshan missing one arm (yeah... whatever happened was bad enough, it didn't grow back... ). He's set up in a large airlock on the "bottom" of the station... just in case something accidently goes off it won't depressurize the whole place. Most of his stock is heavy weapons and explosives, but he's also got nasty stuff like disruptors, acid sprayers, and incendiaries. He's especially proud of his collection of pre and early republic era pulse-wave weaponry, including several items with legit noteworthy provenance (it's technically all for sale, but that's his personal collection on display, so expect to pay a high price). Supposedly he also can also pull "special orders" for those who are looking for something in the chemical, biological, or radiological categories, but he doesn't keep any in active stock.

- An outlaw tech runs a garage facility in a converted bulk freighter "orbiting" the station. He doesn't do basic repair work, only aftermarket modifications and upgrades, usually catering to the local spice cartels go-fast boats. His work is good, but his stock is limited and price is high.

- A merc crew has a "booth" set up between the main trade section and the docking areas. They primarily rent out ship security teams and personal security details for smugglers and freighters passing through, helping ensure certain cargos and persons get from point A to point B. If you want a more complex contract, they are open for negotiation, but refuse assassinations and rescues outright.

- There's a restaurant down on level 25 run by a Human. Supposedly he's really an ISB spy sent to monitor the place, or a former spy that got caught up in some failed coup attempt, or he's just a really good chef... Either way if you want something other than fried nerf nuggets or grilled synthameat, it's the place to go. Menu is limited but the food actually is REALLY good, and it's one of the cleanest places on the station.

- Mr. Roboto's glorious and epic elite cyber emporium. Looks less exciting than it sounds. It's a total droid and cyberware chop shop (did I mention not to let your droids wander alone out here?) composed almost entirely of second, third, forth, and fifth hand gear (some still have meaty bits!) It is affordable though, and most everything comes with free installation. Just make sure that you swing by the "free" clinic on level 9 after to get some antibiotics and anti parasitics after visiting the emporium...

- Akensah's "free" clinic. A Mon Calamarian doctor runs a small clinic on level 9. It's actually a modular, rapid deployment clinic he's designed and is testing out, intending to ultimately sell the design to disaster relief agencies. Akensah's clinic offers free diagnosis, but most treatments require payment. Still, Akensah is competent and has been known to cut deals and barter for those that can't afford treatment for common illnesses and such. Treatment of trauma and "avoidable" physical injuries almost always require hard credits, but Akensah also asks no questions about how one got said trauma and injuries.

3 hours ago, Archlyte said:

Thanks for making and posting to this thread guys, very good stuff.

One thing to maybe think about is how do all these criminals have food to eat? Who keeps the atmosphere processors and power generators running? It takes a certain amount of people/droids doing normal things unless the place is very dystopic and looks like a junkyard. If that is the case its a scrabble to even live in such a place. I always like to have the little people in these places show up and have the PCs exposed to the difficulties of being a "peasant" living in a pirate town or thieves world. You can get some sympathetic characters that way, as well as the opposite as their struggle to survive may be very cannibalistic.

Excellent point Archlyte! I had thought of How the port works in that I’ve mapped in water recycling units, hydroponic food production areas & atmospheric systems but I had only thought of the workers living there as faces in the port crowds. If however I give them a few background details I can generate loads of encounters from that!!

9 hours ago, Ghostofman said:

EVERYTHING!

- A general goods shop run by a family of refugees. They carry literally anything that they think they can move, and their inventory is a miniature representation of the entire annual trade economy of the shadowport. From ball bearing, to hyperbarides, to fuels, weapons, sharp sticks, chemical solvents, ion discharge tubes, dried Klimpon Lizard testicles, bootleg Palpatine bobbleheads, holotapes of Twi'lek dancers. There's even a rumor the guy has a 20 kiloton fission bomb squirreled away and that no one has had the guts to ask him how much.

- An illegal weapons shop run by an old Trandoshan missing one arm (yeah... whatever happened was bad enough, it didn't grow back... ). He's set up in a large airlock on the "bottom" of the station... just in case something accidently goes off it won't depressurize the whole place. Most of his stock is heavy weapons and explosives, but he's also got nasty stuff like disruptors, acid sprayers, and incendiaries. He's especially proud of his collection of pre and early republic era pulse-wave weaponry, including several items with legit noteworthy provenance (it's technically all for sale, but that's his personal collection on display, so expect to pay a high price). Supposedly he also can also pull "special orders" for those who are looking for something in the chemical, biological, or radiological categories, but he doesn't keep any in active stock.

- An outlaw tech runs a garage facility in a converted bulk freighter "orbiting" the station. He doesn't do basic repair work, only aftermarket modifications and upgrades, usually catering to the local spice cartels go-fast boats. His work is good, but his stock is limited and price is high.

- A merc crew has a "booth" set up between the main trade section and the docking areas. They primarily rent out ship security teams and personal security details for smugglers and freighters passing through, helping ensure certain cargos and persons get from point A to point B. If you want a more complex contract, they are open for negotiation, but refuse assassinations and rescues outright.

- There's a restaurant down on level 25 run by a Human. Supposedly he's really an ISB spy sent to monitor the place, or a former spy that got caught up in some failed coup attempt, or he's just a really good chef... Either way if you want something other than fried nerf nuggets or grilled synthameat, it's the place to go. Menu is limited but the food actually is REALLY good, and it's one of the cleanest places on the station.

- Mr. Roboto's glorious and epic elite cyber emporium. Looks less exciting than it sounds. It's a total droid and cyberware chop shop (did I mention not to let your droids wander alone out here?) composed almost entirely of second, third, forth, and fifth hand gear (some still have meaty bits!) It is affordable though, and most everything comes with free installation. Just make sure that you swing by the "free" clinic on level 9 after to get some antibiotics and anti parasitics after visiting the emporium...

- Akensah's "free" clinic. A Mon Calamarian doctor runs a small clinic on level 9. It's actually a modular, rapid deployment clinic he's designed and is testing out, intending to ultimately sell the design to disaster relief agencies. Akensah's clinic offers free diagnosis, but most treatments require payment. Still, Akensah is competent and has been known to cut deals and barter for those that can't afford treatment for common illnesses and such. Treatment of trauma and "avoidable" physical injuries almost always require hard credits, but Akensah also asks no questions about how one got said trauma and injuries.

You were right Ghostofman... I’ll be needing all of this! Great ideas, many thanks ?

My group has this recurring missionary from the Core Rulebook mission. He just stands on street corners and shouts gibberish about some deity that no one knows or cares about. But by Holy Galactimus, he's determined!

Many thanks for that evo454... I’ve been playing around with ideas for a strange cult/religious sect for a while now, this could be just the place to introduce them to their first acolyte!!