Im currently gamemastering lure of the expanse. I thought the players should have an opportunity to stock up on some supplies and make some aquisition tests. Problem is the Heathen Stars where they're currently at is in the ass end of nowhere.

So what kind of ports exists in the heathen stars. I was trying to evoke the feeling of isolation , the heathen stars are after all far from the imperium proper. What kind of stations and ports can turn up?

What first comes to mind is pirates, but so far from the imperium there is little shipping to prey on.

Some rogue trader might have set up some far flung enterprise. Xenos is another possibility but what xenos would be willing to trade with the imperium? Styxis are present of course but they wouldn't trade for profit factor.

Another possibility is an adeptus mechanicus research station of some kind, researching some local phenomena or perhaps the station itself is of interest?

As for payment I was thinking the players had a storage of valuable objects onboard for just such an occassion but I plan to limit the amount of aquisitions till they return to the imperium proper such as port wander or footfall.

There's Naduesh, I suppose. It's a Frontier World; not going to have the best and rarest stuff, but you'd assume they'd at least have facilities for resupply and repair. I got the impression that the point of LotE is to enforce that feeling of desperation; the players should all be filled with an overwhelming desire to possess the Pearl, feeling the need to push their ship past its limits to get there before their opponents. Weeks and months spent out in the warp, supplies running low, yet still the captain orders his men on, seeking out the next link in the chain that leads to the Pearl.

One thing I did with my campaign was to dot certain systems with independent ports. They aren't operating under anyone's warrant,and they aren't pirate bases (although they may have been at one point). Just stations and small colonies in the middle of nowhere that aren't claimed by anyone important because they either aren't the sort of thing that'll be profitable or because the idea of a neutral port way out in the boonies is too useful to ruin by allowing any one faction to own it.

A couple of examples:

• Kholpis IV. A collection of orbital habitats over a frozen ball. The inhabitants have a marginal economy, mining the local asteroid belt for mid-grade titanium and small quantities of low-grade adamantium ores, and the planet below for He3 ice. Couple with their agri-domes, they can sell visiting starships some basic provisions, reaction mass for their engines and refined titanium plating for armour and hull repairs.
  They would also be willing to sell their stockpile of adamantium ore, as they don't have the facilities to process it.
  Kholpis has remained beyond the fief of any of the Rogue Traders who (occasionally) visit for the simple reason that nothing they produce is actually worth the cost of transporting it from the system. That is, with the notable exception of the adamantium, but even then, the scant amount brought from the asteroid mines would make it a marginal proposition at best.

• Faerin Station. A truly ancient station, it is designed without artificial gravity plates anywhere but the docking arms (and even those are arranged at 90° to the rest of the station), instead generating the illusion of gravity by spinning the habitat levels. Given that different levels (and indeed, different sections of the same level) can be rotated at different speeds to produce specific gravitational pull in that section, visitors often find themselves lost.
  Faerin itself has no industry or production facilities beyond those required to maintain its population, and maintains itself by acting as a neutral meeting ground for trade and business meetings. Their most notable quirk (beyond the design of the station) is that no psyker, mutant or abhuman may enter the station proper: they must either remain aboard ship or in the docking arms.

Yeah was aiming for that , or at least a feeling of isolation. Thanks , Il look into Naduesh. Sounds like a real hive of scum and villainy. A port used by pirates and other never do wells with suspicion all around.

Could be worth mentioning I started the campaign with lure of the expanse and with some players almost entirely new to rpgs. It felt like cheating them if I didn't allow them some aquisitions duri.

Im thinking of having the economy of the heathen stars be somewhat like northern part of sweden in the 1300. Rich in money and resources due to being so far off from tax collectors and but little in food due to the harsh climate.

I wonder if many worlds would have enough of a food surplus to feed the occassional passing ships. Probably not since there is little civilisation or demand for having a large food surplus. They could be rich in other resources though , artifacts scavenged from worlds seldom visited by the imperium and pirate loot. Food and repair parts would probably be high in demand but scarce.

Have to wonder exactly what the pirates visiting Naduesh prey on in the Heathen Stars. There isn't much shipping with so few civilised worlds. Perhaps they use Naduesh as a remote but safe stopping point where they can be safe from imperial justice?

Those stations could be very useful Alasseo. I wish FFG had filled some pages of EotA with such writeups instead of all those rogue traders. I'd welcome more if you have any.

Canon-wise there's also a shipyard in the Maelstrom, roughly smack at the center of the map if you're ever deep in the expanse and need a repair. Otherwise, yeah, Naduesh in the Heathen Stars is your best bet. I wouldn't recommend making it a pirate-only stopover though. Naduesh is notorious for the calm of the warp around it, making it a natural rest stop for almost any ship traversing the warp. I would suspect pirates hide out in the outer segments of the system from time to time looking for an easy mark though.

Naduesh isn't really a hive of scum and villainy. It doesn't even have any advanced facilities. What it actually reminds me of most is Brazil near 1800. A place to get fresh fruit and vegetables, and maybe a few ignorant natives to man the underdecks. Maybe a trading post or two by enterprising merchants. Only with mysterious advanced but abandoned hive cities out in the distance. It's true a lot of ships put in there from time to time but "a lot" in the Expanse can mean 1 or 2 in six months.

Edge of the Abyss has a full write-up on Naduesh, I'd recommend buying it .

There are acquisition modifier tables based on the size of the place you're trying to acquire from. I don't have them in front of me but I know that populations of less than 500,000 tend to have anything scarce or above stamped as UNAVAILABLE.

Helios_Five said:

On a planetary scale, a starship isn't much - a multy-millions population can easily offer enough surplus to feed the hundred thousands aboard a ship for several month. Compared a 10-millions population (not much plateray scale) a ship is about 1% of the world's population. Quality might not be great, but basic supplies (say the equivalent of potatoes, frozen fish and some vegetables) are easily obtained. Even if some members of the underclass have to go hungry to let the highers-up get cash or offworld goods. You might have to gather it from all over the planet, but with a ship in orbit and cargo shuttles, it isn't that hard.

True , even a poor planet should be enough. Spare parts is the bigger problem. Looked up Naduesh in edge of the abyss thanks for the suggestion. That brings up multiple options.

I think il handle it like this.

Naduesh has food and some rare goods brought there by pirates but little in the way of spare parts since it lacks proper industry. It has lots of population and is a beautiful planet so both morale and population should be able to be resupplied.

Kholpis V orbital on the other hand would have some repair facilities and more spare parts as well as larger quantities of the more common advanced tech. Especially since a few trade ships visit from time to time and would need repairs. Some rare trade goods could probably be found there as well. But too low a population to resupply population loss.

And that is good, I like choices.

You could write a whole endeavor/adventure centered around having to explore Naduesh's hive city ruins for spare parts. That's what I think.