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So for a while now, I have slowly been building up an area of space that would let me easily start any sort of campaign for 40k. This works like a sandbox where players are presented with a series of choices and then as they choose, things narrow down until I have an easy starting point (I am also doing a smaller scale for Iron Kingdoms and Shadowrun). While I like what FFG has done, I do feel like they've trapped themselves pretty good (thus the change of sectors in Dark Heresy 2Ed). So I present to you all the first installment of my little idea.

The Imperium of Man spreads throughout the galaxy. Uncounted numbers of people across a million or more planets. Most of these planets are located in sectors, islands of mankind in the vastness of space. But even in a sector, there are more stars than habited systems. Others are located beyond the sectors, lost worlds are areas which have yet to be brought under the banner of mankind.

In Segmentum Tempest, several sectors near the edge of the galaxy are located relatively close together. The appear as if a small chain of islands in the vastness of space. They are the Xenox Sector, The Denon Sector, The Shosone Sector and The Avrus Sector. Once another sector called the Occitun Sector was counted among them but it was lost long ago to the warp storms. This area is known as the Proteus Reach and it has endured through countless trials since the Great Crusade carved the first of the sectors of space and then tore them asunder in the Horus Heresy only to be rebuilt and expanded and even lost. Through it all, they have endured, but now as the Waining of the Imperium begins, they face new challenges that will test each. The Inquisition and forces of the Imperial Guard will face challenges, some ancient, and others much more recent.

Located outside of any sector, the Rogue Traders ply their trade, expanding these sectors and finding countless challenges, opportunities and dangers in the Emperor forsaken and yet alluring Gulf of Caratar, or the uneasy and mysterious Klesson Rift, or in the area located between the sectors.

Finally, known only to a few, another force stands watch over the area, the Deathwatch of Watch Sation Triton. They stand vigil on the only tiny passage to what was once the Occitun Sector, keeping what ever horrors lie beyond in check while dealing with other Xenos nearby.

But mankind is far from alone out here. The most obvious being the orks of the Big Lotz Fing Empire and their lootas. But other threats lurk in the shadows from the capricious Dark Eldar to the centipede like Dour and scores of other xenos problems known and unknown.


Last, the forces of Chaos have never been idle for the sectors carved by the help of the Word Bearer and Iron Warrior Legions and they remain. Chaos corsairs and cults lurk here and the memory of Credance Prime is remembered well by those who are allowed access to such forbidden knowledge.

Xenox Sector
Sector Capital: Crecun
Sector Governor: Maximium Allesius

The Xenox Sector was the last founded in the Proteus Reach. After the age of Apostasy, crusades and Rogue Traders looked to expand the Imperiums reach. As forces were unable to expand back into the Occitan Sector, they looked to the dim stars of Xenox. Building the sector was not easy as the mainly red dwarf stars provided challenges to the colonists and small xenos empires resisted.. To further ompound the expansion, other unseen forces were known to exist, be it the Dark Eldar or the mysterious Dour.

But the Imperium persisted and by the end of the 36th millenium, the Xenox Sector was officially recognized by the high lords of Terra. Since that time, tings have not been easy. Considered a poor cousin by the other sectors and plagued with mysteries that haunt the night, the secotr has had to work hard to be stable. Probably its saving grace is the sheer number of stable warp routes allowing easy commerce. Many a navigator has commented that the warp in the sector is far calmer than elsewhere as if it too has forsaken this area of space.

Another thing that has been the continuing expansion into the Klesson Rift. The sector governors have pursued ways to gain new rogue traders and warrants of trade as a way to expand the sector. Slowly, new worlds have been added to the sector, though this does little to help the image as a poor sector in the eyes of the others.

Lastly, the 39th Millenium brought the founding of a Space Marine Chapter, the Obsidian Warriors to the sector. During the founding, the chapter fought a massive ork horde before finally being allowed to take up their homeworld in this sector of space. With them has come a bit more stability to the area.


The current sector governor, Maximiun Allesius has ruled for nearly 300 years. Determined to make his sector better, he has pushed hard to expand the bounderies into and chart the Klesson rift. While his endeavors have brought enough frontier worlds into the fold to add a new subsector, it has strained the resources of the sector. As the governor nears his end, many wonder, what will happen next.

Avrus Sector
Capital World: Avrus Secondus
Sector Governor Theodoria Marcos

Originally formed in the Great Crusade by a combined Word Bearer and White Scar force, only to be torn asunder by the Horus Heresy and the clashes between loyalists and traitors, the Avrus Sector (or as it was known then, the Thera Sector) has seen many upheavals throught its long time.

After the battle of Terra, it would be a while before a White Scar and Black Templar crusade would restore the sector in the 33rd Millenium. The sector would grow and begin to prosper, looking to eclipse the other sectors. However the Age of Apostacy would change all of that.

Under the rule of Governor William Crease Hunt, the sector's coffers were bleed dry in ruthless wars as the governor tried to control not only his sector but Shosone as well. In the end, he was ousted by loyastist in a bloody war through the streets of Credance. In the end, though the governor was to escape by ship into the Gulf of Caratar.

The new governor set about rebuilding his shattered sector, not an easy task given the damage that was wrought. But new resources were discovered and slowly the sector began to prosper once more, though only as a mere shadow of its former self.

Sadly, this was not to last. A demonic incursion on Credance lead to the intervention of the Grey Knights and exterminatus being declared on the sector capital. With the sector bereft of it's governor and it's capital, political divisions lead to wars throughout the sector as the planetary governors and anyone else who could took advantage of the vacuum to seek revenge or position themselves as the new governors. This war, known as the War of Petty Succession was ended when the High Lords of Terra ordered the Officio Assassinorum to deal with the problem in what became known as the Petty Purge. Then under the protection of the 4th Company of the Knights Errant, the new Governor declared his capital as Avrus Secondus.

Once again, the sector had to rebuild. Few forces trusted it and an increase in arbite and inquisitorial forces compounded the situation. In fact, the inquisition of the Proteus Reach's main compound, the Black Citadel is located within the Avrus Sector.


Currently, the sector continues to grow and rebuild. Governor Marcos is a charming autocratic leader who wishes to throw off the yoke of the past and make the sector a jewal of the Imperium. She is extremely paranoid about stability and security.

Denon Sector
Sector Capital Arcophage
Sector Governor: Jamil Ala-hamin

Like the Avrus sector, the Denon Sector was forged in the Great Crusade by a combination of Iron Warriors and Salamanders. The Heresy and the damage to the Salamanders left the sector under the tyranny of the Iron Warriors. It would take a long time for the forces of the Imperium to completelly expel these masters of siegecrafts. In the end, it was the Dark Angels and Imperial Fists which finally shatters the last bastion on some long forgotten planet.

The sector has been a paragon of stability ever since. The stellar hatchery and new systems provide much wealth. But this wealth comes with challenges. New Xenos species, toxins, and diseases are to be found and have caused many a set back. That several of these worlds exhibit traits of death worlds intrigues and mystifies the Magos Biologis and the Ordo Xenos.

Through the age of apostasy, the sector was able to maintain a delicate knife edge balance that never allowed it to face the dangers of the Avrus sector. Though other crisis such as the War of the Five Cardinals have caused much woe, the sector has endured and grown stronger through these ordeals.


As the elder sector in the Proteus Reach, many look down on the other sectors. This is very true of Lord Governor Ala-hamin whose ancestors fought and helped remove the Iron Warrior presences alongside such famous forces as the Knights Errant, Dark Angels and Imperial Fists. While arrogant and haughty, Jamil is also pruden. Far be it for him to be the one who brings down the prestige of his family or his sector.

Shosone Sector
Sector Capital: Sheol
Sector Governor: Drisimus Job

The Shosone sector sits between the Avrus and Denon Sectors and is the passageway to the rest of Segmentum Tempest, but was ignored during the Great Crusade. This was rectified by the Black Templars in the 34th Millenium.

Sadly the sector would not weather the Age of Apostacy due to troubles with the Governor of the Avrus Sector and dissidents within the sector. As a result, the governor began to recruit and use pirates to quell the ever rebellious worlds under his control and slow the advances of the forces from the Avrus sector. Before long, the pirates out powered the Imperial Navy in the Sector and the governors control began to slip. It would take a considerable reserve from the Segmentum to quell this problem long after the Age of Apostacy had ended. Only in the 37th Millenium with the Battle of the 12 Moons lead by St. Lord Admiral Orris Vintar, break the back of the pirates as a coherent force. But due to the Enbross nebula, the piracy problem was never fully eradicated. But only recently has this problem began to grow as a threat once more, though the source of this growth is unknown.


The sector itself is an important conduit in the Reach. Trade must flow through this sector to the others and the Segmentum at large. The myriad of worlds all have some part in the trade and Governor Job has looked for ways to expand the power of his sector.

Occitun

Carved out by three legions and then torn asunder during the Heresy, the Occitun sector was the last of the original sectors to be reunited under the rule of the Emperor. The reasons why have long been lost to the ages. What few records remain are often contradictory and far fetched. What ever the story is, in the end, the Occitun Sector was once again brought into the Imperial fold.

Records show that the sector, with the stability provided to now that the Heresy had been removed, the sector prospered and grew. Rogue Traders came to the area to explore what was beyond and push the frontier ever further. If the Apophrica of St. Caladis is to be believed, even a second founding chapter took up station here.

But in the 34th Millenium, an Ork Waagh hit this area of space. Though the size was unknown, all sectors contributed to driving them away from the Occitun Sector. The surviving Orks were scatter though some found the area of what would become Big Lotz Fings. Then just as things looked to be settling down, as series of warp storms rippled through the area. According to the texts of the learned Lorr, the warp storms hit all of the sectors and help was needed, though what help has been sealed by the Holy Inquisition. Finally, a massive series of warp storms took up station, blocking the Occitun Sector from the rest of the Imperium. The exact extent of the storms to this day remains unknown as they expand beyond known Imperium charts.

The storms have never abated and none have found a passage into this sector. Time and age have slowly forgotten this once great sector.


Though in secret, once force does know what has happened. The deathwatch of the Watch Fortress Poseidon. Near their Watch Fortress is a small hole in the warp storms allowing the smallest classes of warp ships passage. The Deathwatch have kept vigil knowing that should the warp storms abate, there are many threats that lie in the area. With the loss of Imperial presence, Xenos and heretic alike are to be found. They alone also know that not one, but two space marine forces were in the sector at the time and the legacy of those forces have had a lasting effect on what lies beyond.

Located to the galactic south-east of the Xenox Sector lies the Klesson Rift. The Rift is an area of space that has never been claimed by the Imperium. Nearest to the Xenox sector, things are similar to that sector, small red dwarf stars with limited resources and yet a myriad of calm warp routes. The Wastes as it is called, is hard to make a profit but some of the poorer traders with the backing of other forces have slowly been carving away at it.

Beyond the neighboring region though lies many dangers. Long ago, supernova and novas occurred leaving behind cloud remnants, white dwarfs and neutron stars, and threw many a planet off course. The area called the Remnants is a rich in minerals area but the real space is much more dangerous due to the nature of the disasters that happened here.

The Gallows neighbors both the Wastes and the Remnants. It is a strange place full of the unknown. Many rogue planets lie between the stars, some with very interesting items. Rumors of ancient artifacts spread after the discovery of an ancient Human outpost with an as yet unknown STC was found. It is also rumored that the Dark Eldar have a world on one of these lone planets.


Beyond that lie other areas of space that have been barely explored. It is believed that the Dour homeworld is located somewhere in this area. Rumors have also claimed that another race is migrating into this area, though who or what they are is unknown. Only the merest of rumors and stories told in whispers at the taverns are said of these new comers.

In a galaxy where knowledge is power and secrets are kept by all, then an area of space that has accounted for and created more secrets than other areas commands the attention and power of those around it. The Gulf of Caratar is a huge expanse of space never tamed by the Imperium, despite many trials and even a few crusades. These have all failed disastrously or lost under mysterious circumstances.

The ever shifting nature of the warp makes stable warp routes unpredictable and as time goes on, they seem to move or change. Warp eddies and currents are a constant problem for navigators. Chaos corsairs and other factions exist within the Gulf including more than a few human based groups. Some say, there are worlds colonized by those opposing the Imperium. Xenos are also to be found such as the Ork, the Eldar, and the Kellik, a species said to be in service to the Ever Changing One.

With so much at stake, Rogue Traders have flocked to this area. Many have joined the mystery surrounding the Gulf, but some have done well for themselves. However, the Gulf is fickle and a Dynasty that is riding high may fall to the greatest lows in no time, their holdings lost.


The only constant (if that can be said) in the sector is the station Moors Lock. It has existed since before the Age of the Imperium. Though built by humans, who exactly did that is unknown. Archaic and forgotten machinery sit in the station. In addition the station has been added on to many times making the original architecture and purpose all but forgotten. It is ruled by the Kalvechev dynasty. Once a great Rogue Trader dynasty until their warp engine on their grand cruiser, the Heart of Salvation failed. The ship still works and guards the station daring any who would come to try and take the station from the dynasty, especially the Adeptus Mechanicus.

So with the foundation in place, which I hope it is an intriguing place and also full of ideas for all the different 40k games. One thing I feel with the settings in FFGs is that there is a static feel to it.

The idea is from here, I can sit down with any gaming group, present them this and see where they want to go, what game and which area. From there I plan on being able to take that information and present them with a series of options. Say that they choose to play Rogue Trader in the Gulf. I would be able to present them with three different dynasties that they could join or they could make their own. Either way I have a series of NPCs already set to work with be they adversary dynasties or allies. Same would go for Only War, Black Crusade, Deathwatch and Dark Heresy. Each choice they make, the more detail and depth that can go into the story.

As there is no way any one group can fill the entire area, I can use this area again and take the information previous groups have to weave even more stories and rumors of what is going on around the sector. Layers upon layers of information.

Now all that is needed the trigger to send this sector into motion:

992999.M41: Night of a Thousand Rebellions
Uprising and discord strike countless worlds across the Imperium. Unrest races like wildfire, consuming many outlying planets, but also supposedly secure worlds is lost to anarchy caused by the secret cults and frentic aggitators.

So what do you think you all think?

You've obviously put a lot of time and thought into this.
Hopefully at some stage you will be able to get a group of people to play a regular game with.