04. Underhives, Crime, Trade, and Survival
Life Below Imperial Authority
An underhive is more than the lowest level of a hive city.
It is any region where Imperial institutions have lost reliable control and local communities must survive through their own customs, alliances, and violence.
Such places may include:
Abandoned hive levels
Industrial ruins
Refugee districts
Mining settlements
Scrap towns
Criminal markets
Polluted exterior zones
Collapsed transit tunnels
Derelict stations
Frontier enclaves
Conditions vary greatly. One district may be a stable community while the next is controlled by raiders, mutants, or a hidden cult.
Underhive Communities
Most residents are not criminals.
They may be:
Laborers
Scavengers
Traders
Healers
Mechanics
Hunters
Families
Refugees
Former soldiers
Guild workers
Mutants
Outcasts
People survive by sharing information, maintaining equipment, protecting water sources, and knowing which paths are safe.
A community may distrust outsiders while still offering hospitality to those who respect local customs.
Criminal Settlements
Some settlements are openly controlled by gangs, smugglers, bounty hunters, or corrupt officials.
They may provide:
Illegal weapons
False documents
Smuggled medicine
Stolen cargo
Restricted information
Safe houses
Mercenary work
Passage through guarded territory
Criminal settlements usually possess rules.
Stealing from the wrong market, drawing weapons without permission, betraying a client, or harming protected residents may bring swift punishment.
Gangs and Local Powers
Gangs often function as more than bands of fighters.
They may control:
Water
Electricity
Food distribution
Transit routes
Workshops
Protection
Gambling
Smuggling
Labor
Local justice
A gang may be feared and still provide real stability.
Removing it without understanding what it controls can leave a district worse than before.
Guilds and Merchants
Trade may be organized through guilds, families, market associations, or criminal cartels.
Merchants depend upon:
Safe routes
Trusted guards
Accurate weights
Stable currency
Storage space
Reliable suppliers
Local reputation
A market can serve as neutral ground between rival groups.
Violence within it may trigger retaliation from every faction that depends upon trade.
Thrones, Guilders, and Scripts
The campaign uses three common currency levels:
Thrones: Equivalent to gold pieces
Guilders: Equivalent to silver pieces
Scripts: Equivalent to copper pieces
These names may represent coins, stamped tokens, account credit, local vouchers, or portable records of value.
Their appearance differs between worlds.
A Throne accepted in one settlement may be weighed, taxed, discounted, or rejected somewhere else.
Detailed prices and exchange rules belong in Item and World Rule entries.
Barter and Local Currency
Where Imperial currency is scarce, people may trade with:
Ammunition
Food
Water
Medicine
Fuel
Power cells
Machine parts
Tools
Information
Labor
Protection
A useful object may be worth more than its listed price during a shortage.
Barter should create choices without requiring characters to negotiate every minor purchase.
Food and Water
Reliable food and clean water are valuable in neglected districts.
Common meals may include:
Ration blocks
Grain paste
Fungus
Insect protein
Vat-grown meat
Local vermin
Recycled water
Imported produce
Religious food distributions
Better food may indicate wealth, political influence, or access to protected supply routes.
Contamination, theft, and shortages are common sources of conflict.
Shelter
Shelter may range from crowded hab units to converted cargo containers, ruined workshops, abandoned vehicles, or gang-controlled lodging.
Safe shelter may provide:
Rest
Privacy
Storage
Medical care
Protection from weather
Protection from hostile factions
Access to food and water
Local information
Characters carrying valuable equipment may need guarded lodging rather than an unattended room.
Equipment and Repair
Underhive markets often sell repaired, stolen, or improvised equipment.
Items may be:
Worn
Mismatched
Modified
Missing identification marks
Built from salvage
Connected to a crime
Difficult to maintain
Better than they first appear
Local mechanics may understand equipment that official technicians would dismiss as scrap.
Quality should be reflected through description and occasional complications rather than constant penalties.
Salvage
Ruins and abandoned industrial zones may contain:
Weapons
Machine parts
Fuel
Armor plates
Medical supplies
Data-slates
Construction tools
Archaeotech fragments
Dangerous waste
Evidence of earlier occupants
Salvage claims are rarely simple.
A gang, guild, local family, government office, or Mechanicus expedition may believe it owns the site.
Smuggling
Smugglers move goods around taxes, blockades, faction restrictions, and official inspections.
Common contraband includes:
Weapons
Medicine
Food
Xenos goods
Religious relics
False identities
Mutants or fugitives
Restricted data
Stolen machinery
Smuggling can save lives or strengthen dangerous factions.
The morality usually depends upon what is transported, for whom, and why.
Law and Authority
Official law may be enforced by:
Enforcers
Arbites
Military patrols
Noble guards
Guild security
Local militia
Bounty hunters
Gang representatives
Different authorities may claim the same district.
A person protected by one faction may be wanted by another.
Characters should determine whose law actually matters before acting.
Crime and Punishment
Common crimes include:
Theft
Murder
Sabotage
Smuggling
Debt evasion
Heresy
Mutation
Weapon violations
Forgery
Trespassing
Interfering with production
Punishments may include:
Fines
Beatings
Imprisonment
Forced labor
Conscription
Exile
Servitor conversion
Execution
Transfer to Imperial authorities
Local punishment may be immediate, negotiated, or based upon compensation rather than formal trial.
Corruption
Officials may accept payment, favors, information, or political pressure.
Corruption does not mean every official is easily bribed.
A bribe may be treated as:
Expected procedure
A serious insult
Evidence of guilt
A useful opening
A trap
Characters should consider the official’s motives before offering payment.
Reputation
Reputation is often more valuable than documents.
Residents remember whether characters:
Paid their debts
Protected civilians
Betrayed an employer
Respected neutral ground
Worked with a rival gang
Shared scarce supplies
Drew unwanted official attention
Kept their promises
A strong reputation can provide shelter, information, discounts, guides, or protection.
A damaged reputation may close entire districts to the party.
Mutants and Outcasts
Underhives often contain people rejected by wider Imperial society.
These may include:
Mutants
Abhumans
Deserters
Unsanctioned psykers
Refugees
Former prisoners
Religious dissidents
Xenos intermediaries
Some are dangerous. Others are ordinary people surviving beyond official protection.
Franz should avoid treating every outcast community as secretly corrupted.
Survival Without Bookkeeping
Food, water, ammunition, and shelter should matter when circumstances make them important.
They should not require constant accounting during ordinary play.
Scarcity works best when it creates a meaningful decision:
Share supplies or preserve them
Pay for shelter or risk the streets
Buy legal equipment or trust a criminal seller
Help a settlement or continue the mission
Trade ammunition for information
D&D 5e Narrative Use
This lore can support:
Persuasion
Deception
Intimidation
Investigation
Insight
Survival
Thieves’ tools
Trade contacts
Downtime
Faction reputation
Resource decisions
Local knowledge should often be as valuable as combat strength.
Underhive Adventures
This lore can support adventures involving:
Recovering stolen cargo
Negotiating safe passage
Protecting a market
Finding contaminated food
Investigating a gang war
Locating a hidden clinic
Smuggling medicine
Recovering salvage
Escaping corrupt enforcers
Deciding who should control a vital resource
Underhives survive through relationships.
A character who understands those relationships can accomplish more than one who treats every problem as a target.