Zone 1: The Sprawl

Updated: 2026-02-26

Upper Underhive

The Sprawl is where gangs are born and reputations are made. Hab ruins, contested gang territories, and black markets make up the bulk of this zone - dangerous, but survivable. Every new gang that enters Sump Sink-17 begins here.

Character

The Sprawl is a vertical labyrinth of crumbling hab-blocks stacked a dozen levels deep, connected by rusting gantries, swaying chain-bridges, and freight lifts that work when they feel like it. Flickering lumen-strips cast everything in a sickly amber half-light. Gang tags cover every surface - territory markers, warnings, crude memorials to the dead. The air smells of promethium, recyc-gruel, and ozone from overloaded power feeds.

It’s loud. Generators rattle behind sheet-metal walls. Preachers shout from makeshift pulpits. Juve gangs run through the corridors, daring each other to stray further down. Despite the decay, the Sprawl has a rhythm to it - a kind of order imposed by the gangs that hold its streets.

Key Locations

The Boneyard Strip - A stretch of collapsed habitation turned open-air market. Reclaimators, weapon dealers, and chem-peddlers set up shop among the rubble. The closest thing to neutral ground in the zone - starting fights here is bad for everyone’s business.

Hab-Stack Koronis - A towering cluster of hab-blocks still mostly intact, making it one of the most contested residential territories in the Sprawl. Multiple gangs have held it. The walls bear the scars of every takeover.

The Narrows - A chokepoint corridor connecting the Sprawl’s upper reaches to the routes down toward the Drowned District. Anyone moving between zones passes through here, making it a prime ambush site and a valuable territory for tolls.

Lumen Shrine Nineteen - An ancient power relay that still feeds lumen-light to a wide section of the Sprawl. Whoever holds the shrine controls who lives in light and who lives in darkness. It’s been fought over more times than anyone can count.

Atmosphere & Narrative Notes

The Sprawl is where every campaign story begins. It feels almost civilised compared to what lies below - but that’s a relative term. Gangs here are hungry, territorial, and constantly testing each other’s boundaries. Violence is common but rarely apocalyptic; there’s an unspoken understanding that burning everything down serves no one.

The real danger of the Sprawl is complacency. Gangs that stay too long, content with their modest territories and steady income, get overtaken by rivals willing to push deeper. The Sprawl rewards ambition and punishes stagnation.

The Sprawl starts the campaign at Contamination 0 - as clean as the underhive gets. But nothing lasts. By Arc II the bad air starts creeping up from below, and by Arc IV the Sprawl itself begins to flood. Gangs that thought their upper territories were safe will learn otherwise. The flooding is temporary, however - during The Receding, contamination drops and the Sprawl dries out, losing its +50% income modifier and returning flooded territories to normal. The cycle then begins again. See The Deepening for contamination mechanics.