Outfitting Ships

Most ships of space were captured, refitted, or inherited by their present owners. Large communities in space tend to build their own distinctive ships, which in turn are copied, stolen, or bought by others in space, accounting for both the wide variety found throughout the space lanes as well as the existence of a good group of " typical" ships.
In general, there is a 10 percent chance that a helm or other item listed below is available at any large space civilization. There is an additional 20 percent chance that there is a rumor that the needed item can be found somewhere else in the system (either as treasure or part of a hulk or belonging to someone else). This 20 percent chance increases by 5 percent for every week spent in one location.
Helms may be purchased from the Arcane, a group of humanoid traders who do business in helms and other magical equipment. No one knows the Arcane's home world , nor have ships of the Arcane ever been spotted. They seem to exist to sell. The prices listed reflect the purchase price from the Arcane. The chance of an Arcane being found in a large space civilization are about those for finding any other piece of necessary equipment.
Passage Device Cost: 10,000 per ton of the ship The passage device is a creation of the Arcane, who use it to create portals through the crystal shell between the phlogiston and wildspace. It functions in the exact same way as the wizard spell create portal, but does not require the presence of a mage .
Portal Locator Cost: 5,000 gp Another device of the Arcane, This one mimics the wizard spell locate portal. The device is fairly reliable (90% accurate in pointing a direction to the portal) and is often "thrown in " by Arcane salesmen as a giveaway.
Planetary Locator Cost: 2,000 gp An arcane device often tossed in as a bonus to purchasers of an Arcane hull , this desk-sized device contains a map similar to the System Display included with this product. When a ship carrying a locator enters a crystal shell, the device immediately tracks the major celestial bodies in that sphere and displays them. The planetary locator will not track planets or celestial bodies smaller than size B, but should these be encountered the information can be entered manually and displayed thereafter.
Star Charts Cost: 100-600 gp The star charts of a system vary in price according to how well that system is known and visited. Star charts indicate the location and relative position of the various planets in the system, but do not indicate current positions. They are not magical but are very useful for determining things like hostile forces, mean temperature, and spaceborne powers operating in the region.
Phlogiston Star Charts Cost: 500-2000 gp The star charts of rivers in the Flow vary in price according to how often that route is traveled, and how widely known it is. They can be considerably more expensive if the destination sphere is distant, requires multiple hops, or if someone is actively trying to control the information (e.g. the Vodoni are very protective of knowledge of how to visit the spheres of their empire). Star charts indicate the proper places to exit a system to enter the right river, information on colors, density and other details critical for effective navigation. They are not  magical but are very useful for determining things like landmarks, hostile forces that might plague a particular route, rogue planets that might allow a ship to replenish its air, and potential dangers.