Cargo runs are good things on the side, as have been mentioned. There's also fun to be had in what could happen if proper questions aren't asked about the cargo, or if pirates raid you, or if customs intercepts you. On that last one, I ran the modular encounter "Long Arm of the Law" from Sons of Fortune when my group visited Corellia, and it was a blast, without a shot being fired. You can see my write-up in the GM forum.

My group really liked the Wayfarer until they figured out how unsuitable it was for space combat. When I gave them the option of trading out, they decided to stick with the Beast of Burden but take on more obligation for a retrofitted hanger bay.

My party is settled on the Wayfarer as well. It will allow for more interesting cargo as they take on odd jobs in the way the TV show Firefly played out. I am worried about how they'll fare in combat and I don't think they appreciate just how tough a job the pilot it going to have. We'll see how it goes.

Let us know how it pans out! The Wayfarer seems like the worst option for combat purposes, but when it comes to cargo and versatility (those variable cargo pods are a wonderful tool!), it really can't be beat.

There's something about having a pocket carrier that is appealing to me. . .

So tell me, what sort of ship does your party go for? Are they tied to a particular style, a specific company, or just whatever looks new and shiny? Is there a particular ship that stands out that you're party used during a campaign?

One group I’m in has a YT-2400, and it has turned out pretty nice. Not much in the way of mods made to it, yet.

The other group has recently … acquired … "The Cobra" from Lando, due to his … untimely death … after a card game. It’s a Mu-class Shuttle. Basically, the design brief for this ship was to take all the stuff that made the Lamba shuttle semi-decent, and then rip it out. So, like rip out virtually all the weapons. And rip out the good hyperdrive. And cut off the tall tail.

I don’t think anyone in the group is really happy with keeping "The Cobra", but we’ve been told that this is our Albatross. If we sell it, then whatever we buy next is guaranteed to break down, and when we send out a distress signal, the only ship that will respond will be "The Cobra", and it will be piloted by an NPC that we are currently traveling with that is rather … dorkish and weird. We won’t be allowed to crash it or destroy it, and it is guaranteed to bring down all sorts of … nastiness … on top of us.

I mean, who wouldn’t want to come after us to get Lando’s ship that he had after the Millennium Falcon, right?

Oy.

Personally, I would love to have a 4R3 LAT, but I’d be happy to settle for a PB-950 as something that is a lot closer to our price range. The YT-1300 and YT-2400 are always favorites because they have more weapons/hard points than anything else in the game that players can reasonably acquire. However, the PB-950 is Silhouette 5, which means it can mount larger weapons than anything Sil 4, and some of those weapons can be pretty good.

The Gozanti Armed Transport also looks pretty nice — it only has four available hard points, but it does have seven weapons mounted, is also Sil 5, and has relatively small crew requirements and a reasonable price — only 200k credits.

The ILH-KK Citadel Class Light Freighter is also quite nice, even though it’s only Sil 4, it has four hard points available and typically five weapons integrated from the factory, and likewise only costs 200k credits.

That’s just a few selections of my favorites.