The vehicle modification that I had really expected to see by now is the straight up cargo pod. An attachment that increases the Encumbrance Capacity of a ship (and thus increases it interior size). After all, an XS freighter is just a YT-1300 with a large cargo pod mounted to it's port docking ring, and a YT-1930 is one with two small pods mounted on the back. The many unique configurations of a Nebulon B is just a multitude of different pods mounted on spars.

There could even be different types of "utility pods" available for vehicles. A cargo pod to increase Encumbrance Capacity, a passenger pod to increase Passenger Capacity (perhaps with a luxury version that costs the same, but increases it by less), and for larger vessels a "facilities pod" that increases the Consumbales by having cafeterias, freshers, and water and sewerage tanks.

I would have thought that this would be a given for Fly Casual or Stay on Target. However if the Consular-Class Cruiser is going to be introduced in Desperate Allies, it could be introduced there and be an integral system of that ship.

The Consular Cruiser is in the AoR Corebook, page 276. There is also a sidebar describing the different modular pods you could attach to it.

I too would like to see attachable cargo pods. I'm fairly certain they'll hurt Handling (but probably not Speed).

The vehicle modification that I had really expected to see by now is the straight up cargo pod. An attachment that increases the Encumbrance Capacity of a ship (and thus increases it interior size). After all, an XS freighter is just a YT-1300 with a large cargo pod mounted to it's port docking ring, and a YT-1930 is one with two small pods mounted on the back. The many unique configurations of a Nebulon B is just a multitude of different pods mounted on spars.

There could even be different types of "utility pods" available for vehicles. A cargo pod to increase Encumbrance Capacity, a passenger pod to increase Passenger Capacity (perhaps with a luxury version that costs the same, but increases it by less), and for larger vessels a "facilities pod" that increases the Consumbales by having cafeterias, freshers, and water and sewerage tanks.

I would have thought that this would be a given for Fly Casual or Stay on Target. However if the Consular-Class Cruiser is going to be introduced in Desperate Allies, it could be introduced there and be an integral system of that ship.

That's probably because such a thing isn't a modification, but a build to a specific ship. You'd have to completely tear apart your precious YT-1300 to make it use a pod, at which point it isn't a YT-1300.

Behold - The YT1300 with Cargo Pods, in all of its glory.

Now somebody (cough, Librarian, cough...) needs to stat these beauties up, and we're good to go.

Adds X Encumbrance

Decreases Y Handling

Costs Z

Behold - The YT1300 with Cargo Pods, in all of its glory.

Now somebody (cough, Librarian, cough...) needs to stat these beauties up, and we're good to go.

Adds X Encumbrance

Decreases Y Handling

Costs Z

Two of these "pods" are badly positioned. One cuts off the neck of the cockpit, such that detaching the pod would make for a very weakly held cockpit. The second eats up the cargo mandibles cutting the front of the ship off from the rear. The two slicing into the triangles near the ion engines would leave a stress point by reducing the area that the engines push against to propel the whole ship forward.

Behold - The YT1300 with Cargo Pods, in all of its glory.

Now somebody (cough, Librarian, cough...) needs to stat these beauties up, and we're good to go.

Adds X Encumbrance

Decreases Y Handling

Costs Z

Heck I can do that one.

Strap-on Cargo Pods

Base Mod Adds 10xSil Encumbrance; Two +10xSil Enc mods

Decreases Handling by 1

Costs 3000xSil/3

Rarity 4

EDIT: 2 HP

Two of these "pods" are badly positioned. One cuts off the neck of the cockpit, such that detaching the pod would make for a very weakly held cockpit. The second eats up the cargo mandibles cutting the front of the ship off from the rear. The two slicing into the triangles near the ion engines would leave a stress point by reducing the area that the engines push against to propel the whole ship forward.

Pretty sure the underside of the pods are shaped to accommodate all stock features, and secure directly to the spaceframe or otherwise attach to existing brackets designed to bear the load. The existing YT-1300 design has lots of weird little panels and such that are likely removable to allow access to such brackets.

I'd consider making it 2 Hard Points - that's taking up a lot of bolt-on area, plus they've all got to be powered and pressurised, etc. Otherwise, yeah, -1 handling seems appropriate. I agree that they look like they're designed to literally bolt onto the stock frame, so they would be entirely separate compartment, not extending the height of the existing compartments.

Behold - The YT1300 with Cargo Pods, in all of its glory.

Now somebody (cough, Librarian, cough...) needs to stat these beauties up, and we're good to go.

Adds X Encumbrance

Decreases Y Handling

Costs Z

Heck I can do that one.

Strap-on Cargo Pods

Base Mod Adds 10xSil Encumbrance; Two +10xSil Enc mods

Decreases Handling by 1

Costs 3000xSil/3

Rarity 4

EDIT: 2 HP

I'd think that they'd add more EC than that since they seem to have more volume than the normal cargo areas of the YT-1300. A simple rule that they double the EC for vessels might be the simple answer, but I'd also increase the Handling penalty too. Cost could be 100xEC, and I'd think Rarity 1 since these are about the most basic mod that most (non-PC) freighters would use.

I thought that at first as well, but looking closer at the pictures, it appears like they are not that much taller than the standard YT-1300 is in the middle, rather they seem to be designed to 'square out' the sloped roof of the craft. By comparison, the majority of the stock ship's cargo room is near the middle/high central parts. If you assume the image we're seeing is the 'Complete version', that would be 120 Encumbrance, which is almost double.

Though I'm curious what you mean by 3000 x sil / 3 because if that's entirely mathematical, you might as well have written it at 1000 x sil.

Also, you might want to come up with a formula that uses x sil x sil, because with this current method, a fully upgrade sidecar for your speeder bike adds 60 encumbrance worth of cargo space.

thats a cool graphic, although they would probably be more useful if more where identical. in use the owner would arrive at a port and unload the pods that where to be delivered, then immediately load up other pods that had been waiting for them and where already packed. Similar to the shipping container method we use world wide. in this case the pilot is freighting someone else's pods for them, never dealing with loading and unloading

the method shown in this graphic would be fine if the pilot only had those 5 pods and they belonged to her, she simply used them to be able to transport more, although the load/unload time would be greatly increased too, since each pod would have to be detached, unpacked then reattached.

i would think this method would be only usefull for someone who was an explorer type character, going to isolated worlds looking for things. she would pack all the camp equipment in the pods (they may even be dedicated labs/workrooms etc) so when they set up camp the yt-1300 is free of the excess mass and able to go on short trips un-inhibited until the camp needs to be moved.

if a freighter is needed for moving bulk cargo the Fire-spray is a much more practical option

Edit: Not a Firespray... obviously! that should read Wayfarer, the 'Other' ship option for a starting party... oops!

Um, no. The Firespray is a terrible cargo hauler.

Though I'm curious what you mean by 3000 x sil / 3 because if that's entirely mathematical, you might as well have written it at 1000 x sil.

[EDITED]: Agreed. I missed the Rarity 4 on the next line. Please forgiven me...I'm really sick.

Though I'm curious what you mean by 3000 x sil / 3 because if that's entirely mathematical, you might as well have written it at 1000 x sil.

[EDITED]: Agreed. I missed the Rarity 4 on the next line. Please forgiven me...I'm really sick.

...derp

My only defense is I had a lot on my mind.

Um, no. The Firespray is a terrible cargo hauler.

Face Palm, the Wayfarer is obviously what i meant!

Arguably, while the use of standard cargo-containers would be logical, Richard, there is little-to-no evidence of them being used by Light Freighters in the star wars universe. Instead they seem to be relegated to medium transports and above. This actually isn't particularly inconsistent with modern shipping, particularly in the 70s, when the intermodal container was just coming into major use.

And i don't disagree Quicksilver, i was just trying to make an observation that if a party wants to move more goods to turn a profit then cargo pods on a YT is probably not an efficient way to go narratively, but for packing the camping gear on the roof racks to go off into the wilderness its a great system.

BTW... to be perfectly clear... these are from the Haynes Manual for the Millenium Falcon. I take no credit...

Thanks for all the posts guys. This a all great input. Perhaps some of this will be looked at during the next product planning session...

I also love the idea of external cargo containers but I think they would be 0 HP mods. Like hitching a trailer to your truck. You're not modding your truck (unless it didn't come with a trailer hitch, LOL), just adding 'cargo" space. Rarity might be limited to the rarity of your particular ship, as they would probobly have to be designed for your particular class of ship (except maybe most CEC ships, since they seem to be more plug and play at times, LOL).

Maybe cost equal to how much extra enc you're adding?

Small cargo pod: +50% = 500xSil

Medium cargo pod: +100% = 1000xSil

Large cargo pod: +150% = 2500xSil

X-large cargo pod: +200% = 5000xSil

Only 1 pod may be attached? Don't know, just ideas. Attached,but not part of the ship, affect handling, maybe speed depending on the size of your pod?

I mean we see the hero's in Star Wars: Rebels toting cargo crates (at high speed and fancy maneuvers too) with micro tractor beams. I mean,how many crates can you pull like that anyway?

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/ZH-25_Questor

The ZH is supposed to have 2 40 ton cargo pods in addition to the outrigger hulls.(According to the Saga Books). Every picture I could find of it has the 2 cargo pods - either labeled in a floor plan or just shown from the outside.

I certainly think that some HP using cargo pods are within the scope. Let's face it, most merchants are going to be more interested in moving more cases of energy cells, stim patches, and widgets per trip than an extra gun on top. Few merchants actually get very far off the Hyperspace trade lanes & where they actually need to fight off raiders/pirates.