Hi...

My PCs are due to smuggle themselves aboard an Imperial Transport Ship in order in infiltrate an Imperial Facility. Soooo... I'm looking for ideas on what kinds of cargo would require transport containers to have an atmosphere?

The transport ship will be part of a convoy that is carrying supplies for the Imperial forces in the area that the PCs are operating in along with equipment/materials that are required for a large infrastructure "project" that the local Moff is working on.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Cheers 👍

*Ominous music* what cargo you ask? *lowers voice* Live cargo, that's what.

Slaves should fit your situation pretty well.

18 minutes ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

*Ominous music* what cargo you ask? *lowers voice* Live cargo, that's what.

Slaves should fit your situation pretty well.

Cheers P-47! Yes... Slaves would usually fit the bill here, however the Imperials already have the slave angle covered from another supplier within the sub-sector that the PCs are operating in so wanted to avoid that one.

Hmm... other than slaves and foodstuffs, I'm not sure.

I assume you know best, but if your PCs don't know about the slaves yet you could probably rearrange the situation behind the scenes to allow the slaves to be a plausible thing.

For construction materials you would probably just have to come up with some excuse for "oh, this industrial adhesive in its liquid form destabilizes if the atmospheric gas mixture isn't within this range, and you know what that means right? Boom."

Yeah I could do that... although I do have a reveal planned for the slaves that ties in to other events that occurred a few months back in the campaign timeline.

But... you may have just hit on something with the "industrial adhesive", nice one!!

Cheers again P-47 👍

Make the lack of air part of the challenge. The PCs need to acquire vac suits and carry enough oxygen with them to survive the trip.

Off the top of my head, how about animals or livestock?

Live plants might be more feasible and practical. Rich people want to decorate their homes and buildings with exotic plants from other worlds. Medical patients require a supply of off-world herbs or plant extracts. And of course, black-market items like drugs and poisons may be farmed from lived specimens and cultures.

And never underestimate the eccentricities of people with too much money to spend. A rare and valuable piece of art might not need air, but a self-absorbed collector would rather burn out his eyes than leave a priceless statue rolling around in a crate. He would insist on a full-sized container with a full compliment of guards surrounding it at all times until it arrives safely and untarnished. To be clear, the air is for the help since they can't do their job dead.

17 hours ago, AceSolo5 said:

I'm looking for ideas on what kinds of cargo would require transport containers to have an atmosphere?

Items not rated for vacuum: This is actually a pretty long list. Most items don't do well in hard vacuum, as it sucks out everything in a material. Normal dehydration and outgassing that takes months or years in a pressurized environment can take much less time in space. Astronauts actually have documented a "metallic burned toast" smell in a recently repressurized airlock, and suspect that it's all the outgassing from everything in the airlock, even the metal. Think of it, O-rings, insulation, items already under pressure like spray-foam, no-slip grips on tools, all would break down or rupture in hard vacuum. While this doesn't require a cargo hold to have full life support, it does require it be sealed and pressurized. So the player might only need a breathmask, and even then only if the trip is long.

Aerobic biological samples: This might be samples taken for research, or some kind of useful biological product.

Agricultural goods: Packing and freezing nerf-steaks is the easy way. If the destination is sufficiently remote they might ship in some livestock as a food source. A whole animal can feed a lot of people for a long time, and a handful of people can manage a small herd with ease (and that's not taking droid support into account). Compared to the cost of shipping in food on a regular basis, keeping a nerf-herder, farmer, and a few agridroids on staff might be more cost effective than importing. An especially secret base on a far flung world might consider running a small farm and ranch to be a small price to pay for the security of reduced cargo flights to and from the base. Not only that, but the ranch/farm might be rigged up as a cover as well in case someone stumbles across it. If a base can provide the majority of it's own food and water, supply drops might easily be as low as once or twice a year. (And that makes your player infiltration more critical, as they won't get another chance for a long long time).

Also, don't forget full logistics. If I'm smuggling you into some place, I'll also want to make sure you've got food, water, and a place to put both when you are done with them. When you slip out, don't forget to also pack out empty food wrappers, canteens, and your... bodily waste. Everyone loves a mystery, and the mystery of the doo-doo filled cargo bay corner will be investigated.

Many thanks for your input guys, much appreciated & gives me plenty to think about 👍

I'm reminded of an episode of the clone wars where some clones and Jedi sneak into a facility in carbonite suspension in order to avoid the scanners. You could always do that and have a little droid buddy that defrosts them when they get there.

They could also use a large piece of machinery. Hollow out a section, install life support for the concealed chamber. The machinery provides electrical and sensor interference.