I'm going to be running an EotE game that is a mix of Star Wars and Firefly. I was thinking the Wayfarer freighter might suit my purposes the best, but am concerned about the cargo module issue. I assume that the large module could just be left in place and loaded with smaller crates? Or is it one of those things where if you don't have the big module, you can't load the ship?

My PCs chose the ship. I like to think of the module as the trailer part of a semi (18-wheeler truck). That's where the bulk the encumberance score comes from. It's detachable and attachable, and you would be safe in assuming that the module is included by default.

According to preveious fluff (if I recall correctly), the wayfarer was a, not overly successful ship class. The cargo modules and the ship were discontinued, and as such the modules were never too far spread. The idea was to just pick up a loaded module and transport it and pick up another. Didn't work out. As such, most ships never detatch the module, and owners just ferry cargo to and fro.

Get your hands on some extra modules (should be cheep), a place to store them securely and some coin.

1. Cargo module

2. Exploration and Science module

3. Communications module

4. Medical module

5. Assault module

The list goes on!

There are other ways to go about that idea, but what are beginning players to do?!

According to preveious fluff (if I recall correctly), the wayfarer was a, not overly successful ship class. The cargo modules and the ship were discontinued, and as such the modules were never too far spread. The idea was to just pick up a loaded module and transport it and pick up another. Didn't work out. As such, most ships never detatch the module, and owners just ferry cargo to and fro.

All because the designers assumed that the market wouldn't care that the modules weren't standard cargo modules.

Had the design taken off in the market, it wouldn't have mattered, because the modules would have been common enough. Unfortunately, the design didn't take off, so the modules are scarce.

It's certainly not impossible to build new modules, even to the point of constructing them from scratch, but the ship works well enough with a single big, empty module acting as the main hold, that there's relatively little call for *that* particular exercise either. I'd imagine it wouldn't be unheard of for owners to end up permanently attaching the cargo module to the craft in order to relieve strain on the module connection clamp, and bolster structural integrity of the ship as a whole. The most likely reason to do so would be the relative scarcity of replacement parts for the clamping mechanism(s).

I wouldn't recommend such an action for the PCs, though. Since they are almost *certain* to end up doing more than just basic shuttling of goods from system to system, the ability to have multiple modules could be very important for a number of reasons.