I'm running my first sessions of material that I created as opposed to published material. The PCs are passengers on a transport that is boarded by Weequay pirates. Tonight was the first session which entailed the PCs fighting all the pirates who had actually boarded their ship. Next session they will cross over onto the Pirate ship and retrieve a part to fix their ship, defeat the pirate captain, and release their ship from the pirate ships grapple.

The pirate ship will consist of a very large deck that is entirely cargo space, a crew living space deck, and the pirate bridge. The cargo deck will have a lot of useless junk but he PCs can search to find useful spoils. There will also be a captive they can rescue. The bridge will have the Pirate captain and his remaining crew.

I'm not sure if there's anything exciting I can do with the crew deck. I may throw some enemies on the crew deck or the cargo deck, but our first session was pretty combat heavy so I think I want to tone it down and just let the Bridge be the main combat encounter.

If anyone has ideas for what I can give my players to do on the crew deck I would really appreciate it.

For starters, booby traps and "unorthodox" security measures (i.e. specialized locks) come to mind...

Give the pirates pets, something horrible and scary that the PCs have no desire to fight right now. Make those pets the "junkyard dogs" guarding the cargo deck.

The PCs get to breathe a sigh of relief that there are no PIRATES on the cargo deck... until they realize something much worse is hunting them.

This will let characters use skills they wouldn't normally use in combat AND add a "ticking clock" to what might be an otherwise bland sequence. Sure, they CAN scrounge for equipment, but the longer they take, the greater chance the critters catch them.

There are a few things that the players are likely to do, and these can become the challenges set for the next adventure.

Gather Intel: They'll want to know the layout of the pirate ship. They can use Computers skill to find information on the stock version of the ship in question, or have a slicer connect to the first terminal they find and get schematics. If any of the boarding pirates are still alive, they can question them and get some mileage out of social skills.

If the captain is still on the bridge, he would have a lot of control over ship's systems, like internal hatches and life support. Overriding his control of the ship can present a number of challenges.

I just watched "The Heart of Archness", so take my pirate suggestions with a grain of salt. The pirates might have prisoners, or even some crew presses into service. This could provide social characters a good opportunity to shine. They could have info, or even join the fight. For that matter, when you get to the bridge, who says there needs to be a fight? Maybe the captain is willing to negotiate. On the way, don't make the ship's layout to simple. Give the party opportunities to explore and sneak around. Hope that helps!

Also consider putting in some corridors and rooms, not just leave the whole deck open. That way there are doors for the PCs to crack open while pirates are shooting at them, that's always fun.

Another possible thing to do is have them run into a small group of pirates that are open to negotiations. In return for some concession(s) from the PCs they're willing to stay out of the fight with the captain and his cronies. This gives any PCs with social skills something to do during the session.

Some threat during a fight can also do some damage to the ship that the PCs must fix with a Mechanics roll or two before moving on. Or possibly fix it while being shot at. And opening a door. While there's a coolant leak. Fun times for everyone.

Depending on the size of the ship, you could stage a chase, where the players are obviously outnumbered, and they need to find a way to escape/evade the pirates. Jamming a door, for example, can prevent pursuit, jumping into the ventilation system might be another. Maybe setting up a distraction to draw off their pursuers.