In the spirit of human wanderlust and ancient Terran tiny houses comes the cheapest way to tour the galaxy in luxury: Vagabond Pods from PodIP. These sealed-environment pods contain all the comforts of home, and they fit in the cargo bays of most ships. Just pay your captain a delivery fee (a fraction of what you’d spend on a high passage) and you can live anywhere in five-star luxury for the cost of a weekly warehouse rental.
Choosing Your Vagabond Pod
Vagabond Pods come in 5, 10, 15, and 20 ton models. Our 5 ton model features a sealed one-bedroom suite with a living/kitchen area, entertainment and communication system, fitness equipment, airlock, and efficiency bathroom/shower. The integrated recycler and power systems both work at 96% efficiency, so you can go for four weeks between maintenance cycles in a pinch (Disclaimer: We recommend life support maintenance every two weeks, plus an annual overhaul. Operating a Vagabond Pod beyond the maximum maintenance cycle length will cause health hazards; the operator assumes liability for any personal injury or damage arising from this situation.).
10 ton models feature 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 2 living areas. 15 ton and 20 ton models have 3 and 4 bedrooms respectively. These family-sized Vagabond Pods come with a stowaway garage that can hold a ground car for exploring your new home planet, or up to 4 grav scooters for the more adventurous. With a 20 ton model, your garage can accommodate an air/raft.
Why Choose a Vagabond Pod?
Vagabond Pods are built for comfort on all but the most extreme planets. No atmosphere? No problem! Just remember to pack a vacc suit, and you’re an airlock away from exploration. Originally designed as refugee housing that can handle anything the galaxy can dish out, Vagabond Pods are the perfect mobile vacation home or temporary base of operations.
The integrated solar array provides power anywhere a star shines (Disclaimer: Most white dwarf stars will require alternate power sources). Vagabond Pods can protect you from the vacuum of space, though micrometeorites may be a concern. We strongly recommend the Shielded Hull option if you plan on regularly using your Vagabond Pod in harsh conditions or hard vacuum.
Ready to get away? Ship yourself in style to the adventure of a lifetime with Vagabond Pods!
Rules:
Custom cargo rates are Cr1,000/ton standard, though some merchant pilots have been receptive to haggling or barter for services. Typical warehouse costs are Cr50-200 per week. Be sure to request a power feed or line-of-sight for solar recharging in your warehouse space. Life support costs are Cr1,000 per person per week, available by contacting your local starport concierge.
An annual overhaul costs KCr(5 + Vagabond Pod tonnage), or Cr10,000 for a 5 ton pod, Cr15,000 for a 10 ton pod, etc. Annual overhauls require a week of no occupancy and a maintenance crew. PodIP guarantees these annual overhaul prices for the life of your Vagabond Pod. We will be happy to arrange annual maintenance on any worlds with no travel restrictions that supports a class A or B starport.
| Size (Tons) | Beds / Sleeps | Cost (KCr) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
5
|
1 / 2
|
800
| Airlock and vid/comm system standard |
| 10 | 2 / 4 | 1,300 | Adds a second common room |
| 15 | 3 / 6 | 1,850 | Adds stowaway garage (car or grav scooters extra) |
| 20 | 4 / 8 | 2,400 | Adds stowaway garage (car or air/raft extra) |
Upgrades and Options:
- Greenhouse – Proven to lower life support costs and lengthen maintenance cycles. Grow your own veggies in space!
KCr3 per 5 tons for 10% bonus on life support costs and maintenance cycle length, KCr6 per 5 tons for 25% bonus. KCr10 per 5 tons will use a bedroom and give a 50% bonus for Cr500 per person per week, max 6 weeks between. - Opaque-On-Demand Windows – Allows full privacy or natural light at your convenience while blocking user-specified radiation wavelengths. Must be purchased with Shielded Hull for full sensor protection.
KCr2 per 5 tons. - Shielded Hull – Protects occupants from the rigors of deep space and radiation for an extended time. Also prevents external sensors from detecting infrared, electromagnetic emissions, and life signs within, when combined with Opaque-On-Demand Windows.
KCr20 per 5 tons, provides protection against incidental small arms fire or 1 hit in space combat. - Gravitic Dampening – Keeps occupants safe, even if your cargo ship takes damage.
KCr5 per 5 tons, reduces possibility of damage from sudden impacts. - Built-In GravLev Drive – Allows your Vagabond Pod to move. Requires vehicular licensing.
KCr150 per 5 tons, allows flight at 60 kph top speed with abysmal maneuvering capability. - Emergency Low Berth – Will keep up to 4 sentients alive in stasis for up to a year.
KCr100, only available in 15 or 20 ton models. - Hardpoint - Less reputable after-market dealers have been known to install small craft weapon systems onto Vagabond Pods. We've decided to make hardpoints a factory option for safety.(Disclaimer: PodIP is not responsible for violations of local laws involving weapon systems.)
KCr100, uses one bedroom for fire control. Turrets and weapons extra, as small craft.
Services and Consumables:
- Onsite Maintenance Service - A team of PodIP technicians will bring the starbase to you for maintenance purposes.
2KCr minimum per call in-system, 25KCr minimum per call up to a Jump-2 away from a system with a Pod Shop, or 50KCr minimum per call to an Amber Zone. Consumables and parts extra. - FreshPod Consumables - Contains the supplies and means (filters, food, fresh water supplies, required tools, etc.) to perform routine maintenance in the field, allowing near-constant deployment. Warning: Keep protected, as any damage from exposure or mishandling will invalidate the warranty!
Cr1250 per sentient-week of supplies. A Vagabond Pod can store up to the "Sleeps" number of sentient-weeks of consumables, but the living areas will feel cramped; completely filling a bedroom will allow storage of an additional 8 sentient-weeks per bedroom. As cargo, 1 ton per four sentient-weeks or fraction thereof. PodIP offers a Cr250 return per sentient-week of used consumables, but fully expects cases of local disposal. PodIP will deliver supplies for 5.5KCr per 4 sentient-weeks in-system, or for KCr7 per 4 sentient-weeks up to a Jump-2 away from a system with a Pod Shop, subject to ship availability. Requires one hour per four sentient-weeks of consumables to install, minimum 2 hours.
What other options should we offer for the Vagabond Pod?
Please comment below and our customer care team will forward them to R&D!
BONUS: Quick Economic Comparison
This is bonus material in the form of back-of-napkin scribbles to compare Vagabond Pod costs to conventional passenger rates. One huge advantage of Vagabond Pods: you can seal yourself in your Pod and have some privacy to plan out your next mission, which might be worth more to adventuring groups. They're also useful as makeshift driveless lifeboats.
A stock 20 ton Vagabond Pod costs less than 10% of a 100 ton Type S Scout for the same 4 staterooms. A 20 year mortgage on a 20 ton Pod would run you Cr10,000 per month plus interest, a far cry from monthly payments on a Type A Free Trader for a moveable headquarters, though not exactly space-worthy.
Per jump, a Vagabond Pod costs 45-60% of comparable High or Mid Passage tickets. (EDIT: Refigured to correct Mid Passage numbers.)
A single sentient in a 5 ton Pod would pay:
And if you want true solo luxury, 1 sentient in a 20 ton pod would pay:
Yearly maintenance runs Cr10,000 to Cr25,000. Breaking that down, if you're jumping 20 times per year (slightly less often than twice a month), that equates to Cr500-1,250 per jump, so you're still paying less than a High Passage per jump when you factor that in.
The Greenhouse option would knock down the life support costs as well, paying for itself in 80-120 sentient-weeks of use (roughly a year with 2 sentients), so it's a decent investment.
A 20 ton Vagabond Pod with all options will run MCr3.348, or roughly 20% of a Launch for similar tonnage and no maneuvering drives. If you install a triple turret with 3 Beam Lasers you'll more than double your cost (MCr7.348), but you could defend a small mining operation on an asteroid for 6 weeks between resupply runs.
Given all that, I think these costs and other numbers look about right.
Please comment below and our customer care team will forward them to R&D!
BONUS: Quick Economic Comparison
This is bonus material in the form of back-of-napkin scribbles to compare Vagabond Pod costs to conventional passenger rates. One huge advantage of Vagabond Pods: you can seal yourself in your Pod and have some privacy to plan out your next mission, which might be worth more to adventuring groups. They're also useful as makeshift driveless lifeboats.
A stock 20 ton Vagabond Pod costs less than 10% of a 100 ton Type S Scout for the same 4 staterooms. A 20 year mortgage on a 20 ton Pod would run you Cr10,000 per month plus interest, a far cry from monthly payments on a Type A Free Trader for a moveable headquarters, though not exactly space-worthy.
Per jump, a Vagabond Pod costs 45-60% of comparable High or Mid Passage tickets. (EDIT: Refigured to correct Mid Passage numbers.)
A single sentient in a 5 ton Pod would pay:
Cr5,000 (cargo rate) + Cr1,000 (1 week life support) = Cr6,0002 sentients in a 10 ton pod would pay:
Cr10,000 (cargo rate) + Cr2,000 (1 week life support) = Cr12,0004 sentients in a 10 ton pod (Mid Passage equivalent) would pay:
Cr10,000 (cargo rate) + Cr4,000 (1 week life support) = Cr14,000...or just under 45% of comparable Mid Passage rates for 4 people.
And if you want true solo luxury, 1 sentient in a 20 ton pod would pay:
Cr20,000 (cargo rate) + Cr1,000 (1 week life support) = Cr21,000...or the equivalent of 2 High Passage tickets for a private 4-bedroom suite. You can basically have Yacht-level luxury in any old Free Trader this way.
Yearly maintenance runs Cr10,000 to Cr25,000. Breaking that down, if you're jumping 20 times per year (slightly less often than twice a month), that equates to Cr500-1,250 per jump, so you're still paying less than a High Passage per jump when you factor that in.
The Greenhouse option would knock down the life support costs as well, paying for itself in 80-120 sentient-weeks of use (roughly a year with 2 sentients), so it's a decent investment.
A 20 ton Vagabond Pod with all options will run MCr3.348, or roughly 20% of a Launch for similar tonnage and no maneuvering drives. If you install a triple turret with 3 Beam Lasers you'll more than double your cost (MCr7.348), but you could defend a small mining operation on an asteroid for 6 weeks between resupply runs.
Given all that, I think these costs and other numbers look about right.
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