[Refresh for New Cargo]   (donate@gmsarligames.com)   Exotic creatures: Small wetlands herd animal 20, 4 tons, held in cages, 8000 credits Inert chemicals 6 tons, loaded on palettes, 6000 credits Empty containers 7 tons, canisters of shipping foam, 700 credits Foodstuffs: common dairy products 3 tons, sealed in refrigerated crates, 3000 credits Droids: 434-FPC chef droid 8, 4 tons, packed in crates, 32000 credits Precious metals 1 ton, loaded in crates, 100000 credits Exotic creatures: Small arboreal predator 15, 3 tons, held in cages, 24000 credits Medical equipment: medical kits 40, 4 tons, loaded on palettes, 24000 credits Foodstuffs: water 4 tons, sealed in jugs/bottles, 3200 credits Foodstuffs: water 6 tons, sealed in jugs/bottles, 4800 credits Foodstuffs: water 2 tons, sealed in jugs/bottles, 1600 credits Ores 12 tons, loaded in crates, 12000 credits   Total tonnage of cargo: 56 tons Unused cargo space: 44 tons Total value of cargo: 219300 credits

This cargo generator is designed to fill 100 metric tons of cargo space (with a randomized amount of unfilled capacity), appropriate for a light freighter, small warehouse, or a single cargo bay of a larger starship. As such, this is the most cargo that players will generally have to deal with in a single encounter. If more is required (such as when filling a bulk freighter or large warehouse), you can either use the generator multiple times by refreshing the page or simply multiply the amounts listed here by an appropriate number. (For example, a bulk freighter might have 1,000 times more cargo on board, and it is likely to carry greater quantities of each cargo.)

On average, assume that 1 square (1.5-meters-by-1.5-meters with at least 2.5 meters floor-to-ceiling space, or roughly 5 cubic meters) holds about 1 ton of cargo. Cargo is generally much bulkier than it is heavy due to irregular shapes, the need for void filler and cushioning, and consumer packaging, particularly in the case or smaller items. (Think about the relative size of a modern cell phone to its packaging.) Even relatively dense cargo, such as metals or liquids, is usually placed in shorter stacks, thereby allowing labor droids and other freight handling equipment to stay within their designed limits.

Generally, it takes a full round action to search a single square, but merely reading the labels on the outside of a container is considerably faster, usually a swift action. Accounting for the time necessary to move from crate to crate, a single character can take a very quick inventory (item types, but no specific count) in about 5 minutes, a more detailed inventory in 15 minutes (including rough counts of each item and a cursory search of the containers), and a detailed inventory and extremely close inspection in about 4 hours (taking 20 on all Perception checks). This is also useful to keep in mind if the heroes draw the attention of a tenacious customs inspector!
 

Sources: The concept of this random generator comes from page 57 of the Galactic Campaign Guide (by Peter Schweighofer and JD Wiker), which was based on a "Chance Cube" article by Michael Mikaelian, in Star Wars Gamer #2. (It is also available for free in Hero's Guide Web Enhancement #2, downloadable from Wizards of the Coast's website.) My generator deviates quite a bit from these earlier versions, taking advantage of lines of code to handle far more variability than would be possible with a pen-and-paper set of tables. I tried to draw from more recent Star Wars sources so that GMs will find links to their latest campaign guides. (I will eventually add book and page references for specific items published outside the Saga Edition core rulebook to help you find the relevant game mechanics when that becomes necessary.)

In addition, I have lower estimates of how many items will fit into a single ton of cargo capacity: I used modern sources (such as the "volumetric weight" used by UPS and the weight limit of a tractor-trailer compared to its internal volume) to come up with more concrete estimates of what "1 ton" means, and from there I considering how bulky even the smallest of items tend to be (drawing from my experience as a security guard at a warehouse one summer, sometime in the last century). Given this, the cargo generated here will tend to be less valuable on a ton-for-ton basis than that created by the Galactic Campaign Guide version. (I encourage you to look up their version to compare the two and modify these results to best fit your Star Wars gaming needs.)