Freighters in Federation Commander are just targets. Their lay-out and design aren't very important when all that really matters is the cargo (destroying it for a raider or capturing it for a pirate). Freighters have the same "just a target" role in SFB, but with a lot more options on how they may be constructed.
From a role-playing perspective, there are some neat things that can be done to freighters to make them a little more interesting. And since "interesting" in RPGs usually involves combat, here's a few small freighter variations for Federation Commander.
The standard small freighter carries a 200 meter cargo pod between the command module and the drive module. However, there are also two other popular cargo pod sizes - 80 meter and 120 meter.
Occasionally a small freighter will travel without a pod. This is usually the result of a one-way delivery of cargo to a destination where there is no return pod.
In this variant, the command and propulsion modules are one integrated unit and the cargo pod is mounted to the front of the freighter.
In this variant, some of the cargo space is converted to staterooms for passengers. The crew size is increased to 30 and up to 600 passengers may be carried.
An old design, but one that may still be found traveling between the stars.
