Customs (checking for contraband, foreign plants, etc.)
Strange etiquette
Inspirations
Futurama
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Farscape
Filk
Discworld
Spelljammer
Cowboy Bebop
Scenarios
Out of gas
Stranded in the doldrums
Shipwrecked on a…
Empty, airless, tiny asteroid
Hostile planet
Abandoned space station
Ship inspection by an agency of an oppressive government
Space Madness
Reavers
Cabin Fever
Crackers Don't Matter
Brain Switch
Nuclear blast
Blindness
Burns
Radiation poisoning
Cybernetic surgery
Limb replacement
Eye replacement / augmentation
Neural alteration / augmentation
Interdictor ship encounter
Salvage
Abandoned, depressurized, depowered ship
Abandoned, powered ship. Automatic processes might be a hazard.
Abandoned cargo
Another ship has a legitimate yet conflicting claim
Haggling
With a dealer who knows you're at their mercy
Trying to find the best price
A “kind” stranger offers you a black-market deal
For something necessary
Food
Water
Fuel
Ship component
Engine
Battery
Sail
Life support
Automaton / Computer / Autoabacus
Trying to sell something
Goods
Stolen goods
Services
Something nobody seems to want
Because they already have it
Because it's illegal
Because it's loathsome
Because it's too dangerous
Modes of travel ideas
Stellar Wind on lightsails - slow, but steady and reliable
Jumpgates - fast and reliable, but expensive.
Wormholes - fast and cheap, but unreliable.
Starburst, riftjump - fast, cheap and VERY unreliable. Though requires rare technology.
Stellar wind - lightsail (or other slower-than-light modes such as an Orion drive - nuclear pulse engine)
Advantages: Easy to understand and adjudicate.
Disadvantage: Universe has to be built differently than ours: Star systems must be MUCH closer than normal; or speed of light (causality much slower than normal.
Warp drive - lightspeed, FTL
Advantages: Easy for players to understand.
Disadvantages: Certain details must be arbitrarily imposed, such as:
What happens when two ships meet during FTL travel?
How long does it take to go from sublight to FTL? Too fast and the players can just escape everything.
Jumpdrive - hyperspace, interdimensional
Similar advantages and disadvantages as Warp drive.