The standard escape pod starts with 30 shields and one fig. I thought that was a percentage of the max shields and figs of the pod. But no matter how many figs and shields I put on the pod in the editor, it seems to only start out with no more than 100 figs and 300 shields after my podding tests in the game.

I'm hoping to get the pod to start out with 250 figs. The 300 shields, I'm fine with. What do I need to do?

Instead of editing the original pod, try adding a new ship and edit it as a pod. Then use that ship as a pod on your ships.