About to run for the first time, I'll post my newbish questions here

[Mavrickindigo]

Ok first question. During the 20 days, I remember reading somewhere about Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge getting a rival group of adventurers against the PCS, but the rules say that at day 17 that you can no longer influence hostile people. So are there some non-officers you're not supposed to try and influence? Because I think it would be cool if the players would be able to influence everyone, if they were lucky enough. That being said, I remember reading something about these characters trying to thwart the PCs, should I be giving them rolls to diplomacy the other NPCs, or was that blurb just about the times encounters mention "hostile crewmembers"?

This is how I have things set up so far

For the 20 days, I have rolled the jobs for every crew member, including the PCs. When a character shares a job with a PC, they will have a chance to get to know them. I've marked the special days as needed. Is this incorrect?

[Fitzwalrus]

Spoiler:

According to the AP, the crew does polarize on Day 17. Anyone not at least Friendly to your PCs at that point drops a level in attitude (Unfriendly to Hostile, Indifferent to Unfriendly) and anyone who was previously already Hostile stays that way and cannot be swayed by the PCs.

Keep in mind that the whole point of your players' experiences on the Wormwood have been building up to the mutiny and showdown with Plugg, Scourge and their minions, so having most of the crew on the PCs' side kinda takes a lot of the excitement and danger out of that final confrontation. Sure the players are supposed to win the fight, take the ship and move on with the AP, but if it gets too easy it will be anticlimatic and not as much fun. With that in mind, I've been assuming that Scourge, Plugg and their friends have also been working the uncommitted crew to influence opinions, and I've had some of the "fence sitters" waver back and forth depending on how well my players' efforts have been going.

A number of other folks who've played or run this module have found the 20-day timeframe to be a bit long. If you and your players are into lots of roll-playing and taking time to work out all the interactions among the crew then well and good, but if you're used to a more action-driven type of game you may find time dragging until you get to the fight with the Man's Promise and the mutiny itself. After that there's plenty of action (dangerous, too), but before that some players may get a bit bored. Be ready to tighten things up and shorten the timeline if need be: my game is on Day 9 and we have a covered everything up to "Boarding School" and will attack the Promise on Day 13.

Good luck with the campaign (it's a good one) and have fun!!