SPOILERS AHEAD!! Players, go no further!
I'm with a problem that perhaps somebody can help me with.
My party is getting closer to the mutiny scene. I don't know how it will play out yet, they've just joined the crew on the Man's Promise and I have the feeling they might mutiny earlier. Anyway, my biggest problem with the whole thing is: What to do with the NPCs in the last fight?
Before the campaign started, I gave all named NPCs a detailed personality and background. It was really enjoyable for my players to interact with the crew, be it in a friendly way or not. They talked to almost everyone and can remember the crew by name (with exception of a few guys they didn't have time interacting with). It lead to memorable scenes and characters - Rosie is almost an honorary PC now, Conhar is the quirky but nice guy the PCs have to look up after, Fipps is the douchebag target of several jokes and pranks a day, Sly is a creepy stalker that PCs genuinely fear, and so on. Now, as we approach the climax, I don't know how to handle the last encounter.
On one hand, it would be SO much easier to let the overall fight fade into background and focus on the PCs vs Scourge and Plugg. On another hand, I fear this may diminish the importance that social interaction played so far. From the start I emphasized that gathering allies is crucial for a successful mutiny, so it would be nice for them to see the allies they toiled so hard to conquer actually there, fighting and being useful instead of serving as minor background noise, but dealing with an encounter of more than 20 NPCs would be a nightmare.
So far, possible solutions I came with are:
1- Leave the fight as background with the exception of a few of the most memorable NPCs. Diminishes the problem, but doesn't solve it.
2- Put all NPCs on the map and hand my players simplified sheets so they control the 'good guys' and I have only to deal with the enemies. I've done it before in other campaigns, it worked well, but with smaller encounters. As it is, it may shift attention from the real villains and take forever to finish.
I'm also concerned with keeping the encounter challenging. Plugg and Scourge are despised but feared. It would be really anticlimactic to see them go down in a few turns but, knowing my players, if they have NPCs to command, they will surely swarm the villains one at a time, making it impossible to do that movie-like pirate showdown everyone is expecting.
3- Do the final fight in parts. First a showdown against minor NPCs with the help with allies, then move on to the big fight with only the PCs vs the diabolical duo. I don't know how I would build this. It's practical, but always seems silly from a story / strategic viewpoint. Plugg doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would sit in the back with a glass of wine, stroking a white cat and mwahaha-ing while the heroes cut through his lackeys.
4- Find excuses to why most of the NPCs aren't available to participate in the climax. Such as being locked up by Plugg, being unconscious due to lashes, getting cold feet and refusing to participate, etc. This is my least desired choice since it involves major railroading and that's what I'm trying to diminish.
Oh, one detail about by game: We're playing using Roll20 and skype, sessions lasting usually about 3 hours. So, there's that.
How you GMs out there handled this scene?