Changing the premise of Plunder and Peril

[bmsattler]

My players are feeling really beat down in the Wormwood Mutiny, to the point that they are losing interest in the game. I plan on running Plunder and Peril in place of Raiders of the Fever Sea. What I would like to remove is the backstabbing portion that Captain Varossa Lanteri is supposed to be plotting. Is there a way to chase down Jemma Redclaw's treasure and still keep Lanteri as a somewhat friendly figure?

I'm also planning on replacing Lanteri with a re-skinned Isabella 'Inkskin' Locke, because I like the character and the treasure-map tattoo fits so well with Plunder and Peril's premise.

By keeping friendly relations with Lanteri, I hope to be able to alleviate the issue of giving the PC's two ships at the end of the second module.

Basically, I'm just kind of bad at connecting the dots and coming up with my own plot line. :(

[PJFrost]

If you're reskinning Isabella as Lantiri, try adding a first mate with old!Varossa's stats who secretly has the 3rd piece. Make her Warvil's mistress. Put Varossa on the island with them, and have your new first mate and Vancid Creed maroon the party instead. Have them take Jaspin hostage if you want to keep your PCs friendly with the rest of the crew. Part 3 should be runnable pretty much exactly as written, with some slight CR bumps to make up for the NPC ally you're giving them.