The crew of the Woorwod come from diverse backgrounds and vary enormously, and have very different initial attitudes toward the PCs that reflect their personal histories. Some of these characters are just plain nasty and hostile (particularly those who toady up to Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge), while others are more friendly, but even the most hostile NPC can be befriended with luck or chance. With the exception of most of the ship’s officers, the PCs can interact with any of the crew NPCs during their time. on the Wormwood, and the PCs can attempt to change an NPC’s attitude using Bluff (to pretend to be friendly), Diplomacy (to be genuine), or Intimidate (to frighten an NPC into submission). These checks are treated as Diplomacy checks to change a character’s starting attitude (regardless of the actual skill used), but they take time. Each check requires a ship action and a PC can only attempt one such check each day against a given NPC. There is no right or wrong way to approach these characters, but some NPCs have characteristics that influence their thinking, which can be discovered with a DC 15 Diplomacy check to gather information or a DC 15 Sense Motive check, taking the action for the day. Changes in an NPC’s attitude remain in place unless the PCs change it again through some action.

Friendly NPCs help out their shipmates during the day. A friendly NPC can provide a +2 bonus on any single job task skill check made by a PC (see above), provided the NPC has ranks in the appropriate skill. Helpful NPCs provide aid not only during the day as above, but also at night, providing a +2 bonus on checks to influence other NPCs, or on checks for pirate games and entertainments. Helpful NPCs are also happy to lend money or equipment (up to half their ready cash) or perform other actions at your discretion. Hostile or unfriendly NPCs tend to stick together with Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge in the evenings, where their talk is at the expense of the PCs and their friends.

Succeed

If you succeed, the character’s attitude toward you is improved by one step. For every 5 by which your check result exceeds the DC, the character’s attitude toward you increases by one additional step. A creature’s attitude cannot be shifted more than two steps up in this way, although the GM can override this rule in some situations.

Fail

If you fail the check by 4 or less, the character’s attitude toward you is unchanged. If you fail by 5 or more, the character’s attitude toward you is decreased by one step.

The PC should make an appropriate skill check (usually Sleight of Hand or Stealth) to represent a typical situation, using the following guidelines to set the DC of the check.

Failing by 4 or less means the PC is merely disturbed and is unable to complete the action. Failing by 5 or more means the PC is caught red-handed by a random crew member & might be turned over to Master Scourge for discipline.