These are your NPCs

(But only Sandara is Important)

The first real issue I faced when modding the Pathfinder AP Skulls and Shackles was not actually the PF-5e conversion. That bit was surprisingly easy--just match a monster here, tweak an xp reward there, sub a skill, drop a DC. The real issue was changing the setting. Pathfinder's Golarion setting is, in many ways, pointedly opposite of that of other fantasy RPGs. In Pathfinder, most of the gods are distant, bickering jerks--and some only attained god-hood by touching a rock! In FR, meanwhile, we have the gods literally walking among us, such that atheism is nearly unheard of. Obviously some changes had to be made. 

The place I decided to start was the key NPCs. After all, the Wormwood crew is supposed to be an important part of the party's lives even after the first book of the AP. At first they're potential friends or enemies, and later they can become crew-mates or recurring villains. 

I was surprised, therefore, when I found next to no information on the crew. Most of the key NPCs have a small blurb, but it leaves a lot to be desired. Shortstone is a gambler. OK, but why is he a gambler? Why is he OK with being pressed ganged onto a ship? Altogether, the backgrounds for NPCs seemed a bit lacking. And that is odd, as the AP expects PCs to spend the first book making friends. Even the villains, I found, had rather scant explanations for their personalities and motives. Scourge is a jerk. Why? Who knows. He hit on Sandara, but he wears a wedding ring. Is he married? Maybe. Plugg is evil and ambitious, and keeps a pet human. He is perpetually angry, but feels no emotion. Is there any sense to any of this? 

Probably not. 

The only NPC fleshed out at all is Sandara, and her story makes relatively little sense. In fact, it almost feels as if she was some author's dream girl, and this is the sole reason she was given any backstory. The very fact that the AP seems to expect the PCs to blindly trust her, and the blatant suggestion she could be a love interest disturbingly seem to support this assertion. 

But Sandara aside, the problem was largely this: 

I had expected to read each character's backstory, and figure out how to move it from one setting to another. But instead, what I found was that there was little backstory to go on at all. That obviously had to change. I know my party, and knew Paizo's scant answers would not satisfy them. The villain can never be evil because the AP says so. He must have a reason for his evil ambition. Likewise, characters must have origins, reasons for being as they are presented. They are not caricatures. 

Why? 

Because players will ask. Players are the most clever things in the world, and they will not let you get away with a hand-wave. Thus, I decided the place to start my mod was to take each core NPC, gather what little characterization they were given, and flesh them out into full characters for the Forgotten Realms setting. From there, all else could be built.