Thanx for the feedback guys. To answer Ringmereth's point about the pacing... I've tried to avoid railroading everyone into specific events (and the dice rolls have also contributed to that). If anyone wanted to just barrel ahead then that'd be fine (as Nelson has done). However, as everyone else has been taking a more cautionary approach to things (sneaking, scouting, etc.), I've been relying on the Spot/Listen rolls of the opponents to determine when combat occurs.
But if any point someone wanted to just say "to heck with it!", jump up and engage in combat... I'd work with it.
I would also like to make the point that party is also well within their rights to decide to go back to town for reinforcements (or to pass off the duty onto the militia) if they so choose (and which has been suggested by a person or two). If anyone'd rather do that (or are afraid they aren't up to the task of dealing with the pirates), then come to an agreement about it and we'll see where that takes us.
As I usually tell people when I play with them in PbP... the more ACTIVE your choices are, the more agreements can come quickly and the faster the plot advances. Even if your character can't contribute directly, a simple "I agree we should do 'X'" is enough to bring the group to consensus and someone will usually take the lead from there. And thus things'll speed up.
But if any point someone wanted to just say "to heck with it!", jump up and engage in combat... I'd work with it.
I would also like to make the point that party is also well within their rights to decide to go back to town for reinforcements (or to pass off the duty onto the militia) if they so choose (and which has been suggested by a person or two). If anyone'd rather do that (or are afraid they aren't up to the task of dealing with the pirates), then come to an agreement about it and we'll see where that takes us.
As I usually tell people when I play with them in PbP... the more ACTIVE your choices are, the more agreements can come quickly and the faster the plot advances. Even if your character can't contribute directly, a simple "I agree we should do 'X'" is enough to bring the group to consensus and someone will usually take the lead from there. And thus things'll speed up.
