How am I supposed to treat NPCs on a boat?

[Cerk Evermoore]

Seems when you grapple a ship and board it. The npcs just stand by all willy nilly. Feels like as an RPer I should respect their presence but how much pressence do they really have on the ship? Seems unrealistic to only have a few people try to board a ship like the Dreadnaught or Flagship given the npc presence both seen and unseen. How much weight should be put into the presence of NPCs on a player ship?

[PinataPlethora]

Plan your attack as if you expect the NPCs to be hostile, because the moment you ignore them will be the moment when a DM decides to come along and teach you a painful lesson about ignoring NPC presence.

If you're going for The Penny Rose, it's probably okay to assume that the crew would capitulate. The Flagship, not so much.

[RoyalBlood]

If you're planning to grapple a ship and board it Ping the DM channel and let them know. There might be one around to give you the interaction you want.

Generally if I'm about to engage in anything that I think would prompt NPCs to react I'll msg the DM channel.