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I also had a number of undeveloped passenger NPC's wash up on the beach (ala "Lost") after the Sea Wyvern ran aground. This gave me a pool of bodies that could be "redshirted" Star Trek style without killing off the more interesting NPC's like Amella, Avner, Urol and Tavey, while still maintaining the suspense and horror of the journey.
Given the high PC mortality rate and extreme remoteness of the trip across the Isle of Dread I found it was somewhat difficult to plausibly introduce new PC's to the group after a player's character had fallen.
As a secondary use, this semi-anonymous group of NPC's also provided a source of new PCs. One of these undefined passengers would conveniently "rise to the occasion" after one of the PCs died. I even let the players choose names they liked for the passenger NPC's in case they needed a new character.
DM: "Ok, cross Winnie off the passenger list, she just got dragged off the cliff by the gargoyles and dropped into the sea."
Player: "Aww... she was one of mine!"