I'm big into preplanning for problems since my set of players never tends to do anything 'by the book'.
My group is about to begin their voyage on the Sea Wyvern. After a fight about not taking colonists, I have no idea what to do if someone dies along the way. I've tested the combat and it seems likely we'll lose at least one character (I don't have the smartest group of players). Given the lack of other characters to take over, what has anyone else done when someone dies and has to make a new character?
The ideas I'm tossing around are giving my players the option of becoming one of the non-essential NPC's on the crew, like Skald or Lirith. Another idea is having the new character at one of the ports. Problem with that is when they're past the ports. Any other ideas or suggestions?