My players are ready to start SWW next session. The problem is we just added a new player (the girlfriend of one of the guys) and her character has a Folding Boat. I did ask to see the character sheet beforehand but did not get it until the day of the adventure (they had a brief outing to Evermire after BWG). Also, she is brand new to D&D so I don't want to a) take the boat away from her or b) not let them use it after the shipwreck as I don't want her to become frustrated with D&D. At the same time I definitely want them to cross that island and confront the gargoyles, Olangru, etc. just as it's written (well, with a few twists).
So, right now it's where all I can think of is to just say "Hey, I asked to see the character sheet ahead of time and I definitely would not have allowed that item. In it's place I'll let you have a Cloak of the Manta Ray which is of the same value." Then again, that may be a turn off and it's also like, "Choo choo! Here comes a shipwreck God has decreed."
Suggestions?
Having a boat and using a boat are very different things. The folding boat sounds like a great way to get from the wreck to the island. The adventure makes it painfully clear that navigating around the area is freakishly difficult, even for a seasoned captain with the profession skill.
I agree, and in a way you may simply have to have a couple of incidents happen that make it clear that it won't be so easy as all that to navigate round the island without say being attacked by monsters anyway.
My players had a folding boat. They didn't even THINK of using it to get to Farshore. Of course, they also had a live crew of 20 persons and a horse, so its doubtful that the folding boat could have carried them all. They had put some real energy into shiphandling skills and spells, so they almost managed to save the ship from wrecking. (Let them make enough difficult Profession: sailor checks; sooner or later they will fail).
Perhaps that is a good solution - by having the whole crew survive, you subtly discourage the use of the folding boat, while simultaneously giving them a "reward" in saving the NPCs.
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It's probably not going to be as much of a hiccup as you think it might be. There isn't anything stopping the party from building canoes/rafts once they're on the island and using those to get to Farshore. So as noted in the adventure there are substantial difficulties navigating the waters near the shore. Also if you plant some hooks to go further inland (tops of ruins jutting out over the jungle canopy in the distance) adventurers are likely to take the bait. When I ran that leg of the AP the party was pretty tired of being on a boat and actually looked forward to the overland route.
given the nature of the waters around the Isle of Dread, the task of going from the shipwreck site to Farshore should be more than daunting.
Remind them of the Masher Eels (encountered only a few scenes before), have some aquatic dinosaurs break the surface in the distance or point out the flocks of Wyverns diving for prey near the rocky eastern cliffs. If the players do want to gothrough that..... He who goes into danger's way will perish in it... etc. etc. as the saying goes.
Oh, and looking at the problem from a realistic angle, how seaworthy is that boat ? Is it something build for interior waters, like shallow lakes etc. like a barge or riverboat, hence with low gunwhales, a shallow bottom and easily swamped in any sort of breakers or swell ? After all the storm the Sea Wyvern gets wrecked by has only passed on, not ceased to exist, and the sea will run high for the next few days to come (waves travel for considerable distance...)
Do the heroes and crew etc. actually know how to row in time, for hours at length ? Say, in low winds or a dead calm ? And do they even have the maps and navigational tools left to find Farshore by sea ?
Just wondering - you don't have to make it easy on them, and though they have a boat, success is far from guaranteed.
That is, if they even manage to rescue the box from the "Sea Wyvern" when it wrecks...
Remind them of the Masher Eels (encountered only a few scenes before), have some aquatic dinosaurs break the surface in the distance or point out the flocks of Wyverns diving for prey near the rocky eastern cliffs. If the players do want to gothrough that..... He who goes into danger's way will perish in it... etc. etc. as the saying goes.
Oh, and looking at the problem from a realistic angle, how seaworthy is that boat ? Is it something build for interior waters, like shallow lakes etc. like a barge or riverboat, hence with low gunwhales, a shallow bottom and easily swamped in any sort of breakers or swell ? After all the storm the Sea Wyvern gets wrecked by has only passed on, not ceased to exist, and the sea will run high for the next few days to come (waves travel for considerable distance...)
Do the heroes and crew etc. actually know how to row in time, for hours at length ? Say, in low winds or a dead calm ? And do they even have the maps and navigational tools left to find Farshore by sea?
The boat can unfold to 24' long by 8' long by 6' deep with a single deck, 5 sets of oars, a steering oar, an anchor, a deck cabin, and a mast with a square sail. It comfortably seats 15. This would normally be sufficient to get around the island.
However, you all have great ideas...lots of nasty sea monsters visible, have too many survivors (who then get picked off one at a time by Olangru!), HORRIBLE weather continuing indefinitely (the party druid will know that), and the unchartered reefs are substantial deterents. And how would Thunderstrike fit on the boat???
Amella Venkalie will be adamatly opposed to going by water. As a matter of fact, all but one or two survivors will refuse if comes to it. Leaving them behind will be the equivalent of signing their death warrants after seeing the T-Rex rampage on the beach.
On the other hand, my players, like most, are very clever and will come up with something I don't expect. So, everyone please try to poke as many holes in these deterrents as possible.
My players were itching to get some solid ground under their feet by this point. My guess is, yours will be as well.