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Stranded on an island

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I am most likely taking over a campaign set in the warm parts of Fearun. We are around lvl 14, and the group is made out from 1x sorcerer, 1x anti paladin, 1x alchemist and 1x fighter.

The part i will take care of will start with the group stranded on an island after a shipwreck. As no one has teleportspells or items, and without clerics you lack the "create water/food" spells they are in for quite a lot of treats.

I want you guys to just throw me your good suggestions and advice's. Everything from good encounters/environmental incidents too what problems can occur while stranded and how it should be resolved.

Please don't make this a thread where one zillion forum trolls argue weather it takes a move-action or a standard-action to hang a hammock up in a middle sized tropical tree. I want suggestions and fun parts for the party to enjoy, experience and "fear".

You can always do the old standby of poison berries with a low survival check... but if you want something darker...

Read up on Hellcats. They are invisible during the day, partially visible at night, and only truly seen during dim light, I.e. dusk and dawn.

Just because the island is uninhabited doesn't mean it always was. A demonic temple could lead to an all new foe to fight, not to mention some gear for your Anti-Pal. And lots of exotic ingredients for your alchemist.
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Volcano God/Magma people

Dire Crabs/Lobsters/etc

Coconut Plate

Coconut Tower Shields

Volleyball Animal Companions

Also, how do you know they aren't gonna just fix the ship? Also, if you have lots of combat encounters, what if they make a raft from the dead bodies?

Hellcats.. not bad. Good to use when building the mood.
Berries allready on my list :-)

Sure, if they fix the s#+% they can, but as they are on the run i think (and hope) they look upon this as a chance to get away.

I did not just think of combat encounters, just as well dangerous food, how to gather fresh water etc.

Actually, I'm fairly sure it's a full round action to hang a hammock, but only if you're hasted. Now, what is the skill to make a two way radio out of coconuts?

Don't forget to have the Harlem Globetrotters visit them and then leave, but without taking your castaways with them.

**********************

14th level characters probably don't have much fun hunting wild warthogs for dinner or boiling/distilling seawater (I think an alchemist should be able to manage that).

Which brings us back to:

1. Suitable encounters for their level, maybe tropical or jungle or coastal. Side note - if it's really a lost island, it's not likely that most encounters here would have CR14 loot. If they do, the question is where did they get a mountain of loot when they're a bazillion miles away from any civilization. If they don't, your players will get restless slogging through a myriad of lootless encounters.
2. A means of escaping - they capture a passing pirate ship, or find an evil gnome's hidden workshop where he's building an army of flying clockwork dragons to take over the world, or they use a take-20 to patch the hole in The S.S. Minnow, or whatever. Work that into the story with some juicy and fun encounters.

Fresh water can be acquired a couple of ways. Desalination is one. You need three bowl like objects of increasing size. The small one in the middle. It holds the water and is brought to a boil. The water evaporates and leaves the salt behind. Steam rises and is caught in the upsidedown middle bowl, drips down into the large bowl at the bottom (thank you Marine Corps Survival class).

Now not only is that tricky to do (high survival check, and a metal helm, a shield, and a waterproof tarp or something could work.

Option two is time consuming and provides less yield, collecting morning dew, though rain could also be collected if you are feeling generous.

The most dangerous? A crystal clear spring. Why is that dangerous you ask? Because EVERYTHING drinks water. No telling what else will be at the watering hole.

Blake; as i know the player i dont think entertaining them is much of a problem. They have gone through hell at the end of the last campain so a little relaxing is np. I belive they wilø see it as a good way for them to feel in controll and capable.

Loot is a good point, as most dangers they encounter is most likely enviromental, animals or tropic tribes.

Dirt sailor; Great!! This is suggestions i want :)

Drop-bears are a known terror of tropical islands.
Grand Lodge
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Yes, but why is the Rum gone?

So that is it?

When someone misquotes a rule there is a 50 page showdown of rant and raving, but when i ask about help on how to roleplay and ingame mechanic a shipwreck there are only but a few?

I think you got some good advice. Do you want them to just live on the island, or do you want them to escape eventually? If you want them to escape, I think an active volcano could be a cool sort of 'ticking clock', as it were.
Scarab Sages
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The island is uninhibited, but what about under the surface?

There could be an ancient aboleth / mind flayer / yuan-ti temple on the surface, but due to a rise in sea level long ago, they retreated into the underdark via lava tube caves in the extinct volcano. The party could find their way in there while looking for shelter. If they don't want to look for shelter beyond lean-tos on the beach, have a hurricane hit the island and force them to find high ground and shelter.
Imbicatus wrote:
The island is uninhibited, but what about under the surface?

oh you are a naughty little island, aren't you

The Exchange

You should fill in why the island is lost/uninhabitable

An evil god thought to be dead could be recovering here
It is a portal to some nasty place
Maybe a powerful wizard actually forced them to crash here
It's not an island
An artifact is looking for a way to influence the world to complete its purpose
It's filled with low level undead and they turn incorporeal at night
It's a magic dead zone (and why?)
Mind control snails
The water causes hallucinations of the past
Find Gilligan's island but they are evil
Secret underground caverns sometimes filled with water contains a hidden secret for escape or death

Umm, at 14th level, they can get off the island. Trust me.
Scarab Sages
DrDeth wrote:
Umm, at 14th level, they can get off the island. Trust me.

If the Sorc doesn't have Overland Flight or Teleport, it's not likely with that party makeup.

You don't know what's in the ocean.

The object is ofc not just to get of the island, the point of it all is that putting them there after a storm is their best chance of a break from those following them.

Vamp: Active vulcano.. that is actualy not bad at all.. Makes a good ticking clock, and a great mood-setter. The rumbling, the tribesmen hunting for sacrifice etc. Both fear and fun. Great idea.

And no, she does not. I know the party, their only way of is through their actions and such, not just "i rub my magical staff and FOFF magic!" ;P

"It's not an island. An artifact is looking for a way to influence the world to complete its purpose "

Oh dear.. now THAT is a fun thing.. as a matter of fact they ARE searching for an item later in the campain.. How would the item/island function? It cant be just a MAJOR rockmade, plantlifesupportive item..?

"The water causes hallucinations of the past"

...oh that is another great one :D
Imbicatus wrote:
DrDeth wrote:
Umm, at 14th level, they can get off the island. Trust me.
If the Sorc doesn't have Overland Flight or Teleport, it's not likely with that party makeup.

So, they won’t level? Even if not, if they get creative, like with a Summoning spell, they can get off the island.

DrDeth wrote:
Imbicatus wrote:
DrDeth wrote:
Umm, at 14th level, they can get off the island. Trust me.
If the Sorc doesn't have Overland Flight or Teleport, it's not likely with that party makeup.
So, they won’t level? Even if not, if they get creative, like with a Summoning spell, they can get off the island.

It works if the DM doesn't want them on that island.

Sure right. The DM can, by fiat or by ramping things up- keep them on the island. But then, instead of exploring they’ll spend all their time coming up with a new plan, only to have that shot down by a contrived encounter.

Assuming the OP’s players are mature, the best thing to do is tell them OOC “Hey guys, I have this cool adventure where you’ll be stranded on island for a while. I’d like you to explore the island, etc, don’t worry, it’s be fun & rewarding”.
Grand Lodge

You could have it like Kakishon in Legacy of Fire.

A series of islands on a small demiplane.

Level 14 and the Sorceror can't get em off the island? Madness.
Scarab Sages
blackbloodtroll wrote:

You could have it like Kakishon in Legacy of Fire.

A series of islands on a small demiplane.

If someone doesn't enter a series of runes on an artifact every 108 minutes, does the demiplane shrink?

Liberty's Edge

I like giant turtle islands... :p

Their island can be uninhabited...are there other islands nearby? Maybe the nearby natives need a sacrifice for the great sea-beast...too cliche-ed?

Seriously, if you want to keep them there for a while, it's not that hard. If there are storms, going by sea OR air is problematic, and if you want to stop teleports, put some sort of forbiddance effect that can only be broken at the bottom of the ancient lost temple-dungeon...where the lava seethes...because the volcano is active...and may blow...

Ok, cliche...but you're looking for cliches, really, right? If not, why can't anything be? I mean, it's a desert island, but that doesn't stop it from being anything else you might want it to be.

Get crazy, if you want to. Heck, they're 14th level. Extradimensional portal is letting bizarre creatures through...and needs to be closed from the other side...but then, how do they get back through? 14th level characters are ready for crazy stuff.

now I am thinking of China Mieville's "The Scar" and Alan Campbell's Deepgate Codex

I will not force them to do anything. What i want with this posts are good creatures to use against them, good enviromental insidents that can occur and "how to survive" tips.

And yes EldonG, cliches are not bad tbh. And as you state, on their lvl it is not a problem to throw at them extradimentional beings, but it would not suit the story that well. I want to use enviroment, problems that occur in the jungle/tropic island and such.
blackbloodtroll wrote:

You could have it like Spoiler in Spoiler.

A series of spoilers on a small spoiler.

ಠ_ಠ

The Zaratan giant turtle island is a good one. The submerged flippers look just like reefs.

There was an adventure with an island that appeared off a kingdom's coast. Initial exploration reveals abundant lumber and rich mineral veins, after the exploration party returns with this news, the kingdom sends colonists to exploit it. Shortly thereafter they disappear.

Turns out the island is a spell-jamming ship of slavers that lands, appears as an attractive target to get a group of low-level miners and colonists to come to them, captures them, waits for one or two search parties to capture, then flies off to sell them or use them to power their evil slave-draining engines.

As for encounters on a tropical island, you've got the basic wild pigs, colorful birds, and bright fish. A beautiful waterfall lagoon perfect for diving with a giant octopus in it. A visiting friendly dragon who flies by and likes the island. He agrees to help the party leave since he wants to begin moving his horde and lair there. After a brief rest and friendly interaction where the dragon makes the party swear they'll never reveal that they know of his new home and they make lots of plans, maybe even working out the details of them helping him move his horde, he says he's going to get some fish to eat, flies out over the reef and is pulled under by an immense tentacle, never to be seen again.
Liberty's Edge

Lots of good suggestions, I like the idea of a hidden civilization of necromancers building a power base in secret. Give it a "Lost" type of feel, feed the party small bits of info to whet their appetite so they want to stay on the island. Like Dr. Deth said a 14th level group should be able to get off the island pretty easily.
Liberty's Edge

King Kong was on an island out in the middle of nowhere...

Setting up some barrels to catch rain seems like it would be a pretty good way to get water on a tropical island. Having an ancient evil dwelling beneath the ground and or water seems like a great idea, especially if it would take the party a while to realize that there's something bad coming out of the caves/lagoon/etc.

The various incarnations of Isle of Dread could serve as a good inspiration. You might even consider having above ground inhabitants on the other side of the island or another nearby island that the PCs can reach via raft, volcanic lava tube, hang glider, etc. The inhabitants could be natives who worship/fear a King Kong-like monster, a tribe of voodoo witch doctors, a mysterious Vivisectionist styled on Dr. Moreau, or even a combination of all those.

If you'd like to incorporate the Dr. Moreau thing I have some customized "beast man" type monsters and vivisected demons I could post or send ranging from around CR8 to 15.
Lantern Lodge

A DM of mine done some thing similar to us but admittedly it was at low levels. It was fun survival for the time we were on the island and explored it. We got off the island around level 5 and we did that by finding a cave. Some caves can lead miles out under the water surface and that is how we got out and leveled to 12 because of all the monsters and hazard encounters we had to go through which can be any thing u can think of. For us we fought primarily ancient constructs, undead, oozes, and odd ball specialty creatures he made up.
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