And we're going to get there how?

[Mycanid]

Great idea Miles (from Rochester too! ... where I attended my first con ... sigh) ... anyway. I like Whizbang's suggestion. Another possibility is in the people who hired them to clear out the wizard's place, maybe they could provide a something? Perhaps put em on a ship with a crew (a 'la U3, where the crew sailed the party to a certain point and then dropped anchor and gave the pcs a rowboat)....

Also, there are many boats which are not at all heavy. Flimsy? YES! But not heavy. I suppose you have no inflatable rafts lying around either, do you?

The "shoeleather express" is indeed a rough ride, long and tiresome and boring. But I guess it is a great way to see the scenery, eh?

 

[Steverooo]

1) Patrons pay passage to nearest port, PCs board ship and sail there.

2) PCs take Patron-provided sack of gold, and purchase a keelboat with sail, a cart, and other supplies. Better yet, they are met, as they disembark the ship, by an agent of the Patrons whom they have perviously met! He escorts them to their supplies, per-loaded aboard the boot/cart combo, and wishes them well!

3) PCs sail to the point that they have to portage the boat, pull it ashore, pile unneeded goods/supllies into it, load it aboard the cart, and push/pull it, until encountering something.

You can call it a typical cart, as in the PHB, or call it a specially-designed "boat trailer", or whatever. Just make sure it has large, iron-bound wagon-type wheels, and good ground clearance.

Portaging a rowboat isn't really all that hard. Even the Hobbits did it, in the LotR! A rowboat with a keel (or just a rudder) and a sail shouldn't be any harder. The wheels just make penetrating the off-road terrain that I assume you have prepared for them a bit easier... they won't have to actually CARRY the dumb thing!

Supplies will be their problem... and (perhaps) overcoming difficult terrain! They are ALL going to need knives, handaxes, woodman's axes, timber saws, shovels, etc., for cutting through the brush in any woods. They will also need enough food to get there AND BACK AGAIN, unless one of them has a whole lot of Survival skill, and they don't mind travelling at HALF walking speed, while he hunts. And, of course, if HE dies...!

Do they have a Bag of Holding, or anything? Or do your islands not have a lot of hard-to-penetrate terrain? The tools they could carry in the cart (or affixed to the outsides of it, like Pioneers' wagons). They could load the cart/trailer down, quite a bit, since they'll be rolling the weight, instead of carrying it. Bringing their own food will mean they can travel faster, but if cleaning out the tower doesn't have to be done, right away, they could take their time, too. Whatever you want...

Besides overcoming the obstacles, they need to have enough gear to clean out the tower, and make it back, too! They will need tents along the way, bedrolls & blankets, extra ammunition (or tools and Crafting skills), torches, etc. If they are out of spell components & ammo by the time they reach the tower, they won't be much use! Their employers should "make arrangements" for them, and have them met with an appropriate amount of supplies, once they get off the ship in the nearest port. Some magical healing supplies (as well as typical Healer's Kits) should also be there, depending upon what each PC can use (potions for the Fighters, scrolls for the Cleric/Druid/Paladin/Ranger).

 

[rounser]

You know, that's sorta like the kind of game I'd like to run one day. Have a big hex map. You start on one side. Your mission is to get to the other side. Every hex, there's an adventure or at least an encounter.

That's basically the plot to Monkey, really.

 

[Herobizkit]

My first thought would be "airship". Have the PC's find a way to construct a flying vessel and coast over the ocean to their desired destination.

My nex thought would be flying monsters, especially dragons. Find a way to tame some flying monsters or make a deal with a dragon and fly all the way there.

After that, "powered ship". Have the PC's find a means to construct or magic a fast-moving vessel, or find a way to control winds so their journey is as short as possible.

Consider this: If you were a player eager to get from point A to point B, would YOU stop and 'explore all the strange and wonderful things', or would you make a mental note as you pass through and continue on your merry way? If your players are the latter type, you will only frustrate them as you continue to bombard them with all the intricacies of your carefully crafted homebrew world. If they know this ahead of time, more's the better for you.

 

[hong]

That's basically the plot to Monkey, really.

Also, now that I remember it, Jasin's Dying Earth-based campaign.

 

[Whimsical]

As someone who has played in a couple of campaigns based on a faraway goal, it is frustrating to be forced to deal with stuff that is not directly involved in advancing us toward that goal. I had the attitude of "we need to stop screwing around and get on with the job we chose to accept! Focus people!" And the more crap we had to deal with, the more I felt like we were failing at our task, and dishonoring the job.

My suggestion is to make the trip a series of achievable goals. Go to A and do this; continue to B and get that; advance to C and tell this guy blah; if you can find D you may be able to get the help of Bob who lives there; deliver this McGuffin to Jack at E, and so on.

 

[rounser]

As someone who has played in a couple of campaigns based on a faraway goal, it is frustrating to be forced to deal with stuff that is not directly involved in advancing us toward that goal.

In that case, a "map this area" or "clear this area of monsters" goal might encourage more explorer-type behaviour.

 

[Deadguy]

I can't help thinking that as DMs we sometimes create rods to beat our own backs! We create problems that we struggle to resolve because we refuse to 'subvert' setting for adventure. In this case there might have been a very strong reason for the tower to be 1400 miles away. But equally perhaps it could have been sited 80 miles away, and thus much easier to reach for PCs without specialist magic or equipment.

I know I've seen this problem myself in others' campaigns, and I know I've fallen prey to this too. If the only person who knows what the 'real' answer is is me, then no-one need know that I have changed things. And if it makes my job as DM easier, then it's for the best.

 

[Ciaran]

That's what hirelings are for.

 

[Endur]

This can be a never-ending quest. As they go from island to island, shades of the Odyssey.