Need magical travel suggestions.

[Hatchling Dragon]

I'd personally go with the sailing idea, tons of adventure opportunity in a 2,500 mile trip If you have, or wish to try-out, sailing rules now would be a perfect time. It'd also let you slip in as many encounters as you think needed, in case the group needs a level or two before they actually start running around the Island/Tomb. 5th level seems a little bit weak to be poking around the supposed burial spot of multiple Archmages. Heck, even one Archmage's defenses for his/her resting spot would probably be formitable enough.

Speaking of their destination, it's the resting spot of some very powerfull Wizard types. This means you can pretty well justify any sort of magical (and non-magical) defense you can think up. One of my favorites, and fairly common in books I've read, is the old "Storm wrecks any ship that approaches the Island!" trick. You get a perfect opportunity to remove anything that you don't think the players need, or that you just don't want them to have on that adventure. If you want them to recover certain items or people (ie: Cohorts/servants) later, just say they got washed ashore on another part of the island, or perhaps even the mainland.

Hatchling Dragon

 

[MaxKaladin]

Wow! Thanks for all the responses.

First of all, I don't have any planescape material so that's pretty much out.

I do like the shadow walk idea and I may have to give that a try.

I've been trying to avoid obvious Deux-ex-machina like the ship sinking just as they get there or the high level cleric getting shot in the head just after he serves his purpose. I suppose the ship should be fair game to the defenses, though I was thinking of Sahuaghin.

Sailing does leave lots of room for adventure so I could take that route after all. The party is fairly low level for a tomb of archmages. I'd considered having this prove to be an outpost with further instructions leading on to the actual tomb elsewhere, for instance. I have this neat idea involving a map you have to fold just right and draw lines between various points to find the right spot. I figure it would be a great handout.

There *is* a time constraint. The party knows of the place because they came across someone else buying a copy of the map and got a good look at it over her shoulder invisibly. She will be proceeding to the tomb herself. There will probably be a fight since she's evil (with a imp familiar).

Getting stuff out of the partie's hands is one thing I *don't* have to worry about. Frankly, I've been too stingy thus far and I plan to use the tomb to rectify the situation.

 

[BluWolf]

This last peice of information is the real key here. I'm using a time constraint/race in my current campaign.

Essentially bad guy is trying to gain access to an old tower that is really an artifact. He knows what the keys are and the party is getting ready to find out what they are. Soon the race is on.

Going by sea does offer a lot of adventure scenarios and time to advance them realistically but it just doesn't seem to fit this indiana Jones style race.

Here are some suggestions;
1) pan through the Monster Manual and make a list of intelligent, flying creatures that the party could negotiate with for tranporatation (ala Krull or Clash of the Titans)

2)high level mage of dubious alignemnt that requires a service to TP or reveal the location of a gate

3) old sage that knows the location of an ancient item that is geared to the crypt's location. It was used by those that had legitimate business with the crypt in times gone by.

4) Flying ships are always fun!! (Mummy II)

Remember, any option the PCs have its a fair chance this other person knows it too. In fact, give them a few options each one a littel more challenging than the last. When they opt for the first one this evil wizard will beat them to it. laughing all the way as she takes to the sky ahead of the PCs.

"Well, it looks like we're going to have to negotiate with that red dragon afterall."

 

[bret]

What about a Flying Carpet?

Limited space, but that can be handled with a few Bags of Holding or a Portable Hole for the equipment.


As for the island defenses, there are all sorts of options here. I could easily see a few Air and Water Elementals patrolling the island as guards. A ship's captain is going to be very reluctant to go anyplace where there is a huge water elemental waiting to wreck their boat.

You should probably determine if Teleport is even possible considering you've already got the area cloaked in a magic that prevents Scrying.

PHB page 264, Teleport

Areas of strong physical or magical energies may make teleportation more hazardous or even impossible.

It might be interesting to have their immediate competitor stranded on the Island, having depended on Teleport in order to return. They still have a time constraint, as that person's boss will send someone else when she fails to return.

You now also have a reason for the evil spellcaster to try and work 'with' the group, until such time as they get her out of the area so she can steal the item(s) she wants and flee.

 

[DonAdam]

Use dream travel.

Not the new, silly psionic power, but the old version (it could just as easily be spell).

All the players go to sleep together and have the spell cast on them. They all have the same dream, about a journey, and when they wake up they're at their destination.

This option lets you go crazy with the adventure. In fact, I plan on doing it tomorrow night (and for a few sessions after that). I'm going to actually have 5 dreams, one for each character, and in each that player will have to roleplay as if they were part of the dream and knew nothing about their normal character.
The fighter/sorc going for dragon disciple is going to think he's in a council of wyrms type setting. All the players will be dragons, with the rest of the party being metallics. He's a traitor to the chromatics in a war between chromatic and metallic dragons.
The lecherous, con-man courtier (nobleman) is going to believe he's a daring swashbuckler. The other players will be his sidekicks, and they'll be fighting in a massive revolution in a port city that's been taken over by evil tyrants that have forced all the single women to wear chastity belts. There will be hoards of incompetent, easily slain foes.

This method allows you to be as creative and crazy as you want without throwing off the long term campaign, and lets you build an adventure into it while still having the players get their magically and therefore quickly and with no way back except those that you give them.

 

[coyote6]

A wind walk spell, extended 3 times (via Extend Spell feat, and thus cast as a 9th level cleric spell) would last (assuming caster level 18) 76 hours, and affect 6 characters. At 60 mph, that's long enough to go 4500 miles -- far more than you need. It'll only take about 42 hours to go 2500 miles; thankfully, the wind walkers can change to and from the cloud form at will. So the party could go for, say, 14 hours (using the force march rules, taking up to 6d6 of subdual damage), stop on land, sleep, get up & go for another 14 hours. Three days -- just within the duration of the spell -- of this grueling schedule will land them on the island.

(If there are more than 6 characters going, an 18th level cleric gets two 9th level spells per day, so this hypothetical cleric could set 12 characters up. )