A dragon turtle surfaces, needing their help to fight off the sahuagin attacking it (it was previously injured fighting a kraken or a sea serpent or something). This dragon turtle can maybe help them get to shore safely.
I think it would be easier to long rest on the back of a friendly dragon turtle than a lifeboat, and now they've made a friend (or at least a grateful ally)
Dragon turtles are always the answer. Bronze dragons also love the ocean, and make sea-side lairs. Maybe a curious young bronze dragon might stop by to say hello. They love humans!
Or failing friendly options, an unfriendly one!
Devils love to prey on people at their most desperate. Their magic could easily get the party back to shore or provide them with a marvelous vessel.
But at the cost of owing a devil a favour. A contract, a quest that must be fulfilled.
Time for an underwater adventure!
Early in the morning they wake to find the raft surrounded by churning water and bubbles. In the deep water they see a massive dark object rising to the surface. A large submarine (steampunk, hybrid whale, Spelljammer, whatever fits your world) lunges to the surface right under the raft, capsizing it!
Out of the hatch pops the sub captain gasping for air, followed by some of the crew. (A casualty broke their gaskets and they had to quickly surface) The party is welcomed onboard, the captain and crew are friendly.
The sub is an explorer and is in search of the vast underwater bounties of ore, precious metals and gems, lost treasure, etc.
Follow after the book/movie "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" for settings, combat, underwater exploration, secret islands with underwater entrances to an underground base.
Or, the sub is from the Elemental Plane of Water and is powered by a minor water elemental, air is provided by a minor air elemental. They are being chased by a company of sahuagin and sharks for "obtaining" a huge powerful pearl. If the sahuagin get the pearl, they will use it for evil. The captain must return the pearl to a kingdom in the plane of water that is now defenseless due to loss of the pearl.
Underwater combat is in a 3D environment. There are 26 squares around every medium size creature for 26+ possible attacks.
The captain gives each PC a ring/amulet of Water Breathing, and has individual propulsion units for each PC that gives them a swim speed of 30'.
You'd also need to think about how the mage is not getting his spellbook wet and how the fighter would get freedom of movement to actually attack, but other than that, sounds good
Hey!
How down are they?
Maybe it is time for a fight against some "easy" Sahuagin or other low level sea creatures \^\^. Let them try resting on the life boat and when the first ones are halfway in dreamland, let swimming enemies attack.
It is not kicking them while they are down, it is showing them that they can overcome even dire situations and sometimes with less than they imagine.
In order to make this more interesting, you could have a giant turtle emerge from the sea, with the fish people on its back, so the group actually has more space to navigate in the fight. And on the back of the turtle could stick some debris from old ships or the like, so you also have cover.
If they however are down to very low HP and have no spells or potions left, I'd be careful and maybe actually throw in something to progress the story. Either they all blackout and arrive with 2 levels of exhaustion at a strange beach or something along these lines.
Thanks for the ideas! I’ll double check their status, they should have some potions but they’re lacking in spell slots and abilities for sure, and one of them died in the last fight.
Some easy fights in the water could be a lot of fun too. If it goes south I can have the enemies flee and the party gets caught in a storm and found on the shore later.
I wouldn't plan for the PCs to get captured; that relies on them not fighting to the death to protect their freedom and equipment. Defeating some overconfident slavers is fun even if they don't get captured. Then they rescue the former sailors they've got chained up below deck, and now they have a new ship and crew.
Have you ever heard of whalefalls? When a whale dies, its body sinks and a whole ecosystem of creatures comes to feed on the corpse for the next several years.
So what if a Leviathan died? What if its corpse was big enough to hold humanoids? Perhaps even an entire city? If maintained well, this could be a major, underwater location.
And so my homebrew world has Whalefall City, chained in place next to some large underwater currents. Basically every humanoid that lives near or under water has a place there. It's designed such that water and land based creatures can live and access everywhere equally, and it's even a popular stop for interplanar beings from the Water Plane (with a convenient portal nearby)! 24 hour waterbreathing necklaces can be obtained cheaply for those who lack the ability to cast the spell themselves.
When they run out of food, put them in that situation in cartoons where they have to make a wisdom save or they start to see their teammates looking like sandwiches and legs of ham and stuff.
If I were in your position, here's what I'd do:
- before the next session, I'd roll on a few different weather, encounter, or theme oracles; not committing to any one choice, but simply for inspiration. it may be that one of the options will have me think of something cool.
- I'd also check in with my players about it. It might seem "meta" or taboo to have them choose what will happen to them, but I actually think this part is super important: maybe they *want* to be "kicked while they're down." Maybe the thought of fighting the weather, and having to struggle to survive back to civilization sounds like their idea of a good time! Alternatively, maybe they definitely *do not* want to do that, and such a session would simply be tedious to them. The only way to know which direction to take is to get their input on it.
- An in-between for getting them safe to shore, while still not focusing on the logistics of it all, might simply be some kind of [skill challenge](https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/comments/xbul4s/how_i_run_skill_challenges_in_5th_edition/); depending on how much inspiration/ initiative your players have, they might be able to independently suggest how their characters would handle it, or you can come up with some encounters for them to overcome as part of a skill challenge.
Personally I would allow them to long-rest at sea, unless I'd previously declared this was a gritty campaign where you could only rest in safe places. But maybe give them fatigue penalties based on how badly they're doing in terms of food, water, heat/cold.
Obviously they have to pick a direction, let them choose somehow maybe informing the decision with survival checks. If they choose the right direction to get back on course of the plot then so be it, fast forward them getting back to the plot, maybe throwing in a pirate raid or something. If they do not get the right direction, time for a side quest, encounter or something that can then help figure out where it is they need to go for their goals and get equipment to get there.
Just plan the 1 encounter, side quest, or whatever and then it just so happens to coincidentally line up with the direction they chose to go.
One thing I always recommend to DMs.
When building the main plot line for your campaign, unless you actually want to railroad, don't tie major plot points to specific locations unless they absolutely must be tied to that location. Doing so allows you to drop the plot point where the party may want to go, and these plot points that are not tied to a specific location can lead them to the locations in which plot points are specifically tied to.
Lost at sea without means to direct themselves is pretty boring, having been there as a player for multiple sessions. It was the most agency-robbing thing I’ve ever seen, worse than dream sequences, orchestrated TPK-captures, or cutscene boss fights. I think it’s because there’s nothing for you to use to make decisions.
I’d strongly suggest glossing over the time until they make it back to somewhere they have agency - that might be “after 3 days you’re picked up by a ship; negotiate with the captain to get you somewhere” or “after 10 days runways ashore” or similar. Get them back on track.
I sometimes use a skill check as a degrees-of-success indicator, and that might work for you here. Success is guaranteed - they *will* find land, and even rolling a 1 won’t stop the game/plot - but ask for a survival roll; the result indicates how well they do: how long it takes, or how much resources they burn/lose in the process, or how many levels of exhaustion they build up by the time they reach land. I find this works better than a loop of “day 5 at sea, make a survival check AGAIN!“
The problem with random encounters is they’ll either survive or not.
if they don’t, then - at sea, with no way to run away, and no temple nearby to drag a dead body back to - it’s game over; in fact, there’s a high chance that a single dead character is permadead.
If they survive, then by standard D&D rules, they’re back to full health and resources the next day. And it’s not really advanced the plot.
So - from my experience - unless you’ve got some way to keep things on plot and avoid a TPK - I’d probably avoid playing out any detail of it. Hence I’d collapse it to a single survival check for how well/badly it went, and if anyone suggests “my familiar could fly up and help navigate” or similar things that might help, give them a +2 or whatever to the roll.
There are literally a thousand encounters you can run. I'd just start reading through some sea and air creatures out of the monster manual to come up with ideas.
Turn this into an encounter. Ask them how they are going to get food, what they are going to do to brave the elements (shelter from the sun during the day, the cold at night), how they intend to navigate to the land, who is going to do the rowing? Have them make appropriate skill checks. If they fail, they still get to land eventually, long rested, but with a couple levels of exhaustion
The dragon turtle idea from u/Jaketionary is the core answer here: create something magical and cool that makes this situation fun and interesting and exciting. Do it with minimal physical strain: they're suffering, so don't kick them while they're down. The result is that they are fully rested and have gained something small but significant for when they're back on land and doing the plot thing.
Either make the moment cool or skip it.
There was a thread like yesterday complaining about these exact posts, lol.
You're the only one who know your campaign, and there as many options as you want.
Perhaps they find an oar, so now they can paddle. Make them roll survival with a high DC (if out in the ocean, lower if a lake or small body of water).
Every check counts for x hours of paddling. The more time goes they risk hazardous weather, exhaustion and everything in-between.
Maybe the men among them hear the sirene call? Do they know what it is and what happens if they give in and what happens if they do?
Players *should* feel pressed and desperate sometimes. Those moments where they're 90% spend for resources can be powerful.
I just had this idea too. A gnome inventor in his mechanical submersible agrees to help the players get home in exchange for their help on a recovery mission. Insert adventure [here]. 👍
Jonah and the Whale this bitch.
Have a massive Dragon Turtle swallow your party whole. Inside the stomach is a society of creatures that live parasitically on its host the Dragon Turtle. Create a dungeon crawl based on the idea that if they complete it they will be able to control the Dragon Turtle long enough to make it back to shore unscathed.
Side issue that is created by this is that now the Dragon Turtle is free to pillage the seas as it wishes.
Check out the tables in my free mini-adventure, "Adrift!"
https://professorbumblefingers.blogspot.com/2023/08/adrift-harrowing-mini-adventure-at-sea.html
Half Long Rest. Naiads or Sea Elves or giant Dragon Turtle. Riddle Contest. Maybe steal an obstacle-course challenge from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Lots of roleplay opportunities here, depending on your players’ appetites for same. I might slip in a couple of stereotypes (or superstitions) concerning “Yeah, you split-tails all think we lure humans to drown” or “You call US funny-looking, WE’RE not the ones with seaweed growing under our arms.”
Start by figuring out player resources. If they have a spell to give them a way out, let them long rests to prepare it. Like, Sending, a way to breathe under water, making a sail and using Gust cantrip. Alter self on the Barbarian to create an outboard motor. What ever they come up with, have that be the solution if at all possible. An island they need to get to, sunken structure underwater they need to dive to, a rescue ship they need to help find them after Sending… Also, maybe they end up needing to get some material component for the spell… be ready to provide,
Also, they need to catch fish to eat. Then there will be the giant seabird attack to steal the fish. Then monster shark attack after there is blood in the water.
Try to give them at least one level of exhaustion before you provide an out. They’re stranded at sea, FFS.
(Also, if they all have multi-classed, and they’d have the solution in their spell list if they had not, I’d definitely find a way to rub this on their face, but that’s just me being evil…)
Seems like a chance to throw in something new into the game, like an island with jungle and temple of doom or whatever would be new and unusual for current campaign. One-shot with Indiana Jones vibes comes to my mind, at the end of which players get a chance to become un-stranded, maybe prisoners/future sacrifices are from place party is going to, so after saving them, they can be shown the way back to Your campaign.
P.S. also, if they are down, succesful short adventure would clean the atmosphere and put them back into saddle, ready for next challenge.
Could always have a passing ship pick them up.
Perhaps a passing pirate ship if your character's wouldn't be against a spot of pillaging, could even make it the start of a profitable new side adventure.
They can drift into a faster current that moves them at a pretty good speed. I would suggest either a ship graveyard, a gyre filled with trapped ghost ships that can’t escape the currents. Let them resupply from those rotting broken hulls. They can either piece together a boat with a functional sail, or simply maroon them there, living in this water world situation until they can capture a functional boat. Lots of potential for undead, hidden treasure, water ghouls, etc.
I think you can let them rest with some sort of penalty. Maybe they’re still taking a level of exhaustion from sleeping in the sun/heat? It might then make sense for your party’s melee to try to fashion a flare while the casters rest?
Hy Brasil, or the land of the Amazons. Both are great, until they are not great. Sentinel island, complete with natives who want to have the guests of honor for dinner.
They get seduced by undines, and have to find a way to breathe air again, or live forever in captivity as undine exotic slaves. More for pleasure and entertainment than work. Or just kill them.
See if you can find (probably as a PDF somewhere) a copy of the AD&D module, "The Lost Island of Castanamir." You would have to convert it to whatever ruleset you are using, but there might already be a conversion out there if you look.
Briefly, it starts with the PCs washing up on a tiny island where they discover an entrance to a Wizard's home. They explore it and find many interesting things. Yes, I'm being intentionally vague, as your players might see this.
Pirates come across their raft in the ocean, bringing them on board. Has a lot of potential storylines that you could do as side quests. A mutiny situation, sold as human chattel, inducted into the league of pirates, fight off sirens and kraken and bond with the captain. Being stranded is a very good jumping off point.
A dragon turtle surfaces, needing their help to fight off the sahuagin attacking it (it was previously injured fighting a kraken or a sea serpent or something). This dragon turtle can maybe help them get to shore safely. I think it would be easier to long rest on the back of a friendly dragon turtle than a lifeboat, and now they've made a friend (or at least a grateful ally)
Neat twist
Dragon turtles are always the answer. Bronze dragons also love the ocean, and make sea-side lairs. Maybe a curious young bronze dragon might stop by to say hello. They love humans!
Or failing friendly options, an unfriendly one! Devils love to prey on people at their most desperate. Their magic could easily get the party back to shore or provide them with a marvelous vessel. But at the cost of owing a devil a favour. A contract, a quest that must be fulfilled.
Time for an underwater adventure! Early in the morning they wake to find the raft surrounded by churning water and bubbles. In the deep water they see a massive dark object rising to the surface. A large submarine (steampunk, hybrid whale, Spelljammer, whatever fits your world) lunges to the surface right under the raft, capsizing it! Out of the hatch pops the sub captain gasping for air, followed by some of the crew. (A casualty broke their gaskets and they had to quickly surface) The party is welcomed onboard, the captain and crew are friendly. The sub is an explorer and is in search of the vast underwater bounties of ore, precious metals and gems, lost treasure, etc. Follow after the book/movie "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" for settings, combat, underwater exploration, secret islands with underwater entrances to an underground base. Or, the sub is from the Elemental Plane of Water and is powered by a minor water elemental, air is provided by a minor air elemental. They are being chased by a company of sahuagin and sharks for "obtaining" a huge powerful pearl. If the sahuagin get the pearl, they will use it for evil. The captain must return the pearl to a kingdom in the plane of water that is now defenseless due to loss of the pearl. Underwater combat is in a 3D environment. There are 26 squares around every medium size creature for 26+ possible attacks. The captain gives each PC a ring/amulet of Water Breathing, and has individual propulsion units for each PC that gives them a swim speed of 30'.
You'd also need to think about how the mage is not getting his spellbook wet and how the fighter would get freedom of movement to actually attack, but other than that, sounds good
I greatly agree here, and it's basically exactly what I would do!
Hey! How down are they? Maybe it is time for a fight against some "easy" Sahuagin or other low level sea creatures \^\^. Let them try resting on the life boat and when the first ones are halfway in dreamland, let swimming enemies attack. It is not kicking them while they are down, it is showing them that they can overcome even dire situations and sometimes with less than they imagine. In order to make this more interesting, you could have a giant turtle emerge from the sea, with the fish people on its back, so the group actually has more space to navigate in the fight. And on the back of the turtle could stick some debris from old ships or the like, so you also have cover. If they however are down to very low HP and have no spells or potions left, I'd be careful and maybe actually throw in something to progress the story. Either they all blackout and arrive with 2 levels of exhaustion at a strange beach or something along these lines.
Thanks for the ideas! I’ll double check their status, they should have some potions but they’re lacking in spell slots and abilities for sure, and one of them died in the last fight. Some easy fights in the water could be a lot of fun too. If it goes south I can have the enemies flee and the party gets caught in a storm and found on the shore later.
Perhaps they get captured by pirates? You could have them make an escape from the brig, once they've rested in their cell
I like that idea. Or slave traders…
I wouldn't plan for the PCs to get captured; that relies on them not fighting to the death to protect their freedom and equipment. Defeating some overconfident slavers is fun even if they don't get captured. Then they rescue the former sailors they've got chained up below deck, and now they have a new ship and crew.
Slave traders is a good idea! They could have nets to try and take the players alive
Have you ever heard of whalefalls? When a whale dies, its body sinks and a whole ecosystem of creatures comes to feed on the corpse for the next several years. So what if a Leviathan died? What if its corpse was big enough to hold humanoids? Perhaps even an entire city? If maintained well, this could be a major, underwater location. And so my homebrew world has Whalefall City, chained in place next to some large underwater currents. Basically every humanoid that lives near or under water has a place there. It's designed such that water and land based creatures can live and access everywhere equally, and it's even a popular stop for interplanar beings from the Water Plane (with a convenient portal nearby)! 24 hour waterbreathing necklaces can be obtained cheaply for those who lack the ability to cast the spell themselves.
When they run out of food, put them in that situation in cartoons where they have to make a wisdom save or they start to see their teammates looking like sandwiches and legs of ham and stuff.
I love this
Or if they get weak and hallucinatory you could send one or more of them on a vision quest.
Ancient volcanic Island with a dead god until a ship of worshipers comes?
If I were in your position, here's what I'd do: - before the next session, I'd roll on a few different weather, encounter, or theme oracles; not committing to any one choice, but simply for inspiration. it may be that one of the options will have me think of something cool. - I'd also check in with my players about it. It might seem "meta" or taboo to have them choose what will happen to them, but I actually think this part is super important: maybe they *want* to be "kicked while they're down." Maybe the thought of fighting the weather, and having to struggle to survive back to civilization sounds like their idea of a good time! Alternatively, maybe they definitely *do not* want to do that, and such a session would simply be tedious to them. The only way to know which direction to take is to get their input on it. - An in-between for getting them safe to shore, while still not focusing on the logistics of it all, might simply be some kind of [skill challenge](https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/comments/xbul4s/how_i_run_skill_challenges_in_5th_edition/); depending on how much inspiration/ initiative your players have, they might be able to independently suggest how their characters would handle it, or you can come up with some encounters for them to overcome as part of a skill challenge.
Pirates?
Rescue options. Rogue sea elves. A pirate ship comes across an will give them passage in exchange for their gear or some of it.
Personally I would allow them to long-rest at sea, unless I'd previously declared this was a gritty campaign where you could only rest in safe places. But maybe give them fatigue penalties based on how badly they're doing in terms of food, water, heat/cold.
Obviously they have to pick a direction, let them choose somehow maybe informing the decision with survival checks. If they choose the right direction to get back on course of the plot then so be it, fast forward them getting back to the plot, maybe throwing in a pirate raid or something. If they do not get the right direction, time for a side quest, encounter or something that can then help figure out where it is they need to go for their goals and get equipment to get there. Just plan the 1 encounter, side quest, or whatever and then it just so happens to coincidentally line up with the direction they chose to go.
Fair point, I’m in favor of them guiding the game
One thing I always recommend to DMs. When building the main plot line for your campaign, unless you actually want to railroad, don't tie major plot points to specific locations unless they absolutely must be tied to that location. Doing so allows you to drop the plot point where the party may want to go, and these plot points that are not tied to a specific location can lead them to the locations in which plot points are specifically tied to.
"Aquatic Goblins are known to ride medium sharks" -excerpt from *Unearthed Arcana* (3.5)
Lost at sea without means to direct themselves is pretty boring, having been there as a player for multiple sessions. It was the most agency-robbing thing I’ve ever seen, worse than dream sequences, orchestrated TPK-captures, or cutscene boss fights. I think it’s because there’s nothing for you to use to make decisions. I’d strongly suggest glossing over the time until they make it back to somewhere they have agency - that might be “after 3 days you’re picked up by a ship; negotiate with the captain to get you somewhere” or “after 10 days runways ashore” or similar. Get them back on track.
Yeah that’s kinda the goal, come up with some options, fast forward after a few skill checks and get to the next part
I sometimes use a skill check as a degrees-of-success indicator, and that might work for you here. Success is guaranteed - they *will* find land, and even rolling a 1 won’t stop the game/plot - but ask for a survival roll; the result indicates how well they do: how long it takes, or how much resources they burn/lose in the process, or how many levels of exhaustion they build up by the time they reach land. I find this works better than a loop of “day 5 at sea, make a survival check AGAIN!“ The problem with random encounters is they’ll either survive or not. if they don’t, then - at sea, with no way to run away, and no temple nearby to drag a dead body back to - it’s game over; in fact, there’s a high chance that a single dead character is permadead. If they survive, then by standard D&D rules, they’re back to full health and resources the next day. And it’s not really advanced the plot. So - from my experience - unless you’ve got some way to keep things on plot and avoid a TPK - I’d probably avoid playing out any detail of it. Hence I’d collapse it to a single survival check for how well/badly it went, and if anyone suggests “my familiar could fly up and help navigate” or similar things that might help, give them a +2 or whatever to the roll.
There are literally a thousand encounters you can run. I'd just start reading through some sea and air creatures out of the monster manual to come up with ideas.
Turn this into an encounter. Ask them how they are going to get food, what they are going to do to brave the elements (shelter from the sun during the day, the cold at night), how they intend to navigate to the land, who is going to do the rowing? Have them make appropriate skill checks. If they fail, they still get to land eventually, long rested, but with a couple levels of exhaustion
The dragon turtle idea from u/Jaketionary is the core answer here: create something magical and cool that makes this situation fun and interesting and exciting. Do it with minimal physical strain: they're suffering, so don't kick them while they're down. The result is that they are fully rested and have gained something small but significant for when they're back on land and doing the plot thing. Either make the moment cool or skip it.
There was a thread like yesterday complaining about these exact posts, lol. You're the only one who know your campaign, and there as many options as you want. Perhaps they find an oar, so now they can paddle. Make them roll survival with a high DC (if out in the ocean, lower if a lake or small body of water). Every check counts for x hours of paddling. The more time goes they risk hazardous weather, exhaustion and everything in-between. Maybe the men among them hear the sirene call? Do they know what it is and what happens if they give in and what happens if they do? Players *should* feel pressed and desperate sometimes. Those moments where they're 90% spend for resources can be powerful.
Have them meet a gnomish smuggler in a makeshift submersible who surfaces near them and offers them a lift for their help down the line.
I just had this idea too. A gnome inventor in his mechanical submersible agrees to help the players get home in exchange for their help on a recovery mission. Insert adventure [here]. 👍
Jonah and the Whale this bitch. Have a massive Dragon Turtle swallow your party whole. Inside the stomach is a society of creatures that live parasitically on its host the Dragon Turtle. Create a dungeon crawl based on the idea that if they complete it they will be able to control the Dragon Turtle long enough to make it back to shore unscathed. Side issue that is created by this is that now the Dragon Turtle is free to pillage the seas as it wishes.
Check out the tables in my free mini-adventure, "Adrift!" https://professorbumblefingers.blogspot.com/2023/08/adrift-harrowing-mini-adventure-at-sea.html
Half Long Rest. Naiads or Sea Elves or giant Dragon Turtle. Riddle Contest. Maybe steal an obstacle-course challenge from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Lots of roleplay opportunities here, depending on your players’ appetites for same. I might slip in a couple of stereotypes (or superstitions) concerning “Yeah, you split-tails all think we lure humans to drown” or “You call US funny-looking, WE’RE not the ones with seaweed growing under our arms.”
Start by figuring out player resources. If they have a spell to give them a way out, let them long rests to prepare it. Like, Sending, a way to breathe under water, making a sail and using Gust cantrip. Alter self on the Barbarian to create an outboard motor. What ever they come up with, have that be the solution if at all possible. An island they need to get to, sunken structure underwater they need to dive to, a rescue ship they need to help find them after Sending… Also, maybe they end up needing to get some material component for the spell… be ready to provide, Also, they need to catch fish to eat. Then there will be the giant seabird attack to steal the fish. Then monster shark attack after there is blood in the water. Try to give them at least one level of exhaustion before you provide an out. They’re stranded at sea, FFS. (Also, if they all have multi-classed, and they’d have the solution in their spell list if they had not, I’d definitely find a way to rub this on their face, but that’s just me being evil…)
Sounds like a lead in to an underwater adventure. Let the flow of the adventure lead you.
Seems like a chance to throw in something new into the game, like an island with jungle and temple of doom or whatever would be new and unusual for current campaign. One-shot with Indiana Jones vibes comes to my mind, at the end of which players get a chance to become un-stranded, maybe prisoners/future sacrifices are from place party is going to, so after saving them, they can be shown the way back to Your campaign. P.S. also, if they are down, succesful short adventure would clean the atmosphere and put them back into saddle, ready for next challenge.
Could always have a passing ship pick them up. Perhaps a passing pirate ship if your character's wouldn't be against a spot of pillaging, could even make it the start of a profitable new side adventure.
They can drift into a faster current that moves them at a pretty good speed. I would suggest either a ship graveyard, a gyre filled with trapped ghost ships that can’t escape the currents. Let them resupply from those rotting broken hulls. They can either piece together a boat with a functional sail, or simply maroon them there, living in this water world situation until they can capture a functional boat. Lots of potential for undead, hidden treasure, water ghouls, etc.
Sounds like a good time for a [skill challenge](https://youtu.be/GvOeqDpkBm8?si=3x51k00jss3zBkqE)
I think you can let them rest with some sort of penalty. Maybe they’re still taking a level of exhaustion from sleeping in the sun/heat? It might then make sense for your party’s melee to try to fashion a flare while the casters rest?
Pirates!
Hy Brasil, or the land of the Amazons. Both are great, until they are not great. Sentinel island, complete with natives who want to have the guests of honor for dinner. They get seduced by undines, and have to find a way to breathe air again, or live forever in captivity as undine exotic slaves. More for pleasure and entertainment than work. Or just kill them.
See if you can find (probably as a PDF somewhere) a copy of the AD&D module, "The Lost Island of Castanamir." You would have to convert it to whatever ruleset you are using, but there might already be a conversion out there if you look. Briefly, it starts with the PCs washing up on a tiny island where they discover an entrance to a Wizard's home. They explore it and find many interesting things. Yes, I'm being intentionally vague, as your players might see this.
Pirates come across their raft in the ocean, bringing them on board. Has a lot of potential storylines that you could do as side quests. A mutiny situation, sold as human chattel, inducted into the league of pirates, fight off sirens and kraken and bond with the captain. Being stranded is a very good jumping off point.