Die Result
Personality
1-2
Clever
3–4
Tough
5–6
Insightful
Clever Apprentice: A clever apprentice has the following Ability scores—Strength 1, Intelligence 3, Spirit 1. The apprentice has the following Skill levels—Jump 1, Ponder 1, Sneak 1.
Tough Apprentice: A tough apprentice has the following Ability scores—Strength 3, Intelligence 1, Spirit 1. The apprentice has the following Skill levels—Pounce 1, See 1, Swat 1.
Insightful Apprentice: An insightful apprentice has the following Ability scores—Strength 1, Intelligence 1, Spirit 3. The apprentice has the following Skill levels—Focus 1, Listen 1, Smell 1.
Finally, have the players (including the Narrator) each roll the six-sided die one more time. If the result is even, their apprentice is female. If it’s odd, the apprentice is male. Once that is known, the apprentices need names. Rather than have the players choose the names themselves, have each player select the name for the apprentice belonging to the person on her or his right (keeping the apprentice’s personality and Clan in mind).
With all the apprentices fully developed, the players’ cats must decide in what order they want to teach the skills. Will they start with border patrol, stalking, or hunting practice?
Once that is decided, it is time to reveal the final surprise—during this adventure they will sometimes be playing as their regular cats and sometimes be playing as the apprentices. Have each player set aside his or her cat’s character sheets and focus on the game details of the new apprentices.
The big challenge will be that, when playing an apprentice, the players need to remember that the young cat does not know everything that the more advanced cat does. The Narrator may find it helpful to remind the players of what perspective and knowledge they are supposed to be using—the apprentice’s or the mentor’s—as that shifts during play.
What Happens Next: If the players’ cats want to begin with border patrol practice, continue with 5.
If the players’ cats want to begin with stalking practice, continue with 7.
If the players’ cats want to begin with hunting practice, continue with 10.
2. Hey, You!
Read Aloud: “That tall tree in the distance marks the border, you’re sure of it. As you approach, though, you can tell that this isn’t the tree you thought it was. In fact, you’ve never seen this tree before in your life because it’s deep within ShadowClan territory.”
Narrator Tips: The apprentices are more lost than ever. They’ve made a terrible error and wandered deep into ShadowClan territory. Ask the players what the apprentices want to do about it, but tell them to make a quick call—you never know who might have seen, heard, or smelled them.
In fact, a pair of ShadowClan warriors has caught scent of the apprentices and is padding over to find them. The apprentices must act quickly or they will be discovered. The Narrator should give the group a fair warning that danger could arrive at any moment. If the group continues to dawdle or is unable to decide on a plan of action, the aggressive older cats arrive.
If the apprentices try to make their way back to ThunderClan territory, ask whether they want to do so quickly or quietly (they can’t do both). If the answer is quickly, have all the apprentices make a Strength Check and tell them that any total lower than a 4 will be a failure. Before attempting that test, tell the group that any player whose regular cat has the Dash Knack may spend three Strength Chips to add them to the bonus pool. If any of the apprentices fails this Check, the ShadowClan cats catch the group.
If the apprentices try to escape quietly, tell the players that all the apprentices must make two separate Sneak Checks and that any total lower than 3 will count as a failure. Also tell them that any player whose regular cat has the Hide or Stalk Knack may add three Spirit Chips to the bonus pool. If any of the apprentices fails either of the Checks, the ShadowClan cats catch the group.
If the ShadowClan warriors catch the group, they will start a fight. (This fight uses all the usual rules as described in Chapter Five of the game.) They know that the apprentices are here by accident, but they believe swatting a young cat whenever it makes a mistake is the best way to encourage better behavior in the future. These cats each have Strength 5, Intelligence 3, and Spirit 3. Each round, each one of them will attack one of the apprentices. The Narrator can determine which one by any method she likes, or one of the apprentices can volunteer to receive the attack by throwing him- or herself in front of the attack. (A single apprentice can only jump in front of one attack per round.)
The ShadowClan warriors’ plan is to make a show of force and frighten the apprentices. They expect that the young cats will run from a fight, proving that the cross-Clan training is a failure and will only weaken ShadowClan. These warriors will fight for three rounds. If all of the apprentices are still standing their ground and ready to continue the fight at the end of the third round, they have proven their strength and bravery to the ShadowClan warriors, who will leave them alone from now on.
Although the ShadowClan warriors only want to scare the apprentices, it is possible that one or more of the younger cats will be Knocked Out. The older cats will be ashamed of themselves but, after making sure that no permanent damage has been done, they will still use this turn of events as “proof” that the current training is making the apprentices weak.
What Happens Next: If the apprentices manage to sneak safely back to ThunderClan territory, or to beat the ShadowClan warriors in battle, the apprentices can try the test again. Go to 5.
If the apprentices are seen running away from ShadowClan territory (and do not face down the ShadowClan warriors in battle) or if any of the apprentices is Knocked Out during the battle, continue with 13.
3. Who’s Stalking Who?
Read Aloud: “The scent of your foe is getting stronger. You can hear his movements nearby. You know—hey… wait… that’s coming from the wrong direction!”
Narrator Tips: The apprentice has made such a mess of this attempt to stalk a pretend foe that the quarry was able to turn things around and stalk the apprentice instead.
Describe the end of the “hunt,” where the apprentice thinks he or she is about to catch the target, but suddenly the pretend foe comes charging at the apprentice from an unexpected location and pounces on him or her instead. It should be a little embarrassing, but not actually painful.
Ask the players what suggestions their regular cat characters have for the apprentice. Where did things go wrong? How could he or she do better next time? What should a warrior do when he or she realizes that the situation has been reversed like that? Could the apprentice have done the same thing to turn the situation around again?
As Narrator, you should be keeping track of how many failures the apprentices get. This result was so bad that it counts as two failures instead of just one.
What Happens Next: If the apprentices have amassed a total of four or more failures in the stalking test, continue with 13.