Once that’s done, it is up to the players’ regular cat characters to decide where to take their apprentices next—to practice stalking foes through the forest, or to practice hunting for freshkill. (Remember that the group should not repeat a test they have already passed.)
What Happens Next: If the players’ cats want to continue with stalking practice, this is the end of the chapter. Hand the adventure to the next Narrator and tell him or her to continue with 7.
If the players’ cats want to continue with hunting practice, this is the end of the chapter. Hand the adventure to the next Narrator and tell him or her to continue with 10.
12. The Cold Trail
Read Aloud: “Until now, the only sights, scents, and sounds that the apprentices have been exposed to were those in their Clan camp. Out in the woods, there are an endless series of distractions. It’s not surprising, then, that the young cats are having trouble finding and catching a skilled foe.”
Narrator Tips: The apprentices have failed in their attempt to stalk a foe through the woods. Reaching this scene counts as one failure. Keep track of the total number of failures the group amasses while attempting this test.
Ask the players to use the perspective of their regular cat characters to discuss what they think went wrong. Why did the apprentices fail at this action? What could they do differently to get a better result next time? What advice would their cats offer to the apprentices? Sometimes the best way to learn something is to try and fail, then try again. The apprentices have certainly learned something from this experience and now can make good use of the advice that the players’ cats are giving them.
The Narrator should create a bonus pool of Ability Chips. Each player whose apprentice has already succeeded at this test may add one Ability Chip of his or her choosing to the pool.
When the remaining apprentices try again to stalk a foe, they may use the bonus pool of Ability Chips to augment their efforts. Any apprentice may take a Chip from the bonus pool, but these Chips never refresh. Also, once all the apprentices succeed, this bonus pool may no longer be used—it is only useful for the stalking test in Scene 7.
What Happens Next: If the apprentices have amassed a total of four or more failures, continue with 13.
If the apprentices have not yet amassed four failures, return to scene 7 and let them try again. Note, though, that once an individual apprentice succeeds at this test, he or she does not have to perform it again.
13. Flunking Out
Read Aloud: “Not every adventure ends successfully. Sometimes cats make mistakes, and sometimes they hit a patch of bad luck. The important thing for a Clan warrior is what happens next.”
Narrator Tips: There are several reasons why the adventure may end up at this scene, but none of them are good. Either the apprentices failed one of their tests or the mentors lost their apprentices.
There isn’t any crucial need for the apprentices to succeed at these particular tests immediately. And no matter how hard the players’ cats want to work at it and be good mentors, eventually they may have to accept that the lessons are not going to be learned today.
The Clan leaders will thank the players’ cats for their hard work, and congratulate the apprentices for being part of such a grand undertaking. But as sundown approaches, they decide to bring this experiment to an unsuccessful close. Maybe in the future they will try it again.
Alternatively, if the story ended up here because the players’ cats lost their apprentices, tell them that another group of warriors (the ones they met in scene 15) managed to find the missing youngsters and bring them back to safety.
What Happens Next: Although no one did anything particularly wrong, arriving at this scene means that the apprentices did not learn quickly enough for the training experiment to count as a success—the adventure has ended badly. The players’ cats do not get any Experience rewards for this adventure. The players’ cats can, however, play the adventure again, hopefully finding ways to get better performances out of their apprentices.
14. Under the Old Oak Tree
Read Aloud: “The scent of young cats becomes overwhelmed by another, more dangerous smell—the powerful fumes of weasel musk. Dangerous creatures, weasels. If they have the apprentices, there could be real trouble.”
Narrator Tips: The players’ cats have arrived at a burrow that contains a weasel den. Unfortunately, it is the wrong weasel’s den. The missing apprentices are not here, though the players may not realize it at first.
Describe for the players a scene where the scent trail they’ve been following takes them to a burrow entrance that leads into the ground below a large oak tree. There are signs of activity in the area, but only weasel tracks can be seen.
If the players’ cats have not yet had a chance, allow them to make Ponder or Intelligence Checks to see what facts they may know about weasels. (This information can be found in scene 18.)
Have each of the players’ cats make Smell Checks. Anyone whose total is 8 or higher notices that all the scents around this burrow come from a single weasel—this is not a large family’s den. Anyone whose total is 12 or higher notices that there is a complete lack of any scents related to the missing apprentices—not even faint, lingering scents.
The players will have to make a decision about what to do next. If enough of them had very good Smell Checks, they may think that it is very likely that they are following a false trail. Of course, the only way to be one hundred percent certain would be to explore the burrow, but doing that means likely running into the weasel. If the players decide to leave the burrow unexplored skip to the last paragraph of this scene.
Going into the weasel’s den is difficult. The burrow is narrow and winding, and the cats must proceed in single file. Eventually, the lead cat will reach the burrow’s end—a small chamber where the weasel is sleeping. The lead cat must make a Stealth Check with a total of 12 or higher, and all the other cats that are in the burrow must make Stealth Checks with totals of 8 or higher. If any of these Checks fail, the weasel awakens.
The weasel will immediately attack the lead cat using its claws and its teeth. The weasel has Strength 6, Intelligence 4, and Spirit 5. It also has 5 levels each of Jump, Pounce, and Sneak, and 3 levels each of Bite and Swat. It will fight until it has taken 10 Chips worth of damage. If the players’ cats manage to draw it out into the open, the weasel will give up the fight and run away if it sees that it is being attacked by three or more opponents.
Backing out of the burrow is also slow going. Once a fight begins, only one cat can make it out for every round. In other words, the lead cat must stay underground fighting the weasel for at least as many rounds as there are other cats currently in the burrow. Once there are no more cats behind him in the tunnel, the lead cat can back out the following round.
When the players’ cats decide to start looking elsewhere for the missing apprentices, have each of them make a Scent Check. The goal of this Check is to get a total of 10. If half of the group or more fails that Check, the players’ cats are following another false trail. Otherwise, they manage to pick up the apprentices’ trail again.