The Last Hope

Narrator Tips: The players’ cats have found a collection of tracks that seem to have been made today. Improvise a scene that lets the cats investigate these tracks, using Skills like Ponder, See, and Smell (and Knacks like Track, Animal Lore, and Alertness) to figure out which tracks to follow.

Tell them that there are tracks from lots of different animals, but only the rabbits are prey—the others are foxes, raccoons, and maybe even a bear (if you want to give the players a bit of a scare as they worry that their cats might have to fight such a huge animal). The problem is that the rabbits seem to have been chased out of this location and run in several directions at once. There’s no easy way to tell where they might be now. It’s also unclear which of the other animals might have been chasing them.

Have the players’ cats all make Ponder or See Checks. (The Track Knack can be used with this attempt.) Then add their totals together to get a group total, which will determine the set of tracks they actually follow.

What Happens Next: If the group total is 20 or higher, continue with 10.

If the group total is 19 or lower, continue with 13.

4. Down in the Valley

Read Aloud: “In greenleaf this valley is full of grass and small streams—just the kind of place where prey can be found. It only makes sense that they would have their burrows here, too.”

Narrator Tips: Tell the players that there are no immediate signs of prey—no tracks in the snow or obvious locations for burrows. Then ask them what their cats want to do next. How will they go about hunting for their prey? Based on their answer, decide what Skill (and perhaps an associated Knack) would be most appropriate for that activity. (It’s likely that the See Skill and the Track Knack will be helpful, or perhaps Ponder and the Animal Lore Knack.) Tell the players that only one of them may attempt the Check—too many cats fussing about will scare away potential prey.

The result of the Check will determine the next scene of this adventure.

What Happens Next: If the Check had a total of 20 or higher, the cat has found many tracks to follow—continue with 13.

If the Check had a total of between 15 and 19, the cat has found a few tracks to follow—continue with 11.

If the Check had a total of between 10 and 15, the cat found no tracks. The cats must replay this scene again.

If the Check had a total of 9 or lower, continue with 2.

5. Lost in the Snow

Read Aloud: “You wander through the blowing snow for a very long time. When the weather finally clears, you have no idea where you are.”

Narrator Tips: The players’ cats got so lost in the whiteout that they have left familiar territory entirely. The cats will have to find some kind of landmark they can use to guide their travels or they might never make it back to the Lake and their Clans.

Have each cat make a Ponder Check (adding in the Pathfinder Knack if they can and wish to) and add the results together to get a group total. If that group total is equal to 20 or less, the cats wander around for a very long time, and only find something familiar when they’re already half-starved. They have no choice but to go straight back to the Clan territories and report their mission as having been a failure.

If the group total is 21 or higher, the mission is still a failure in that they did not accomplish what they’d intended. But as Narrator, you may want to give them a small story bonus for such a great effort. If so, run the group through scene 19, saying that in their search for familiar land, the cats came across a small warren of rabbits. Instead of ending the scene as described, though, have the players’ cats suddenly see other Clan cats come into the clearing. The players’ cats wandered so far off course that they have intruded on the area that another group of warriors was supposed to search. Although they will bring some fresh-kill back for the Clans, the mission was not a success, and the players’ cats have to tell their leaders that the effort failed.

What Happens Next: The adventure is over. The players’ cats do not get any Experience rewards for this adventure. The players’ cats can, however, play the adventure again.

6. There They Are!

Read Aloud: “Look! Over there! Did you see that flash of fur? Are the foxes back?”

Narrator Tips: The players have just finished dealing with the foxes (in one way or another), so you can have some fun playing with their expectations at the beginning of this scene. You can ask them to make See Checks (even allowing the Track Knack) and if they don’t have impressive totals, you can hint that what they saw might have been a fox.