The Last Hope

What Happens Next: If the players’ cats want to turn back and go to the part of the highlands they were in before, continue with 16.

If the players’ cats want to turn back and go to the valley and they have not yet encountered any foxes, continue with 4.

If the players’ cats want to turn back and go to the valley and they have already encountered foxes during this adventure, continue with 10.

If the players’ cats shake the snowpack loose, continue with 22.

If the players’ cats successfully cross the upper highlands, this is the end of the chapter. Hand the adventure to the next Narrator and tell him or her to continue with 21.

16. Crossing the Deep

Read Aloud: “This is the deepest snow you’ve ever seen. You have to leap free of the snow even to move, but when you land you’re once again surrounded—and it doesn’t look well packed.”

Narrator Tips: As in scene 15, the cats have to travel through snow that is deeper than they are tall—only this time the snow is even deeper. Plus, it’s loosely packed, and threatens to collapse and bury them every time they land.

Have each cat make three Jump Checks (that can make use of the Dodge Knack) and add the three totals together. If a cat’s grand total is 14 or lower, that cat has been trapped in a collapsing snow tunnel. The cat has one last chance to escape—a single Strength Check. If the total of this check is 8 or higher, the cat escapes.

What Happens Next: If all the players’ cats get safely through or successfully escape the snowfield, this is the end of the chapter. Hand the adventure to the next Narrator and tell him or her to continue with 21.

If any of the players’ cats get trapped in the snowfield, continue with 14.

17. Outfoxed

Read Aloud: “The claws that scratch. The teeth that bite. Even a warrior has limits.”

Narrator Tips: If the adventure has reached this scene it is because one or more of the players’ cats has been knocked out while fighting with the foxes. Improvise a short scene where the other cats get their friend back to the safety of the Clan territories. Let the players decide how they will get their unconscious friend home.

It’s possible that the players may want to look for medicinal herbs and try to use those to heal their friend. With the Ponder Skill and the Herb Lore Knack, that is possible, but it’s very hard. A single cat must get a total of 20 or higher on the Check, and even that only brings the unconscious cat back to a single Health Chip. He or she still must go back home immediately to seek healing from a medicine cat.

When the cats get back, one of the Clan leaders will ask them what happened. Let the players tell their cats’ tale. The leader will be impressed by their bravery, even though their mission ended badly. The leader will tell the cats that they acted as true warriors should, and they should be proud of themselves. But the leader will look a little dejected because there still is nothing to eat and no clue as to when newleaf will come.

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.

18. Follow the Hare

Read Aloud: “You round a snowbank and see the hare dashing across an open field. Suddenly it turns to the left, kicking up snow as it does and revealing a single, green shoot poking through from below.”

Narrator Tips: The cats must decide whether to follow the hare or dig up the shoot. Getting fresh-kill is important, but the Clan leaders also gave the cats a secondary mission to bring back any proof they can find that newleaf is coming soon (and cats who communicated with StarClan—from Scene 8—have an even clearer reason to do so). This shoot is the only green thing they’ve seen on the whole journey. The cats must choose which goal they will focus on, the hare or the shoot.

Ask the players what their cats want to do. If they want to follow the hare, improvise a brief chase scene with the hare getting farther and farther away each time it ducks around a snowbank. In fairly short order, it is gone entirely. If the cats then go back to the green shoot, they find only a rabbit-gnawed nub where the shoot once stood. The shoot is gone, and so is the chance to fulfill their secondary mission.

If the players want their cats to split up, with some of them following the hare and others trying to dig up the shoot, begin by following those chasing the hare. They have the same experience described above and will be gone long enough to miss the whole digging effort. By the time they get back, the situation will be resolved.